Bill Crider at the 2017 WFC in San Antonio. That’s Joe Lansdale on the left.

Bill Crider was born on this day, July 28, in 1941, in Mexia, Texas (pronounced Me-hay-a).  He passed away from cancer earlier this year on February 12.

While I certainly didn’t know Bill, he was one of my favorite people to hang out with at conventions.  I first encountered him about 19 years ago, when he was the featured guest of a writing conference at the university where I was a visiting faculty.  We didn’t meet at the time.  I snuck over between classes and heard him speak.

We did meet a year or two later.  I don’t recall if it was at Armadillocon or Aggiecon.  Bill made his mark in the mystery field, but he was a fan of fantasy and science fiction and would dabble in those fields from time to time, as well as attending a number of Texas conventions.  He was knowledgeable about the history of genre fiction and pop culture.  Talking to him or reading his blog was always an education.

As you can tell from the photo above, I got to visit with him one last time this past November.  It was one of the highlights of the convention. He is sorely missed.