Category Archives: obituary

RIP, Brian Stableford

Crap. I hate to write this, but I’m going to as much as it pains me to do so. Brian Stableford (1948-2024) has died. Locus is reporting that he passed away on February 24, after a long illness. He is survived by his children, son Leo and daughter Kathy.

In an earlier post this year, I asked what wrtiers you thought have been unjustly neglected and should have their work brought to public attentions. Brian Stableford was one of the names mentioned.  I heartily agreed. Continue reading

RIP, Christopher Priest (1943-2024)

Christophoer Priest passed away from cancer on February 2. While not prolific, he produced several works that received widespread recognition. Of these, the best known was The Prestige. This was a story about Victorian-era stage magic where one of the illusions is more than it seems. It was made into a film starring Christian Bale and Michael Caine. While the film is good, the book is even better. Yes, I know that’s a cliche, but the movie left out an entire plot line that takes place in the present world. The big surprise at the end fo the film wasn’t the big surprise in the book but rather the penultimate surprise. If you have only seen the movie, check out the book.

The other item of note that Priest wrote was something  I referenced in the Dangerous Visions post a few days ago. Priest wrote the book The Book on the Edge of Forever. This is a history of Harlan Ellison and Last Dangerous Visions. It’s fascinating reading. As you can probably imagine, Harlan doesn’t come off looking too well.

I picked up my copy at Aggiecon a number of years ago, when Harlan was GoH. The vendor who sold it to me said, “Don’t let Harlan see it.”

Good advice.

Priest produced a solid, if not extensive, body of work. He should not be forgotten.

RIP, Brian Lumley (1937-2024)

I’m starting to see reports that Brian Lumley has died. There’s nothing on the Locus or Blackgate websites yet, but Twitter/X, the ISFDB and other sources are confirming the news.

Lumley has written Lovecraftiain horror in both long and short forms. He was also the author of  the Necroscope series.

I’ve not read much of his work, just a few short stories, although I’ve picked up several of his non-Necrsoscope titles, including Titus Crow. I’ve liked what little I’ve read by him. I just haven’t gotten a lot of his work.

I’ll raise a glass tonight in  his memory and read something of his.

Remembering Howard Waldrop

Howard Waldrop reading at Armadillocon 2016

It is with great sadness that I write these words. Locus Online is reporting that Howard Waldrop died today, January 15, 2024. The ISFDB has his date of death listed as the 14th. Either way, a legend has passed. Howard was one of my favorite people in science fiction and fantasy. He had a unique voice, both in writing and in speaking, and he will be sorely missed.

Howard Waldrop was born in Houston, Mississippi on September 15, 1946. He lived most of his life in Texas, although he did live int he Pacific Northwest for a few years before returning to Austin. He was an avid fisherman, and that showed in a few of his stoires. Continue reading

Remembering David Drake

We lost David Drake a few weeks ago. He was born on September 24, 1945 and passed away on December 10, 2023.

Drake was a legend in the field and he wrote across a variety of sbgenres in both fantasy and science fiction. He was best known as a military science fiction writer, specifically his Hammer’s Slammers series about a team of mercenaries. Continue reading

Rest in Peace, Patricia A. McKillip (1948-2022)

I saw on Twitter today that Patricia A. McKillip has died. She was one of the best stylisits in the fantasy field. I had the pleasure of meeting her at the 2000 World Fantasy Convention and again at the 2006 World Fantasy Convention

McKillip won a World Fantasy Award for her first adult novel, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld in 1974. She followed it up with the Riddlemaster Trilogy. This was the first thing I read by her in the SFBC omnibus edition.

I was hooked.

Over the years McKillip only got better. Most of her novels were stand-alones. Beginning in the late 1990’s, McKillip began publishing a series of novels through Ace books with the most gorgeous covers. I’ve got all of them, although I’ve not read all of them yet.

If you’ve not read her work, give it a try. It’s not sword and sorcery, but it is some of the best fantasy written in the last half century. I’m going to try to work more of her books into the reading schedule. I think I’ll give the Riddlemaster trilogy another read. It’s been long enough that a lot of the details have faded.

RIP, Dave Wolverton (1957-2022) and Ron Goulart (1933-2022)

This wasn’t the post I had planned to write today, and it certainly isn’t one I want to write. The fields of fantasy and science fiction have lost two of thier luminaries.

Dave Wolverton, who is probably better know as David Farland, died from head injuries he suffered due to a fall down a set of stairs. Goulart had been hospitalized in December with pneumonia and was suffering from dementia. Both men died on the 14th. Goulart had turned 89 the day before. Continue reading

Rest in Peace, Lou Antonelli (1957-2021)

Science Fiction author Lou Antonelli passed away on October 6 of pneumonia. He is survived by his wife Patricia, his mother, and a brother and sister. Born in Massachusetts, Lou loved Texas and considered himself to be a Texan.

Lou was mainly a short fiction writer, although he also published on novel (Another Girl, Another Planet) and a memoir/short fiction collection/writing advice (Letters From Gardner: A Writer’s Odyssey). Lou’s short fiction has been collected in Fantastic Texas, Texas and Other Planets, The Clock Struck None, and In the Shadow of the Cross.

Lou was a journalist all his life. In recent years his fiction output slowed when he and his wife bought The Clarksville Times, the local newspaper in Clarksville, Texas. The paper had been declining before the Antonellis bought it. They successfully turned it around. (Some sources are saying Lou was from Clarksville, Arkansas, but that’s not correct.)

I’ve known Lou for about 15 years. I met him through his wife, Patricia, who was a student in one of my classes when I was at a university in the northeast part of the state. Lou and I had attended the same science fiction convention a few months prior to my meeting Patricia, but our paths hadn’t crossed.

Over the years, Lou and I shared cars to and from, and rooms at, conventions. He was a good traveling companion and roommate. More importantly he was a good friend. After I moved to West Texas, we didn’t see each other much, just at a convention once in a while. From time to time, we’d talk on the phone. I was unaware he’d been ill until I saw a notice of his death online. He’d been on my mind the last few days, and I’d been thinking of giving him a call. It had been a while since I’d spoken to him.

Now I can’t.

My prayers are with Patricia and the rest of Lou’s family.

Rest well, my friend.

Rest in Peace, William F. Nolan

Locus Online is reporting that William F. Nolan (1928-2021) passed away on July 15. He was 93.

Nolan is probably best remembered as the author of Logan’s Run, co-written with George Clayton Johnson, and several sequels, written solo. Nolan was primarily a short story writer. He was a member of the California school. While he might not have received the critical acclaim other members of the group did, such as Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson, he was able to produce a body of work that was quite consistent in quality. I’ve always enjoyed his work and bought any book with his name on it. I’ll raise a glass in his memory tonight.

Rest well, sir. You showed us that life is only getting started at the age of 30.

 

RIP, Phyllis Eisenstein

Fantasy author Phyllis Eisenstein (1946-2020) passed away earlier in December. She was the author of a series of stories about Alaric the minstrel that were collected in Born to Exile. This collection was followed by In the Red Lord’s Reach.  She was also the author of Sorcerer’s Son and a sequel, The Crystal Palace. Locus is reporting there was a third volume that would have been published by Meisha Merlin, but the publisher closed before it saw print. It remains unpublished. I’ve read all of these books and would like to read more about the characters in both series. Hopefully someone will step up and return these books to print and publish the third book. Ms. Eisenstein is survived by her husband Alex. Adventures Fantastic extends its condolences to her friends and family.