Category Archives: obituary

Rest in Peace, Lou Antonelli (1957-2021)

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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

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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

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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.

RIP, Charles R. Saunders

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Reports are coming in on Facebook (which I’m not on, so this is all second hand) that Charles R. Saunders passed away in May. Saunders was born on July 12, 1946 in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania. Saunders founded the sword and soul subgenre when he began writing a series of stories about a warrior named Imaro in 1970s. They were set in an alternate Africa called Nyumbani.

Saunders isn’t as widely known as he should be. Fortunately much of his work is available. Check it out.

Rest well, sir. You will be missed.

RIP, Mike Resnick

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It is with great sorrow that I write this post.  Laura Resnick is reporting that her father Mike passed away in his sleep early this morning (Jan. 10, 2020). Mike spent most of 2019 ill, and as a result accumulated some substantial medical bills.  A fundraiser has been set up to help pay off the bills.

Adventures Fantastic would like to extend condolences to Carol, Laura, the rest of the family, and all of Mike’s many friends and fans.

I’ve read many of Mike’s books over the years.  I only met him one time, at Fencon II in 2005. He was professional, approachable, and a joy to talk to. Mike was a great writer and editor.  His work is worth seeking out.

Rest in Peace, Mike.

RIP, Dennis Etchison, 1943-2019

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Dennis Etchison passed away yesterday, May 28, in his sleep.  He had been battling cancer.

Etchison was a giant in the field of horror.  He wrote screenplays, novels, and edited anthologies.  But his major contribution was as a writer of short fiction.  Some of his collections include The Dark Country, The Death Artist, and Got to Kill Them All.

I’ll honor his memory later this evening by reading some of his fiction.

Requiescat in Pace, Gene Wolfe (1931-2019)

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No sooner had I posted the previous update than a notice that Gene Wolfe had died came across my feed.

He passed away yesterday, April 14, at the age of 87 after a long battle with heart disease.  It’s early enough that many of the genre news outlets haven’t posted the news.  Here’s the only one I’ve seen so far, from Tor.com.  As more tributes become avaialbe, I’ll post links in the comments as they become available.  Feel free to post them as you come across them.

I met Gene Wolfe once, at the World Fantasy Convention in Corpus Christi in 2000.  He was a true gentleman.  I’ve not read a great deal of his work, but I’ve liked everything I’ve read by him.

I may have to stay up late after everyone has gone to bed, but I’ll be reading something he wrote tonight and raising a glass in his memory.

RIP, Harlan Ellison (1934-2018)

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The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Harlan Ellison has died.  Initial reports are that Ellison died unexpectedly in his sleep.

Ellison was a much loved and much loathed figure in the science fiction and fantasy field.  I’ll not try to list all of his award-winning work.  Others will do that far better than I can.

I met Harlan only once, at an Aggiecon in the early 2000s.  He was everything I’d heard he was.

Harlan had pretty much stopped writing after he had a stroke a few years ago.  A Kickstarter last year (which I pledged) is going to be bringing a lot of his work back into print.

Adventures Fantastic would like to extend condolences to Harlan’s widow Susan as well Harlan’s many friends and fans.

I really don’t know what else to say.  Harlan’s life was too big to be summed up in a blog post.  I picked up duplicate copies of several of his books last week when I was in Dallas.  I’ll read one this evening and raise a glass in his memory.

RIP, Kate Wilhelm

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We lost Kate Wilhelm last week. She passed on March 8th, exactly three months before her 90th birthday.

She started writing and publishing in the 1950s. She hit her stride in the 1960s 70s, and 80s.  Ya know, back in the days when there were no women science fiction writers. Wilhelm was married to Damon Knight and was active in the Clarion writer’s workshop for many years. I realize that might not endear her to some readers of this blog.  Wilhelm’s nonfiction work on writing, Storyteller: Writing Lessons and More From 27 Years of the Clarion Writer’s Workshop (2005) had a major impact on me, in principle if not so much in practice. In the book, she talked about the need to make writing a habit, something you do every  day until it becomes an ingrained part of your routine that you do without having to force it into your schedule.

I’ve only read her short work, but I’ve found it enjoyable.  She’s not an action and adventure type of writer. Rather her works are character driven and thoughtful.  They’re more like a crock pot in that if you stick with them you’ll be rewarded.  It’s been a while since I read any of her work, and when learned of her passing I bought a collection of her recent short fiction for my ereader and read “Yesterday’s Tomorrows” last night. It’s the title story of the collection.

Although she continued to write short fiction in the science fiction field, in the late 1980s she began to write mysteries and thrillers.  They must have been successful, because she continued to write them for the rest of her career. The most recent Barbara Holloway mystery appeared last year.

Wilhelm was well known for her generosity in the field and for encouraging young writers. In many ways, this might be her greatest contribution to the field.  Dean Wesley Smith has written a tribute here.

Check out Kate’s writing. She has a highly readable style. In rereading “Yesterday’s Tomorrows” lat night, I realized how much I had missed reading her work.