James Gunn

James Gunn (1923-2020) passed away on December 23 from congestive heart failure. I apologize for the lateness of this post. I was mostly offline over the Christmas holidays, and I didn’t see the news until recently.  Adrian Simmons wrote an excellent tribute over at Black Gate.

I had the privilege of meeting James Gunn twice. The first time was at a meeting of the Science Fiction Research Association. The meeting was held at UNT. This was the summer I transferred from UNT to UTD, and I was till living in Denton. Along with Gunn, Jack Williamson, Fred Pohl, and the de Camps (among others) were in attendance. (It was the only time I would meet Williamson and Pohl).

I had read Star Bridge, a collaboration between Williamson and Gunn a few years before and was eager to meet the authors.

The second time I met Gunn was at the San Antonio Worldcon in 2013. (Has it really been that long ago?) Gunn was one of the guests. There was a special reception for him that was invitation-only. The invitations were sent to friends and former students. HFQ editor Adrian Simmons, a former student, had an invitation that included a guest. I got to be Adrian’s guest.

I hung back until those who knew him had given Gunn their regards and well-wishes. When there was a break, I introduced myself and told him I enjoyed his work. Then I got out of the way, as others were wanting to talk to him.

So I want to thank Adrian for the opportunity to speak to James Gunn.