Farewell, Anne McCaffrey

[filkertom]

Great sadness. SFWA Grand Master Anne McCaffrey, best known for creating the world of Pern and the Dragonriders thereof, has passed away at the age of 85. Rest well, ma'am, and thank you.

Comments

[pyffe.livejournal.com]

*SOB* I hadn't heard until I saw this post. My heart hurts.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Hugs. The news has only been out for about an hour.

[alverant.livejournal.com]

I got part way through the first book. I appreciate how she brought dragons into science fiction instead of making them purely fantasy creatures.

[capplor.livejournal.com]

Fred here: I would love to say that I knew her well, we met on several occasions, but they were short lived, memorable, meetings for me, and I suspect not so memorable for her.

So there I was, walking into a restaurant during Conadian with about 5 other fen, when I spotted Anne across the room. I did a general, " I see you" wave in her direction and she proceeded to indicate that the table next hers was open. She was sharing a meal with her family, but she recalled me from a book signing in Palo Alto, Ca, about 6-7 years earlier. I had one of the three people who had shown up for a poorly advertised event. Though she did not claim to remember my name,

It was a pleasant meal, we sat next to each other and treated each other as fans from different places, but each with our own group - with respect and mutual courtesy, and only occasionally busting into the other's conversation. When parting I asked if I'll ever get see her again. "Only if you come to Ireland," she said, that was her designated last trip to America.

She was at LACon iii a few years later. I held a door for her and told her that she had lied to me. She remembered that then too.

[nimitzbrood.livejournal.com]

OMG. My wife and I were in that restaurant at that time. I _remember_ her saying that. Wow. My world gets smaller every day. It's a regret I didn't get the courage up to talk to her at that time. :-(

I remember working a jewelry table in the dealer's room with a cold and lack of sleep from a fire alarm in the hotel the night before. Then later getting one of her books signed in-between sales. She bid me well wishes and I went on my way happier for them.

[capplor.livejournal.com]

At the restaurant she was being the mater familias and only liked interruptions which she chose. She remembered me from before and apparently was not averse to my company. I chose to respect that. If you had tried to talk with her she would have been polite, but try to cut off the conversation ASAP. One of my co-diners had a pile of her books that she wanted to get signed and Anne, very kindly, asked if she could wait until the autograph table was set up. If she signed books over breakfast she'd never get any food in her.

When my friend did go through the line Anne recognized her, thanked her for her courtesy at breakfast, and wrote her a little impromptu poem in one of the books. Apparently she normally just signed her name and the date.

She will be missed.

[hms42]

:(

[maiac.livejournal.com]

I am so sad. Her Dragonriders are among the Great Influences in my life. She was a great lady.

[phecda.livejournal.com]

No offense to the Anne Macaffrey fans out there, but now that she's passed perhaps THIS (http://www.revolutionsf.com/article.php?id=1211") will finally get published.

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

She was very gracious to my babbling fangirl self at a signing session at Change of Hobbit in Santa Monica, decades ago.

Maybe whoever's writing the ripoff fusion of Patrick O'Brien/Anne McCaffrey (excuse me, the Temeraire series, aka Dragonriders of Master&Commander) will hold off for a few days out of respect.

[batyatoon]

Too soon, man.

[batyatoon]

Damn. Oh, damn.

Rest well, lady.

[ladycheron.livejournal.com]

If the path to Heaven is paved with the joy one has given others, hers is a four lane highway, solid gold. Rest in peace, milady. And thank you.

[caraig.livejournal.com]

:(

[dysprog.livejournal.com]

I never got into the Pern books, but I loved "The Ship Who *" series.

[lemmozine.livejournal.com]

Add another to the growing list of people I've enjoyed meeting who are now part of history.

I met her once, at a dealer's table in the mid-1980s. I was stuck running a table and couldn't get away to get books signed; she very kindly signed them for me at my table. I remember the conversation. Pleasant.

It's amazing that there are people in their 90s who are still active and alert, like Fred Pohl, Ray Bradbury, and Pete Seeger. I hope to join them in that one day.

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

I met her at a con in Birmingham, England in May, 1983. I was living in Germany at the time & to get there I traveled across several countries by rail & ship, spending the night on the ferry dock after Deutsche Bahn failed to live up to its reputation for keeping to schedule & I arrived just in time to see the last ferry of the night pulling out. The next day, I had to fast talk my way onto trains I technically didn't have tickets for, while battling hordes of championship-crazed soccer fans to make it across London by Underground to change trains.

It was well worth it. I'll always remember her graciously holding court in the hotel bar. Unfortunately, all my copies of her books were back in the US & all locally available copies, in con or city, were already sold out, so no autographs.

I expect Darkover (http://www.darkovercon.org/)con this weekend will turn into something of a wake.

Edited for accidental premature posting.

[joecoustic.livejournal.com]

I feel myself so lucky to have grown up reading her writings. I loved not only Pern but a number of her other series and one-offs and will treasure the worlds and characters she gave me.

[j-e-richards.livejournal.com]

The first SF book I bought when I was a teenager was "The Ship Who Sang". I got it signed about 20 years ago when she was on a book signing tour in Dayton. I also had one of her "dirty" romance novels that she was surprised to see. She was a great lady who changed the face of SF.

[sheistheweather]

This is my howl of remembrance.

She lived a good, long, full life. May her next adventure be what she wanted it to be.

*raises a glass of the finest Benden wine* To the Dragonlady who wrote back to me when I was a child. Thank you for getting me into science fiction.

I wish I could have met her in person.

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you'd be interested or not, but a writer lj friend of mine says the only filk he ever wrote (or is likely to) was about Anne McCaffrey.
He comments on it here.
http://jimkeller.livejournal.com/715513.html

I was randomly thinking this is the sort of thing that ought to go up at a filk community site, but I don't have consent to post on filk