RIP, Wilson "Bob" Tucker

[filkertom]

One of the family has passed. Author, lifelong SF fan, and multiple Hugo winner Wilson Tucker has died in St. Petersburg, FL. He would have been 92 in a few weeks. Thanks to barbarakitten_t for the heads-up.

Comments

[holmes365.livejournal.com]

ah hell! What a wonderful dirty old man, master toastmaster, all around good guy! He shall be missed.

I met him at my first con(1979), I was 15 and he did the intro and taught everyone "Smooth". I carried his business card in my wallet for years. "Wilson "Bob" Tucker, Natural Seminations by appointment"

Clear skies and smooth whiskey to you Bob! Break out the Tully, people!

[birder2.livejournal.com]

That seems like the end of an era--fandom won't quite be the same without him. I trust there will be many smooooths in his honor.

aw.

[solarbird]

Aw, hell. I only meet him a couple of times, but he was a really nice guy.

Foo.

I read The Year of the Quiet Sun a few years ago after I read him talking about it in an interview. It took a bit of scrounging about to find a copy, but I'm glad I did. It was a good book.

[ladystarblade.livejournal.com]

Oh man...I remember him, vaguely...I was a little bit when I met him a con...can't for the life of me remember which one...I was about 6, dressed as Spock (albeit with blond hair and a toothy grin), and he was helping presenting these little hall costume awards. I won one, and as he handed it to me, I remember him saying, "You're a strange looking Spock." Being a typical 6 year old...I recall I stuck my tongue out at him. He laughed...then recalled the incident when I saw him a couple years later.

Never met him after that, and too bad, because I've heard some stories from others...

Happy trails...(sticks out tongue)

A virtual glass of tully raised here.

[capplor.livejournal.com]

.

[mstrhypno.livejournal.com]

A sad day, indeed. Bob Tucker was one of the first fannish friends I made outside of the "Asprin crew" when I first joined fandom back in the early 70's. It was the Passovoys who introduced me to this wonderful, funny, gentle man who taught me to "SMOOTH!" properly.

The world is a poorer place for his passing.

Lee Darrow

[scott644.livejournal.com]

Rest In Peace

[old-fortissimo.livejournal.com]

A simultaneously gentle and raucous soul.

Thanks for reminding me of the "natural seminations" card!

I eschewed the Tully for this purpose...Kat and I sahred some coffee with Maker;s Mark (premium bourbon) for "smoooooth"-ing Tucker's passage this morning, as being closer to Jack Daniels than Tullamore Dew.

One of my favorite Wilson A. Tucker books was "Warlock," a 1060-s spy novel that ends with the protagonist in charge of an ultimate, deep off the books espionage agency...these days, it's eerily and frighteningly disturbing.

Murray Porath

[shadowcat48li.livejournal.com]

i only got to meet bob a few times while he still lived here in bloomington, I know he was a projectionist at several local theaters over the years among other things. they've re-opened one of the theaters in the last couple of years , he was friends with one of my HS english teachers.

damn... he sure will be missed

I am real surprised after checking the local paper, theres nothing about his death, I talked to the newsroom at the local AM station, and they didnt have anything, so I passed on the link to the wikipedia, and the sfwa page

[shadowcat48li.livejournal.com]

heard back from the local paper, they cant print an obit without verifying with a funeral director etc, good job on that, just gave them the sfwa link

[purpleranger.livejournal.com]

I know it wasn't in the SFWA obituary as of yesterday, but the cause of death was congestive heart failure. (This from a friend who was attending Archon this weekend.)

[wayward-va.livejournal.com]

I met Bob Tucker once, I think it was the Chicago WorldCon in 1991 but it might have been earlier. And yes, the group of us at that party drank a toast and proclaimed it 'smooth'. I've done the same several times since. I didn't know much about Bob Tucker's history in fandom but what I knew I liked and made me wish I could be him when I grow up. *chuckle*

Godspeed, Bob Tucker. You'll be missed.