Harry Clement Stubbs, who wrote science fiction as Hal Clement, died in his sleep earlier today, October 29, 2003, at his home in Milton, Massachusetts.
Born in 1922, Clement was a high school school teacher whose fiction gained a reputation as quintessential hard SF -- science fiction firmly based on established physics, chemistry, and astronomy. His novels often depicted highly imagined alien worlds; the most famous was Mission of Gravity, set on a heavy, fast-spinning planet where the force of gravity is several times greater at the poles than at the equator. His last novel, Noise, was published earlier this year.
Clement was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1999. Among other honors was a Retro-Hugo Award in 1996 for his 1945 story "Uncommon Sense".
Clement is survived by his wife Mary, Mary, two sons George and Richard, daughter Christine Hensel, and grandson Jackson.
SFWA News has posted memorials, and notes that services will be held at St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Milton, Massachusetts at 10Am on Saturday, November 1.
