Sue Arroyo (1966-2024)

Publisher and author Sue Arroyo, 57, died on February 26, 2024 after falling at home in Brentwood TN.

Arroyo was born July 2, 1966 in New York, and worked as a software engineer before founding her own company, Trident Technologies, in 2006. She sold her stake in the company in 2019 to focus on publishing. Arroyo was founder and CEO of small press CamCat Books, launched in 2018. The press ...Read More

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Dick Jenssen (1935-2024)

Artist Dick Jenssen, 88, also known in fandom as Ditmar, died March 7, 2024. Jensen was active in Australian fandom for many years, and was a prolific fan and cover artist. Australia’s annual achievement awards, the Ditmars, are named after him. He won the 2016 Rotsler Award for his artwork in fanzines.

Martin James Ditmar Jenssen was born in 1935, and was a part of Australian fandom since 1952, when ...Read More

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Jaime Lee Moyer Found Deceased

Jaime Lee Moyer was discovered deceased on February 29, 2024, apparently of natural causes.

Her friends C.C. Finlay & Rae Carson organized a wellness check with the East Lansing MI police after failing to hear from Moyer for more than ten days, and officers found her deceased at home.

Moyer was from Fremont CA, and attended Ohlone College before moving to Texas, where she studied at Mt. San Antonio College. ...Read More

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Brian Stableford (1948-2024)

Author, academic, critic, editor, and translator Brian Stableford, 75, died February 24, 2024 after a long illness. He was married twice and is survived by his son Leo and daughter Katy.

Brian Michael Stableford was born July 25, 1948 in Shipley, Yorkshire, England. He attended the University of York, getting a degree in biology, followed by a doctorate in sociology; his doctoral thesis was The Sociology of Science Fiction. ...Read More

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Steve Miller (1950-2024)

Author Steve Miller, 73, best known for the Liaden Universe series co-written with wife Sharon Lee, died suddenly on February 20, 2024, as reported by Lee on Facebook.

Steven Richard Miller was born July 31, 1950 in Baltimore MD. He attended the University of Maryland, where he worked on college newpaper The Retriever and founded the science fiction club. He was the curator of the UMBC Albin O. Kuhn Library ...Read More

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Christopher Priest (1943-2024)

Author, editor, and scholar Christopher Priest, 80, died of cancer February 2, 2024, in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute in Scotland. He was a major figure in the SF field, famed for his ambitious fiction and erudite criticism and non-fiction.

Christopher Mackenzie Priest was born in Cheadle, Cheshire, England on July 14, 1943. Priest was married to author Lisa Tuttle from 1981-87, and to writer Leigh Kennedy from 1988-2011. ...Read More

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Brian Lumley (1937-2024)

Horror writer Brian Lumley, 86, died January 2, 2024. Lumley was best known for his Mythos fiction, and for the bestselling Necroscope series.

Lumley was born December 2, 1937 in County Durham in England, and served in the military police in the British Army for 22 years before retiring in 1980 to write full time.

He published his first story in the late ‘60s, and became known in the ‘70s ...Read More

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Howard Waldrop (1946-2024)

Author Howard Waldrop, 77, died January 14, 2024. Waldrop was one of our most accomplished and celebrated authors of short fiction, known for his erudite, playful, and allusive work. His most famous story, “The Ugly Chickens” (1980), won World Fantasy and Nebula Awards, and was a Hugo Award finalist.

Waldrop’s first work of genre interest was “Lunchbox” in Analog (1972), and he went on to publish scores of stories, including ...Read More

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Tom Purdom (1936-2024)

SF writer Tom Purdom, 87, died January 14, 2024.

Thomas Edward Purdom was born April 19, 1936 in New Haven CT, and lived in Philadelphia PA with his wife, Sara Wescoat Purdom. He began publishing SF with “Grief for a Man” (1957), and debut novel I Want the Stars appeared in 1964. Other books include The Tree Lord of Imeten (1966), Five Against Arlane (1967), Reduction in Arms (1971), and ...Read More

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David J. Skal (1952-2024)

Author and critic David J. Skal, 71, died January 1, 2024 in a car accident in Los Angeles CA.

David John Skal was born June 21, 1952 in Garfield Heights OH. He attended Ohio University, where he studied journalism and worked as a film critic and editor on the college newspaper, graduating in 1974. He later worked in theater, including with the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and the ...Read More

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Fred Chappell (1936-2024)

Author and scholar Fred Chappell, 87, died January 5, 2024 in Greensboro NC. Chapell was an author of literary and weird fiction, best known in the field for his 1968 novel Dagon and for World Fantasy Award-winning stories “The Somewhere Doors ” (1991) and The Lodger (1993).

Fred Davis Chappell was born May 28, 1936 in Canton NC and attended Duke University. He spent 40 years as an English professor ...Read More

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Terry Bisson (1942-2024)

Author Terry Bisson, 81, died in the early hours of January 10, 2024.

Terry Ballantine Bisson was born February 12, 1942 in Kentucky. After attending Grinnell College in Iowa from 1960-62, and batting around LA and NY, he received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Louisville in 1964. In 1962, he married Deirde Holst, mother of his two sons and daughter; they divorced in 1966. From 1966-70 he lived ...Read More

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Emanuel Lottem (1944-2024)

Israeli editor and translator Emanuel Lottem, 79, died January 7, 2024.

Emanual Lottem obtained a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tel Aviv; a master’s from the London School of Oriental and African Studies and a PhD from the London School of Economics. He initially worked as a university lecturer, then entered the diplomatic service, serving as a consul in New York and as a special adviser in the Israeli ...Read More

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Bertil Falk (1933-2023)

Swedish author and translator BERTIL FALK, 90, died October 14, 2023 after a long illness.

I have never known anyone with so much energy as author-publisher-reporter-translator-SF-expert-etc. Bertil Falk. Now this hurricane of a force is no longer with us. His Swedish translationof James Joyce’s ‘‘untranslatable’’ Finnegans Wake came out last year, a work of love taking 60-plus years. We also saw his massive, three-volume history of science fiction in ...Read More

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David Drake (1945-2023)

Author David Drake, 78, died December 10, 2023 in Silk Hope NC. Drake was the author of more than 80 works of SF and fantasy, best known for the Hammer’s Slammer’s series and other works of military SF.

David Allen Drake was born September 24, 1945 in Dubuque IA. He attended law school at Duke, but his studies were interrupted when he was drafted into the US Army, serving in ...Read More

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D.G. Compton (1930-2023)

Writer D.G. Compton, 93, died November 10, 2023 in Maine. David Guy Compton was born in London on August 19, 1930, later settling in the US.

His agents at the Virginia Kidd Agency sent the following tribute.

We had the great pleasure of having David visit us in Milford for the Black Bear Film Festival the year Death Watch, the 1979 Bertrand Tavernier film based on his book, The ...Read More

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Helena Binns (1941-2023)

Australian fan, artist, and photographer HELENA BINNS, 81, died September 18, 2023 in Wantirna, Australia. She was a stalwart of Melbourne fandom since 1958, when she made contact with the Mel­bourne Science Fiction Club. She has been both artist and writer for MSFC publications, and for the last 50 years was the photographer for most conventions held in Melbourne, including four Aussiecons.

Born Margaret Duce on December 18, 1941, ...Read More

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Pat Diggs (1941-2023)

Fan PAT DIGGS, 82, died September 27, 2023 following a long illness. She was a longtime and beloved fixture of Bay Area fandom, a regular Locus collator, and volunteer for the SF in SF reading series. She often helped run dealer’s room tables for Locus, Tachyon Publications, and other publishers and booksellers. She was an early and active participant in Star Trek fandom, writing and distriuting fan fiction.

Patricia ...Read More

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A.S. Byatt (1936-2023)

Writer A.S. Byatt, 87, died November 16, 2023. Though best known for her literary fiction and critical writing, Byatt occasionally wrote work including speculative elements. Books of genre interest include Booker Prize winner Possession: A Romance (1990) and Ragnarok: The End of the Gods (2011). The Children’s Book (2009) is based on the life of children’s writer E. Nesbit.

Byatt’s short work often incorporated fantastic elements, and appears in collections ...Read More

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Weston Ochse (1965-2023)

Author Weston Ochse, 58, died in November 18, 2023 in Tucson AZ after a long period of poor health. Ochse was best known as a horror and military SF writer.

Ochse was born June 20, 1965 in Gillette WY, and grew up all over the US, graduating from high school in Chattanooga TN. He then enlisted in the US Army, becoming an intelligence officer, and served until 2004. He attended ...Read More

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Michael Bishop (1945-2023)

Author and editor Michael Bishop, 78, died November 13, 2023 after entering hospice care in late June.

Michael Lawson Bishop was born November 12, 1945 in Lincoln NE. He spent much of his youth with his mother in a small town near Wichita KS, while visiting his father at Air Force bases around the country during the summers. He graduated from the University of Georgia with a bachelor’s (1967) and ...Read More

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Sherrie Cronin (1954-2023)

SF writer Sherrie Cronin, 68, died October 23, 2023 of cancer in western North Carolina.

Sherrie Roth was born December 1, 1954 in Hays KS. She attended Northwestern University and the Colorado School of Mines, and had a long career as a geophysicist.

Her debut short story “The Fare” appeared in the November 1979 issue of Asimov’s. From 2012 to 2022, she self-published six books in the 46. Ascending SF ...Read More

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Tim Underwood (1948-2023)

Publisher and author Tim Underwood, 75, died October 11, 2023 in hospice.

Tim Edward Underwood was born January 12, 1948 in Sault Ste Marie MI. Underwood co-founded small press Underwood Miller in 1976 with Chuck Miller; their first book was a hardcover of The Dying Earth by Jack Vance that same year. They went on to publish works by Philip K. Dick, Robert E. Howard, Robert Silverberg, Roger Zelazny, and ...Read More

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MIchael Flynn (1947-2023)

SF writer Michael Flynn died September 30, 2023 at home in Easton PA.

Michael Francis Flynn was born in 1947 in Easton PA and attended La Salle University, where he earned a BS, and Marquette University, where he got his Master’s degree in topology. He worked as an engineer and statistician, and lived in Colorado and New Jersey before returning to settle in his hometown.

He began publishing short fiction ...Read More

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Ira M. Thornhill (1953-2023)

Publisher and fan Ira M. Thornhill, 69, died July 25, 2023 in Mississippi following a long illness.

Ira Mitchell “Mitch” Thornhill was born December 23, 1953 in Mississippi, attended Louisiana State University, and worked as a nurse. He became involved in fandom in the 1970s while living in New Orleans and Minneapolis, working on fanzines including Bozo Bus Tribune, Fear and Loathing in the Night, New Matrix, and Rainbow. He ...Read More

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Michael D. Toman (1949-2023)

Writer and librarian Michael D. Toman, 73, died September 2, 2023. He wrote several short stories published in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s.

Toman was born October 8, 1949, and attended the Clarion Science Fiction Writers Workshop in 1973. He worked as a librarian for the South Pasadena Public Library until he retired around 2015, where he tirelessly supported the work of SF writers.

His own work appeared in Science ...Read More

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John R. Douglas (1948-2023)

Editor and fan John R. Douglas, 74, died August 3, 2023 in New York.

During a career that spanned nearly 40 years, he edited for publishers including Simon & Schuster, Avon, and Harper Prism, as well as online publications. He was also a journalist, editing news magazine Science Fiction Chronicle from 2002 to 2005, and served as a longtime board member for the World Fantasy Convention. He received a World ...Read More

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Sydney J. Van Scyoc (1939-2023)

Author Sydney J. Van Scyoc, 83, died June 17, 2023.

Sydney Joyce Brown was born July 27, 1939 in Mt Vernon IN and later settled in the San Francisco Bay Area. She began publishing with “Shatter the Wall” in Galaxy in 1962, and produced numerous stories throughout the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. Debut novel Saltflower appeared in 1971, and was followed by Assignment Nor’Dyren (1973), Starmother (1976), Cloudcry (1977), Sunwaifs ...Read More

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Alan Arkin (1934-2023)

Alan Arkin, 89, died June 29, 2023. Though best known as an actor and director, Arkin also wrote SF, including stories “Whiskaboom” (1955) and “People Soup” (1958) in Galaxy, “The Amazing Grandy” (2001) in F&SF, and novel The Clearing (1986).

Alan Wolf Arkin was born March 26, 1934 in Brooklyn NY, and moved with his family to Los Angeles when he was 11. He took acting classes at Los Angeles ...Read More

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Frances Collin (1935-2023)

Literary agent FRANCES COLLIN, 87, died February 27, 2023 in Wayne PA. Frances Wene was born July 11, 1935 in Philadelphia PA. She graduated from Hunter College, and got her start in publishing in the typing pool at St. Martin’s Press. She also worked at Knopf before joining literary agency Brandt & Brandt, then moved to Marie Rodell’s agency in 1975. Collin later took over the agency, where she ...Read More

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