Jane E. Hawkins (1951-2022)

Author and conrunner Jane E. Hawkins, 70, died January 7, 2022 in Seattle WA. Best known as a convention organizer, she also wrote gaming tie-in novel Quantum Gate (1996).

Jane Emily Hawkins was born March 11, 1951 in Davenport IA and showed an early aptitude for advanced mathematics. She attended Case University as part of the first engineering class to admit women, and worked at Bell Labs in computing. She earned a master’s at Columbia University. Hawkins moved to Seattle, where she volunteered at conventions and ran con suites, and hosted a monthly gathering of Seattle fans, authors, and editors. She was one of the founders of Norwescon and was in charge of their art show in the early years, and was later a fan guest of honor there. She also worked on programming for Wiscon, chaired Potlatch in 1992, and volunteered at numerous other conventions. She married Luke McGuff in 1989; they were later divorced.

Hawkins was a cancer survivor, but received a terminal diagnosis and went into hospice in late 2021. She chose to medically end her life under Washington state’s Death with Dignity provision, attended by her sister and friends.

For more, see her entries in Fancyclopedia 3 and The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.