Bruce Taylor (1947-2022)
Writer Bruce Taylor, 75, died August 31, 2022 in Seattle WA after a brief hospital stay. He had a heart condition and was in poor health recently. Known as “Mr. Magic Realism,” Taylor was the author of hundreds of stories and two novels, and was a beloved figure in the Pacific Northwest fandom and writing communities.
Bruce Bradley Taylor was born May 28, 1947. He attended the University of Washington, where he wrote for student newspaper The Daily, graduating with a BA in Sociology in 1969. He worked as a therapist and relaxation specialist for 25 years at Harborview Medical Center, taking early retirement in 2003 to focus on writing full time. He was also a hypnotherapist.
Taylor’s novels are Edward: Dancing on the Edge of Infinity (2007) and Metamorphosis Blues (2011). His many collections include The Final Trick of Funnyman and Other Stories (1996), Kafka’s Uncle and Other Strange Tales (2005), Mr. Magic Realism (2010), Kafka’s Uncle: The Unfortunate Sequel and Other Insults to the Morally Perfect (2016), Kafka’s Uncle: The Ghastly Prequel (2016), Alleymanderous and Other Magical Realities (2017), Tales from the Good Ship KafkaBury (2017), The Infinite Tears of Pablo Azul and Other Lamentations of the Human Condition (2018), Off on a Dream and Other Magical Realities (2018), Of Sand Ships & Silent Silicate Seas (2020), and The Rockin’ SkyHorse Blues… and Other Fabulations (2021). He wrote non-fiction volumes Mountains of the Night (2010) and Magic of Wild Places (2016).
Taylor attended Clarion West in 1972, and was writer-in-residence at Shakespeare & Company in Paris in 1986. He founded and directed The Friends of Kafka’s Uncle Society, an artists’ support group, in l993. In 2001 he founded the Magic Realist Writers International Network, and was president of the Seattle Writers Association from 2001-2004. He was also a writing teacher, made frequent appearances at conventions, and was a constant and vibrant attendee of the Locus Awards when they were held in Seattle.
I just found out that Bruce has passed away. I got to know him mostly during a two year period where we frequented a writer’s support group every week. He was a fun and supportive human being. I see there is an interview with him online that comes up when you type his name and magic realism into google. I had written and tried to publish a 159 page anti-novel and 79 page art manifesto when I was 22, but roughly 15 years later when Bruce and I were meeting (mostly with just one other person), I had only published a fanzine, poetry chapbooks, and numerous attempts at getting a longer work into final form. Most of my focus was on ParaMind Brainstorming Software, a futuristic brainstorming software program that I successfully launched. But, I’m sure due in part to Bruce’s influence and down to Earth approachability which nonetheless had some refinement, I was soon in a large composers’ collective here in Seattle, and then five years later bought 10 ISBN #s to start finishing and publishing my works. I have done that with seven non-fiction works under my belt, all circling that fringe side that Bruce helped foster. The last time I saw Bruce he was at a book signing I did at a small bookstore in Greenwood during their street fair, sometime around 2010. He saw my table with about five of my books and I am not sure whether or not this gave him some kind of impetus, a good spirited competetive kick in the pants, as I think his last ten years or so of life may have been his most productive. I am very glad I got to spend the time with him and although I did not know his full story until today I always looked back on those days as being vital for my professional success.