Laurel Amberdine (1970-2025)

Author and longtime Locus editor Laurel Amberdine, 54, died January 21, 2025 of cancer.

Born 1970, Amberdine was a devout Catholic who grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and later lived in the Bay Area and Portland OR. She joined Locus in 2015, where she worked as an assistant editor and web editor; she was instrumental in revamping Locusmag.com and keeping it up and running. She was also an assistant editor for Lightspeed. Amberdine began publishing SF short fiction with “Airship Hope” in 2013, and was also a poet and novelist. She wrote essays, like “Science Fiction Saved My Life” for Uncanny, and interviewed many people in the SF/fantasy field.

She is survived by her husband Chris.

Laurel will be missed immeasurably by her colleagues here at the magazine, for her warmth, her wit, her intelligence, and her friendship.

Donations in her honor may be made at https://opwest.org/, select “Dominican education and formation” and write in “For the Novitiate at St. Dominic’s San Francisco, in memory of Laurel Amberdine”.