Anne McCaffrey 1926-2011

[Raphael]

Anne McCaffrey, author of the Dragons of Pern; The Tower And Hive series; The Talent Series; The Brainship Series; The Catenni Series; The Crystal Singer Series; The Ireta Series; The Doona series; The Acorna series; the Petaybee series; died on Monday 21 of a stroke at age 85.

She was the first SciFi author to ever make the New York Times Best Seller list with The White Dragon.

I remain a huge fan of her writings, and I hope that her son Todd, her daughter Gigi and grand daughter Ceara carry on the legacy she left with the Pern series.

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/11/ann...in-remembrance

Del Rey has a statement from her family:

McCaffrey Family

Anne McCaffrey ended a long and enormously successful life early Monday evening, November 21st, at her home in County Wicklow, Ireland. Surrounded by the reassuring presence of family and close friends, her passing was swift and without suffering. We, her children, are hugely comforted by the outpouring of sympathy flowing now from all over the world. Our mother’s talent was known to countless fans. Yet her greatest gift to us all has to have been her enormous heart. That she was able to touch so many with her tender and loving heart is the greatest source of pride we will forever enjoy. Words cannot express how grateful we are to the universe of her admirers, whose heartfelt condolences beguile us in our grief, which pales beside the joy we know Anne McCaffrey brought to so many people.

Anne’s son Todd adds this: “Mum always said, ‘Don’t just pay back a favor—pass it on!’ In light of that spirit, we ask that, instead of condolences or flowers, that commemorators make a donation to their favorite charity. We know that we haven’t lost Mum—that she has truly passed on her legacy of love and honor to all those who were touched by her—and that we have only to open one of her books to find her again.” A celebration of Anne’s life will be held next year.

© source where applicable

[Leonhard]

On urgings from Rumtumtugger I bought and read the first trilogy, and recently I finished the Harper trilogy. A wonderful universe, great stories, good read. Very sorry that I couldn't appreciate her death, the world of science fiction (or is it fantasy?) is smaller without her.