SF Great Poul Anderson, 1926-2001

Hugo and Nebula winner, fantasy/sf author for nearly half a century, Poul Anderson passed away today. Among his works I really enjoyed were the classic Tau Zero and The Boat of a Million Years. CaptainCarrot passed along the sad news: "Word had gone out to the science fiction comminity a short time ago that Poul Anderson was very ill and was probably in his last days. Earlier today, Anderson's son-in law Greg Bear posted the following to a board at sff.net:

"Friends,

Poul Anderson passed away last night, July 31-August 1, around midnight. During the afternoon, he received hundreds of emails and messages from friends and readers and fellow writers, which Astrid and Karen printed out and read to him. He died knowing (and how!) that he was loved and valued, and hearing how much his work had entertained and moved so many. Though he was weak at the end, there was no loss of mental capacity, and my last conversation with him was slow but sparkling with the curiosity and deep-seated gentlemanliness that Poul always had, and which was, I think, built into his whole body and being.

He is survived by his wife and writing partner, Karen, his daughter Astrid, brother John, grandchildren Erik and Alexandra, nieces Janet and Cathy, and by millions of readers.'

Poul Anderson was an extraordinarily rare kind of man, a brilliant writer with an impressive intellect who was yet always open, friendly, approachable, and a downright decent human being. I had the pleasure of meeting him and his wife Karen on several occasions over the years at BayCon, and I will always treasure the experience. I extend my sympathies to Karen and condolences to his family.

You can look up Poul's impressive bibliography or read an interview he did for Locus a few years ago. You can also read an obituary at the Locus site, or this notice at SFWA."

Comments

May He Go Among the Imperishable Stars

[Louis Savain]

May he go forth in the sunrise boat,
May he come port in the sunset boat,
May he go among the imperishable stars,
May he journey in the Boat of a Million Years.

-The Book of Going Forth by Daylight

He will be missed

Re:Another... how many are left?

[Reality Master 101]

Agreed. Unfortunately, the "Science Fiction/Fantasy" section in the bookstore is about 98% fantasy nowadays (WHY do they throw those two together???) Good, hard science fiction is pretty rare nowadays, although not unheard of. I particularly like the Uplift series of books by Brin, who is a relatively young guy.

I've come to the point where I pretty much hate fantasy. I simply can't read another unicorn/elf/wizard book with the same plot about "geeky guy becomes hero" that basically tried to fill some geeky writer's personality holes. :)

Memo to bookstore owners: Separate the sections!!!

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