Robert Silverberg has been named the Toastmaster for this year’s Nebula Awards Weekend, scheduled to take place in San Jose, CA the weekend of May 17-19. Named an SFWA Grand Master in 2004, Silverberg is the author of Lord Valentine’s Castle, Dying Inside, and numerous other works of science fiction and fantasy.
British author Basil Copper (b.1924) died on April 3. Copper’s first story, “The Spider,” appeared in 1964 in the Fifth Pan Book of Horror Stories. Beginning in the 1970s, many of his works were published by August Derleth and Arkham House. Following Derleth’s death, Copper edited Derleth’s Solar Pons stories into a two volume omnibus. In 1975, his collection, From Evil’s Pillow, was nominated for a World Fantasy Award. He also wrote non-fiction works on vampires and werewolves.
Iain M. Banks has announced that he has been diagnosed with late-stage gall bladder cancer and states that he is unlikely to live for more than a year. Originally diagnosed with jaundice, later tests revealed the extent of his illness. Banks has married his long-time companion Adele and has announced the cancellation of all future engagements. The author of The Wasp Factory, Feersum Endjinn, and the Culture series, Banks has been announced as the Guest of Honor for the 2014 Worldcon in London. Banks and Loncon have stated that his attendance is unlikely at the convention.
Author Tananarive Due’s appointment as Cosby Chair for the Humanities at Spelman College has been renewed for the 2013-14 academic year. Due was initially appointed to the chair for a one year appointment in 2012. The Cosby Chair was endowed by Drs. William and Camille Cosby in 1987 and supports professorships in the fine arts, humanities, and the social sciences at the historically African-American college. Candidates are expected to have achieved the pinnacle of success in their careers.
Author and editor Paul S. Williams (b.1948) died on March 27. Williams founded the music magazine Crawdaddy in 1966 and continued to edit it through 1968. He also edited it from 1993-2003. He became friends with Philip K. Dick and served as Dick’s literary executor for the first decade after Dick’s death. From 1983 to 1992 Williams ran the Philip K. Dick Society with Keith Bowden. Williams also edited the massive republication of all Theodore Sturgeon’s short fiction by North Atlantic Press. Williams was injured in a 1995 bicycle accident and eventually began to suffer from Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Author Jennifer Schwabach died on March 26 after several years of ill health. Schwabach was the author of Dark Winter and Curse’s Captive. Her short ficiton appeared in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy Magazine, Flytrap, and other places. She also wrote poetry, which was published in Aeon Six and Dreams and Nightmares.
Horror author David B. Silva (b.1950) died on March 13. Silva edited the magazine The Horror Show from 1983 through 1990 and began publishing short fiction in 1983 with the story “Beth” in Eldritch Tales. His short story “The Calling” won the Bram Stoker Award and his collection Through Shattered Glass won the International Horror Guild Award. Silva’s novels included The Disappeared and Child of Darkness. With Paul F. Olson, he edited two horror anthologies.
Horror author Rick Hautala (b.1949) died on March 21. He began publishing novels in 1980 and received the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Horror Writers of America in 2012. Hautala teamed up with Christopher Golden to write the Body of Evidence series. In addition, he published as A. J. Matthews as well as screenplays.
A dramatization based on Ian R. MacLeod’s alternate history story “Snodgrass” is being made as part of the UK Sky Playhouse. Snodgrass, about a world in which John Lennon left the Beatles before they hit it big. The production, which will air on Sky Arts 1, is based on the first third of the story. The show will be broadcast on April 25. John Lennon will be portrayed by Ian Hart, who previously portrayed Lennon in The Hours and Times (1991) and Backbeat (1994).
British author James Herbert (b.1943) died on March 20 at his home in Sussex. Herbert wrote his first horror novel, The Rats in 10 weeks when he was 28. It was later made into a film, as were three of his other novels. His novels include ’46, The Survivors, and The Secret of Crickley Hall. In 2010, he was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth and a Grand Master by the World Horror Society.