Author Howard Hopkins (b.1961) died on January 12 while shoveling snow. Hopkins edited the anthology Dark Harbors and wrote the novels Night Demons, Grimm, and The Dark Riders. He wrote the The Nightmare Club series for children and has also written for comics.
Author Diane Duane, who wrote the “Young Wizards” series, numerous Star Trek novels, and has recently been publishing the “Omnitopia” series discovered that scammers have managed to get into her bank account, leaving her with a balance of nothing. Although the bank will eventually be able to restore his account, until that time, she is having a cash flow problem for bills and is asking people to visit her on-line store, offering a 20% discount, as well.
The Alpha Young Writers Workshop is holding an auction to raise money for its scholarship fund. The auction, which will begin on Friday, January 13, includes titles by George R.R. Martin, Elizabeth Bear, Patrick Rothfuss, Cory Doctorow, Catherine Asaro, and critiques by Theodora Goss, Bruce Holland Rogers, Leslie What, and more.
The Chicago Literary Hall of Fame will be presenting Gene Wolfe with the first Fuller Award for lifetime achievement in literature on March 17 at an Evening to Honor Gene Wolfe. The event will take place at the Sanfilippo Estate in Barrington Hills, IL and will be hosted by Gary K. Wolfe. Authors scheduled to pay tribute to Wolfe include Neil Gaiman, Luis Urrea, Michael Swanwick, Audrey Niffenegger, Jody Lynn Nye, and Patrick O’Leary with a performance of an adaptation of Wolfe’s story “The Toy Theatre” by Lawrence Santoro. Tickets begin at $65.
Editor and Agent Glenn Lord (b.1931) died on December 31. Lord was the agent for Robert E. Howard’s estate and edited several collections of Howard’s stories, as well as writing The Last Celt: A Bio-Bibliography of Robert Ervin Howard. Lord’s essays about Howard and those who knew him appeared in a variety of fanzines, magazines, and books. Lord also worked to re-publish Howard’s story in their original form and to find lost Howard works and fragments.
French author Henri-Richard Bessière (b.1923) died on December 22. Bessière, who began publishing under the name F. Richard-Bessière and later went by Richard Bessière, was the first author published by Fleuve Noir’s Anticipation line in 1951 and proceeded to publish 98 titles between 1951 and 1985. Bessière wrote three major series for Anticipation, the Professor Béac books, the Sydney Gordon books, and the Harry Stewart books, as well as numerous stand-alone novels. His work was discussed in English in the recent volume The Anticipation Novelists of 1950s French Science Fiction, by Bradford Lyau.
French author Louis Thirion (b.1923) died on December 9. Thirion published his first novel, Waterloo, morne plaine in 1964 and continued to publish for more than 40 years. In addition to his novels, he also wrote radio plays. Beginning in 1968, most of his fiction was published by Fleuve Noir, including his Jord Maogan series, Les Stols, Les Whums se vengent, Ysée-A, Sterga la noire, and Le Secret d’Ipavar. His work was often focused on eco-disasters and was dystopian in nature. In the 2000s, he published three historical novels.
Italian author Gianluca Casseri (b.1961) killed himself on December 14 after murdering two Senegalese immigrants to Italy and wounding three others. His shooting spree led to a march by the Florentine Senegalese community. Casseri wrote the fantasy novel The Key of Chaos. He also wrote an academic paper about Dracula folklore and was the editor of a magazine about fantasy and horror fiction and comics.
Author Thomas J. Bassler (b.1932), who wrote science fiction as T. J. Bass died on December 13. Bass’s two novels, Half Past Human and The Godwhale were both nominated for the Nebula Award. In addition, Bass published a handful of short stories. A doctor, Bassler was an early proponent of the use of Marathon-running for health purposes.
Author Russell Hoban (b.1925) died on December 13. Hoban’s novel Riddley Walker won the John W. Campbell, Jr. Award and the Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award, it was also nominated for the Nebula Award. His novels covered a range of genres, including science fiction, historical fiction, magic realism, and fantasy.