Merl “Bill” Baldwin, Jr. (b.1935) died on October 14.

A lifetime active member of SFWA, Baldwin wrote the Helmsman series, beginning in 1985 and continuing through eight books, ending with The Turning Tide in 2011.  He also wrote the stand-alone novels Canby’s Legion and The Enigma Strategy.

Baldwin served as a lieutenant at the US Air Force Missile Test Center before taking a position as Chief of the Reports Division for NASA’s project Mercury.  After leaving NASA, he continued to work for the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center as a contractor.