Robyn Meta Herrington, active member of both SFWA and SF Canada, passed away Monday morning, May 3, 2004, in Calgary, Alberta, after a courageous multi-year battle with cancer. Robyn's short fiction appeared in such places as On Spec, Talebones, Adventures of Sword and Sorcery, Parsec, and in Mike Resnick's DAW Anthologies Return of the Dinosaurs (her first sale), Women Writing Science Fiction as Men, and New Voices in Science Fiction; one of her stories was produced by CBC Radio as part of its "Alberta Anthology" series. Her genre poetry appeared in Tesseracts 6 and Chiaroscuro, and she was working on a novel. Robyn was an acquisitions editor for Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy, and was instrumental in bringing Australian writer K. A. Bedford's first novel, Orbital Burn, to market.

Robyn Herrington with Mike Resnick in 2001

Robyn was a beloved mainstay of Calgary's SF&F workshop, the Imaginative Fiction Writers Association, where she was known for insightful, compassionately presented critiques.  She was also a frequent member of the committee for Con-Version, Calgary's annual SF convention (including in 2002, when Con-Version was the CanVention -- the Canadian National Science Fiction Convention), and was often involved with the con's writers' workshop and annual short-story contest.

Robyn was born in Melbourne in 1961, and grew up in Elizabeth Fields, South Australia; she moved to Calgary 25 years ago. She was employed as a graphics designer by the University of Calgary (and edited the publication New Currents In Teaching Technology there). She was also an accomplished glass blower, and an inveterate traveler.

Robyn had time to draft her own eulogy before passing. At her request, it will be read at her funeral by her friend and mentor, Robert J. Sawyer. The service will be held later this week in Calgary. Robyn is survived by her husband Bruce Herrington, universally known in Calgary as "the wonder spouse," her parents, and sister Sandy VanDamme.

Her home page is at http://www.ucalgary.ca/~rmherrin/

Posted May 3, 2004