Janet Kagan died on February 29, 2008, of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, after a long illness. She was 63.

Her Mama Jason stories such as “The Lock Moose Monster” and “Return of the Kangaroo Rex” were some of the most popular stories ever published in Asimov’s, and were eventually gathered in the collection Mirabile.

Another Asimov’s story, “The Nutcracker Coup,” won her a Hugo Award in 1993. She wrote one of the most popular Star Trek novels ever, and one of the best, Uhura’s Song. Her single solo non-Star Trek novel, Hellspark, was also widely popular. In fact, readers who liked Janet’s work really liked it. She had many devoted fans, and I’m sure that if she had been able to continue writing, she’d have added several more Hugos to her bag by now.

–Gardner Dozois

Posted March 1, 2008