William B. Sanders (1942-2017​) aka, William Sundown, was a writer and editor of science fiction. His work frequently drew on his own Native American heritage, coupled with a dry humor and biting cynicism. His novels included alternate histories, Journey to Fusang (1988), which Roger Zelazny called “a clever romp through maybes and might-have-beens” and which received […]

Susan Casper (b.1947) died on February 24 following a long illness. A member of SFWA throughout her life, her first published story was “Spring-Fingered Jack,” which appeared in the Charles L. Grant anthology, Fears in 1983.  Over the next twenty years, she continued to publish short fiction, usually alone, but occasionally in collaboration with her […]

Ed Bryant (b.August 27, 1945) died on February 10.  Bryant attended the Clarion Writers Workshop in 1968 and published his first short story, “The Only Come in Dreams” in Adam Magazine in 1970.  Bryant was nominated for his first SFWA Nebula Award for the short story “Shark” in 1974 and won back to back short […]

Agent Linn Prentis (b.1944) died on December 24. Prentis began her long career as an agent working for the Virginia Kidd Agency, leaving after fifteen years to strike out on her own.

Richard Adams (1920 – 2016) died on December 24.  Adams was the author of Watership Down, Shardik, and The Plague Dogs. Adams was studying history at Worcester College, Oxford when World War II began.  He was called up to join the Royal Army Service Corps, but despite postings in the Middle East, Europe, and the […]

Sheri S. Tepper (b.1929), critically acclaimed author of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery novels, died October 22, 2016, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she ran a guest ranch.

Nebula Award-winning screenwriter and actor Gene Wilder (b. 1933) died on August 29. Wilder portrayed Dr. Frankenstein in Mel Brooks’s comedy Young Frankenstein as well as the fox in The Little Prince and the title role in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Clarence Howard “Bud” Webster died on February 13. Webster wrote the Bubba Pritchert series, but may be better known as an sf historian, having written numerous columns about science fiction authors and book collecting.

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 […]

Tor Books editor David G. Hartwell (b.1941) suffered a fall and subsequent brain injury January 19th and died January 20th, 2016.

Hartwell worked for numerous publishers over the years, including Signet, Berkley/Putnam, and Gregg Press. While at Simon and Schuster in the early 1980s, he helped create the Timescape line before he wound up at Tor Books.