Octavia Butler, prominent science fiction author, dies at 58

[uppityperson]

If we can post obits about actors, can about really good authors who did a lot of good. Octavia Butler was one of these and this is too bad.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002831136_webbutlerobit26.html

EATTLE – Octavia E. Butler, the first black woman to gain national prominence as a science fiction writer, died after falling and striking her head on the cobbled walkway outside her home, a close friend said Sunday. She was 58.

Butler was found outside her home in the north Seattle suburb of Lake Forest Park on Friday. She had suffered from high blood pressure and heart trouble and could only take a few steps without stopping for breath, said Leslie Howle, who knew Butler for two decades and works at the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle.

Butler's work wasn't preoccupied with robots and ray guns, Howle said, but used the genre's artistic freedom to explore race, poverty, politics, religion and human nature."She stands alone for what she did," Howle said. "She was such a beacon and a light in that way."

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Peter Heck, a science fiction and mystery writer in Chestertown, Md., said Butler was recognized for tackling difficult and controversial issues, such as slavery....

more at link

[spindrifter]

1. She was also a MacArthur Foundation "genius" award winner

Yes. This is truly a loss. I had no idea she had so many health problems.

[uppityperson]

2. She was a very interesting writer. Both her and her writings.

I just read her recent one on vampires, like Kindred and Parables the best. Taking on politics, racism and religion/spirituality. Parables had a whole lot of interesting stuff in it and I've thought it evenmore pertinent with the current administration. This is really too bad. Having recently had a head injury myself, it is easy to say accidents happen and this is really too bad.

[melody]

3. RIP, Octavia

We need many more gentle lights in this world and can't afford to lose any we have.

I trust you're in a much better place now. Almost anywhere would be better than here right now.

[WHAT]

4. ...

kick for a favorite.

[Withywindle]

5. Oh, that's awful news!

She was one of the greats - she really dug deep.

I didn't know she had so many health problems...still, much too young.

[wickerwoman]

6. Octavia Butler was one of my heroes. And she was so young!

I didn't realize she lived in Seattle.

A great writer gone way too soon...

[Hekate]

7. What a terrible loss

Octavia Butler was truly an original in the genre, a splendid talent.

I first heard of her when she received a MacArthur "genius grant" and she got a write-up in the LA Times Sunday magazine. I was so intrigued I began reading her books right away.

Years later, Gwen Ifill interviewed her in relation to some NASA/space travel question that came up in the news, and I remember thinking how wonderful that was...

I'm so very sorry she is gone. Rest sweetly, brave one, all adventures done...

Hekate

[Boomer]

8. Such a loss

This writer understood the true power of fantasy and sf: to explore complicated and controversial human issues.

[theHandpuppet]

9. RIP, Ms Butler

A real loss for us, but may her passing be just the beginning of her new journey.

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. I really loved the characters she developed.

I especially liked the way she always found a way to give them depth. For every super human power that she bestowed on a character, there was a human toll to pay for their enlightened gift. Kind of reminds you that with absolute power, there follows corruption or madness.

Like Monk. It's a gift and a curse.

She'll be missed.

[Lerkfish]

11. oh, man. I just read one of her books a year ago. Powerful writer.

that's sad.

[kimpossible]

12. Wow, what a crushing loss

My first exposure to Octavia Butler was reading Kindred in high school. It's such a powerful work, I think it made a lasting impression on all of us naive suburban mostly-white kids.

"Octavia E. Butler writes: I'm a 53-year-old writer who can remember
being a 10-year-old writer and who expects someday to be an
80-year-old writer."

The world is a poorer place, for the lack of her future writing that will never be.

http://darkush.blogspot.com/2006/02/octavia-butler-died-saturday.html

:cry:

[sui generis]

13. I think Wild Seed was one of my favorites

Anyanwu and Doro were memorable characters.

[northernsoul]

14. her 'Parables' books still haunt me

Sometimes I feel like those books are just a few steps away from coming true.

[raccoon]

17. Same here! PARABLE OF THE SOWER was so

disturbingly close to the present, and it's easy to imagine such a scenario becoming real.

I'd recommend the book to anyone.


Edited for typo.

[KamaAina]

19. Pull out "Parable of the Talents"

re-read it, paying special attention to "Christian America", and tell me it's not just a few steps away from coming true. :scared:

And now who will write the unauthorized Bush** bio, "Parable of the Talentless"? :(

[northernsoul]

20. The Parable books should be mandatory reading for all DUers

I can't imagine a clearer depiction of the future we must fight against.

[BoneDaddy]

15. RIP dear sister

A great sci fi writer... added such a new touch to an old subject.

[CrispyQ]

16. Some of the best sci fi I've read.

I'm sorry to hear this news.

[eppur_se_muova]

18. Such sad news...a great mind in a fragile body.

If there is a silver lining, it is that when people hear the news and suddenly start talking about their favorite stories it intrigues others to look into them, giving that author a "second life"...

It also got me to thinking about "James Tiptree, Jr.", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Tiptree%2C_Jr._Award Andre Norton (Alice Mary Norton), who passed away not too long ago, and C. J. Cherryh. All were pressured to hide their gender in order to appeal to the SF market (though "Tiptree" had more subtle, complicated motives), which was always dominated by young (mostly teenage) white males (Ah, the good ole' days...:sarcasm:). Nowadays, women authors aren't pressured to conform so overtly as they once were, and some of the best SF around these days is written by women. I don't think that could change after 100 Republican administrations...on the important issues, the people are ahead of the leaders.

[Hekate]

21. Being a girl sci fi reader in the mid-50s to mid-60s was a bit lonely

It had to have been *extremely* lonely for a girl sci fi writer! She was my age, and at that time there were so few role-models in the genre for us.

I was lucky -- the guys my dad worked with at Lockheed used to swap sci fi paperbacks a boxful at a time, and he subscribed to Analog. I read some very good stuff by men who are rightly judged to be masters of the craft. I was reading it all at such an early age I almost didn't know what I was missing in terms of the kind of world-view women would eventually bring to the genre.

After a certain point I started keeping my eye out for the at-first scarce women authors, and bit by bit they began to fill that niche beautifully and to overflowing. Ursula LeGuin is practically a goddess, imo. I discovered Octavia Butler's work fairly late, but with great appreciation for her tremendous talent and way of expressing it.

I'm glad she wrote as much as she managed to before she had to leave us; she leaves a treasure behind.

Hekate

[Fire Walk With Me]

22. Her books are wonderful, if you haven't found them yet.

RIP, and thank you Octavia.

Also RIP, Andreas Katsulas of Babylon 5 etc. fame. Dennis Weaver and Don Knots as well. What a week.