Anne McCaffrey Has Died

[The Straight Story]

Anne McCaffrey Has Died
By Jason Boog on November 22, 2011 5:11 PM

Fantasy novelist Anne McCaffrey has passed away. She was 85 years old. GalleyCat confirmed the sad news with Random House this afternoon.

McCaffrey’s career began with Restoree in 1967. She went on to earn a dedicated following for her beloved series, Dragonriders of Pern. At her website, McCaffrey answered letters from dedicated fans through November. This GalleyCat editor will never forget reading her books as a middle-school kid. Share your memories in the comments section…

You can read her complete biography at her site. An excerpt: “Her first novel, Restoree, was written as a protest against the absurd and unrealistic portrayals of women in s-f novels in the 50s and early 60s. It is, however, in the handling of broader themes and the worlds of her imagination, particularly the two series The Ship Who Sang and the fourteen novels about the Dragonriders of Pern that Ms. McCaffrey’s talents as a story-teller are best displayed.”

On her blog, she offered this advice for aspiring writers: “First — keep reading. Writers are readers. Writers are also people who can’t not write. Second, follow Heinlein’s rules for getting published: 1. Write it. 2. Finish it. 3. Send it out. 4. Keep sending it out until someone sends you a check. There are variations on that, but that’s basically what works.”

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/anne-mccaffrey-has-died_b42826

[Brickbat]

1. Oh, she inspired so many stories that played out in my head...

[Fire Walk With Me]

2. Bless her. RIP.

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. RIP. I think I read one of the ship who sang books.

[sunwyn]

4. May her dragon speed her home

[ensho]

36. what a nice thing to say - thank you - I've read most of her books

nt

[Electric Monk]

5. I'm sorry to hear that. She was one of my favorite authors as a teenager.

I still fondly remember The Pern series, The Brain & Brawn series, The Crystal Singer series...


R.I.P.

[MuseRider]

6. Pern

Pern occupied a lot of my time as well as some of her other books. The Ship Who Sang, I think that is what it was called, it has been a while. Those two series I never completely finished and do not know how many I missed but I may have to look into them again and finish them. I wish I had written to thank her for the hours of time out of this world that she gave me over the years.

RIP Anne McCaffery

[The Doctor.]

7. I loved her.

I remember comparing Bill Gates to Polyon DeGras Waldheim many times.

I was never really sure if she was an actual individual, or just a brand like Agatha Christie and Mercedes Lackey.

I never bothered to read 'about the author' in many books I've read. But know I know.

[csziggy]

8. Oh, no!

I knew she had not been writing much recently. Her son Todd has continued the Dragonriders series and some of the writers she mentored co-wrote additions to some of her series.

When I am stressed, I tend to go back and re-read her series. They take me to realities that help me deal with the one I am stuck in.

RIP Anne. :cry:

[The Straight Story]

10. Complete list of her books here:

http://mccaffrey.srellim.org/biblioseries.htm

Didn't realize there were 26 Pern books. Wow.

[csziggy]

20. Yes, she was a prolific writer

And from what I understand many of the co-written books were plotted by her but she just was not quite up to finishing them. The ones I read by her son Todd were on ideas in her original books that he chose to explore on his own.

Aside from the Pern books, there were the Crystal Singer series, Doona series, Planet Pirate series, and several more. I particularly like the books from the Planet Pirate series co-written with Jody Lynn Nye.

She was one of those writers whose books tend to not make the top of the lists, but they do make an impact for a very long time. The other one that was a favorite of mine was Marion Zimmer Bradley and her Darkover series.

[haikugal]

9. She will be missed...

[eridani]

11. She was a trained opera singer as well

And a fantastic speaker. Not fair to expect those who write well to also speak well, but she and Asimov could fill either role with great panache. I'll miss her.

[The Straight Story]

12. I remember getting dragon riders of pern from the sci-fi book club when I was a kid

A good writer that could suck me into a whole other world.

[Donnachaidh]

13. she answered a fan letter of mine years ago

I sent her a picture of my newborn son and said he would be the 3rd generation Dragonrider reader in the future. She was absolutely tickled about that.

[riderinthestorm]

14. She really created whole, believable worlds. I remember reading the books with my then 14 yr old

daughter as she was getting them out of the library. So was my husband. How rare for a writer to capture the imagination of everyone in the family!

That was Anne McCaffrey's way though.

[CrispyQ]

15. Ohhhhh.

:cry:

I spent many joyful hours in Pern.

RIP dear lady.

[TheKentuckian]

16. Thanks Anne for your worlds you shared with us

Love from Pern.

[ladyVet]

17. a sad day

She was a great inspiration for me as a female writer, along with Andre Norton and Marion Zimmer Bradley. Anne created rich, full worlds, and this world will be a bit darker for her passing.

[Archae]

18. Her gold dragon has gone between for the final time...

(Dragonriders of Pern reference)

[The Straight Story]

19. Masterharper of Pern CD- The Question Song (youtube)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69jtEJ3xink&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL9D62D1B0C5A447D3

[DonRedwood]

21. I wrote to her when I was 12 and she wrote back a lovely letter.

I got very sick on a holiday to Hawaii and my mom picked me up a stack of Anne McCaffrey books. I devoured them and wrote her a letter from my bed in Honolulu. It was the first overseas letter I ever sent and when her reply showed up she had sent me a lovely note and two signed bookplates with dragon pictures on them.

She was a class act, that's for sure. I think I might have to pick up one of her books and read it in her memory.

[The Straight Story]

22. That is awesome, from all I have seen she was a class act indeed.

I have a bunch of her books on my Kindle, think I will do some reading over the holiday season.

[Reader Rabbit]

23. So sad. She was a fantastic human being.

I was lucky enough to meet her when I studied abroad in Ireland for my junior year of college. Not only was she a great writer, but she worked with young and upcoming writers, too, helping them break in to the business.

[The Straight Story]

24. Some quotes I found from her: "Make no judgements where you have no compassion."

I think the Internet, particularly the availability of information, is great. I do a lot of correspondence on-line and have a chat line to talk to my fans as well.
Anne McCaffrey

But Ship Who Sang remains my favorite story. I really rocked folks with that and still cannot read it aloud myself without weeping at the end.
Anne McCaffrey

I also don't have organized religion on Pern. I figured - since there were four holy wars going on at the time of writing - that religion was one problem Pern didn't need.
Anne McCaffrey

Make no judgements where you have no compassion.
Anne McCaffrey

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/anne_mccaffrey.html

[libinnyandia]

25. I was a big fan of hers as well as Andre Norton.

[LWolf]

37. Yes.

I don't find many people who have read, or remember, Andre Norton.

[jobycom]

26. I was a big fan of her work growing up. RIP. nt

[Withywindle]

27. That's very sad. She'd been in ill health for a while, but still.

:cry:


She was a huge pioneer for women in science-fiction and fantasy, and she was also one of the first to have positive, sort-of openly gay characters in mainstream SF novels (and yes, she said some bizarre stuff about gay men in later years....not malicious, just completely off-the-wall...but I attribute at least some of that to age). She was the first woman to win both the Hugo and Nebula awards.


She was also a kind person who responded warmly and personally to her fans (especially to kids and aspiring writers), and had a pretty amazing work ethic.

I think a great reward for writers like her would be to get to live in the worlds they built so lovingly and in such detail after death.

[The Straight Story]

28. Amen to that (nt)

[JCMach1]

29. I still want my white dragon...

:(

[burrowowl]

30. RIP

She was a Great Lady.

[Exultant Democracy]

31. May you fly on dragons wings. We are all very lucky to have had you for as long as we did.

[CAcyclist]

32. Oh so sorry to hear that. Loved her books.nm

nm

[quinnox]

33. I've heard her books are great, and am a fantasy fan

I'll have to pick one up and read it, I'm sorry to hear she passed away.


Edited: got confused on what books she had written

[LWolf]

34. Earthsea is Ursula LeGuin, who, thankfully, is still with us. nt

[quinnox]

38. thanks for that, you are right

I was confused on what she had wrote.

[LWolf]

39. You're welcome, of course. nt

[LWolf]

35. I'm sorry to read this.

She has a protected place on my shelves, and in my heart.

I wonder if Todd will continue without her.

[Lorien]

40. Though I never read her books, a couple of artist friends painted book jackets

for her titles years ago. They considered her a friend wrote some very kind words about her yesterday. She lived a very full life and really made an impression on the people whose lives she touched; I guess that's the best that any of us can hope for!

[Odin2005]

41. Oh no! I love her Dragonrider books!

:(

[PurgedVoter]

42. I met her and talked to her at several cons

She was always gracious and always had time for people. She really was a class act.

[Codeine]

43. Nasty old homophobe.

http://wiki.feministsf.net/index.php?title=Anne_McCaffrey#McCaffrey_tent_peg_quote