I'm a very low key author. I have a few stories submitted and I have swapped emails with writers whose talent I will never match and I do visit our site each morning to see who has posted something new or shared something personal in a blog.
But I was aghast this afternoon (Australian time) to discover on another site that Howard Faxom had left us at the end of March this year!! I looked but couldn't find any acknowledgement here regarding his passing which strikes me as both tragic and appalling.
Howard was the quintessential campfire storyteller who had several basic themes which he fiddled with and rewrote as the spirit moved him. But he was at home with pure SF, Fantasy, retirement blues and "it's the end of the world" among other themes as well as casting an eye over heavily mined themes such s Darkover, cmsix and Ringworlds.
We did exchange emails and he was unfailingly patient and generous with a very occasional correspondent. I am struggling to come to terms with the fact that he died over 6 months ago and no-one paused to mourn his passing.
Well. I do!!
Vale Howard. SOL is a better place for your sharing of your yarns and your patience with younger writers.
And frankly, as an SOL member, we CAN do better when one of our senior members signs off