R.I.P. Gardner Dozois
Dennis Fischer <[email protected]> Sun, 27 May 2018 23:15:05 +0000
| Newsgroups | gmane.culture.sf.literature |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
------=_Part_5876170_1732629329.1527462905795 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Gardner Dozois, editor of distinction, pillar of the science fiction commun= ity, has died, aged 70.Not only did he assemble several shelves of monument= al, definitive anthologies, but he will be remembered as a party animal and= raconteur of note.This must be remembered above all: that although he wasn= =E2=80=99t prolific, he was an award winning writer in his own right. Somet= imes he kept us waiting for years for his next short story, but when they c= ame, they were seldom disappointing.Gardner=E2=80=99s writing was by turns = hauntingly beautiful:=E2=80=9CI remember the sky, and the sun burning in th= e sky like a golden penny flicked into a deep blue pool, and the scuttling = white clouds that changed into magic ships and whales and turreted castles = as they drifted up across that bottomless ocean and swam the equally bottom= less sea of my mind's eye. I remember the winds that skimmed the clouds, sm= oothing and rippling them into serene grandeur or boiling them into froth. = I remember the same wind dipping low to caress the grass, making it sway an= d tremble, or whipping through the branches of the trees and making them si= ng with a wild, keening organ note. I remember the silence that was like a = bronzen shout echoing among the hills.=E2=80=9D (=E2=80=9CA Dream at Noonda= y=E2=80=9D, 1970)=E2=80=94or, among other things, achingly sad:=E2=80=9CWha= t had happened to them, the once-alive who had darted unheeded through life= like shoals of tiny bright fish in some strange aquarium? They were gone, = vanished without memory; they had settled to the bottom of the tank, along = with the other anonymous sediments of the world. They were sludge now, detr= itus. Gone. They had not affected anything in life, and their going changed= nothing. It made no difference that they had ever lived at all, and soon n= o one would remember that they ever had. And it would be the same with him.= When he was gone, the dent in the mattress would be worn a little deeper, = that was all=E2=80=94that would have to do for a memorial.=E2=80=9D (=E2=80= =9CA Knight of Ghosts and Shadows=E2=80=9D, 1999)But Gardner will be with u= s on the printed page, as long as there are books. Real books, not screens.= What=E2=80=99s that you say? You haven=E2=80=99t read =E2=80=9CMorning Chil= d=E2=80=9D? Then you know what to do. ------=_Part_5876170_1732629329.1527462905795 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <html><head></head><body><div style=3D"color:#000; background-color:#fff; f= ont-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font= -size:13px"><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 6px; font-family:= Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(29, 33, 41); font-size: 14px;" id= =3D"yui_3_16_0_1_1527346109515_138932">Gardner Dozois, editor of distinctio= n, pillar of the science fiction community, has died, aged 70.</div><div st= yle=3D"margin-top: 6px; margin-bottom: 6px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, = sans-serif; color: rgb(29, 33, 41); font-size: 14px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_1_15= 27346109515_138933">Not only did he assemble several shelves of monumental,= definitive anthologies, but he will be remembered as a party animal and ra= conteur of note.</div><div style=3D"margin-top: 6px; margin-bottom: 6px; fo= nt-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(29, 33, 41); font-size:= 14px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_1_1527346109515_138934">This must be remembered ab= ove all: that although he wasn=E2=80=99t prolific, he was an award winning = writer in his own right. Sometimes he kept us waiting for years for his nex= t short story, but when they came, they were seldom disappointing.</div><di= v style=3D"display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; colo= r: rgb(29, 33, 41); font-size: 14px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_1_1527346109515_1389= 35"><div style=3D"margin-bottom: 6px; font-family: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16= _0_1_1527346109515_138936">Gardner=E2=80=99s writing was by turns hauntingl= y beautiful:</div><div style=3D"margin-top: 6px; margin-bottom: 6px; font-f= amily: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_1_1527346109515_138937">=E2=80=9CI rememb= er the sky, and the sun burning in the sky like a golden penny flicked into= a deep blue pool, and the scuttling white clouds that changed into magic s= hips and whales and turreted castles as they drifted up across that bottoml= ess ocean and swam the equally bottomless sea of my mind's eye. I remember = the winds that skimmed the clouds, smoothing and rippling them into serene = grandeur or boiling them into froth. I remember the same wind dipping low t= o caress the grass, making it sway and tremble, or whipping through the bra= nches of the trees and making them sing with a wild, keening organ note. I = remember the silence that was like a bronzen shout echoing among the hills.= =E2=80=9D (=E2=80=9CA Dream at Noonday=E2=80=9D, 1970)</div><div style=3D"m= argin-top: 6px; margin-bottom: 6px; font-family: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0= _1_1527346109515_138938">=E2=80=94or, among other things, achingly sad:</di= v><div style=3D"margin-top: 6px; margin-bottom: 6px; font-family: inherit;"= id=3D"yui_3_16_0_1_1527346109515_138939">=E2=80=9CWhat had happened to the= m, the once-alive who had darted unheeded through life like shoals of tiny = bright fish in some strange aquarium? They were gone, vanished without memo= ry; they had settled to the bottom of the tank, along with the other anonym= ous sediments of the world. They were sludge now, detritus. Gone. They had = not affected anything in life, and their going changed nothing. It made no = difference that they had ever lived at all, and soon no one would remember = that they ever had. And it would be the same with him. When he was gone, th= e dent in the mattress would be worn a little deeper, that was all=E2=80=94= that would have to do for a memorial.=E2=80=9D (=E2=80=9CA Knight of Ghosts= and Shadows=E2=80=9D, 1999)</div><div style=3D"margin-top: 6px; margin-bot= tom: 6px; font-family: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_1_1527346109515_138940">B= ut Gardner will be with us on the printed page, as long as there are books.= Real books, not screens.</div><div style=3D"margin-top: 6px; margin-bottom= : 6px; font-family: inherit;" dir=3D"ltr" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_1_1527346109515_= 138941">What=E2=80=99s that you say? You haven=E2=80=99t read =E2=80=9CMorn= ing Child=E2=80=9D? Then you know what to do.</div></div></div></body></htm= l> ------=_Part_5876170_1732629329.1527462905795--