Quote:
Originally Posted by nekokami
About 1/3 through re-reading H. Beam Piper's Fuzzies and Other People. I had forgotten the extent to which this book really completes the plot lines of the previous one. I wish Piper had been able to get his financial and other troubles sorted, rather than committing suicide. We lost a lot of good unwritten books when he died.  |
Piper's agent died unexpectedly, and had been keeping all of Beam's records in his head. His death threw Piper's affairs into chaos.
Piper apparently lost confidence in his ability to earn a living, and had commented he felt born out of time, and really should have lived in the 15th and 16th centuries he mined for background in things like "Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen". There were a number of folks who would have jumped to help, but Piper felt he should be able to handle his own affairs, and wouldn't accept charity, or even reveal he needed it. When he decided he
couldn't handle his own affairs, he chose to end his life.
I've also heard a story from someone who knew Piper socially that the suicide was in part a slap at his wife. She appears to have been a gold digger, and part of her requirement was that he take a out a hefty life insurance policy with her as beneficiary. Suicide voided the policy, and she got nothing.
In an ironic twist, at the time of his death, John W. Campbell was tring to find him, as he'd bought a Piper story and wanted to send him a check.
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Dennis