Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitch
I'm sorry for your loss, Dennis, I truly am.
|
Dave reminds me a bit of the late Harry Stubbs, better known to the SF field as Hal Clement (a Grandmaster of SFWA). Harry was taken from us a few years back, by complications of diabetes. (The last time I saw him, he was walking with a cane, because he'd broken a foot and due to the neuropathy that's a diabetes symptom, wasn't
aware he had till after the fact.) Harry described himself as an SF fan who happened to write the stuff, and used the money from his writing to pay for attending SF conventions. (He was a private school science teacher for a living.) I think I first met Harry at the first SF con I attended in 1968, and I can count the ones where I
didn't see him far more easily than those where I did. The idea of going to a con and
not seeing Harry is something I still haven't quite internalized.
Dave is in the same company. He loved attending SF gatherings, sometimes representing his employer and sometimes just on his own. He was always a pleasure to see and speak to, and I was honored to call him a friend. I'm still struggling with the notion I
won't see him at the next con I attend, and so is everyone else we knew in common.
Someone elsewhere commented that he help dozens of authors, knew everyone in the field, and had the history of the field in his head or his collection. That's accurate. An era is passing with him.
The funeral is in MA, but Tor plans a memorial in NYC I plan to attend.
______
Dennis