Anne McCaffrey has Died

Anne McCaffrey. Photograph: Edmund Ross/Random House

Random House announced Wednesday that the beloved writer of the Dragonriders of Pern series died at her home in Ireland on Tuesday from a stroke. She was 85. May she rest in peace. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family. They released the following statement:

"Anne McCaffrey ended a long and enormously successful life early Monday evening, November 21, at her home in County Wicklow, Ireland. Surrounded by the reassuring presence of family and close friends, her passing was swift and without suffering. We, her children, are hugely comforted by the outpouring of sympathy flowing now from all over the world.

"Our Mother’s talent was known to countless fans. Yet her greatest gift to us all has to have been her enormous heart. That she was able to touch so many with her tender and loving heart is the greatest source of pride we will forever enjoy. Words cannot express how grateful we are to the universe of her admirers, whose heartfelt condolences beguile us in our grief, which pales beside the joy we know Anne McCaffrey brought to so many people."

She answered letters from her dedicated fans on her blog. Her last entry was November 4. She also offered 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.”

McCaffrey's career began with Restoree in 1967, which she described as a jab at the way women were portrayed in science fiction. She went on to publish nearly 100 books. She was the first woman to win a Hugo award and a Nebula award, and was named a grand master of science fiction in 2005.


She will be sorely missed by many.
Angela