A Moment of Silence

"We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled.

The trick is knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out."

Ray Bradbury

August 22, 1920 – June 5, 2012

My grief, it has turned out to be a crying day. The science fiction and fantasy canon has lost another gem, to be sure, but one that, no doubt, rests among the stars.

I, for one, will take this moment to honor not only Mr. Bradbury, but also two other remarkable science fiction/fantasy novelists who left us in the last year. An encounter with one of whom I will never forget for the rest of my life.

And so the giants fall (as we never thought they would) leaving the ground of mere mortals impressed behind them, sad and empty, asking only that others rise to honor their place. The hallowed storyteller's seat by the fire, the hollow space on the shelf. We thank them, we miss them, and we follow them still.

My thanks to all three of you - you who paved the way to legitimize the genre for writers like myself. We who lose ourselves in imaginary worlds. We who fall in love with creation. And we that never...ever...ever "grow up."

Brian Jacques                                                                             Anne McCaffery

15 June 1939 – 5 February 2011                                    1 April 1926 – 21 November 2011