Good morning, Everyone.
I need to say a few words about the importance of Greg Bear in the field of science fiction/fantasy writing. We lost him a few days ago to a medical condition that knocked him down and stole him away. His wife Astrid put it best. He had rules about life, and he didn’t want to be someone who lived while under the control of a machine.
He was a genuinely good guy. I met him maybe thirty years ago when I moved to Seattle but had known of his work before. He was living here then, and we met up and visited at various book events and conventions over the years. He was science smart and author ready. I never read anything of his that wasn’t good work. His science knowledge was amazing, and he knew how to tell a story. He wrote dozens of good books and articles over the years. When we talked, he liked to cut right to the chase about everything. Other authors admired him, respected him, and honored him as one of the best we had.
As is often the case with those we lose, after they are gone, I wish I had spent more time with him and Astrid. I am getting up to a place I don’t much care to occupy as I see more and more of my friends and acquaintances leaving my life. I don’t enjoy the feeling of loneliness it creates.
So, I have to be satisfied with finding pleasure with them through the books they left behind.
With Greg Bear, finding pleasure in re-reading his work will be easy.
Terry Brooks
