Sunday, June 1, 2014

Jay Lake (1964—2014)



Over three hundred books. Many anthologies and novels. And a large hole in the lives of his daughter, family and friends.

I knew it was inevitable, but it has still hit me hard. I never had the pleasure of meeting Jay, I hoped we might be able to during his treatment on the east coast, but it did not come to pass. We only exchanged an occasional e-mail or tweet, but I aimed most of our non-deductible giving in 2012 and 2013 towards a fund drive to help him and to help science find a cure for cancer. I lost my father-in-law to cancer; with the Parkinson's that took my father a long-term debilitating disease not only takes a life but drains the family of the person (financially and mentally).

Jay will live on in books and memories. But there will be no more books and stories. For that, and the loss of the soul, I am very sad.

Addendum: John Scalzi's note. SF Signal's notice. SFWA's official notice. Howard Tayler's note. An image of the optimistic Jay, courtesy of Saladin Ahmed. Notice at Tor Books. Greg van Eekhout's note. Obituary at io9. Kevin J. Anderson's note. An online collection of fiction by Jay Lake. Boing Boing's notice. A note by C.E. Murphy. Obituary at Locus (replaces previous brief note). Gail Carriger's thoughts. Jay Lake's genome in fabric (Part 01, Part 02, Part 03). Obituary from The Oregonian. Official obituary. Jay Lake and the Last Temple of the Monkey King, a fictional tribute by Ken Scholes with illustrations by Wesley Allsbrook. Simon Owens on blogging one own's death.

Image from Lakeside.

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