Jay Lake

For those who haven't already heard or read, Jay Lake has died (for real; the rumors of his passing a few days ago were probably due to the elegiac tributes that folks were already starting to appear on his Facebook page).

I never met the guy, and so far I haven't read any of his fiction. But some of my friends mentioned his blog, in which he detailed his battle against his cancer, and I started following it just about every day. Bit voyeuristic of me, I'll admit ... but if I was living with a terminal illness, I could only hope to write with a tenth of the honesty and grace under pressure that he displayed.

So I will put his books on my "to be obtained" list, and I thank him for opening our eyes to a world that none of us wants to visit.

Additional links:
http://www.oregonlive.com/books/index.ssf/2013/06/science_fiction_star_jay_lake.html
http://io9.com/r-i-p-jay-lake-totally-irreplaceable-science-fiction-1584527320