“The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) have named Peter S. Beagle the 34th recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award. SFWA president Cat Rambo said, “Beagle’s work has been the gateway for multitudes of fantasy readers, but also writers as well, including myself. His work shines a light on the human heart and its beauties even when that heart is flawed and wanting, showing how that beauty arises from such imperfect conditions.””
I just received a notice about this.
I might be something of a philistine, but I didn’t much care for The Last Unicorn. I was also completely unaware of his other works – The Innkeeper’s Song, Two Hearts, The Folk of the Air, Tamain. The only one I’ve ever seen in the bookstores is The Last Unicorn. the Internet Speculative Fiction Database lists five novels, eight collections (one unpublished), 54 shorter works, and two poems.
Call me an old fogey, but my count of Grandmasters still ends at three. It sort of cheapens it, if there’s a new one every year.
The first three SFWA Grandmasters were Robert A. Heinlein, Jack Williamson, and Clifford D. Simak, I wouldn’t have stopped there.
Yeah, yeah, I know you probably mean that the only grandmasters were Heinlein, Asimov, and Clarke. But that argument just sends my blood pressure up.
Back in 1999 SFWA put out a limited edition poster of all the grandmasters up to that point. Hal Clement was the awardee that year and I got him to autograph it. I don’t mind that there are sixteen other pictures on it.
That’s probably a big collector’s item, even without the signature (it had to be withdrawn when the photographers complained they hadn’t granted permission).
I do love The Last Unicorn, but Beagle is probably less prolific than any other grandmaster.
To be clear, I’m not saying that Clement isn’t a great writer. He is. But there’s great, and then there’s top-of-the-field, contender for greatest of all time, great. And there should be some sort of formal recognition of that latter category.
I don’t recall the Last Unicorn, although I did read it, but I do recall that I truly enjoyed A Fine and Private Place.
I very much liked TLU, but it was a long time ago that I read it. Oddly enough, just a few week ago I was thinking it might be time to re-read it and see how it stands up. I think I was in high school when I read it.
Dave Truesdale put it together. Dave had lots of energy and enthusiasms that got away from him.
I should have mentioned that but I got distracted. 
The Last Unicorn is wonderful. A Fine and Private Place is even better, and probably the best book ever written in the field by an undergraduate. The best of all is the 1982 animated version of *Unicorn *with a script by Beagle. I’m not much of an autograph hound, despite this thread, but I had him sign my much read paperback copies of those two books the first time I had a chance to meet him.
Yeah, but Asimov, Heinlein, and Clarke are not even on the short list for greatest writers, a distinction that an outfit like SFWA should care about. Historically important, certainly. Popular, obviously. Influential, too. But many, many other historically important, popular, and/or influential names fill the field.
Just for the record, the Grandmaster must be living at the time the award is announced. Alfred Bester, e.g. got named “out of turn,” meaning others were sorta unofficially cued up ahead of him, and early, meaning in September, because nobody expected him to live even to the usual January announcement time. He died in September, in fact. Roger Zelazny’s early and unexpected death kiboshed his otherwise certain award.
Lifetime fan of Beagle here. I discovered I See By Your Outfit, A Fine and Quiet Place and The Last Unicorn whilst in college. I’ve read The Folk of the Air twice, and most everything else once. I got to meet him at a convention once, and he seemed to be a very humble person. I’m happy for him.
The Folk of the Air. I’d forgotten were the quote came from, I thought of it last night. “He smiled like a zipper.”
I didn’t finish The Folk of the Air: after about halfway through, I just gave up. It never grabbed my attention. Is it one of those “you had to be there” novels about VW-bus-riding hippies? It’s been a couple decades since I tried, so maybe I should revisit it.
I just read his latest, In Calabria, a couple weeks ago. It was fine, beautifully written, but not especially interesting in plot. I had a similar reaction to A Fine and Private Place. His prose shines.
The Last Unicorn is the definitive unicorn novel; I can’t imagine another being written that should shape unicorn mythology so effectively for the modern era. It is simultaneously a modern novel and a crackerjack piece of folklore.
The Innkeeper’s Song, however, is my favorite. It’s not particularly definitive in any way, but it’s really goddamned fun, and is as gorgeously crafted as everything else by him.
Yeah, I know Clarke and Asimov and (barf) Heinlein are enormously influential; but I’ll take Beagle’s beautiful writing, keen sense of humanity, and gift for archetype any day over any of those three.
P. K. Dick and Frank Herbert also died young, and would otherwise (in my opinion) have been designated as Grand Masters.
I expected this year to be the year for Vinge (Joan or Vernor), but there’s always next year (and both Vinges are younger than Beagle).
This is right on target and I’m chuffed to see it happen. happydances
The Folk Of The Air ought to be required reading for anyone in the SCA, just aside from the general loveliness of the story and language.
I met Beagle at a poorly attended booth at some sort of event held at a park in Sacramento, back in that long dry spell that seemed like it was going to go on forever. I had him sign a couple of my well worn copies of Folk Of The Air and A Fine And Private Place and sat and talked with him a while. I was very pleased to be able to tell him that a poem from The Last Unicorn was still being performed regularly in the SCA, set to the tune of The Ash Grove. He liked that a lot and it made me happy to be able to bring a smile to a writer who had given me so many nice moments.
He’s a good human and a fine writer, this is well deserved.
Interesting that this was announced on the same day Ursula K. Le Guin died
Brian
Talk about your good news/bad news situations. 
Guess she died yesterday, but still a close thing
Brian