Her Wiki page is already updated; I actually somehow got the impression she’d already died. 85 years old; at least she had a good run.
RIP indeed. She’s one of my favorite authors.
When I found her books in college, I told Mom about them. Mom found an anthology of three romances by McCaffrey (Three Women). After reading one Mom sent me a letter - “Are you sure you’re old enough to read these? Are you sure I’m old enough?”
May you find your fire lizards, Anne
Ah, that’s too bad. I’ve kind of grown away from her work, but when I was younger I was definitely a fan.
RIP.
Crud. I own the Pern series, plus her Crystal Singer trilogy, and the Tower and Hive series, as well as some random others.
Thanks for the worlds, Anne.
Ditto. I still revisit the Harper Hall trilogy every so often, like when I’m home sick.
Well, goddamn. She of the silver hair (subject to change) and green eyes has passed. Thanks for many, many hours of enjoyable reading, Anne.
I discovered McCaffrey about 1983. We were going to attend Lunacon – my first major SF con – and she was Guest of Honor, so we started reading the Dragonrider books and became big fans. We actually were going to name our daughter Menolly, but chickened out. But at that point, we wanted to give her a normal middle name (in case she hated Menolly) and chose Ann. It was not in honor of McCaffrey, but looking back, I bet there was some influence.
We had arranged for her to be Guest of Honor at Albacon a few years ago, but, alas, she was not up to the trip. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to see her again. She was a giant in the SF field (and certainly influenced a lot of women to write SF) and this is a major loss.
Oh man, Anne was such a fantastic maker of worlds. Thank you for the many many (many) hours of utter enjoyment Anne.
She was one of the great ones.
Like Margo, I sometimes find myself returning to the Harper Hall when I’m in need of comfort. I suspect I will need to pay a visit very soon now.
RIP Anne. May you find all your dragon friends between.
This makes me sad. A cousin got me hooked on the Pern series. I got away from it when her son started writing the books but I still like to re-read some of the older books.
RIP Anne
Oh no! That’s so sad. She was one of my first favorite authors. I was hooked from the time I read the first Menolly book.
There’s comfort in knowing her books are still here, ready for another generation. Still, it makes my memories just a little sad.
I met her once, at an SF con I was helping run and she was guest of honour. It must have been a tenth the size of the ones she was used to in the US, but she conducted herself with honour and aplomb (which is more than I can say for myself, to my shame). Vale.
Not a total surprise (her dust jacket photos have been recording a long, slow decline for years), but definitely a sad event.
My favorite authors are dwindling. They’ve led me to places, real and imagined, that I’ve never physically visited, and my world keeps getting smaller when they go.
Where’s a harper when you need one?
Oh no
Another fan here. I’ll miss her wonderful stories.
Also a fan of the Pern series and I think I’ve read a couple others of her. I need to reread them now.