Author Jack C. Haldeman II, known to family and friends as Jay, died at 1:45 PM, January 1st. He was surrounded by family and friends, listening to music that he loved. He was in a hospice in his home town of Gainesville, following unsuccessful treatment for cancer.

Jay was the husband of Barbara Delaplace and the brother of Joe Haldeman. Both request that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in Jay's name to Hospice of North Central Florida (4200 NW 90th Blvd., Gainesville, FL 32606).

A member of Science Fiction Writers of America since 1971, Jay served on various committees. Jay chaired eight science fiction conventions, including the 32nd World Science Fiction Convention in Washington DC.

He published over 100 short stories and novellas and 10 novels, collaborating with Jack Dann Writing as John Cleve), Harry Harrison, his wife (also writing as John Cleve) and his brother. He also published articles in scientific journals and poetry in a variety of magazines.

Other employment included seven years as a medical technologist, coordinatin production of a website and CD-ROMs on agriculture in Florida, parasitology and veterinary medicine as a research scientist, field studies of whales in the Canadian Arctic, and three years as part of a research team investigating the greenhouse effect for the US Department of Agriculture, specializing in Expert Systems and the real-time applications of Artificial Intelligence control systems.

A memorial service will be held Saturday January 12. 2:00 P.M. at the Theatre of Memory in High Springs (the opera house above the Great Outdoors Cafe, 65 North Main).

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I am, what you might say, a newbie to the sf/f community. My first convention was Necronomricon in Tampa in Oct, 2000. I have always considered myself a closet sf fan but Jack's daughter, Lorena, pulled me out of my shell.

At the time, I was just starting to get to know Lorena's parents. Lorena and I ran into her parents just outside the courtesy suite of the hotel and was introduced to a few of their friends. I gave Barbara a polite hug and Jack the token handshake when one of their friends exclaimed, "Go ahead and give 'em a hug." In unison, Jack and I gave each other that awkward hug two strangers give each other when coerced.

Jack and Barbara were on a few panels at that convention and I attended almost every one they were on that weekend. Since I am a sports fan, I particularly enjoyed the "Sci-Fi and Sports" panel attended by Jack and other sf writers who had a passion for sports. Though Barbara was in the audience, we found out that she was a fine athlete herself. She is the only person I have ever met to have participated in the Canadian sport of curling. The golfer inside me got a chuckle when Jack proclaimed "I'd rather watch paint dry than watch golf on TV." I agreed, since I'd rather participate than watch the sport, myself.

A few months later, Jack gave me the opportunity to change my life. He offered me an open position in the office where he worked, which was at IT/IFAS Department at the University of Florida. The positon was nothing glamorous, but I needed a change from my stressful job at the time. In my heart, I knew that he would be a good person to work for and I was correct in my instincts.

Jack had an excellent filing system of electronic documents and because he was "A Paranoid Boy," he always had backups of his backups. I always had a good day when I caught Jack smoking on the back porch of our office building (Yes, we have a porch!). It was great to start a conversation with him there because most of the time it ended up in what Jack did best: he would tell you a story.

Jack's Office Minions, including myself, missed him at work these past 3 months. He was a great boss. He went to bat for his people. He was ALWAYS in a civil mood, even if he was having a bad day. Because I now work at the University of Florida, I will also be a returning student in the upcoming term. I have Jack to thank for that.

I tried to visit Jack at home as often as I could, since I would no longer have the chance to see him in the office. I gave him a hug everytime I saw him, hoping it would not be the last time I would.

Thank you for everything, Jack. I will miss you. *HUG*

Steve Engle

Updated January 4, 2002