Mark Richard Siegel, 54, of Mesa, AZ. died unexpectedly on November 12, 2003.

Mark was a native of Buffalo, NY. He had a BA from Williams College, an MA from SUNY Buffalo, PhD from University of Arizona and a JD from Arizona State College of Law.

From the early 70's to the mid 80's he was an English Professor, mostly at Arizona State University and the University Wyoming, with a stint in Japan.

He became a lawyer in Phoenix, AZ in 1991. He ran the People's Law School from the Arizona Trial Lawyer's Association and was a founding board member and Chairman of the Modest Means Project, which provided free legal assistance for the working poor.

Mark wrote half a dozen books and a hundred articles on literature, film and popular culture. In 1991, he wrote a true crime book called Rocky Point, about the Willoughby Murder case.

His genre work includes the novel, Echo and Narcissus, and a biography of James Tiptree, Jr, as well as short stories in Writers of the Future XVI, Ideomancer, Chiarascuro and other publications. His "The Ghost of my Sex Life With K" won the Coffeehouse Short Fiction Award in 2001.

Donations in Mark's memory can be made to the American Foundation for AIDS Research, 120 Wall Street, 13th Floor, New York, NY 10005-3902.

Thanks to Paul E. Martens for preparing most of this article.

Posted November 17, 2003