SFWA’s In Memoriam marks the loss of writers and other science fiction and fantasy creators by celebrating their literary legacies and their contributions to the publishing community. The person whose loss we are marking does not have to be a SFWA member. It is enough that they contributed to the world of SFF and leave behind people who wish to honor their life and work. Please contact publications@sfwa.org if you wish for us to add an entry for a recently lost creator to the list.
In Memoriam: David Sherman
David Sherman Photo supplied by Danielle Ackley-McPhail David Sherman (27 February 1944 – 16 November 2022) was a prolific and beloved writer of science fiction and military fiction. Born in Niles, Ohio, Sherman joined the Marine Corps out of high…
In Memoriam: Suzy McKee Charnas
Suzy McKee Charnas (22 October 1939–02 January 2023) was a groundbreaking feminist science-fiction and horror writer and beloved Clarion West teacher. Originally from New York City, where she also studied, she lived and wrote from New Mexico for over 60…
In Memoriam: Harris
Harris (b.1964) died on November 17 following a stroke. They wrote under the pennames Anne Harris, Jessica Freely, and Pearl North. Harris began publishing science fiction in 1991 with the short story “Chango Is a Dog.” Their first novel, The…
In Memoriam: Greg Bear
Photo by Richard Man. Some of SFWA’s Past Presidents gathered at the 2015 Chicago SFWA Nebula Conference (from left to right, Michael Capobianco, Steven Gould, Cat Rambo, Russell Davis, Greg Bear, and Joe Haldeman.) Author and…
In Memoriam: Herbert W. Franke
Herbert W. Franke (May 14, 1927–July 16, 2022) was an author, artist, and physicist born in Austria. Franke moved from Vienna to Munich after earning his doctorate in theoretical physics. Throughout the 1950s, he published primarily nonfiction, including works on…
In Memoriam: Eric Flint
Eric Flint (February 6, 1947–July 17, 2022) was an author, editor, publisher, and a member of SFWA. He won the fourth quarter Writers of the Future contest in 1993 and published his first novel, Mother of Demons, in 1997. In…
In Memoriam: Patricia A. McKillip
Patricia A. McKillip (February 29, 1948–May 6, 2022) began publishing fantasy in 1973 with the novel The House on Parchment Street and the novella The Throme of the Erril of Sherill. Over the next few years, she published the award-winning…
In Memoriam: Bill Johnson
Bill Johnson (October 4, 1956–March 17, 2022) began publishing science fiction in 1977 with the story “Stormfall,” which appeared in Kate Wilhelm’s anthology Clarion SF. Over the years, he published around 30 stories. His 1997 story “We Will Drink a…
In Memoriam: Tom Dupree
Tom Dupree (November 27, 1949–February 7, 2022), a SFWA member, worked as a senior editor at Bantam Spectra during the 1990s, where he line-edited their Star Wars novels among many other titles and worked with authors such as Dan Simmons…
In Memoriam: J. Brian Clarke
J. Brian Clarke (May 23, 1928–January 17, 2022) was a SFWA member, a well-known writer of science fiction, a fellow of the British Planetary Association, and a past president of the Calgary center of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. …
In Memoriam: Ron Goulart
Ron Goulart (January 13, 1933–January 14, 2022) was a Nebula Award nominee in 1966, and the SFWA Vice President and Grievance Chair from 1969–1971. His writing debuted in the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in 1952, and he wrote…
In Memoriam: Dave Wolverton
Dave Wolverton (May 15, 1957–January 14, 2022), who primarily wrote fiction as David Farland, was an award-winning and bestselling science fiction and fantasy author, editor, professor, and mentor. Wolverton’s first publication was in 1985, the short story “The Sky is…
In Memoriam: John Joseph Miller
John Joseph Miller (March 28, 1954–January 5, 2022) served as SFWA Secretary from 1996–1998. John was a founding member of the Wild Cards Consortium, and is perhaps best known for his work in the Wild Cards shared universe series, first…
In Memoriam: Anne Rice
Bestselling novelist Howard Allen Frances O’Brien Rice (b.1941), known as Anne Rice, passed away on Saturday, December 11, at the age of 80. She was most known for her thirteen-book-plus Vampire Chronicles series, beginning with Interview With the Vampire, published…
In Memoriam: Jim Fiscus
The SFWA Board of Directors, staff, and volunteers are saddened to learn of the sudden and unexpected death of long-time volunteer James W. Fiscus. Known by his fellow volunteers and peers as Jim, he was an instrumental part of the…