Janet Kagan is gone
March 1 science fiction lost one of its delights. Janet Kagan, 63, succumbed to COPD in the night. Her husband, Ricky, was with her at their home. She had been ill for quite some time in a way that crept in so slowly, like a horror novel fog, that a lot of us who saw her at conventions and the occasional party didn’t really appreciate how ill she was. In that, Janet was like one of her cats. She hid from her friends the extent of the debilitation. I can see her sitting, chain-smoking her little cigarillos, and asking me how my own health was, and whether I thought my aching joints might be due to Lyme Disease, and if I had been tested. Never one word about her own ailments.
Gardner Dozois has written of her: "Her stories such as 'The Lock Moose Monster' and 'Return of the Kangaroo Rex' were some of the most popular stories ever published in Asimov’s, and were eventually gathered in the collection Mirabile. Another Asimov’s story, 'The Nutcracker Coup,' won her a Hugo Award in 1993, She wrote one of the most popular Star Trek novels ever, and one of the best, Uhura’s Song. She had many devoted fans, and I’m sure that if she had been able to continue writing, she’d have added several more Hugos to her bag by now."
Most people in the sf field who try to write humor come off as sophomoric. Janet wrote it as if born to be funny.
She was irascible and tenacious, and we were friends for a long time.
Some years ago when I was writing a lot of YA stories, she told me about a girl whose home life was not great and who Janet just adored. Without directing me--without even suggesting I do anything--she convinced me to dedicate the story I was writing at the time to this girl, so that ever after she could open a book and find a story that had been written just for her. That’s the way Janet Kagan worked. She will be greatly missed.
Gardner Dozois has written of her: "Her stories such as 'The Lock Moose Monster' and 'Return of the Kangaroo Rex' were some of the most popular stories ever published in Asimov’s, and were eventually gathered in the collection Mirabile. Another Asimov’s story, 'The Nutcracker Coup,' won her a Hugo Award in 1993, She wrote one of the most popular Star Trek novels ever, and one of the best, Uhura’s Song. She had many devoted fans, and I’m sure that if she had been able to continue writing, she’d have added several more Hugos to her bag by now."
Most people in the sf field who try to write humor come off as sophomoric. Janet wrote it as if born to be funny.
She was irascible and tenacious, and we were friends for a long time.
Some years ago when I was writing a lot of YA stories, she told me about a girl whose home life was not great and who Janet just adored. Without directing me--without even suggesting I do anything--she convinced me to dedicate the story I was writing at the time to this girl, so that ever after she could open a book and find a story that had been written just for her. That’s the way Janet Kagan worked. She will be greatly missed.