In Tribute to a Legend
Anne McCaffery died Monday, at the age of 85.
I'm pretty sure my entire family has read or listened to at least a few of Anne McCaffery's stories. (Some family members prefer a book on tape to one in the hand.)
I think my first encounter with her stories was in about eighth grade, when I found "Dragonsdawn" in my parents' collection of books (both are avid sci-fi/fantasy fans). I read the back, then sat down and started reading the whole thing, and I was immediately hooked. Over the course of the year, I gobbled up every Pern book I could find, entranced by the idea of dragons, and wishing I could Impress a fire lizard of my own (I didn't have a good place to be a home for a dragon, but if I could have gone to Benden Weyr...)
Pern has always been my favorite of the worlds Anne McCaffery created, but it is by no means the only one I read about. I've read at least part of nearly every series she's written (though somehow I keep missing The Ship Who Sang and the rest of that series...). For a long time her Talents series shaped my view of psychics (this only changed slightly when I read ParaNormal, which my husband finally completed last fall). I've always thought of intersteller travel the way she described it in various books, rather than having much to do with the way things are in Star Trek or Star Wars. Her way was so much cooler and more interesting, and felt somehow almost more realisic. (As much as star travel is realistic...)
I am not really sure what all I can say, or what might make a fitting tribute. How do I describe the awe with which I regard the writer who first introduced me to Dragons? I don't know if I have to words to craft a decent tribute, so I suppose that this shall have to do. Oh, and klah, or at least cinnamon coffee. Pern has always been my favorite, after all...
I'm pretty sure my entire family has read or listened to at least a few of Anne McCaffery's stories. (Some family members prefer a book on tape to one in the hand.)
I think my first encounter with her stories was in about eighth grade, when I found "Dragonsdawn" in my parents' collection of books (both are avid sci-fi/fantasy fans). I read the back, then sat down and started reading the whole thing, and I was immediately hooked. Over the course of the year, I gobbled up every Pern book I could find, entranced by the idea of dragons, and wishing I could Impress a fire lizard of my own (I didn't have a good place to be a home for a dragon, but if I could have gone to Benden Weyr...)
Pern has always been my favorite of the worlds Anne McCaffery created, but it is by no means the only one I read about. I've read at least part of nearly every series she's written (though somehow I keep missing The Ship Who Sang and the rest of that series...). For a long time her Talents series shaped my view of psychics (this only changed slightly when I read ParaNormal, which my husband finally completed last fall). I've always thought of intersteller travel the way she described it in various books, rather than having much to do with the way things are in Star Trek or Star Wars. Her way was so much cooler and more interesting, and felt somehow almost more realisic. (As much as star travel is realistic...)
I am not really sure what all I can say, or what might make a fitting tribute. How do I describe the awe with which I regard the writer who first introduced me to Dragons? I don't know if I have to words to craft a decent tribute, so I suppose that this shall have to do. Oh, and klah, or at least cinnamon coffee. Pern has always been my favorite, after all...