Thomas M. Disch, R.I.P.
I was terribly saddened this morning to learn of the death of Tom Disch, one of the most brilliant and criminally underappreciated writers of our time. He was gifted at everything he turned his hand to -- poetry, short stories, novels; horror, satire, children's books, science fiction, historical fiction. He had a biting wit but also a genuine underlying sweetness; one of those people who cover themselves with spikes as a form of self-protection. After the death of his life partner Charles Naylor, he wrote a sequence of beautiful, dark, elegiacal poems that form one of the most moving memento morie I've ever read. Tom deserves an elegy of equal beauty, but I don't know who could write it. A terrible loss to us all.