Kate Wilhelm RIP

Sadly Kate Wilhelm passed away on the 8th.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10215208419699356&id=1099265531

I am filled with sorrow. I know that she lived long, and well, but I still wanted her to stay longer. Her Wikipedia page needs some repair (it is currently a mish-mash of three authors, and no, the other two authors are not Kate in disguise).

Goodbye, good person. :-{

I saw the news last night and my first thought was - ok, so who will be the third. :(

I know that she was at the age when this is almost expected but it still is very sad to slowly lose everyone that I grew up reading.

She was a Readercon guest of honor in 2005; wonderful writer.

I enjoyed both her SF (Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang) and her Bobby Holloway legal mysteries (Death Qualified and its sequels).

Just saw that news on Facebook. Very sorry to hear it.

I especially liked Sweet Birds, Juniper Time, & Huysmans Pets. I just looked online, and I had no idea how many other SF novels she'd written. Have to start looking for them....

Kate's story Naming the Flowers is one of my favorites. She was a unique voice in SF. >5 Jim53: I haven't read any of her mysteries, but I've heard that some have a fantastic element. How close are they in style and ambiance to her science fiction?

>8 lansingsexton: The only SF of Wilhelm's that I have read is Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang. As I recall--I read it many years ago--I was impressed with the ideas, and some of the characters, more than with the writing. I remember a sense of sadness and inevitability about the story. The mysteries are more standard legal mysteries. I would not call them thrillers, as some of the recent lawyer-based stories are. I recall a fantastic element in the first one, pretty minor but enjoyable, but not in the others. I would say that the writing is a little better, and very appropriate to the stories, which tend to be a good bit longer than the rather short WLTSBS. I have heard that she wrote some good short stories, and I'll check out the one you mentioned.

PS I see you're in Silver Spring. My parents live there; I grew up in Rockville.

>9 Jim53: I haven't read Where late the Sweet Bird Sang, or any of her other novels, but I like most of the short pieces I've read by KW. I see that we're both John Kessell fans. I was fortunate enough to meet him when the Nebulas were held in Washington a few years ago.

I was born and grew up in Washington, but finally couldn't afford it anymore. I can see the D. C. line from my window in Silver Spring.

I liked all of the books of hers that I read -- which includes all of the mysteries, plus as much of the science fiction as I can find. (It helps to haunt library book sales & such.) I saw her at a couple of conventions, and she always worked well on panels. Hardly surprising, given her workshop experience along with everything else.