Anne McCaffrey

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Once upon a time, there was a little girl who read too much. When she was eight, her ten-year-old best friend came to visit for the summer. The small town library didn't have "Clan of the Cave Bear" or "The Mists of Avalon", but it did have "Dragonsdawn", and thus something was begun.

If "Mists" taught me how to change the story and "Cave Bear" taught be to hide things under my bed so my mother wouldn't find them (or so we could pretend she hadn't), Anne McCaffrey taught me how to dream. More than any world I've ever read, hers is the one I wanted to live in.

The Pern books aren't perfect. One scene in particular pretty much scarred me for life. But they were written for so long that they evolved as a series, showing how the genre changed as the world did too.

This series, and the others she wrote, are pretty much why I started drinking coffee. They're why I want to fly and/or be telepathic. They followed me through four countries and taught me that in Australia and the UK, books have different titles. It's how I learned the basics of genetics. And time travel. And music! AND ALSO, THERE WERE DRAGONS. AWESOME, AWESOME DRAGONS. AND I WANT ONE.

*excuse me, I'm a little emotional

Anne McCaffrey was the first woman to win a Hugo. And a Nebula. And "The White Dragon" was the first sci-fi book to hit the NYT Bestsellers List. She gave us the Hatching, and also Impression, which are still some of the most affecting written sequences of my reading experience. Aside from Pern, she gave us The Rowan, and an image of a future in space that was driven by hope, peace, and the strength of the human mind. (Also, dinosaurs, Selkie planets, space pirates, telepathic ships and TINIER, MORE PORTABLE DRAGONS.)

So thank you, Anne McCaffrey. The book world is a bit smaller today, but your world will be with me forever.

ETA: I've also just realized that Anne McCaffrey was the last of my "original six". *hugs all my writer friends extra close*

Comments

[colej55.livejournal.com]

It is so sad when the great ones pass on. John Neville, a wonderful, talented actor, passed away this weekend, too.

I'm looking forward to the time when I can: 1) say that I knew you before you were listed among the greats and 2) clearly see the footsteps that you have ably and rightfully stepped into to carry the genres forward. ;)

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Honey, if your belief is enough to get me there, I'll do it. ;)

Thank you.

[hiddencait.livejournal.com]

*huggles* I'm right there with you. I really couldn't tell you how many of her massive number of books I've read. But I clearly remember scenes from so so many! You're right - she wasn't perfect, but man could she draw you into a world for a while!

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

She's on my list of "people I need to own entirely collections of, but will track down in used bookstores because I want them to smell right".

(Um...it's possible that I have a problem, but I'm okay with it.)

[hiddencait.livejournal.com]

YOu don't have a problem at all. Old book smell is addictive!

[faith-king.livejournal.com]

Dang. Talk about a pioneer.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I'm going to miss her. She was super classy, and I think this was the first Dragon*Con she's ever missed.

[holdouttrout.livejournal.com]

I very nearly could have written this post. My father read them and then accidentally told me about them when I was a wee, dragon-mad child, and then tried to backpedal because he probably thought they weren't appropriate, what with the dragon sex, etc. Yeah... somehow I still managed to find them and devour them whole.

Which scene, dare I ask, scarred you?

TINIER, MORE PORTABLE DRAGONS

:-) :-) :-)

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Which scene, dare I ask, scarred you?

The scene when Brekke and F'Nor have sex. I had full on, SCREAMING nightmares about it when I nine or so. I'm reasonably sure it's the source of my consent squick.

(And looking back, F'Lar was just as bad "unless [Lessa's] dragon was involved", but for some reason it bothered me less.)

[holdouttrout.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes. Some of the sex stuff was... interesting, to say the least.

[pirateveronica.livejournal.com]

When I heard the news my first reaction was that I thought she had already passed. I remember when I picked up one of her books for the first time, I was in high school and I'd pretty much given up on printed science fiction as any sort of reasonable source of entertainment for me. The overwhelming sexism/misogyny in them disgusted me. I picked up one of hers at the suggestion of a friend who thought I might like it. McCaffrey changed the way I approached written scifi/fantasy, and I found myself giving the genre another chance.

Though to this day I am still really selective of what I read because I find a lot of it is still just as problematically *insert thing*-ist.

What she gave the world, how she changed the world, is remarkable. That she had the imagination and courage to do that.


She will be greatly missed.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

You know, her books aren't perfect, but she is one heck of a classy person. And I think that makes the difference. I know that if she was writing "Dragonflight" now, parts would be different.

[emmy-roo.livejournal.com]

I never really got into her books, except for one about a singer or bard or something. Menolly was her name? Maybe? My high school library had it. I liked it.

But she was certainly a pioneer, and I know that many of my friends loved her work, particularly those with a bent towards fantasy. (As someone who occasionally writes fantasy, I'm aware that it's strange that I don't really read it, lol.)