Death, Oh, Death

I'm going away for a few days but didn't want to leave without mentioning a couple of deaths that affected me. The first was the science fiction writer Octavia Butler, a very important writer in the science fiction community and well-respected in the black community. Octavia was only 58, much to young to die. She fell and hit her head, was not found for several hours and apparently had a blood clot. She will be missed.

The other person was Dana Reeve, the wife of Christopher Reeve and the founder and pillar of The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation. We attended the World Science Fiction in England the year that Reeve starred in Superman, the movie. Reeve also attended the convention and was very friendly, allowed people to be photographed with him and generally hung out. After becoming paralyzed from being thrown from a horse, he and Dana did a fantastic job with the foundation, helping paralyzed people, funding research and generally publicizing the plight of paralyzed people and what they still have to offer. Dana died of cancer. I feel great sorrow for their son, only thirteen years old.