There was s
ad news last week ago for Science Fiction and Fantasy readers: prolific and award-winning (she was the first woman to win a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award) author Anne McCaffrey passed away.
As soon as I read the news, I went to the shelf to find my own beloved copy of Dragonsong. It occurs to me now that this was probably one of the first books I ever bought for myself as a young adult and I have often re-read it over the years when I wanted an enchanting comfort read.
As I resisted sitting down and immediately re-reading it, I also realized that – in addition to the story itself – I have also always been drawn in by the wonderful artwork on the cover by Elizabeth Malczynski. I also noticed the note I wrote on the upper right corner: “read this first.” Clearly at some point I loaned several titles by McCaffrey to someone (Dragonsong is just one in the large Pern series) and felt it was important they begin with my favorite!
I think every reader has a few special authors that for whatever reason become beloved. Anne McCaffrey is certainly one of mine and I’m sorry she will no longer be creating her magical worlds.
marlise
