Saying Goodbye to Eugie Foster
Author Eugie Foster passed away earlier today.
I never had the chance to meet her in person, but we had known one another online for a long time. I thought of her as part of my cohort, the group of authors who all started writing and breaking in together.
Eugie was an excellent writer. I had the honor of publishing her story “Honor is a Game Mortals Play” in Heroes in Training back in 2007. I remember how excited she was to get into her very first DAW anthology (but it certainly wasn’t her last). I’ve still got her email about that, which included a literal “Squee!” 🙂 In her 42 years, she had more than a hundred short stories published, and won a Nebula Award for her writing. She was that good.
She also devoted a lot of time and energy to reviewing and helping to promote short fiction in the genre, and to working as a director at DragonCon.
I remember her departure from Tangent Online. Without dredging up the details, I admired the honesty and determination she showed throughout an ugly situation. And I cheered when she launched The Fix, which swiftly became a strong and important new short fiction review site for the genre.
And then of course there was her pet skunk Hobkin. Her blog posts about Hobkin were some of the earliest things I remember reading from her, and I always thought it was awesome that she had a pet skunk. I grew up with an interesting menagerie, thanks to my mother, but that’s one kind of pet we never had.
When Eugie announced last year that she had cancer, I was convinced she would recover. It wasn’t a rational belief. I just … I guess I just refused to believe there was any chance of her leaving us.
I hate the fact that we never managed to be at the same event at the same time so I could meet her in person, but I’m glad to have known and worked with her over the years, and the SF/F field was incredibly lucky to have her.
Her husband Matthew wrote today:
We do not need flowers. In lieu of flowers, please buy her books and read them. Buy them for others to read until everyone on the planet knows how amazing she was.
Eugie’s bibliography is here.
We’ll miss you, Eugie.
Joie
September 27, 2014 @ 5:26 pm
I am saddened that it took her death to introduce me to her work, but I am happy to follow the family’s wishes and do JUST that: buy her books. Get to know her voice. I have several short stories waiting for me to download onto my Nook. I hope those happy memories and her imprint in your life will be visible without the patina of grief soon.
Jana Oliver
September 27, 2014 @ 5:32 pm
I had the pleasure of sharing panel space with Eugie a couple times, chatting with her in person. She was as much a delight in the flesh as her writings. RIP, dear lady.
Martin
September 27, 2014 @ 5:42 pm
I was totally in awe of her. I couldn’t help but admire her courage. Her posts about the illness always radiated hope and determination. I am devastated and my thoughts are with her family.
Shae Connor
September 27, 2014 @ 6:17 pm
I worked with Eugie for the past 8 years as a volunteer at Dragon Con. She was unfailingly cheerful and helpful, even going on 36 hours without sleep (as she did the year the Hugos were broadcast online early Sunday morning local time). Her loss has left a huge hole in the universe.
Ilana Waters
September 28, 2014 @ 12:03 pm
I am so sorry for your loss and indeed, the world’s loss. Hopefully, her legacy will live on, and readers can continue to know this valuable woman through her stories and all the lives she touched.
Scott Hancock
September 28, 2014 @ 2:51 pm
Eugie will be sorely missed. The world has become a darker place without her in it. It will be a long time before I will be able to think of her, and not find myself beginning to weep for her, for us, and for the many wonderful stories she now will not write for us. But what I have from her, the memory of her flashing smile, the sudden sound of joy in her laughter, her wit, her style, her dancer’s grace, all these memories of her and more, I will hold tight to. And I will always treasure, and guard well, the books she gave to me.
19 hrs · Like · 3
Stephen A. Watkins
September 29, 2014 @ 8:53 am
I was very sad when I came into work this morning to find this news. Cancer’s been a nasty reaper this year, taking from us both Eugie and Jay Lake.
I met Eugie very briefly following a panel or two at JordanCon a couple of years that I went. I often felt she was one of the higher-calibre writers on those panels, and she seemed like a genuinely nice person.