Awww.

I met him several times over the years, usually a writer's conferences. He was a genuine and genuinely nice guy.

He gave such an amused grin when I asked him one time "are you ever going to get Jim Chee out of that ratty trailer?"

I've been recently listening to some of his books again, I tend to read them in spurts, and I enjoy the unabridged Recorded Books. I just got to where Jim and Bernie got married (right after The Sinister Pig).

He lived a good life, a long life, and though there were critics over the years of his use of Navajo and other Indian material, he used it well and reverently and was generally well-received. He respected requests to refocus the amount he used, particularly where Jim Chee was concerned.

SRS