My mother introduced me to Pern, as a kid, with two omnibuses she had, one was The Dragonriders of Pern, and the other was Harper Hall of Pern. I read them both, and immediately fell in love. I then went on to read many other of her works, in other series, as well as those in Pern.

It's almost like we lose a dear friend, when a favourite author passes, as we feel we actually know them, just by reading their works. Goodbye, Anne McCaffery, although we never met, my childhood would have been a blander place without you.