Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffrey (1926-2011)

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffrey (1926-2011)
From: EBarnacle
Date: 24 Nov 11 - 11:32 PM

Avoid the personal insults. He is entitled to his opinion as are we all.

This is like labelling writers in mil sci-fi as militaristic fascists because they adopt a point of view in their writing. I can cite several who do not match their writing. Heinlein, Flint, Weber, and on we go.

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffrey (1926-2011)
From: BTNG
Date: 24 Nov 11 - 03:56 PM

"she wrote for playboy too!"

bet Campin'll bitch about that too *LOL*

McCaffery got Katherine Kurtz to move to Ireland, as well, where she lived with her son, husband, several dogs and a couple of resident ghosts

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffrey (1926-2011)
From: GUEST,cllr
Date: 24 Nov 11 - 03:39 PM

she wrote for playboy too!

Love her books, I might have to go and search out the ones i haven't read

Mike

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffrey (1926-2011)
From: BTNG
Date: 24 Nov 11 - 03:27 PM

you are beneath contempt, Campin, you despicable little man

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffrey (1926-2011)
From: vectis
Date: 24 Nov 11 - 03:22 PM

Loved her Pern books and have most of them, they get re-read time and time again. Hope Todd can keep up the good work.

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffrey (1926-2011)
From: sapper82
Date: 24 Nov 11 - 02:49 PM

thankyou Anne for the hours of reading. The whole of my family have enjoyed your books.

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: Jeri
Date: 24 Nov 11 - 10:18 AM

Thanks, Nigel. I forgot this had to have been started up here, them moved to non-music, then moved BACK.

I love the dragons and Pern. Who doesn't love a dragon, as long as it's on our side? I also love the Ship Who Sang and the whole concept of PartnerShips. Freedom's Landing, with its gatherings and tea-serving cat lady sounded like a good home. They were all about relationships that make people stronger than they are alone, and everything she wrote was about persevering.

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 24 Nov 11 - 06:52 AM

Apt words from Anne herself;

Song for Petiron
(From the book Dragonsinger, sung as an elegy)

The tears I feel today
I'll wait to shed tomorrow.
Though I'll not sleep this night
Nor find surcease from sorrow.

My eyes must keep their sight;
I dare not be tear-blinded.
I must be free to talk
Not choked with grief, clear-minded.

My mouth cannot betray
The anguish that I know.
Yes, I'll keep my tears till later:
But my grief will never go.

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 24 Nov 11 - 05:13 AM

Jeri:
I loved her work, but it's quite awkward seeing her shoved into music when she was an author. I don't know enough about her music to comment. Maybe later.

The following link will take you to some of her song words, on the pages of Tania Opland & Mike Freeman: Lyrics That page also has links to sound samples of some of the songs.

Cheers
Nigel
(It was I requested this be moved from BS. In the past Obits tended to go into the main discussion section first & get transfered to BS only if there was no reason to keep them 'up above')

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: EBarnacle
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 11:08 PM

I believe the first Pern books appeared as serial novels in Analog during the Campbell era.

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: Amergin
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 08:20 PM

Wow, Jack, who stuck your head up your ass without lubrication?

I'm sure that the powers that be, in Washington, would really pay alot of attention to a mother just coming into her own as a science fiction writer, and so her death would surely have forced the war to dissipate, saving millions of lives. It's just amazing how much power she had....whether or not she supported it, or was apolitical. There is no evidence I can cite either way. Not that it matters. The war has been over for decades.

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: Jeri
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 07:43 PM

I loved her work, but it's quite awkward seeing her shoved into music when she was an author. I don't know enough about her music to comment. Maybe later.

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: bbc
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 07:33 PM

Very sad news! I own pretty much all of the Pern books & have read & re-read them. Right now, I'm reading "Dragongirl" by Anne's son, Todd. Rest in peace!

Barbara

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: Jack Campin
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 06:44 PM

Cheerleader for Nixon's genocide in Vietnam.

The world wold have been a happier place if she'd died forty years ago.

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: Tootler
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 06:03 PM

The time had to come, but still a loss to the SciFi world.

Always enjoyed her books. I very much liked the Pern series but I think the Crystal Singers were probably my favourites.

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: GUEST,amergin
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 05:56 PM

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.

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: BTNG
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 01:29 PM

I do remember first reading the first two Pern novellas, Weyr Search and Dragonrider, in 1968 and was hooked from that moment on.

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 01:27 PM

Thanks, Anne, for all those strong women of Pern and other worlds (and space).

~ Becky in Long Beach

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 01:26 PM

Oh dear.

~S~

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: ClaireBear
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 12:44 PM

Soar away above the sky, Anne. We mourn your loss.

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: artbrooks
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 11:55 AM

Thanks for many thousands of hours of reading pleasure, beginning in the late 60s.

Subject: RE: Obit: Author/Songwriter Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 11:48 AM

I started reading Anne McCaffrey with the first dragonriders books in 1976 when I had a bit of surgery at Maine Med...and have been enjoying her many books and series and worlds for these many years.

Linn

Subject: RE: Obit: Author Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: katlaughing
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 11:16 AM

The loss of her and Marion Zimmer Bradley, earlier, leaves me bereft. Such beautiful, incredible writers, both, and such unforgettable worlds they created for us to share.

Nigel, thanks for sharing your song and the others.

On dragon's wings, so she goes...

kat

Subject: RE: Obit: Author Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 11:10 AM

Wow, a real loss to fantasy literature. Sorry to read this.

Subject: RE: Obit: Author Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: BTNG
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 10:23 AM

"I hope Todd will continue to write of the Perniverse."

Now the proof will be in the pudding...Can he write of Pern without his mother looking ove rhis shoulder?

Subject: RE: Obit: Author Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: EBarnacle
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 10:18 AM

I have been reading her since the publication of The Ship Who Sang. When and whereever I have found any of her work, I have gobbled it down. Her collaborations have always been worth reading. She was and is one of the few writers worth reading over and over.

I hope Todd will continue to write of the Perniverse.

Subject: RE: Obit: Author Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: BTNG
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 09:52 AM

Another Great Talent gone.

Anne McCaffery was The Ship Who Sang.

RIP

Subject: RE: Obit: Author Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: fretless
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 09:24 AM

That dragon flew so beautifully and so high. Ave atque vale!

Subject: RE: Obit: Author Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 08:59 AM

If I were ever to be on Desert Island Disks my book would be "Dragonsinger".

I'd be greedy & go for the omnibus edition which includes Dragonsong, Dragonsinger & Dragondrums:The Harper Hall of Pern

Subject: RE: Obit: Author Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: Abdul The Bul Bul
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 08:43 AM

I loved the Dragons but The Ship Who Sang was my favourite. Think I'll go fish it out.
Al

Subject: RE: Obit: Author Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: A Wandering Minstrel
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 08:16 AM

A very sad loss, She was a true harper. I believe her little bro Todd is to be the new Lord Holder

Subject: RE: Obit: Author Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: GUEST,Black Belt Caterpillar Wrestler
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 07:46 AM

So sorry to hear this.

Really should be in the top half!

If I were ever to be on Desert Island Disks my book would be "Dragonsinger".

There are stories about her and Isacc Asimov singing duets at Sci-Fi events.

Subject: RE: Obit: Author Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: freda underhill
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 05:37 AM

> sob <

Subject: RE: Obit: Author Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 04:53 AM

Sad to hear the news.
Anne's books have provided me with much pleasure over more than thirty years. Always intelligently written and with a perspective on a different level than the classic male Sci-Fi writers. Characters you can actually care about rather than just as an excuse for the action in the story.
I'll raise a glass...
Geoff.

Subject: RE: Obit: Author Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: Leadfingers
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 04:35 AM

Sad to know there will be no more of her excellent books ! AWAYS enjoyed ALL her writing .

Subject: RE: Obit: Author Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 04:17 AM

Mud elves
Can we get this promoted to the 'top half' please.
Anne was a singer, and promoter of singing & the folk process.
Several of her books centred around music & song, including (but not restricted to) "The Ship Who Sang", "Dragonsinger", "Dragonsong", "Dragondrums", & "Crystal Singer".
The Pern (Dragon) books include many self-penned songs, which have been recorded by Tania Opland & Mike Freeman

Cheers
Nigel

Subject: RE: Obit: Author Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 04:05 AM

Or, one of mine own:

A PERNESE HYMN
Nigel Parsons
Tune: "How lovely on the mountains"
(also known as "Our God Reigns"),
by Leonard E Smith (1974)

Now, Lessa, I know that you guide your dragon
With you mind, when 'thread' rains.
But tell me, how do you control your runner beast
When you're down on the plains?
I('ve) got reins,
I got reins
I got reins,
I got reins.

Now Menolly, pray tell me of Half-Circle Hold,
When the tide's running high.
Can you prevent the quayside getting treacherous?
How can you keep it dry?
I('ve) got drains
I got drains
I got drains.
I got drains

Now trader Lilcamp. I would have a word with you.
If I may make so bold.
How can you carry such a range of goods with you.
Visiting each hall & hold?
I('ve) got trains,
Wagon trains
I got trains
I got trains.

Now, Holder Jaxom, tell me of this AIVAS,
Tell me now, and tell me true.
How the ideas that it believes will save us,
It communicates to you.
Argot* reigns,
Argot reigns
Argot reigns.
Argot reigns.

I am aware that 'Argot' should, correctly, be pronounced 'Argo', but songs related to F & SF books are classified as 'Filk' and there is a standard Filk song which proclaims that we are "Banned from Argo"!

Subject: RE: Obit: Author Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 03:51 AM

Searched on Google: (I remembered some words)

CRISTAL SINGER
Words: Pat Ames
Tune: "Summertime"
Inspired by "Crystal Singer" by Anne McCaffrey

Crystal singing, in the Ballybran mountains,
Out there searching for a new mother lode.
My cutter's fine-tuned, and my cargo hold's empty.
So sing,little cristals, sing for mamma.

Passover's coming, and I got to get off-world.
Need some credits, need to find a new lode.
This vein is rich, I can feel my bones thrumming.
So sing, damned you, cristals, sing for mamma.

Crystal singing, and the Mach winds are rising.
Don't remember where to go or even why.
I'm standing enthralled by the crislline chorus.
So sing, pretty crystals, sing for mamma.

Subject: RE: Obit: Author Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 03:27 AM

A national day of mourning has been declared on Pern, and on all members of the Federation of Sentient Planets.

God Bless; Anne.

I only met her the once, when a 'gopher' at the World Science Fiction convention in Glasgow. She was in a wheelchair even then. (I got to push her around for a while)

Subject: RE: Obit: Author Anne McCaffery (1926-2011)
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 02:11 AM

Goody bye Dragon lady... Say hello to Morita from me.

Subject: Obit: Author Anne McCaffery
From: Amergin
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 01:39 AM

The beloved creator of Pern and many other worlds has passed away....

An obit may be found here: Anne McCaffrey