Crap: Tom Disch is dead

[womzilla]

According to ellen_datlow and lizhand (the latter on theinferior4), Thomas M. Disch (tomsdisch) is dead by his own devising as of sometime this week. (Ellen said July 4; the Wikipedia, with no citation, says July 2.) Patrick has more, including a terrific summary of Disch's overall position in science fiction:

the concluding lines of his 1965 SF novel The Genocides, a book wedged forever up the nose of overweening skiffy can-do-ism

Disch was up the nose of science fiction his entire life.

Anyone who read Disch's LJ over the past two years could not be surprised by this. For that matter, anyone who read much of his work before that would be hard-pressed to be surprised. Which doesn't mean I'm going to miss him any less.

(Updated to add:)
Unsurprisingly, Disch's final LJ post is now turning into a wake. There has been only one stupid troll so far. There are, of course, also remembrances of him on the posts linked to above.

Comments

[wizwom.livejournal.com]

Oddly, his next to last post is about writing letters to dead authors.

Odd birds, writers.

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

I'd seen that--*after* finding out about the death--but it hadn't sunk in. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.