Sadness: science fiction master Andre Norton has died at age 93. She was a wonderful writer, especially for teens.
Her death was announced by friend Jean Rabe, who said Norton died Thursday of congestive heart failure at her home in Murfreesboro, a Nashville suburb. Norton requested before her death that she not have a funeral service, but instead asked to be cremated along with a copy of her first and last novels.Born Alice Mary Norton on Feb. 17, 1912, in Cleveland, she wrote more than 130 books in many genres during her career of nearly 70 years. She used a pen name - which she made her legal name in 1934 - because she expected to be writing mostly for young boys and thought a male name would help sales.
Her last complete novel, Three Hands of Scorpio, is set to be released in April. Norton's publisher, Tor Books, rushed to have one copy printed so that the author, who had been sick for almost a year, could see it.
"She was able to hold it on Friday," Jewell said. "She took it and said, 'What a pretty cobalt blue for the cover.' "
Norton spent most of her life in Cleveland, where she worked as a librarian from 1932 to 1950, except for a brief stint in the 1940s when she ran her own bookstore in Mount Ranier, Md., and worked at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. More.
Tip via the omniscient InstaPundit.
There'll be lots more commentary over the next few days as the word spreads, but she was one of my favorites in junior high when I was just discovering real science fiction. Her works, along with those of Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov, were accessible, satisfying, and thought-provoking. Rest in peace, old friend.
Related:
• Earlier this year, a new literary award was started in her honor.
• Andre Norton official site