Raise a Drink for Greg

At The Same Time All Over the World…

Those of us who knew Greg Bear, or had met him, or admired his work, raised a drink in toast to him. Astrid Bear, his wonderful wife, came up with the idea and I thought it was perfect.

As Kris and I tend to do when we lose a friend like Greg, or Mike or Gardner, or Eric or Dave or… or… or… we talk about the last time we were with them. Our favorite moments with them, favorite meals out of hundreds and hundreds. We remembered that time at breakfast or that time in the convention suite. That time in a bus on a hot night in the Texas badlands heading for a roadhouse for the Bantam Party.

Greg was a year younger than me and to be honest I have no first memory of meeting him. He was just aways there and he and I were always friends, even in those wild years before I met Kris. As everyone has said, he was the nicest, kindest, smartest man I had the long-time pleasure of knowing. Can’t believe he is gone.

So this afternoon, we went with professional writers Ron and Lisa Collins to a deck in our building and at the time Astrid suggested we all raised a drink into the air and said simply, “To Greg.”