There Can Be Only One Topic Tonight: Ed Bryant

Edward W. Bryant Jr. passed away this morning.

Writer, teacher, and great person, Ed was only five years older than me. I’ve known him since 1982. He was like a solid core of the science fiction and horror publishing field. Everyone knew and seemed to love Ed.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s he was a major supporter of Kris and my company Pulphouse Publishing. In fact, he seemed to spend more time in Eugene than Denver during that time and we loved it.

Kris lead off the very first issue of Pulphouse Hardback Magazine with an Ed story, a classic called “While She Was Out.” And then he lead off the Best of Pulphouse from St. Martins Press with the same story.

(If you haven’t read that story, brace yourself.)

Ed did a number of books for Pulphouse and our different imprints, including one of the very first Author’s Choice Monthly volumes, an Axolotl Press novella, and a Short Story Paperback volume.

His support of Pulphouse back in the day helped Kris and I grow both as publishers and editors and as members of the field.

Since we shut down Pulphouse and I didn’t go to many conventions, Ed and I drifted apart the last twenty years. I haven’t talked to him since a conversation I had with him while with my friend Bill at Worldcon over five years ago. Still a shock to suddenly hear he is gone.

He was one of those people who were always just supposed to be there.

I have hundreds and hundreds of pictures with Ed in them. But I grabbed a couple pictures that I thought would be fun tonight and that bring back great memories.

The first one is Ed and Kris in the late 1980s at a Pulphouse party. We gave a lot of parties back in those days. This one was at Kris and my house. Don’t you love the glasses? (Picture by Alan Bard Newcomer.)

The second picture is of Ed at my surprise 40th birthday party in 1990 at a science fiction convention. (Jerry Oltion is behind him.)

Thanks, Ed, for everything.

Pleasant journey.

3 Comments

Sean McLachlan

February 11, 2017 at 4:23 am

I met Ed on several occasions at Tuscon, a local convention in Tucson, Arizona, where I lived for many years. I didn’t know him well, but he radiated warmth and always made everyone feel welcome. He acted as MC for the cons and I always made a point of going to his readings. He had one moving short story I especially remember about old astronauts in a retirement home. I wish I could remember the title.
“He was one of those people who were always just supposed to be there.” You’re sure right about that. I always figured I’d pass through Tuscon one of these days and make the con again, and I was looking forward to Ed’s stories and his antics as MC one more time. My Facebook feed is filled with anecdotes from people who knew him better than I. Too bad I didn’t have the time to get to know him better.

Sheila

February 11, 2017 at 5:04 am

Sorry to see you’ve lost another friend, Dean, as well as such a loss to the world of SF.

And I’m pretty sure I had those same glasses Kris is wearing. And maybe that sweater, too. Gosh, the 80s.

Linda Jordan

February 11, 2017 at 12:16 pm

I met Ed at a several conventions and worked with him, when he came to teach at Clarion West. He was kind, gentle and funny and I might have had a fangirl crush on him.

My big take away from his talks were what we called ‘The Ed Bryant School of Marketing’. He always talked about making your stories work for you, back when writers didn’t talk much in public about business. If you sell a story to a magazine, then when you have the rights back, market the story to an anthology. Or to movie companies. Make each story pay its way. He was a genius at that.

I will miss his presence in the world.

Sean McLachlan

February 11, 2017 at 4:23 am

I met Ed on several occasions at Tuscon, a local convention in Tucson, Arizona, where I lived for many years. I didn’t know him well, but he radiated warmth and always made everyone feel welcome. He acted as MC for the cons and I always made a point of going to his readings. He had one moving short story I especially remember about old astronauts in a retirement home. I wish I could remember the title.
“He was one of those people who were always just supposed to be there.” You’re sure right about that. I always figured I’d pass through Tuscon one of these days and make the con again, and I was looking forward to Ed’s stories and his antics as MC one more time. My Facebook feed is filled with anecdotes from people who knew him better than I. Too bad I didn’t have the time to get to know him better.
Sheila

February 11, 2017 at 5:04 am

Sorry to see you’ve lost another friend, Dean, as well as such a loss to the world of SF.

And I’m pretty sure I had those same glasses Kris is wearing. And maybe that sweater, too. Gosh, the 80s.
Linda Jordan

February 11, 2017 at 12:16 pm

I met Ed at a several conventions and worked with him, when he came to teach at Clarion West. He was kind, gentle and funny and I might have had a fangirl crush on him.

My big take away from his talks were what we called ‘The Ed Bryant School of Marketing’. He always talked about making your stories work for you, back when writers didn’t talk much in public about business. If you sell a story to a magazine, then when you have the rights back, market the story to an anthology. Or to movie companies. Make each story pay its way. He was a genius at that.

I will miss his presence in the world.