Too Many

Lost Way Too Many Good Friends…

And I know, I know, that’s part of living and being a survivor. But it sucks beyond words.

Unless you are not involved with science fiction, or have been living under a rock, by now you know that writer and editor, Mike Resnick left us this morning.

On blogs and Facebook and a billion other places, people have been talking all day about how wonderful Mike was (and he was) and how he was a great writer (he was a working writer like me) and how he helped so many people over the years. (He did.)

He was also damned funny and a great friend.

And one thing about Mike, he had a ton of great friends. I just considered myself lucky to be one of them over the decades.

I first met Mike and Carol over thirty years ago and the two of them and Kris and I remained friends over that entire time. Mike and Carol started into science fiction long before me as major fans, but on the writing side, the two of us came in about the same time.

Unlike many of the greats in the business who were my mentors, I considered Mike a contemporary. And he considered me the same. He mentored a lot of young writers, like I try to do, supported Writers of the Future (as I do as well), and tried to make it a point to buy newer writer’s work or write stories with them when he could.

But to me he was a friend. Right from the start and right to the end.

I can’t even begin to describe or remember (sadly) all the hundreds of great dinners the four of us had over the thirty years, the great times drinking, the great phone calls talking about some story or business thing.

And on one short story we wrote together, I started the story and left it in a place I never, ever thought Mike could write his way out of. I was sure he was going to call me swearing about what I had done. Nope, instead he sent the story back to me four hours later, finished with, of course, the perfect ending.

I bought stories from him from my first editing days and he bought stories of mine throughout his editing days. I have no idea how many stories I sold Mike. But I know I bought a lot of his, and his column with Barry in the first incarnation of Pulphouse. In fact, I have three of Mike’s wonderful stories to reprint in Pulphouse right now.

So for a great understanding of Mike Resnick the person and the writer, just search for blogs and columns and posts that talk about him and the impact he had over the years.

And please don’t comment here with something like you are sorry for my loss. This isn’t my loss, this is all of publishing’s loss.

And all of science fiction’s loss.

Mike is gone and everyone in publishing and science fiction has lost. And honestly, that flat sucks.