We are greatly diminished and saddened by the loss in recent years
of some of the great professionals in our field. We welcome the
submission by anyone who wishes to prepare an appropriate and short
(up to 250 words) memorium. We'd also like to know of others you
feel should be included in this Site. Please send your comments to
Bruce Farr at the address below.
Fritz Leiber at WFC Autograph Party
Roger Zelazny, Guest of Honour at
1993 WFC in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Karl Edward Wagner
Robert Bloch
ROGER ZELAZNY: A REMEMBRANCE
by Edward Bryant
With every succeeding death, our community is diminished. Roger, it
always appeared evident from the git-go of his career, was destined for
immortality. But by definition, an immortal should still be with us, always
be with us. It's damned hard to rationalize the wrenching shock of loss.
An awful lot of people, writers and readers alike, are going to cite
Lord of Light or the Amber novels or Island of the Dead or any number of
other likely titles as the Zelazny work they remember and esteem the best.
Me, I always loved and admired Roger's short stories the most; one
collection in particular, and for a very special reason. In 1967, though I
didn't know it (or even barely dreamed it) at the time, I was a year away
from becoming a professional writer. Ace published a modest 45-cent
collection of four Zelazny stories called Four for Tomorrow. Ted Sturgeon
supplied an introduction. The contents included "The Furies," "The Graveyard
Heart," "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth," and "A Rose for
Ecclesiastes." The latter three stories, especially the last one, are some
of Roger's best-known short fiction. But I still remember fixing on "The
Furies" in particular. Power, wonder, romance, vivid scene-setting, clever
language, quirky characters. I read Four for Tomorrow repeatedly. I knew I
wanted to write like that. I wanted to learn from such an author. So the
collection became a private icon. I remember it fondly and with a sense of
great value. As I do the author.
Not that long ago, I saw Roger at a small convention in northern
Colorado. I used the opportunity to do something I'd long neglected--I gave
Roger a copy of the press kit for Science Fiction Land, a strange, highly
speculative, and ultimately doomed scheme to build an elaborate SF theme park
just east of Denver in the early '70s. Complete with Jack Kirby art, the
design of the park was to take its inspiration from Lord of Light. There
would be appropriate decor, rides, teeshirts, and, ultimately, a major motion
picture. None of it ever came to pass, of course.
A living, real-world Science Fiction Land would have been a most
peculiar memorial for Roger. But, as it happens, those who have known him
will evoke him in their own memories. And those who never met him, will
remember him through his novels and his stories. That will be the finest
memorial of all.
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material revert to the author or artist. Reproduction rights are reserved
except for the "Response Forms".
