Thomas M. Disch, R.I.P.
‘. . . there are moments when a soul released from its cave of flesh will speed towards a mortal mind as it lies entranced in sleep, will curl across its surface, frothing, like waves across a beach, touching its tenderest parts and causing dreams to rise from its depths, like the bubbles of burrowing clams. And we awake, knowing we have been touched by something beautiful,whose beauty we shall never understand, knowing only that we have been witnesses to its inexpressible passing. We call her name, if we can remember it, and ask her to remain a moment longer, only a moment. But already she is gone.’
The Businessman, Thomas M. Disch 1940 - 2008
There are tributes from people who knew him here, here, and here. Go read his books, and his stories. Read The Genocides, Camp Concentration, 334, On Wings of Song. Read the stories collected in Getting Into Death and Fundamental Disch. He was a damn fine writer. He was one of the writers who meant a lot to me when I was a lonely teenage sci-fi geek in the late 1960s/early 1970s.
Update: Daily Kos has posted a fine memorial essay.
The Businessman, Thomas M. Disch 1940 - 2008
There are tributes from people who knew him here, here, and here. Go read his books, and his stories. Read The Genocides, Camp Concentration, 334, On Wings of Song. Read the stories collected in Getting Into Death and Fundamental Disch. He was a damn fine writer. He was one of the writers who meant a lot to me when I was a lonely teenage sci-fi geek in the late 1960s/early 1970s.
Update: Daily Kos has posted a fine memorial essay.
posted by Paul McAuley at 5:41 pm
2 Comments:
I'm very sorry to hear Tom Disch is dead, and that things had been going so badly for him. I recently read The Puppies of Terra, which is very funny indeed, and I recommend it to anyone, if you can find it.
Sad story...
The thing schocked me most is the last record by Thomas Dish on his blog (LiveJornal):
"Inflation/ Starvation/ Fun
Short of succumbing to the madness of anorexia, I doubt I am likely to experience actual starvation before I die. Nor, I'd bet, will most of those who visit this site. But I'd also bet that most of us have felt the pinch of inflation in our daily diet...
I'm curious as to where we are on that scale now. How has your own diet been affected? I had sticker shock this week when I found that a "low-cost" lunch has climbed from $5 to $10/15 in just the last couple years. The Tv advertises a $5 slice of pizza as a bargain. I don't see how teens can get by unless they are dealing drugs or balling for dollars".
$10-15 dollars fast food lunch was expensive for classic writer of SF. Sad...
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