Wossname -- March 2015 -- Main issue --Remembering Sir Terry Pratchett
News and reviews about the works of Sir Terry Pratchett
wossname at pearwood.info
Tue Mar 17 12:16:06 AEDT 2015
Wossname
Newsletter of the Klatchian Foreign Legion
March 2015 (Volume 18, Issue 3, Post 3)
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WOSSNAME is a free publication offering news, reviews, and all the other
stuff-that-fits pertaining to the works and activities of Sir Terry
Pratchett. Originally founded by the late, great Joe Schaumburger for
members of the worldwide Klatchian Foreign Legion and its affiliates,
including the North American Discworld Society and other continental
groups, Wossname is now for Discworld and Pratchett fans everywhere in
Roundworld.
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Editor in Chief: Annie Mac
News Editor: Vera P
Newshounds: Mogg, Sir J of Croydon Below, the Shadow, Wolfiekins
Staff Writers: Asti, Pitt the Elder, Evil Steven Dread, Mrs Wynn-Jones
Staff Technomancers: Jason Parlevliet, Archchancellor Neil, DJ Helpful
Book Reviews: Annie Mac, Drusilla D'Afanguin, Your Name Here
Puzzle Editor: Tiff (still out there somewhere)
Bard in Residence: Weird Alice Lancrevic
Emergency Staff: Steven D'Aprano, Jason Parlevliet
World Membership Director: Steven D'Aprano (in his copious spare time)
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INDEX:
01) EDITOR'S LETTER: REMEMBERING SIR TERRY PRATCHETT
02) SOME SELECTED QUOTES
03) HOW THE WORLD TOLD US THE NEWS
04) SOME SELECTED TRIBUTES
05) MY FATHER, BY RHIANNA PRATCHETT
06) SENDING HOME: IMMORTALITY VIA ROUNDWORLD'S CLACKS
07) DONATIONS TO RICE CENTRE
08) SOME SELECTED IMAGES
09) CLOSE
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
01) A LETTER FROM YOUR EDITOR
Dear Readers,
After almost five days of reading, gathering and compositing to the best
of my ability other people's words about the untimely death of Sir Terry
Pratchett, I find I am at a loss to add my own yet. There will be a
second March issue at the end of the month; but for now, speaking for
Wossname, I present the words and thoughts and images of the world's
reaction to the passing of one of the greatest writers – and greatest
humanists – our roundish world has ever seen.
Here is an image, by Farlander, that perhaps says it best:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B_9ymNUWgAAKdHh.jpg
Another image, by Sandara, beautiful if more sombre:
http://bit.ly/1NUiPNV
Here is the official Terry Pratchett Facebook page, with tributes:
https://www.facebook.com/pratchett/posts/10152645359765025:0
Here is a list of programmes, as BBC Radio 4 remembers the man and author:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02ltvn2
Wossname's special thanks go to Lynsey Dalladay aka Lynsey from
Transworld, for organising the Just Giving fundraising page for RICE in
Sir Pterry's honour:
https://www.justgiving.com/Terry-Pratchett/ (see item 7 for more details)
To you, the fans who supported his work and spread his name with so much
passion: he belonged to you once. He belongs to the world now. You made
that possible.
– Annie Mac, Editor
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
02) THE QUOTES
"Many thanks for all the kind words about my dad. Those last few tweets
were sent with shaking hands and tear-filled eyes."
– Rhianna Pratchett
"There was nobody like him. I was fortunate to have written a book with
him, when we were younger, which taught me so much."
– Neil Gaiman
"No writer in my lifetime has given me as much pleasure and happiness.
He could do knockabout for schoolboys (and girls) but he was also subtle
and wise and very funny in the adult world. I loved him because almost
all the characters he didn't like slowly grew more real, more
interesting, more complicated perhaps to his own surprise. He could
write evil if he needed to, but if he didn't his characters surprised us
and him. His prose was layered: there was a mischievous surface, and a
layer of complicated running jokes, and something steely and
uncompromising that turned the reader cold from time to time. He was my
unlikely hero, and saved me from disaster more than once by making me
laugh and making me think."
– A S Byatt
"It was a lot of fun to be around him. His skewed view of the world was
there in everything. He was always looking at things in a different way,
like a cracked mirror perspective."
– Stephen Briggs
"His creativity bought so much inspiration and joy to so many of us. It
was an honour and privilege to work with him and I owe him a great debt
of gratitude. May he rest in peace."
– Paul Kidby
"Terry was a class of his own in so many ways; other people will write
about his wisdom and his skills as an author. I remember his kindness to
his fans. No letters went unanswered and every person in a bookshop
signing queue got his full attention even if he and they had been there
for many hours."
– Bernard Pearson
"There is nothing spiteful, nothing bitter or sarcastic in his humour.
But he was also very shy, and happiest with his family. Everybody who
reads his work would agree Death was one of his finest creations – Terry
in some way has now shaken hands with one of his greatest-ever creations."
– Philip Pullman
"Sir Terry's final tweet reads simply: 'The End.' But, undoubtedly, he
will live on for a very long time through his writing."
– The Independent
"He took a despised literary form and made it dance. His legions of fans
will miss him – but at least they have the Discworld he left behind...
By the time he had finished with Discworld, it was clear that a fantasy
universe could be used to write with echoing profundity about love,
death, religion, duty, opera, politics, and – above all – decency."
– Andrew Brown, in The Guardian
"During the many times Terry supported Alzheimer's Society, publicly and
privately, I was struck by his passion, resilience and courage to fight
and kill the demon of dementia. When thanked for his work, he'd simply
smile and shake his head modestly, insisting it was nothing. Never
dwelling on his own dementia, he used his voice to shout out for others
when they could not."
– Jeremy Hughes, chief executive of Alzheimer's Research UK
"When he talked about writing and work he was very lucid but as soon as
you mentioned ordinary things like a cup of tea there was confusion. If
he talked about writing or developing his characters his brain seemed to
go to another place. It was bittersweet but also joyous that we did the
Wintersmith album while Terry was cognisant of it."
– Julian Littman of Steeleye Span, who worked with Sir Terry on the
Wintersmith album
"He is survived by Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Mort, Death, Death of
Rats, Commander Vimes, the Librarian, Cohen the Barbarian, Rincewind the
Wizard, the Luggage, and hundreds of other unforgettable characters,
whose adventures will continue to delight and surprise readers all over
the world for many years to come."
– George RR Martin
"Terry had a tremendous gift of giving life to stories of great wonder,
richness, humanity and warmth, for which many people all over the world
will remember him. He had a great heart as well. Joy, suffering,
happiness, the whole of the human experience: his stories captured all
of this and much besides with good humour, and he turned these same
talents to providing for a better future for generations to come,
through his steadfast work to promote Humanism and a compassionate
assisted dying law."
– Andrew Copson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association
"Ostensibly, Pratchett dealt in fantasy, but in the same way that the
London Symphony Orchestra could be considered to 'do a bit of music'.
His gift was to weave together parody, satire and adventure and reinvent
them in sublime ways."
– journalist Kat Brown, in The Telegraph
"I am glad to hear that Terry died peacefully. I do not know if he was
listening to Thomas Tallis, as he had so often described as his favoured
way to go. However the reality is that without an assisted dying law
there is no peace of mind for people when approaching their own death.
There is no choice, there is no control and there is no compassion."
– Dignity in Dying patron Lesley Close
"Though he may not release any more novels, nor provide smart quips in
interviews and thoughtful banter at conventions, Death cannot truly take
Terry Pratchett from the world. His influence has gone too deep, his
words have spread too far, and the things he most believed in —
laughter, bravery, community — are the very things he's left in our care."
– Jess Waters, a student at Emerson College
"I learnt more from your books than my entire education. Thank you, Sir
Terry."
– Tom, donor to RICE on Pterry's memorial Just Giving page, 12th March 2015
"I'm thinking we get some kittens, and then propose Death a trade."
– Ole Ulloriaq Lonberg-Jensen, on the Reinstate Terry Pratchett petition
at change.org
...and a few words from The Author himself:
"'I know about Sending Home,' said Princess. 'And I know the souls of
dead linesmen stay on the Trunk.'"
"'His name is in the code, in the wind in the rigging and the shutters.
Haven't you ever heard the saying "A man's not dead while his name is
still spoken"?'"
– Going Postal
"In the Ramtops village where they dance the real Morris dance, for
example, no one is finally dead until the ripples they cause in the
world die away – until the clock he wound up winds down, until the wine
she made has finished its ferment, until the crop they planted is
harvested. The span of someone's life, they say, is only the core of
their actual existence."
– Reaper Man
"'We dinnae mourn like ye do, ye ken. We mourn for them that has tae
stay behind.''
–The Wee Free Men
Additionally, BBC America offers a collection of "30 Terry Pratchett
quotes to guide you through life". You probably know most (or all) of
them, but it's handy to have them in one place: http://bbc.in/1HO1G4d
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
03) HOW THE WORLD BROKE THE NEWS
The announcement on PJSM Prints:
It is with immeasurable sadness that we announce that author Sir Terry
Pratchett has died at the age of 66.
"Larry Finlay, MD at Transworld Publishers:
"'I was deeply saddened to learn that Sir Terry Pratchett has died. The
world has lost one of its brightest, sharpest minds. In over 70 books,
Terry enriched the planet like few before him. As all who read him know,
Discworld was his vehicle to satirize this world: he did so brilliantly,
with great skill, enormous humour and constant invention. Terry faced
his Alzheimer's disease (an "embuggerance", as he called it) publicly
and bravely. Over the last few years, it was his writing that sustained
him. His legacy will endure for decades to come. My sympathies go out to
Terry's wife Lyn, their daughter Rhianna, to his close friend Rob
Wilkins, and to all closest to him.'
"Terry passed away in his home, with his cat sleeping on his bed
surrounded by his family on 12th March 2015. Diagnosed with PCA1 in
2007, he battled the progressive disease with his trademark
determination and creativity, and continued to write. He completed his
last book, a new Discworld novel, in the summer of 2014, before
succumbing to the final stages of the disease.
"We ask that the family are left undisturbed at this distressing time."
http://www.pjsmprints.com/
...and from Bernard Pearson, the Cunning Artificer:
"Today our deepest sympathy is with Lyn and Rhianna Pratchett and also
with Terry's amanuensis and friend Rob Wilkins.
I once said to Terry 'There are no pockets in a shroud'. We had been
talking about him buying a new car and I said he could afford a
Rolls-Royce if he wanted to but he was never a man for ostentation and
thought he might look at a Jag. 'Anyway', he replied 'It depends who
your tailor is, I'm having bloody great big ones in mine.' I'm writing
this because right now I could find out if that were true.
"I have known Terry since 1990 when we met in a bar in Covent Garden to
discuss the idea of me creating small sculptures from the characters in
his books. We found common ground in his days as a journalist and my
days as a policeman and we became friends. Over the years we spent a lot
of time together not just at the many gatherings at the Discworld
Emporium in Wincanton and at conventions all over the world but also for
family celebrations at Christmas or New Year, birthdays and wedding
anniversaries, lunch at the pub or bacon sandwiches round our dining
room table. Every occasion enlivened by his quickness of mind, his
encyclopaedic knowledge and most of all by his humour.
"He was not always easy to be with; he didn't suffer fools gladly and
with his command of the English language a blast from him was something
that this 'silly old fool' certainly would remember for quite a while. I
have been bollocked by the best in my time but dear old Terry was in a
class of his own.
"Terry was a class of his own in so many ways; other people will write
about his wisdom and his skills as an author. I remember his kindness to
his fans. No letters went unanswered and every person in a bookshop
signing queue got his full attention even if he and they had been there
for many hours.
"He enjoyed spending time with his readers – he would say they worked
hard to earn the money to buy his books and therefore he owed them. He
also genuinely enjoyed their company.
"We were privileged to co-author or as he put it 'aid and abet' him in
one or two books. It was a revelation the way he could sprinkle stardust
on a sentence and make it shine or take the germ of an idea, hold it up
to the light, and within minutes polish it into something original,
clever and very funny. We shall miss his many phone calls requesting
information about police procedure, and latterly the location of a
particular town, or the landscape of a train journey.
"We shall miss him.
"Bernard Pearson, on behalf of us all at the Emporium."
www.discworldemporium.com/a%20message%20from%20the%20heart
On the BBC news website:
"Despite campaigning for assisted suicide after his diagnosis, Sir
Terry's publishers said he did not take his own life.
BBC News correspondent Nick Higham said: 'I was told by the publishers
his death was entirely natural and unassisted, even though he had said
in the past he wanted to go at a time of his own choosing.'..."
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-31858156
...and the BBC's full obituary:
"Terry Pratchett proved that it was possible for a world to be flat. He
first created Discworld in 1983 because he wanted to 'have fun with some
of the cliches' of fantasy novels. Pratchett's whimsical writings
endeared him to millions of avid fans across the world. But in later
years he fought a much-publicised battle against Alzheimer's disease...
"His breakthrough came in 1968. While interviewing a publisher, Peter
Bander van Duren, he casually mentioned he had been working on a
manuscript. Van Duren and his business partner Colin Smythe read the
draft and The Carpet People was published in 1971. According to Smythe,
the book received few reviews, but they were ecstatic, with one
describing it as 'of quite extraordinary quality'. Pratchett followed
this up with his only two purely science-fiction novels, The Dark Side
of the Sun, published in 1976, and Strata five years later. The latter
work introduced the concept of a flat world, something that would
surface again in Pratchett's most popular series of novels. 'Nothing in
the universe is "natural" in the strict sense of the term,"' Pratchett
said of Strata. 'Everything, from planets to stars, is a relic of
previous races and civilisations.'
"His style of writing was nothing if not eccentric. He avoided chapters
where possible, on the basis that they broke up the narrative, and
peppered his text with footnotes. Pratchett also used punctuation as a
source of humour. His character Death always conversed in capital
letters while the auditors of reality eschewed quotation marks. He drew
heavily on real people for many of his characters. Leonardo da Vinci,
for example, became the painter and engineer Leonard of Quirm. Many of
his works were adapted for the stage and animated versions of some of
his children's stories, including Truckers, have appeared on TV. He
fought a running battle against critics who said fantasy could never be
considered as literature. 'Stories of imagination,' he said witheringly,
'tend to upset those without one.'
"Away from writing he maintained an interest in astronomy and natural
history. He became a campaigner to promote the conservation of the
orangutan and the librarian in Pratchett's Unseen University found being
the shape of an orangutan ideal for his work..."
www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-25401679
In The Guardian:
"The announcement of his death unleashed a tide of sympathy from around
the world. David Cameron tweeted: 'Sad to hear of Sir Terry Pratchett's
death, his books fired the imagination of millions and he fearlessly
campaigned for dementia awareness.' The author Neil Gaiman, a friend and
collaborator, tweeted: 'I will miss you, Terry, so much.'... The
characters of his fantastical creation, Discworld, inhabit a world held
up by four elephants balanced on the back of a giant turtle. It is a
world peopled by incompetent wizards, upside-down mountains, slow-witted
barbarians and a wry incarnation of Death. Begun as a cheerful parody of
fantasy authors from JRR Tolkien to Ursula K Le Guin, Pratchett's
ambitions gradually expanded to encompass life, death and humanity's
place in the universe – though the jokes kept coming..."
http://bit.ly/1C92UH2
...and the Guardian's full obituary, by Christopher Priest:
"BEING DEAD IS NOT COMPULSORY. NOT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO. These are the
words of Death, one of Terry Pratchett's ingenious comic creations in
his Discworld novels. Death has a booming, unamused voice (always in
capitals, never in quotation marks), and is the permanent straight man
in the comic chaos around him. He goes about his morbid business on a
horse called Binky, whose hooves throw up sparks on every street cobble.
Death is a skeleton, with eyes like two tiny blue stars set deep within
the sockets. He wears a black cloak, carries a scythe and, at the end of
a day's work, loves to murder a curry. At the point of contact with his
latest client, he usually spends a few moments having a courteous word
or two with the recently deceased, until they fade away. Now Death has
gained a most illustrious client, for Pratchett himself has died, aged
66, after suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's disease. The exchange
is no doubt unamused but courteous on one side, amusing but rueful on
the other, but of fervent interest to both parties. It's a conversation
that millions of Pratchett fans would ache to overhear. Would Death dare
to speak in capitals to Sir Terry Pratchett?
"Pratchett was, and will remain, one of the most popular British authors
of all time. In the modern age, only the career of JK Rowling, creator
of Harry Potter, is comparable. The facts of Pratchett's success are
impressive: the sheer number of books he has sold (some 80m copies
worldwide), and the number of reprints, translations, dramatisations on
television and stage, audio versions and spin-offs, plus awards and
honorary doctorates galore. Then there's an inestimable amount of
Discworld spinoffery: chess pieces, wizardly hats, cloaks and T-shirts,
leathern bags, pottery figurines, fantastic artwork, magic clobber of
every kind including dribbly candles – all made by and sold to fans. His
signings at bookshops were legendary: a queue stretching down the street
was de rigueur, and although Pratchett worked quickly at the signatures,
he was unfailingly friendly to everyone who turned up. He was open to
readers: he answered emails (or some of them, because the volume of
incoming messages was spectacular) and he went to Discworld conventions
(almost all of them). He was a nice man, unpretentious and with a wry
manner...
"Pratchett's first fantasy book was The Carpet People, written when he
was 18; he rewrote it 30 years later, having revised and reversed his
ideas about the importance of kings and wars. It was originally
published in 1971 by a local publisher, Colin Smythe Ltd, based in
Gerrards Cross. Smythe published the next two or three novels, licensing
other editions in British paperback and in the US, but as Pratchett's
popularity grew it became clear to everyone that a larger publisher
would be better equipped to promote his books. Smythe stepped aside as
publisher and became Pratchett's agent instead. Thereafter, hardbacks
appeared from large publishers, beginning with Gollancz...
"In a publishing world where popular success often equates to
ill-written or hackneyed work, Pratchett's novels, although in a racy,
readable style, were constantly witty, with many cultural, vernacular
and literary references. You never quite knew where the next association
was coming from: you would find sideways references to HP Lovecraft,
William Shakespeare, Beachcomber, Sellar and Yeatman, Thomas Hughes,
Peter Shaffer (a good joke about Salieri), JRR Tolkien, Egyptology,
vampirism, dragons... The humour of the novels was likable and liked:
most of Pratchett's books sold on word of mouth, and the many
conventions thrown in his honour were happy occasions. He gave his
readers memorable hours of talks, interviews and jokes... His last years
were astonishingly active. He continued to write fiction, learning to
dictate rather than type, and a last Discworld novel was completed and
delivered last summer..."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/12/terry-pratchett
In The Independent:
"As soon as news broke of his death broke on Thursday afternoon, his
website crashed under the weight of fans wanting to remember the
writer... A JustGiving page has been set up in his name, which aims to
raise money for the Research Institute for the Care of Older People..."
http://ind.pn/1DmiqAI
In The Telegraph:
"The author had succumbed to a chest infection earlier this year, which
gradually worsened. He passed away on March 12th.
He finished his final book, a new Discworld novel, in the summer of 2014
before entering the final stages of Alzheimer's... Sir Terry, who wrote
more than 70 best-selling novels, had waged a very public struggle with
Alzheimer's disease in recent years. He was diagnosed with posterior
cortical atrophy (PCA), a progressive degenerative condition involving
the loss and dysfunction of brain cells, in 2007 and continued writing,
broadcasting and meeting his fans. After losing the ability to touch
type in 2012, he used voice-recognition technology to complete his
much-loved new works. He went on to become one of the most prominent and
influential voices in the campaign for research into the disease, and
was a patron of Alzheimers Research UK. When asked about his career in
May 2014, he said: 'It is possible to live well with dementia and write
best-sellers 'like wot I do.'
"Hilary Evans, director of Alzheimer's Research UK, said: 'The loss of
Sir Terry Pratchett will have a profound effect on both literature and
the 850,000 people who live with dementia. Sir Terry's uniquely witty
and affecting announcement of his diagnosis with Alzheimer's at our 2008
conference will be seen as a watershed moment for all people living with
dementia. It engendered huge public awareness of Alzheimer's and issued
a call to arms for society to talk about dementia and take steps towards
defeating it. We will miss him.'..."
http://bit.ly/1BFWygu
...and the Telegraph's full obituary:
"His appeal was solidly based on well-crafted prose, imaginative
situations, economically phrased humour and well-observed characters .
With his knack for choice similes – Death himself, a recurring
character, speaks with 'a voice like the slamming of coffins' lids',
rendered entirely in capital letters – his style appealed equally to
young and adult readers; and his use of a fully realised alternative
world made it possible for him to tackle a wide range of contemporary
topics and issues without forfeiting his essential lightness of touch.
Ironically, it was Pratchett's ground-breaking achievement in making
comic fantasy acceptable to the mainstream reader that allowed J K
Rowling to usurp his place as the most widely read living British writer...
"Terry attended High Wycombe Technical High School, which he chose in
preference to the local grammar school because 'woodwork would be more
fun than Latin'. He was, by his own admission, a 'nondescript' student;
the most significant event in his school career was probably the
publication of his short story The Hades Business in the school magazine
when he was 13 (two years later he sold it commercially, and used the
proceeds to buy his first typewriter)...
"He enjoyed walking; that aside, his activities were mostly connected
with or ancillary to his work. He took an interest in computers and
played computer games (from which he drew the inspiration for his
children's novel, Only You Can Save Mankind); he eagerly participated in
many online newsgroups and discussion groups frequented by his fans, to
whom he always tried to be as accessible as reasonably possible, for a
writer with such a large and often fanatical readership. He also
maintained his childhood interest in astronomy, at one point building an
observatory in the grounds of his Wiltshire house, and collected
carnivorous plants...
"Around the turn of the millennium, Pratchett's work began to display a
change of direction. The rate of production dropped from two books a
year to one. The books themselves became darker, more thoughtful and
more complex. In his earlier work, the plot was often a loose framework
for gags and comic set pieces, the characters frequently little more
than mouthpieces for the jokes. Nightwatch (2002) and Monstrous Regiment
(2003), by contrast, are meticulously structured, with the comedy
arising organically out of the interaction of situation and character.
This progression was partly a natural consequence of the coral-reef
development of the Discworld itself. A minor character in one book would
become a central player in another; a passing joke would grow into a
substantial theme. In consequence, as the texture of Discworld became
richer, it enabled Pratchett to write more ambitiously. The comedy never
waned, nor was it ever entirely subordinated to a serious purpose; but
the books began to achieve objectives other than the maximum number of
jokes per page...
"Pratchett was often compared to Swift, but the comparison does him no
favours. He was not a satirist. Closer to Wodehouse than Waugh, he
preferred to create a self-contained world in which he could dictate
everything from the laws of physics to the number of colours in the
spectrum (eight), with human nature the only factor outside his control.
Although Discworld served to hold a distorting mirror up to the world in
which his readers lived, satire was a by-product and a means to an end,
rather than the object of the exercise..."
http://bit.ly/19mH8on
In the Daily Mail:
"The comic universe he created in Discworld – a flat disc balanced on
the backs of four elephants standing on the back of a giant turtle –
made millions laugh and made them think as well. His sense of fun made
him stand out in the often po-faced world of fantasy literature - he
would turn up at conventions wearing a T-shirt saying: 'Tolkien's dead,
JK Rowling said no, Philip Pullman couldn't make it. Hi. I'm Terry
Pratchett.' Towards the end of his life, he used his fame and wealth to
campaign for a greater awareness of dementia and assisted dying...
Hilary Evans, director of Alzheimer's Research UK, said the death of Sir
Terry would have 'a profound effect on both literature and the 850,000
people who live with dementia'..."
http://dailym.ai/1BFWGfS
An obituary by David Colker in the Los Angeles Times:
"Pratchett won a 2008 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for his young adult
novel, "Nation," which takes place on a mythical South Seas island in
the 19th century. The plot revolves around an island-born boy and
shipwrecked girl, from very different cultures, trying to survive a
natural disaster. He accepted the award in a videotaped message from a
slightly disheveled, book-filled office with a large cat perched on the
desk. 'It was like being shackled by one leg to a bulldozer,' the
white-bearded Pratchett said about writing the novel as the
scene-stealing cat looked ready to pounce. 'It just bound its way across
the landscape, but it was up to me to keep up with it and bang my head
on the trees as we rode across.' Though 'Nation' was aimed at young
adults, the Guardian in London said the book 'has profound, subtle and
original things to say about the interplay between tradition and
knowledge, faith and questioning.'
"With his books regularly hitting the top of best-seller lists in
England, Pratchett was likely that country's most popular novelist until
the arrival of J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter' tales in the 1990s. He took
Rowling's rise with customary humor, wearing a T-shirt to fan
conventions that read, 'Tolkien's Dead, J.K. Rowling said no,' and then
in small letters, 'Hi, I'm Terry Pratchett.'...
"In the years after his diagnosis, Pratchett spoke openly of his
condition and supported not only Alzheimer's but also right-to-die
causes. But his character Death doesn't appear in his last published
book, 'Raising Steam.' 'It's not deliberate,' he told the Telegraph in
2013 with a laugh, 'but I don't want to be a death fetishist.'..."
http://lat.ms/1ba6OFi
A knowing and loving obituary by Bruce Weber in the New York Times:
"An accomplished satirist with a penchant for sending up cultural and
political tomfoolery, Mr. Pratchett created wildly imaginative
alternative realities to reflect on a world more familiar to readers as
actual reality. Often spiced with shrewd and sometimes wryly stinging
references to literary genres, from fairy tales to Elizabethan drama,
his books have sold 85 million copies worldwide, according to his
publisher. And though Mr. Pratchett may have suffered from the general
indifference of literary critics to the fantasy genre, on the occasions
when serious minds took his work seriously, they tended to validate his
legitimate literary standing... Mr. Pratchett often wrote with eyebrow
arched and tongue planted firmly in cheek; in the behavior of his
mythical creatures it was hard to miss the barbs being tossed in the
direction of humanity..."
http://nyti.ms/1F5o21t
From Reuters:
"News about the death of Pratchett – who campaigned during his final
illness for legalizing assisted death – came on his Twitter account in a
series of tweets written in the style of his Discworld novels, where
Death always talks in capital letters. 'AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK
TOGETHER,' said the first tweet on @terryandrob. 'Terry took Death's arm
and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the
endless night,' said the second, while a third read simply: 'The End'...
A unique creation, Discworld is a circular world set on the backs of
four elephants standing on the shell of a giant turtle, populated by a
vast and colorful cast of characters inspired by the worlds of fantasy,
folk tales and mythology. Pratchett used Discworld to parody those
genres, but also to send up aspects of modern life by drawing often
incongruous connections between his imaginary world and things ordinary
people living in 20th century Britain would recognize..."
http://reut.rs/1MBNi1N
From the Continent of Fourecks, a combination announcement and obituary
in the Sydney Morning Herald:
"Fantasy writer Terry Pratchett, creator of the Discworld series and
author of more than 70 books, has died. He was 66.
Pratchett, who suffered from a rare form of early onset Alzheimer's
disease, had earned wide respect in Britain and beyond with his
dignified campaign for the right of critically ill patients to choose
assisted suicide... Wheeler Centre director Michael Williams, who hosted
Pratchett on what would become his last tour of Australia in 2011,
remembers him as a likeable and fiercely intelligent man. 'I've been a
fan of his for many years and I was lucky enough to interview him. He
was very witty and very wise and endlessly curious. The conversation
would spark off in a million different directions.' Peter Nicholls, an
Australian expert on science fiction, author of the Science Fiction
Encyclopedia was a friend of Pratchett. 'It's a difficult think to talk
about Terry because he's been a pretty mysterious character,' he said.
"The author disclosed his condition in 2007. His doctors at first
believed he had suffered a stroke, but found him to have an unusual form
of Alzheimer's disease. He tried to be optimistic with his millions of
fans, assuring them on his website that the condition didn't seem to be
immediately life-threatening. As he lost the ability to write on a
computer, he turned to a dictation system that allowed him to keep
producing fictional works, his agent Colin Smythe said. 'It may have
changed his prose style slightly,' Smythe said. 'The real problem is the
difficulty of revising it.'
"Pratchett didn't shy away from the emotional public debate about
assisted suicide. He used the prestigious Richard Dimbleby lecture in
February 2010 to argue the logic of allowing people to end their lives
at a time they chose. He said assisted suicide should be decriminalised
and that suicide panels should be set up to judge cases, and offered his
own case as an example. In the lecture, Pratchett said there was no
reason to believe a cure for his disease was imminent. He said he could
live his remaining years more fully if he knew he would be allowed to
end his life before the disease claimed him..."
http://bit.ly/1MCgns5
...and a marvellous obituary-cum-tribute by Kieron Gillen, "Why We Need
Terry Pratchett's Brand of Moral Outrage", on Vulture.com:
"As I write this, my brother talks about his dyslexia and how Pratchett
made him want to read even when his brain didn't. I think earlier, and
think of a teacher friend of mine who talked about the sheer number of
children she taught who were brought into books by Pratchett. This
reminds me how I was involved in a conversation earlier that compared
him to Dickens, which struck me as correct. Massively popular writing
powered by a strong sense of the pains of society. And then Pratchett
added jokes, which makes him a dream mash-up of Dickens and Wodehouse,
with a healthy sprinkling of genre just to ensure he got right up the
right noses. ('A complete amateur ... doesn't even write in chapters,'
as the Late Review once said, the quote that was proudly printed at the
front of a string of Pratchett books. The best revenge is always funny.)...
"The jokes, the wordplay, the sentences were the style. We came to
Pratchett for the substance, what he said about people. Pratchett
fundamentally understood fantasy as a device for emphasizing humanity
rather than escaping from it. You use the fantasy to make the point more
precise, more undeniable, easier to digest, and impossible to refute. We
can see ourselves more clearly. As core character and general force of
nature Granny Weatherwax once put it: 'Sin, young man, is when you treat
people as things. Including yourself.' Despite the core moral compass, a
sermon wasn't the point. This is moral rather than moralizing. When your
core moral compass, as suggested above, is a militant empathy, then the
characters have to embody that, even the villains — especially the
villains. The one exception I can think of is his wicked deconstruction
of all things elves in Lords and Ladies, and the attacking of the
problematic core of the idea of 'higher people' was very much the point.
By way of example, despite the fact that Pratchett was an atheist, Small
Gods manages to brutally satirize religion while having at its core a
sympathetic portrait of a prophet of a god in the body of a tortoise.
Pratchett may not have believed, but he understood why people did. Both
the practicing Catholic who first read it and the atheist who is writing
this think it's his best book, and if you've yet to read any Pratchett,
Small Gods is where to begin.
"I made a typo in that last paragraph, writing, 'Pratchett is an
atheist.' I moved the cursor back and corrected it to 'was,' and the
tears were in the eyes again..."
www.vulture.com/2015/03/terry-pratchett-kieron-gillen.html
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
04) SOME TRIBUTES
From Stephen Briggs, via an interview in the Oxford Mail:
"Sir Terry wrote more than 70 novels and Mr Briggs recorded audiobooks
as well as bringing dozens of them to the stage, including at the
Unicorn Theatre in Abingdon. He said: 'For me it's been a wonderful time
with Terry over the last 25 years. We became good friends. He was a
lovely and supportive man. I saw him two weeks ago. I went down to his
house and pottered in to see him, and he wasn't well then. He will leave
a large gap in the world.' Mr Briggs, a member of the Headington-based
Studio Theatre Club, said: 'I first wrote to him through amdram and
asked if we could stage one of his books. We were the first in the world
to stage any of his stuff. I owe him a huge debt of gratitude. It's a
real privilege to be a part of creating even a small part of his
wonderful world, and it's something which I never take for granted.'...
He added he was planning to carry on adapting Sir Terry's work for
future generations to enjoy."
http://bit.ly/1BFKEoc
A remembrance from Long Earth series co-author Stephen Baxter:
"Terry Pratchett and I started work on our science fiction series, The
Long Earth, in the spring of 2010. It came out of a dinner-party
conversation. We'd known each other for nearly 20 years, and talked
about shared enthusiasms, the fiction, the science – which Terry called
'the quantum'. Terry had always been a science fiction reader, and had
produced two fine SF novels, but abandoned a third. Now he described
that shelved idea and I could see why Terry had got stuck; his work was
of character and dialogue, whereas this project was about landscapes and
exploration. So we decided to try collaborating. We worked up ideas on
the phone, and a Discworld convention that year turned into a kind of
mass workshop. Terry always enjoyed engaging with the fans. He listened
to them.
"In October 2010 we started working sessions at his home in Wiltshire.
Terry's study is the chapel of an old monastic house, lined with dusty
books and cluttered with Discworld souvenirs. Terry was always prolific,
but as we worked he would be deliberate. He would sit in silence, or
poke the fire in the stove, and think, and then produce an almost
perfect sentence. As he drafted he liked to improvise. He said that if
you gave him two characters talking in a room, the story would come. And
as we worked we drilled deep into the heads of the characters,
especially the young ones. I could see why his Tiffany Aching novels,
meant for young adults, are so popular.
"But when we started work it was already a couple of years after his
condition had been diagnosed [early-onset Alzheimer's]. His sight was
the first to be affected, a cruel affliction for any writer. But Terry
found workarounds. He used custom-built voice-recognition software to
dictate his drafts, then revised them with the help of his supremely
loyal business manager, Rob Wilkins. I read printed manuscripts to him,
which we would amend line by line, sitting by the stove. As the core
condition began to affect him, he needed more workarounds and
assistance, and the work was interrupted by his commitments to the
causes of dementia sufferers and right-to-die campaigns. But work was
everything to Terry, after his family. If anything, he worked even harder.
"The last time I saw him was a sunny day last summer. We went into
Salisbury for an author photograph by the cathedral. Even then he had
new ideas for the books. What he liked about science fiction, I think,
was the way it addresses the bigger picture. 'By the time we get to Book
Five,' he said to me, 'will we find out what it's all about?'"
http://bit.ly/1NYrK0S
Cory Doctorow's very personal tribute:
"Terry Pratchett, a treasure of a writer, a gem of a human being, and a
credit to our species, has died, far too soon, at the age of 66.
Pratchett died at home, in bed, surrounded by his family and with his
cat. He was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's in 2007, and has
since been a tireless advocate for the right to die with dignity, as
well as a major donor to Alzheimer's research. Pratchett continued to
produce brilliant books after his diagnosis, most recently the important
Raising Steam, which, more than any of the other Discworld books,
explored the intrinsic "magic" wrought by technology on its advocates,
and worked through technology's discontents.
"I'm deeply saddened by Pratchett's death, even though I, like his other
fans, had so long to get used to the idea that he would only be with us
for a short time. The Discworld books are some of my truest friends.
I've read many of them dozens of times, and always find new things to
love in them. I interviewed Pratchett last year on the occasion of the
reissue of his first novel, The Carpet People, which he wrote at the age
of 17. He was gentlemanly and fascinating, something that many of his
interlocutors and fans have noted, but as Neil Gaiman reminds us: the
thing that kept Terry Pratchett going wasn't his sweet nature, it was
his anger:
"There is a fury to Terry Pratchett's writing: it's the fury that was
the engine that powered Discworld. It's also the anger at the headmaster
who would decide that six-year-old Terry Pratchett would never be smart
enough for the 11-plus; anger at pompous critics, and at those who think
serious is the opposite of funny; anger at his early American publishers
who could not bring his books out successfully. The anger is always
there, an engine that drives. By the time Terry learned he had a rare,
early onset form of Alzheimer's, the targets of his fury changed: he was
angry with his brain and his genetics and, more than these, furious at a
country that would not permit him (or others in a similarly intolerable
situation) to choose the manner and the time of their passing.
"And that anger, it seems to me, is about Terry's underlying sense of
what is fair and what is not. It is that sense of fairness that
underlies Terry's work and his writing, and it's what drove him from
school to journalism to the press office of the SouthWestern Electricity
Board to the position of being one of the best-loved and bestselling
writers in the world..."
http://boingboing.net/2015/03/12/rip-terry-pratchett.html
Andrew M Butler, author of the Unofficial Companion to the Novels of
Terry Pratchett and co-editor of Terry Pratchett: Guilty of Literature,
has written an obituary/appreciation for the Los Angeles Review of Books:
"While each new Pratchett book becomes a bestseller, the literary
establishment has been less generous. There is a lazy assumption — most
recently characterized by an episode of BBC Radio 4's A Good Read, in
which veteran journalist Katherine Whitehorn's 'surprise choice' of
reading recommendation was The Colour of Magic. The program's webpage
asks, 'if three adult women [will] agree on a novel from a series
usually thought of as the preserve of teenage boys.' They do — and
positively — against their better judgment. Pratchett's background in
fantasy counts against him — Tolkien, after all, is still patronized —
and it is assumed that comic novels cannot also be serious. Alongside
Pratchett's humor and humanity, there are condemnations of sexism,
racism, xenophobia, and the misuse of power.... We are left with
memories of his many appearances at conventions, the legendary queues
for his autograph, his accumulated wisdom, and shelves full of books
that will be read by people of all ages — male and female — for the
foreseeable future."
http://bit.ly/1HTSrQf
A fine tribute from Guardian columnist Dean Burnett:
"I never got to meet him in person, much to my regret, and it may seem
weird to feel strong and profound grief for someone you didn't really
know, but it's very common. And it's surely to be more common in this
case. Because if you've read all of his books (many repeatedly) it sort
of feels like you know Pratchett on some deep intimate level.
"The fact that a brain like Pratchett's could be afflicted with early
onset Alzheimer's just seemed too cruel a twist in what is supposedly a
random universe. It's bad enough when it happens to anyone of course,
but when it's to a mind and brain that I such a bountiful source of joy
and entertainment, it was just a bit much to take seriously. It was so
like something from one of his books that you may be forgiven for
thinking it was an elaborate set up of some sort.
"But as is perhaps to be expected of an individual who made death into a
relatable, even likable character in his books, Pratchett faced his
condition head-on. He was never one for shying away from expressing his
enthusiasm for science, producing several books on the subject where he
combined it with his fantasy work with a gleeful disregard for whether
or not this was 'the done thing'. This example was one of the things
that inspired the comedic science approach adopted in these very
blogposts, which is admittedly like a flickering candle next to the
Pratchett floodlight, but still. And of course, science ended up taking
on a direct relevance to his own life; following his campaigning and
outspoken attitude to his condition probably did more for our
understanding and study of early onset Alzheimer's disease as a dozen
cutting edge studies. But awareness and understanding are only useful to
an extent, and they weren't enough this time. Maybe one day they will
be, and that day may come sooner thanks to Pratchett, who cheered and
inspired so many, all while seemingly having a whale of a time doing
what he loved..."
http://bit.ly/1DmjlBq
Another in The Guardian, by Andrew Brown:
"To say that a writer is interesting is normally a completely bullshit
phrase, there to draw attention to the superior culture of the critic
who can form such Parnassian judgments about what matters. But Terry
Pratchett, who has died aged 66, was one of the most interesting writers
of the past 30 years in an entirely literal sense. He interested
readers. He captivated them, in fact. The captives wandered happily for
years around Discworld and the other territories of his imagination. He
was loved – not at all too strong a word – by his readers. He brought
them, us, me, delight... By the time he had finished with Discworld, it
was clear that a fantasy universe could be used to write with echoing
profundity about love, death, religion, duty, opera, politics, and –
above all – decency... I think of Pratchett as the most admirably
English writer since Orwell. They make an unlikely pairing, and Orwell
is the more sentimental of the two, but in both there is a rooted
affection for the goodness of a world that is frequently awful and
fundamentally absurd. But, see, Pratchett said, the world can be a
wonderful place even if it is only turtles all the way down. Death will
come, but he will have things to say, as well..."
http://bit.ly/1BzP9iR
And a third in The Guardian, a shortish tribute from fan Helen Lewis:
"No subject was too big for Terry Pratchett, who died on Thursday – once
he'd found a way to make it ridiculous. He took on capitalism, religion,
sexism, war, death and why you should never buy food from a man with a
tray in the street. His books wore their learning lightly, sweeping the
reader along on a river of bad puns, self-deprecating footnotes and
weird scenarios constructed with impeccable internal logic. Over the
course of more than 40 novels, his Discworld series evolved into
something much richer and darker than perhaps even he initially
expected. Fittingly for someone who spent his final years talking about
the need for reform in assisted dying legislation, Pratchett's
best-loved character was Death, an imposing skeleton – who rode a white
horse called Binky and spoke IN SMALL CAPS... For me, though, the best
character in the Discworld is Samuel Vimes, the descendant of a
regicidal ancestor, who ends up as commander of the Watch in the chaotic
city of Ankh-Morpork. Because Vimes hates authority, the city's
Machiavellian ruler, the Patrician, keeps giving him more just to annoy
him. At one point, he wades into a war and tries to arrest both sides
for 'breach of the peace'. Here was Pratchett's own view of humanity: we
are endlessly fallible, but usually worth saving..."
http://bit.ly/19mI3oE
A thought-provoking tribute essay by William Hughes at the A. V. Club:
"The only book my local library had was the 19th, Feet Of Clay. I picked
it up and tore through it in a matter of days.
In hindsight, Feet Of Clay might be the worst possible starting point in
the entire Discworld series, dense as it is with continuity and a
complex plot of political intrigue. So it's a testament to Pratchett's
talents that I was still hooked, telling myself I'd understand all of
that stuff later and letting myself be sucked in by the jokes and the
characters and the footnotes and the tone. Especially the tone... It's
easy to use 'funny' as a dismissive adjective, to give in to the
knee-jerk reaction to call the Discworld novels 'more' than just funny
books. But Discworld is great because it's funny, not in spite of it.
Death's deadpan sarcasm, Bloody Stupid Johnson's increasingly improbable
inventions, and even poor, cowardly Rincewind — they're all evidence of
a world that operates under the auspices of a benevolent, funny god.
It's not that the comedy makes the lessons go down easier. The comedy is
the lesson. I'm not ashamed to say that my younger self learned many
things from reading Sir Terry's work, beliefs that I now prize as some
of the best parts of my self. But that idea, that the world really is a
good, funny place, is the one I hold closest as I mourn his death..."
http://avc.lu/1EFKv6o
A tribute from Telegraph journalist Kat Brown:
"Terry Pratchett, who has died at the frankly absurd age of 66, was an
author whose reputation swelled along with his back catalogue. He will
be so much missed that the millions of people who read, and loved, his
books will struggle to get their heads around it... Each book in his
40-strong Discworld series is like taking a life-changing adventure with
a particularly sarcastic guide. Pratchett wrote more than 70 books, of
which the Discworld saga was the most famous. He observed the world and
turned it inside out until the silly could be found, and laughed at. He
had the most formidable of weapons at his disposal: a cocktail shaker of
a brain, filled with esoteric knowledge of the sort a crossword compiler
would envy. From Ancient Egypt to computers, religious fanaticism,
Hollywood, musical theatre and the industrial revolution, Pratchett's
references were wide and wonderful... Pratchett's world expanded as your
mind did. His writing style was inclusive but never patronising, and
there were secret layers of words, references, jokes to appreciate as
you grew up and learned more. Thousands of children discovered their
love of reading in Pratchett, and now their children do the same..."
http://bit.ly/1Em068J
A tribute from Petra Mayer on NPR:
"Pratchett was no stranger to death. The big guy with the scythe and the
booming voice was a constant and vital presence in the Discworld books
and their screen adaptations. "HUMAN BEINGS MAKE LIFE SO INTERESTING,"
Death says in Pratchett's 1996 book Hogfather, and while it's Death
speaking there in his characteristic capitals, that one sentence sums up
what was marvelous about Pratchett: He found human beings so interesting.
"Few writers were as insightful and just plain good as Pratchett was at
winkling out all the secret scraps of human nature and then disguising
them as broad comic fantasy. 'He really had the gift of making fun of
human foolishness without being cruel,' says fantasy author Delia
Sherman, who has taught college classes on Pratchett's work. 'He was
just so compassionate, even to the most horrible of his characters. He
allowed them to be fully human, even if they were rocks who walked.'...
After his diagnosis, Pratchett became an inspiration to dementia
patients and an advocate for physician-assisted suicide for those
suffering terminal illnesses..."
http://n.pr/1BaEOGm
On the occasion of Pratchett's death, a paean to Pratchett's Death, by
Matilda Battersby in The Independent:
"If you're going read just one Discworld novel make it Mort. Terry
Pratchett, who died today aged 66 after a well-documented battle with
Alzheimer's, was poking fun at death long before he began campaigning
for assisted suicide. Published in 1987, Mort is the fourth of
Pratchett's vividly surreal Discworld novels and the first to feature
death as a main character. In the novel the titular protagonist Mort is
enlisted as Death's assistant, helping him usher souls into the next
world. But unlike the cold, stereotypical hooded figure wielding a
scythe, Pratchett's Death is a haphazard figure who we see embarking on
the very human experiences of getting drunk, dancing wildly and even
hankering after happiness. He likes cats. He enjoys curry. Far be it for
Pratchett to stick reverently to the hackneyed image of the Grim Reaper,
the novelists' Death dresses up as Father Christmas and displays an
endearing fascination for the human lives he is helping to extinguish.
He might yell COWER, BRIEF MORTALS but no-one is hiding behind the sofa..."
http://ind.pn/1xoq6v6
A lovely tribute from Church Broughton Primary School, which staged the
world premiere of Matthew Holmes' superb adaptation of The Amazing Maurice:
"As news spread around the world about the sad death of author Sir Terry
Pratchett, there may have been people in South Derbyshire who were
particularly moved by his loss. Two schools in the district – Church
Broughton Primary School and St Edward's Catholic Primary School, in
Swadlincote – were touched by the Discworld writer during his life,
meaning their pupils had a special knowledge of who he was and what he did.
"The author died on Thursday at the age of 66, following a long fight
with Alzheimer's disease. He had already been diagnosed with the
condition when he became involved with St Edward's in 2010 after staff
wrote to tell him about their book club. Celia Anderson, literacy
co-ordinator at the school, who ran the club, said: 'It started off with
the club and we took off from there. We still use the books in school.
It struck me as such a nice thing to do for these young children, who
may become future readers.' The following year, Church Broughton Primary
School staged the world premiere of a musical stage adaptation of his
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodent. The children's book was
adapted by Church Broughton musician Matthew Holmes, who had a child at
the school at the time. He said at the time: 'I've been really overjoyed
to work on it. He has seen the script and the music, but he hasn't seen
the final stage production.'..."
http://bit.ly/1LdCMjZ
On Third Sector, a remembrance from Stephen Cook, who undertook and
finished the Lyke Wake Walk 40 years ago with Pterry and also
interviewed him in 2011:
"I first met Terry Pratchett in the early 1970s when we completed the
Lyke Wake Walk, a 40-mile route over the North York Moors said to cover
paths once used to carry coffins to burial. He was a subeditor on the
Bath Evening Chronicle, the former workplace of one of the other three
of us, all reporters at the Telegraph and Argus in Bradford. The walk
has to be completed within 24 hours if you are to become a 'dirger',
join the Lyke Wake Club and claim your coffin-embossed tie. We set off
from Osmotherley at 3 am, talking shop and setting the world to rights.
By noon, a weary silence had descended. Near the surreal white domes of
the Fylingdales early warning station, as we rested before the final
push, Terry delivered a withering denunciation of all hearty outdoor
activities that would have made a good episode in Discworld. When we
reached Ravenscar at 1 am we were stumbling and whimpering with fatigue,
but Terry folded his arms and puffed out his chest for the commemoration
photo, like an aspiring Royal Marine after his first assault course.
Only two members of that outing 40 years ago are now still alive. Soon
afterwards Terry became a press officer for the Central Electricity
Generating Board ('What leak at a nuclear power station? Oh, that leak
at a nuclear power station,' as he has joked); and soon after that he
was a famous author.
"Our paths never crossed again until three and a half years ago, when
the readers of Third Sector voted him Celebrity Charity Champion in the
Britain's Most Admired Charity awards. He was already suffering from
Alzheimer's and donating significant amounts to medical research and a
range of other charities. He was unable to come to the awards because he
had a prior date on stage, doing one of his Evenings with Terry
Pratchett, so a colleague and I went down to his home near Salisbury to
record an interview we could show at the event..."
http://bit.ly/1F83PrM
From Arifa Akbar in The Independent:
"When Pratchett revealed to the world that he had Alzheimer's, he did so
in stalwart fashion, talking about the need to be cheerful, and about
his own necessity to carry on working as long as he could. He completed
his last book, a new Discworld novel, only last summer. When he could no
longer type, he bought voice-sensitive software that did the typing for
him – he wasn't precious. 'I don't need a special pen to write', he
said, in a jibe to those authors who demand perfect conditions in which
to finesse their prose. He had worked as a journalist on the Bucks Free
Press, in Buckinghamshire, long enough to know how to write on the go,
in all conditions... I met him in 2012, by which time he had lived with
Alzheimer's for five years. As someone who lives at close quarters to
dementia – my father has suffered from the illness for the past 13 years
– I am well-acquainted with the signs. In our conversation, Pratchett
was warm, engaging, mischievous and loquacious, only occasionally
lapsing into pauses that were a just slightly too long, and stumbling
occasional mid-sentence, so that I couldn't be certain he would carry
on. But he did carry on, and it was one of my most memorable and
enjoyable interviews. He told me stories about his childhood love of
science fiction – how he would have to sneak into a local porn shop in
High Wycombe because it was only place that sold fantasy books in the
late 1950s and early 60s. He said – tantalisingly – that he had an
unfinished memoir – half-written then because he kept getting distracted
by his fictive universes... We over-ran the hour allotted for our chat.
'Maybe we'll talk again,' he said, referring to the novels he hoped to
publish in future. He seemed to be writing voraciously, as if fending
off the worst through sheer force of creative spirit..."
http://ind.pn/1xoqslw
From Jennifer Will on Canadian online magazine Macleans:
"I first learned the news through Twitter, with two simple words: The
end. It arrived from the account shared by Terry Pratchett and his
assistant, Rob Wilkins. I understood immediately that it meant
Pratchett, my favourite fantasy author, had died. Pratchett was
diagnosed with a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer's in 2007, called
posterior cortical atrophy (PCA). He spoke candidly about his illness,
donated money to Alzheimer's research and worked with the BBC on a
two-part documentary called Terry Pratchett: Living With Alzheimer's.
Pratchett also spoke about wanting to die by assisted suicide before his
disease progressed too far and made another documentary with the BBC on
this topic, called Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die. As it turned out,
complications of his illness took him in the end... Even though he
tackled serious issues in his books, he had a wonderful way with words,
making even the most dire situation lighter, even funny. More than once
I received strange looks on public transit when I laughed out loud while
reading one of his books. It was his simple turns of phrase, clever puns
and astute observations that made the books so special..."
http://www.macleans.ca/culture/books/terry-pratchett/
By Jess Waters in Emertainment Monthly, the online newspaper of
Boston-based Emerson College:
"Documented forever in the pages of Pratchett's novels are the wit and
whimsy that made the man so beloved. If you've never read a Pratchett
novel and aren't sure what all the fuss is about, this is the reason you
should pick one up. Even if you feel that fantasy isn't your genre or
that young adult fiction is childish, know that there's nothing immature
about these books. According to Pratchett in a 2006 interview with
Science Fiction Weekly, Discworld originated as a way to 'have fun with
some of the cliches.' Its irreverent and satirical nature has tackled
everything from war, theocracy, and capitalism, to Conan the Barbarian
and opera music. Those who know and love Pratchett's work can find
comfort in returning to it again and again. A good book is not a one-use
item, and rereading one can be as comforting as visiting an old friend.
In the same way, a good author is never truly gone — Pratchett will
continue to make his fans laugh, even through the sadness of his loss,
for many years to come...
"In summer 2014, for the first time since its inception, Pratchett was
unable to attend the biennial International Discworld Convention, a
fan-run event celebrating his Discworld series and other works.
Pratchett had been the guest-of-honor at the convention (also known as
DWcon) since it began in 1996. He has also been the guest-of-honor at a
number of conventions around the world, both dedicated to his work and
to science fiction and fantasy in general. Pratchett spoke often about
his fanbase and his love for book tours and the convention circuit — in
a 1997 interview with January Magazine, he declared that his fans were
'everything' to him. Despite his absence, the four day convention sold
out with more than a thousand attendees who gathered for panel
discussions, craft workshops, gaming, cosplaying and more, all related
to Pratchett's Discworld series. According to an announcement on its
website, DWcon 2016 is still on and scheduled to be much the same. Eelco
Giele, the chairman of the convention, wrote in the announcement that
'although he will not be joining us in person, in his stories he will be
with us.' This is exactly the following — those who have devoted their
time, energy, passion, and efforts — that will keep Pratchett's memory
alive. DWcon will continue, as will many similar conventions around the
world, and they will welcome newcomers to share their excitement just as
much as they provide old-timers with familiar companionship and
nostalgia... People of many different backgrounds have already written
dozens of articles and thousands of social media posts have spoken about
how Pratchett had touched their lives. In his passing, that touch has
not been erased. Though he may not release any more novels, nor provide
smart quips in interviews and thoughtful banter at conventions, Death
cannot truly take Terry Pratchett from the world. His influence has gone
too deep, his words have spread too far, and the things he most believed
in — laughter, bravery, community — are the very things he's left in our
care."
http://bit.ly/1b9KBHk
This moving tribute by Anna Landin on Tumblr made me cry all over again:
"I usually don't get too emotional over the deaths of famous people, but
I'm a bit of a wreck over this one. I have been reading the works of
Terry Pratchett since I found Interesting Times on a shelf at the back
of my local bookstore when I was fourteen. My bookshelf groans under the
weight of all the Discworld novels, Nanny Ogg's Cookbook, Where's My Cow
and the Mappes of Discworld and Mrs Bradshaw's Handbook for the
Ankh-Morpork Hygienic Railway. What I've lost now is not just the source
of great books and entertainment; it feels almost like I've lost a
distant grandfather. So this is for him.
"Thank you, Mr Pratchett, for a flat world on the backs of four
elephants, travelling through space on the back of a turtle – a world
that was somehow more than the sum of its parts. Thank you for
incompetent, potato-obsessed wizzards. Thank you for sentient pear-wood
and many-legged Luggages. Thank you for unwilling rightful heirs, for
burping swamp dragons, for vicious elves and feet of clay. Thank you for
hot-headed dwarfs, for troll-gangsters, for moving pictures and Music
With Rocks In. Thank you for witches. Thank you for Magrat Garlick, for
Agnes Nitt of the fabulous hair and great personality; for Tiffany
Aching and her frying pan and fierce will to save herself; for Nanny
Ogg. For Granny Weatherwax.
"Thank you for the Night Watch, for Vetinari, for Rufus Drumknott; for
the Truth that Shall Make Me Frep – for Dibbler and Harga's House of
Ribs, for secret brotherhoods and snooty Assassins and thieves and
ladies of negotiable affection; thank you for Vimes. Thank you for
Angua, for Sergeant Colon, for Nobby Nobbs, for Carrot and Rob and A.E
Pessimal. Thank you for Ankh-Morpork. Thank you for cross-dressing
soldiers. Thank you for Small Gods. Thank you for Anoia, Goddess of
Things That Stick In Drawers. Thank you for printing presses, railways,
postage stamps, clacks-towers and Royal Mints. Thank you for golems.
Thank you for Anghammarad. Thank you for the Silver Horde. Thank you for
Cohen the Barbarian, for Old Vincent, for Boy Willie, Mad Hamish and
Truckle the Uncivil. Thank you for Binky, for Mort and Ysabell and
Albert and for Susan Sto Helit.
"Thank you for the fierce humanity of your writing. Thank you for hiding
a voice of social awareness, of reason and compassion beneath the layers
of loving parody. Thank you for Vimes' Boots Theory of Socio-Economics.
"Thank you. Morituri Nolumus Mori, but some of us do all the same.
"I may sometimes wonder if what I do – the stories I try to tell – are
worth it; if there's any point at all, when there are so many other
important things one can do – but then I find myself sitting here crying
over a man I have never met, and now never will, simply for the stories
he has given me. Words matter, as do the stories they tell."
A heartfelt thank-you tribute from Galenwolf on Reddit:
"I'm dyslexic and grew with a loathing of the English Language, it would
never sit still or make any damn sense. I swore off reading unless it
was absolutely necessary. One year I saw Soul Music on TV one Christmas
and thought it was great, I saw Wyrd Sisters the next year and wondered
who this Terry was and if he had any more stories. That was that for a
while until one day I was in, I believe, W H Smiths and saw his books.
On a whim picked it up Deaths Trilogy an bought it as it had Soul Music
in it, the first book I had ever bought. Within months I had devoured
more books than I had in my entire life, and more followed soon after.
Terry made me love the language I once hated and fired up a passion in
me that's lead me to have my own library full of worlds I have come to
love. R.I.P Terry, thank you."
Also on Reddit, a deeply respectful bit of fanfiction by
dwellerWorcestershireish:
"Death looked, insofar as it was possible for a skeletal figure to look
anything, a touch overexcited. 'THIS IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF
YOUR DEATH. I'VE BEEN WAITING TO SAY THAT.' He added. 'FOR SOME TIME.'
"'Er. Yes. Very nice. Are you just here for me?'
"'I'M HERE FOR EVERYONE.' When the man looked a touch disappointed he
added 'BUT ESPECIALLY YOU. YOU MADE IT EASIER FOR LOTS OF PEOPLE. ALSO
FOR ME. HARDLY ANYONE COMPLAINS. THANK YOU.' He leaned in, and down,
conspiratorially. 'I REALLY ENJOYED THE ONE WITH THE POST OFFICE. VERY
AMUSING. NOT ENOUGH ME, THOUGH.'
"'Aha. Yes. I liked that one too. Um... so what happens now?'
"Death squirmed. It looked exactly like a human squirm. 'I WONDERED...
IF YOU COULD SIGN THIS FOR ME?' White bony fingers held out a fat
paperback book. With no surprise at all, the man read the title. Mort.
'Do you have a pen?' Death fumbled in his robes for a moment and with a
flourish, drew out a quill, a bead of ink ripening at the end.
"The man took it gingerly, opened the book and, trying not to blot, went
about the business of constructing sentences with his old fluid ease.
'To our dear friend Death, for all the times you've showed up, and all
the times you didn't. Your pal, humanity.' He swirled off his signature
at the end, marvelling at the way it had come with him through the fog.
You knew you were you when you signed your name. "'And now...?'
"'ER. THERE MIGHT BE ONE OR TWO MORE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO MEET YOU.' Death
now managed to look sheepish. It was clever, really, how he'd mastered
such complex human emotions as embarrassment. 'THEY ALL KEPT ASKING ME
IF I KNEW YOU.' He shuffled, and even managed a small cough. 'ER...
YOU'LL BE NEEDING THE QUILL.'"
From Graeme Neill in The Guardian:
"One solace for devotees like me was the multitude of people who came
forward and said they loved his Discworld. Even though Pratchett was the
bestselling author of the 1990s, it still came as a pleasant surprise
that he meant so much to so many... Since October, I have been reading
Pratchett almost exclusively, and I have found out that my younger self
had decent taste in books. When I first picked them up in the early 90s,
I was attracted by the humour, the inspired puns, the fantastical and
apocalyptic nature of the books (four of Pratchett's first five
Discworld novels have a world-ending threat), and the sense that I was
reading something a bit adult... His books are fuelled by a deep-seated
moral anger about the stupid things humans do: Pratchett was so furious
because he was adamant we are all capable of so much more. His Watch
novels deployed trolls and trans dwarves to rail against racism and
social constraints, but did so by showing how we all have some degree of
prejudice. By placing the tyrannical genius Havelock Vetinari, one part
Steve Jobs to two parts Lex Luthor, as head of the city of Ankh-Morpork,
Pratchett challenged us to embrace a dictator. And we do, because he
makes the city work. Vetinari is my favourite Discworld character. I
worry what this says about me...
"Above all, what Pratchett gave us is a 40-book love letter to reading.
Stories are what the Discworld were built on, with his characters using
them to explain the chaos of the world. While embracing storytelling, he
also showed us its limitations. He was critical of characters who don't
live in the real world, but also showed how stories help us get one step
closer to understanding..."
http://bit.ly/1HTPgrH
From Ben Pobjie on junkee.com:
"Being human was a central concern of Pratchett. Has anyone managed to
write with such biting humour, such raucous absurdity, while
simultaneously infusing every page with a warm, big-hearted humanity
that never left any doubt in the reader’s mind that they, the author,
and everyone else were together on this weird, tangled journey called
life? To be a human being is to be a big awkward mess, and Pratchett
made it his mission to get us all to embrace that, to laugh at it, and
to love it... Few writers could weave Pythonesque comedy, quicksilver
satire and hoary puns together with heartfelt emotion and true dramatic
tension so deftly – few would even try. But Terry Pratchett had an
astonishing ability to make the story silly and real at the same time.
The Patrician of Ankh-Morpork is called Vetinari – named for a throwaway
pun and still as indelible and fascinating a character as was ever
committed to the annals of fantasy. Never did Pratchett allow himself to
believe that fun was incompatible with meaning.
"And meaning he brought to us. It wasn’t necessary to see the response
to his passing for me to know I was far from alone in feeling that Terry
Pratchett changed my life. As a writer, certainly: his wizardly way with
words, his razor-edged yet generous humour, his light, precise touch,
all inspired me creatively and pushed me to strive for that rarefied
level of expression. Pratchett runs inevitably through everything I
write; all that I create carries a little of him with it, and I cannot
sufficiently convey how grateful I am to him for that.
"But more: he changed me – and millions of others – as human beings. He
was our company when we felt most alone, a comfort in distress, a font
of wisdom and laughter at times when we were most desperately in need of
both. His characters were friends, his manic Discworld a destination to
head for whenever we needed reminding that our own world was stupid,
hilarious, frustrating...but also, every now and then glorious – for a
world that produced Terry Pratchett must be so. In the sad, often
intolerable procession of life, the population of Discworld endured, and
found joy, and we knew we could do the same..."
http://bit.ly/1BATNgx
By Jim Cook, columnist for the Dothan Eagle in Alabama:
"One of the worst things about getting older is watching your heroes
die. People who inspired you. People who made you think or feel. People
who made you want to do something or be something... Like the best
humorists, Pratchett taught while he amused. Fantasy and speculative
fiction give authors leeway to handle thorny issues of race, religion,
class and equality that would trigger Twitter outrage death spirals if
broached in conventional fiction. Couching your criticisms of various
human foolishness on a flat world held aloft by four giant elephants
standing atop of an enormous spacefaring turtle helps to keep the
reading public from getting their knickers in a twist. Pratchett was a
master of gently pointing out the various foibles and failings of the
human condition. While his satire could be sharp, it was always
delivered in the tones of a teacher gently correcting his students... It
hurts to think of all the stories that will be left untold by
Pratchett’s passing, but I’m grateful for the ones he left us."
http://bit.ly/1Fqe2Al
...and last but certainly not least – in the Bucks Free Press (Sir
Pterry's former place of work), a tribute from John Hampden Grammar
School in High Wycombe (formerly Wycombe Technical High School,
Pratchett's place of education from 1959 to 1965), which includes a
photo of Pratchett as a schoolboy:
A High Wycombe grammar school has paid tribute to 'inspirational' former
student Sir Terry Pratchett and announced plans to honour his life by
raising money to fund research into Alzheimer's disease... Assistant
headteacher Andy Wright said the 66-year-old former Bucks Free Press
reporter's legacy will continue to be long-lasting and added that they
are currently looking into re-naming their school library after him. Mr
Wright said: 'He's one of the most inspirational characters to come from
this area and his work has influenced a number of others. Many who knew
him or met him in the past have been sharing their stories and memories
in the last day. Over the years he was very supportive of the school and
has on a number of occasions been back here to look around and talk to
students. He's been described a lot as a nondescript student, but I
think to say this truly downplays his time at the school where he was a
key figure in our debating society and also wrote stories for our school
magazine. Our school debating society was even named after him and when
we asked for his permission to do this he found it ironic because during
his time here, debating was not a subject the headmaster wanted students
to take part in.' He added: 'We are hoping to do what we can to honour
his life in the right way and are looking at possibly republishing some
of his old work and put profits towards research into Alzheimer's
disease. We would also like to speak to his estate about renaming our
library after him – we have a big section already dedicated to him and
his books remain the most borrowed.'..."
http://bit.ly/1HTPiQn
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
05) MY FATHER, BY RHIANNA PRATCHETT
An interview The Telegraph, published 15th March 2015:
"One of Rhianna Pratchett's most cherished early memories is of tucking
herself 'like a human hot-water bottle' at her father's back in the big
chair in his study, 'peering out from behind him' as he played computer
games. The year was 1982 and Rhianna was six. Her father, Terry, was a
young science-fiction writer who would the following year publish The
Colour of Magic, the first in the bestselling Discworld series that
would see him become one of Britain's most successful authors, second
only to J K Rowling. Those hours spent in front of the computer with her
father had a lasting impact on Rhianna, who went on to become a
successful writer of video games, known for her work on Tomb Raider,
Heavenly Sword and Mirror's Edge. 'I was interested in what my dad was
interested in – robotics, gadgets and computers,' she says. 'I thought
that fighting aliens and robots was something that girls did as well as
boys, so I found a way of doing that for a living.'
"And now, following her father's untimely death at the age of 66, she
has another role: guardian of Discworld – the fantastical, hilarious,
endlessly surprising milieu that Sir Terry devised. It is loved by
millions the world over, from children who delight in the daft humour
and silly puns to academics who relish the sharp satire and social
critiques (there is at least one serious philosophical volume examining
the epistemological and existential implications of the novels). Sir
Terry announced in 2012 that he would be leaving the intellectual rights
for Discworld to Rhianna, and father and daughter launched the
multimedia production company Narrativia to retain exclusive rights to
his work across all platforms. With sales of tens of millions of books
worldwide, it is a massive empire. 'My role will be to protect the brand
that Dad has established,' she says. 'I will steer Discworld. I will be
a caretaker and look after how it's used and adapted.'
"For Rhianna, who announced Sir Terry's passing on Twitter in the voice
of Death, one of his best-loved characters, her father was always a
kindred spirit. They shared, she says, the same imagination, a sense of
impatience and a fondness for witty sarcasm. 'I just always 'got' Dad,'
she says. 'He always had this desire to share experiences; it was the
way he was brought up himself, so he would talk to me as if I was on his
level and he made a literary confidante of me pretty early on. Dad was
like a druid: he taught me how to build watermills in the stream, the
names of plants and flowers, and what was edible in nature. It was like
growing up in Middle Earth and having a full‑sized hobbit for a father.'
She recalls when she was very young being woken by him in the middle of
the night, wrapped in a blanket, and taken outside to see the glow-worms
in the hedge. 'He felt it was more important that I experienced the
wonders of the world than got a good night's sleep,' she says...
"Last week Rhianna tweeted a picture of herself with her father, saying
'Miss you already'. It's a sentiment shared by millions."
http://bit.ly/1CisfzW
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
06) SENDING HOME: IMMORTALITY BY ROUNDWORLD CLACKS
Remember the Smoking GNU, the trio of slightly mad tech geniuses who
helped Moist in Going Postal? Now our own Roundworld version of the
Clacks can contribute to keeping Terry Pratchett's name forever in the
Overhead. On the Discworld's Clacks, G stands for a message that goes
on, N for not logged, and U means the message is turned around at the
end of the line. Cory Doctorow tells us how to "GNU Terry Pratchett"
with HTTP headers:
"In Terry Pratchett's novel Going Postal, an allegory about the creation
of an Internet-like telegraph system called 'the clacks,' workers who
die in the line of duty have their names 'sent home,' by being
transmitted up and down the line in the system's signalling layer ('A
man is not dead while his name is still spoken'). GNU Terry Pratchett,
which works with both Apache and Nginx, causes web-servers to transmit a
special 'X-Clacks-Overhead' header, reading, 'GNU Terry Pratchett,' so
that Terry's name lives on in the Internet's 'overhead' forever."
For examples of how to do it (if you are already sysadmin-savvy), go to
http://www.gnuterrypratchett.com/
If "sysadmin-savvy" isn't how you'd describe yourself but you know a
friend or relative or co-worker who might be willing to put GNU Terry
Pratchett on their Hex, have a word with your local Technomancer. And
remember – Sending Home is invisible to us mere mortals, but it will
always be there. In the Overhead. Remembering Pterry, forever, so long
as our Roundworld Clacks goes on.
Here is the Reddit thread where GNU Terry Pratchett started:
http://np.reddit.com/r/discworld/comments/2yt9j6/gnu_terry_pratchett/cpcvz46
On Wired:
"When Discworld creator Sir Terry Pratchett passed away last week, a
tremendous sense of loss rippled through his dedicated fanbase. Now, a
group of those fans are turning to code in an effort to keep the author
alive. It all started as an endearing tribute, drawing on one of
Pratchett's best-loved books, 2004's Going Postal.... But where the book
had 'GNU John Dearheart' – the prefix being a basic code to instruct
clacksmen to pass on, not file, and return the message – the internet
gives us GNU Terry Pratchett... Developers have been coming up with
further tweaks, with ways to include the subtle memorial into everything
from Java and Wordpress, to invisible Gmail signatures. Reddit user
SillySosis even posted a Chrome extension to Github, which displays an
icon in the browser's address bar when a site with the code embedded
somewhere in its digital nethers is loaded..."
www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-03/16/terry-pratchett-code-memorial
On Gizmodo:
"Modifications to HTTP headers are seeding an unseeable tech memorial to
everyone's favourite fantasy author, with the message 'GNU Terry
Pratchett' being added to web server headers in memory of the late
writer. The idea copies the concept Pratchett introduced in his books,
where a message was sent around communication lines as an aid to
remember a passed relative... If you have access to the complicated bits
that go along with having a web presence outside of a sparsely updated
Twitter feed and some dog photos on Facebook, everything you need to add
your echo to the chorus can be found on the GNU Terry Pratchett site,
with the change as simple as adding a line of code to the .htaccess file
if you've got a server that runs on Apache..."
http://bit.ly/1wS6Knb
Editor's note: Wossname's own Hex has been modified. So every time you
look at the original Wossname site, you are helping Send him Home.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
07) DONATIONS TO RICE CENTRE
The Research Institute for the Care of Older People
Alison Flood in The Guardian:
"Pratchett died at home on Thursday, aged 66, 'with his cat sleeping on
his bed, surrounded by his family', said his publishers, Transworld. His
publicist, Lynsey Dalladay, set up an appeal shortly afterwards, and by
lunchtime on Friday more than 1,600 people had donated £28,053 to the
charity The Research Institute for the Care of Older People (Rice). The
charity was chosen by Pratchett's family and by his long-term assistant,
Rob Wilkins...
"Messages from those donating ranged from quotes from Pratchett's more
than 40 novels – such as: 'No one is finally dead until the ripples they
cause in the world die away' – to outpourings of gratitude for what the
author has meant to his fans. 'Thank you for Tiffany Aching and all the
characters that are part of my world. 'Stop stealing the funeral meats
right now, you wee scuggers!',' wrote one donor. 'The Night Watch
salutes you Sir,' wrote another. 'There will be a little less laughter
on the Roundworld without you,' said a third.
"'The outpouring of love for Terry and his books has been completely
amazing and we're all overwhelmed,' said Dalladay this morning. 'It is
completely heartbreaking to think Terry is no longer here, he was such a
force in all our lives.'... Professor Roy Jones, director of Rice, said
the charity had been unaware of the JustGiving page until 'money started
to appear unexpectedly'. 'Clearly it's a tribute to him,' Jones said
this morning. 'People want to donate, and we're getting money in euros
and dollars and pounds. Terry and his family knew we were trying to
expand our research programme, and that they decided it should be us is
very generous.' Jones, who met Pratchett in 2008, said the author was 'a
character – not a typical patient in many ways', and paid tribute to the
way he managed to change the public conversation about Alzheimer's and
dementia more broadly. 'He has really set a marker,' he said. 'He was
relatively shy in many ways. He didn't necessarily seek a lot of
publicity before his diagnosis, but he faced up to his diagnosis by
saying he was going to talk about it openly. He may not have realised
how much his message was going to take off; that people would be
surprised that someone of his profile would speak out.'
"George RR Martin posted a tribute to the writer on his blog, echoing
the feelings of many when he wrote: 'Terry Pratchett is gone, and the
world of fantasy is that much poorer this morning.' Martin continued: 'I
cannot claim to have known Terry well, but I ran into him at dozens of
conventions over the decades, shared a stage with him a few times, and
once or twice had the privilege of sharing a pint or a curry. He was
always a delight. A bright, funny, insightful, warm, and kindly man, a
man of infinite patience, a man who truly knew how to enjoy life ... and
books.'..."
http://bit.ly/1FdAzzZ
Editor's note: as of this afternoon, £38,451.29 has been raised. Do keep
the donations going. Consider it a form of thank-you to the man whose
words brightened – and often profoundly changed – our lives.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
08) IMAGES
The Ankh-Morpork flag, flying at half-mast from the Wincanton Town Hall:
http://bit.ly/1Ch2KNI
Paul Kidby's drawing of Sir Pterry accompanied by three of his most
cherished creations – Errol, Rob Anybody and Sardines of the Clan:
http://bit.ly/1BxQY0Q
Randall Munroe's timely tribute on xkcd:
http://xkcd.com/1498/
The Independent's gallery, "Terry Pratchett: a career in pictures":
http://ind.pn/1EOvUWs
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
09) CLOSE
And then there was the petition...
"Thousands of fans of the great fantasy author Sir Terry Pratchett have
signed a petition to bring him back from the dead. The Discworld author,
who died aged 66 after a long battle with early onset Alzheimer's,
featured the character 'Death' in almost all of his 40 Discworld novels.
Pratchett's Death was not your stereotypical Grim Reaper, but was
instead an irreverent portrayal who – featuring heavily in 1987 novel
Mort – had a fondness for cats, enjoyed curry and spoke LIKE THIS. A
change.org petition has been signed by more than 6,600 supporters since
it launched last night. The petition's founder, Tom Pride, set it up
'because Terry Pratchett said 'There are times in life when people must
know when not to let go.'...
http://ind.pn/1AlxTLm
And to finish, here is the link to an interview with Neil Gaiman talking
about the loss of his friend and collaborator – and more importantly,
about their friendship and the creative process they shared through the
years, told in a delightful way. It's 35 minutes long and every moment
is worth it, even his often understandably emotional reading of a long
extract from Good Omens. And the anecdote, which starts around the 25
minute mark, about a very funny incident on their Good Omens tour, will
surely bring on happy tears:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPBetz7p3fQ
...and a final quote for now:
"The ripples continue to spread. I just spoke to a friend of mine, also
a fan. She visited Taronga Zoo (Sydney, Australia) on the weekend.
Propped up by the Orang Utan enclosure she saw an 'In Sympathy' card.
Unable to resist curiosity, she peeked inside. One word: 'ook"'. In her
own words, she collapsed into a quivering puddle of tears on the spot."
–Craig Williams, on FacebOook
And the show will go on...
– Annie Mac
Remember, the mirror version of this issue can be viewed at
http://wossname.dreamwidth.org/8489.html
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
The End. If you have any questions or requests, write: wossname-owner
(at) pearwood (dot) info
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