As this New Year begins, I can’t help but think of my surprise when I heard of the recent death of author Sue Grafton. Her protagonist, Kinsey Millhone had become a well known character worldwide. My sister caught onto her books when the alphabet series first started in 1982 with the publication of A is for Alibi. After my sister read each of Sue Grafton's books, she normally mailed the book to me and that’s how I caught on to this series.
Also, earlier in the year B.K. (Bonnie) Stevens left this world abruptly. Her latest novella, The Last Blue Glass, still won the 2017 Anthony Award, but she wasn’t there to personally receive the esteemed award. Her family took care of it on her behalf. Her blogspot, The First Two Pages - B.K. Stevens Mysteries started in 2015 and many mystery writers, myself included, were lucky enough to submit and be accepted to appear on her blog. I looked online and saw that her blogspot is alive. Looks like her daughter along with B.K.'s friend and mystery author Art Taylor are working to keep the First Two Pages blog going.
When celebrity authors we’ve known or followed leave for that big bookstore in the sky or whatever peaceful place they disappear to, not only are we reminded of our own mortality, we feel their absence. At least I do. I know now that I’ll never enjoy reading a new book by Sue Grafton again, something I’d already considered since she’d talked of retirement after Z is for Zero. There will be no letter Z in her series. I will not see new B.K. Stevens stories in the Alfred Hitchcock Magazine I subscribe to.
Life goes on until it doesn’t and I hope all of us go for the gusto and make the most of what we have while here. I think Sue Grafton and B.K. Stevens did just that.
RIP for Sue Grafton and B.K. Stevens. For the rest of us this may be an exciting new beginning or, maybe, just a continuation of grabbing as much of life as we can knowing how limited our time is here.
Happy 2018 New Year!
7 comments:
Good post, Linda. A tribute to two who certainly will be missed.
Happy New Year, Linda!
Sue Grafton's death caused me to do a bit of introspection as well. We don't know when our number will be called, so we have to make the most of whatever time we do have left.
Thanks for this post, Linda. I'm publishing a post about Sue on my blog on Jan. 10. I adored her and her series.
As for BK, I was at the Suffolk Mystery Authors festival in August, where she and Art Taylor were to present a workshop on short stories. When I asked Art, he told me about her collapse and that things didn't look good. She passed 3 days later. Earlier in 2017 I was honored to guest on her First Two Pages blog and I'm so grateful that Art and Bonnie's daughter are keeping it going. Along with being a talented writer, she was a very warm and gracious person, always willing to help her fellow authors.
Thank you for your comments. I think most of us have more things we want to do than we have the time to do them in.
Maggie, I did not know you were there when B.K. collapsed. What a horrific event.
When an author dies, the literary world is dimmed. Their words live on, but they become finite, less immortal. May Sue and Bonnie rest in peace, and may we all continue to benefit from their legacies.
Thanks for sharing this post, Linda. As authors, their words never leave us.
Linda,
I didn't know Sue Grafton personally but enjoyed reading her novels. As for Bonnie, she was very supportive and I wrote a post for her blog. I also read and enjoyed her writing. They will both be missed.
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