(no subject)

I awoke this morning to the news that Robert Jordan (Jim Rigney) has passed away at the unfair age of 58.

Now, I was not a fan of his books, at least not directly. I tried reading the first one and bounced off it. Bounced hard. However, much like Harry Potter, it seems to me that Robert Jordan was responsible for bringing a large number of people *into* reading (and into fantasy in particular) and that's no small or ordinary accomplishment regardless of how one personally regarded the books themselves. A lot of science fiction and fantasy is not "entry-level", not easily accessible to people who are unfamiliar with the specific tropes and the language of SF/F, but he was able to make a bridge from our cozy little fenced-in genre pasture out into the wide world and bring back new friends -- a lot of new friends -- who have become participants and contributors to our community to the enormous benefit of us all. One has only to browse through the comment threads on Making Light or elsewhere to realize just how many lives he touched.

So, Jim Rigney, I thank you and I will miss you. I wish you the very best in the next life.

(no subject)

And on a lighter note, Matrix Ping Pong. Thanks, istemi.