Susanna Yager RIP

Adrian Muller, co-organiser of CrimeFest and non-voting chair of the CWA/Duncan Lawrie International Dagger Award has reported on the DorothyL list that Telegraph crime critic and International Dagger judge, Susanna Yager has passed away. I will update this post with more details as I have them.

Update: The Rap Sheet has some words of remembrance from Natasha Cooper.

OT: Majel Roddenberry RIP

From USA Today:

NEW YORK (AP) — Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the widow of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, has died. She was 76. Roddenberry, an actress who appeared in numerous Star Trek TV shows and movies, died Thursday of leukemia at her home in Bel-Air, Calif., her representative said.

At Roddenberry's side were family friends and her only son, Eugene Roddenberry Jr. Gene Roddenberry died in 1991.

Her romance with Roddenberry earned her the title The First Lady of Star Trek. A fixture in the Star Trek franchise, her roles included Nurse Christine Chapel in the original Star Trek, Lwaxana Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation and the voice of the USS Enterprise computer in almost every spinoff of the 1966 cult series. She recently reprised the voice role in the upcoming Star Trek film directed by J.J. Abrams.

Janwillem van de Wetering RIP

Just came across the sad news that Dutch crime writer Janwillem van de Wetering has died aged 77. From Radio Netherlands:

The Dutch writer Janwillem van de Wetering, famous for the Grijpstra & de Gier series of crime novels, has died at the age of 77.

His crime novels featuring the detectives Grijpstra and De Gier were based on Mr Van de Wetering's own experiences as a police officer in Amsterdam between 1966 and 1975.

The Grijpstra & de Gier novels later became the basis for a successful film and television series. He also wrote a trilogy based on the time he spent at a Japanese Zen Buddhist monastery.

Most of Mr Van de Wetering's novels were based on his own experiences in various parts of the world. He also lived and worked in South Africa, Colombo, Peru and Australia. At the time of his death, he was living in the US state of Maine.

Arthur C Clarke RIP

From the BBC's obituary:

Science fiction writer Sir Arthur C Clarke has died at the age of 90 in Sri Lanka.

Once called "the first dweller in the electronic cottage", his vision of the future, and its technology - popularised in films like 2001: A Space Odyssey - captured the popular imagination.

Arthur C Clarke's vivid - and detailed - descriptions of space shuttles, super-computers and rapid communications systems were enjoyed by millions of readers around the world.

His writings gave science fiction - a genre often accused of veering towards the fantastical - a refreshingly human and practical face.

Clarke's ideas and gadgets engaged his readers because of, not despite, their plausibility. Quite often, his fictional musings formed the basis of what we now see as science fact.

Anthony Minghella RIP

I was shocked to read earlier today about the death of director and screenwriter Anthony Minghella, aged 54. It seems he'd recently been operated on for cancer of the neck and tonsils. Of late he'd been at work on the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency film. Read his obituary on the BBC website.

Julian Rathbone RIP

Mike Stotter from Shots has just advised me that Julian Rathbone died last week, aged 73. Read Mike's tribute over on the Shots Blog.

(OT) Doreen Tovey RIP

Book2Book reports the sad announcement of Doreen Tovey's recent death:

Summersdale Announcement

Doreen Tovey – author

(24th October 1918 – 13th January 2008)

It is, with great sadness, that we report the death of Doreen Tovey.

Over the years, Doreen Tovey's books gave so much pleasure to so many readers.

Full of gentle humour and heart-warming tales, her books described the adventures and antics of the cats (and other animals) with whom she shared her life in Somerset.

Doreen Tovey wrote more than a dozen books (which sold more than 120,000 copies in 10 countries) and she was also president of the Siamese Cat Club.

Her books were serialised in The People's Friend magazine and won her the devotion of many thousands of animal lovers in the UK and overseas. She will be greatly missed by her many, many fans.

"No-one writes about cats with more wit, humour and affection." The People's Friend

"Every so often, there comes along a book – or if you're lucky – books which gladden the heart." Cat World Magazine

Synopsis for A Comfort of Cats:

Tucked away in an idyllic corner of the West Country, you’d think Doreen and her husband Charles would be enjoying a peaceful life – but far from it. Their wily Siamese companions still keep them on their toes.

The Toveys are presented with a new problem when the local cattery closes down. Where will they leave Saska and Shebalu when they go on holiday? And so they buy a caravan to take the cats away with them, only to discover that packing up and leaving home is far from a holiday when seal-points are involved.

As Saska grows ever more boisterous, he develops monkey-like climbing abilities, a knack for opening doors and a somewhat inconvenient obsession with wool. With Annabel the self-willed donkey, Father Adams and a host of gossiping villagers, this is a beguiling tale to enchant and amuse.

I read several of these quite a few years ago when they were hard to track down. Along with the Cat Who books they made me hanker for Siamese cats but we have stuck to rescuing 'moggies' who are still characters in their own right.

George MacDonald Fraser RIP

George MacDonald Fraser, author of the Flashman novels has died aged 82. From his obituary in The Independent:

The novelist George MacDonald Fraser, author of the popular Flashman series of adventure stories, has died after a long battle against cancer.

The 82-year-old former soldier worked as a journalist for The Herald newspaper, then known as The Glasgow Herald, for many years.

He also wrote screenplays and a memoir of his experiences as an infantryman in the Burma campaign, but it is for his semi-historical novels based around Sir Harry Flashman that MacDonald Fraser will be best remembered.

The Flashman series is based on the bully character of Thomas Hughes' Victorian classic Tom Brown's Schooldays grown up and serving as an officer in the Army, fighting, drinking and womanising his way around the British Empire.

Each of the novels purports to come from packets of faux-autobiographical notes –the Flashman Papers – discovered in the 1960s. When the first instalment of these entirely fictional memoirs, created by MacDonald Fraser, first appeared in the US in 1969, around a third of its 40 reviewers believed they were a genuine historical find. One reviewer said that the works were "the most important discovery since the Boswell Papers".

Although many found Flashman's 19th-century racism and sexism distasteful, the books sold in huge numbers and MacDonald Fraser was praised for his attention to historical detail. He published the final book in the series in 1994.