John M. Ford

[pameladean]

I used to say that Mike Ford was my favorite living writer. This locution was really meant only to spare him embarrassment, a response to praise to which, for someone so inarguably and multifariously brilliant, he was exceptionally prone.

John M. Ford is my favorite writer.

http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/008033.html#008033

P.

Comments

[chaoticgoodnik.livejournal.com]

A hole in the universe, indeed; TNH put it well.

I think I'll re-read "Green is the Color" this afternoon. (I love that story, despite having read nothing else set in the Liavek universe.)

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

Oh, Pamela. I am so sorry.

[redbird]

My sympathies.

I'm not sure why, having already seen the news, but this post and phrasing hit me hard, again.

[I don't think I ever told him to his face how much I loved his writing as a whole, though I did tell him that I admired specific things, directly and in things like Making Light comment threads. That my omission spared him embarrassment is some comfort right now.]

Yes

[markiv1111.livejournal.com]

I am very sorry for everybody's loss. Mike Ford was the best song lyricist in the history of Minnesota fandom. I kept saying that at some point I'd call him or drop him a postcard and see if he wanted him and me to do a collaboration. I think I am being reminded that I should *never* let this kind of idea just slip, and slip, and slip away....

Nate

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

What makes the loss so bad is that he was one of so many people's favorite people. It's one kind of gift to produce writing that many love; it's another kind to be a person that many love. He was someone who was both (as are you). Of his writing, at least we'll always have the books...

[thesideshow.livejournal.com]

Yes, one of the things that really struck me, roaming around the net today, is how many people felt this as a deep, personal loss - and how eloquent so many people were, all saying the same things, really, about how fine and witty and beautiful he was. Isn't it remarkable that, as different as we are, one man was able to strike such a similar chord in all of our hearts?

[tnh.livejournal.com]

Yes.

[pameladean]

I was so glad that you posted that sonnet on Making Light. When I was trying to write an entry, I couldn't remember a single line of his poetry. Once I saw some, it came back.

P.

[inlaterdays.livejournal.com]

Oh no. :(

[rosefox]

I am so sorry, Pamela.

[shalanna.livejournal.com]

Ohh!!! ((HUGS))) I'm so sorry for your personal loss of a long-time friend, as well as being sad about the loss to the readers of the world. It shocked me to read about his death.

I love _Casting Fortune_, which had just come out (I think) when I first communicated with y'all on the old FidoNet SF echo and read the posts of John M. Ford. He was a wonderful writer and a wonderful person. He is already being missed.

[(Anonymous)]

Pamela, I'm so sorry...

*hug* anc blessings

[barbarakitten-t.livejournal.com]

pamela, i'm sorry for your loss.

[joel-rosenberg.livejournal.com]

And you were, as knowing Mike, I'm utterly sure he told you

-- but not at all sure that he said it other than elliptically (when he mentioned it to me, some years ago, it became one of those, "Okay, you're telling me something, now I need to know what you just told me;" it was part of a long riff about what a writer should/shouldn't/might/mightn't assume that a reader would already know)

-- his perfect reader.

And yeah, he was embarrassed by praise, as much as he liked it.

[pameladean]

Not the only one, by any means, but it was a lovely position to have.

He didn't tell me, naturally. He just acted that way. I never got the hang of acting like I loved his books without, you know, saying so and going into detail.

Luckily, he was very forgiving of others' foibles.

P.

[crookedfeet.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

[pgoodman13.livejournal.com]

Dammit.

I only met him a couple of times in passing at 4th Street lo these many years ago. He had no reason to treat me as anything other than another fanboy off the street...instead, he cracked STAR TREK jokes with me, and chatted with me for several minutes as if he'd known me for years. He had been exposed to me beforehand by means of a few scattered Fidonet postings, if that much...and he treated me as a friend, sight unseen. I haven't forgotten that for fifteen years, and I won't. It's a rare thing to be treated so nicely by someone who doesn't know you.

I'm going to miss him terribly.

[danguyf.livejournal.com]

That's a beautiful way to put it.

[lcohen]

*hugs for you*

i'm so sorry.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

I was talking with johnpalmer this morning about how so many people I know and respect and like are grieving so deeply for Mike. And he made one of those observations that I think of as Blinding Flashes of the Obvious: That the depth of grief is a measure of the depth of love. And clearly this man was loved both deep and wide.

And while I knew him only through his words, I'm sad for those of you who knew the man - and also a little awed by the evidence of all that love.