Sci-Fi Writer Thomas Disch Commits Suicide

[terrya]

Sad news. :-(

Sci-fi Writer Thomas Disch Commits Suicide

Science fiction writer and poet Thomas Disch has committed suicide. Disch died July 4 and his body was discovered July 5, according to the New York City Police Department. He was 68.

The author of popular sci-fi novels Camp Concentration and 334, Disch had been openly gay since 1968. Following the 2004 death of his partner, poet Charles Naylor, Disch reportedly began suffering from depression.

Awarded many honors for his fiction, including two O. Henry awards, the genre-bending Disch also published more than a half dozen books of poetry, a whimsical Child's Garden of Grammar (1997); a history of speculative fiction, The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of (1998); and the Brave Little Toaster series for children.

Born in Des Moines in 1940, Disch moved to New York City to study architecture at New York University. A writing class in his junior year intrigued him into trying pulp fiction; he sold an early effort to Fantastic Stories for $112.50, according to the Minnesota Historical Society, and was hooked.

Holding a series of classic authorial grunt jobs, including Metropolitan Opera supernumerary and graveyard-shift newsman, Disch eventually became part of science fiction's new wave, which took advantage of the 1960s' freedom to take on relevant topics in adult language and thereby gain cultural weight.

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid57207.asp

[redqueen]

1. Oh no...

:cry:

[LisaM]

2. Oh, this is sad

Poor guy. Although I was generally unfamiliar with him or his work, I did love "The Brave Little Toaster".

[Rick Myers]

3. So sad.

334 is great! Didn't know he did the My Little Toaster books...

Depression is a bad thing, may he rest in peace...

[UndertheOcean]

4. loss...loss

loss loss loss loss loss loss loss loss loss loss loss loss loss loss loss loss


just loops in your heart till it bursts

loss , so cruel , loss , no escaping it , If only it existed not . Loss.


Till that wave hits I reach out in sympathy to his soul, if it is still there , or ever was.

[tbyg52]

5. Oh no!

I have not read a lot of his work, but I did like _On Wings of Song_ . So sorry to hear of this.

[Bluenorthwest]

6. Excellent writer and a good guy

Lousy news, but thanks for making it known.

[closeupready]

7. So sad. I remember his stuff from when I was very young, but

I never knew he was gay. RIP, Mr. Disch. :(

[swimmernsecretsea]

8. dammit. nt

[dickthegrouch]

9. I loved his books

I was introduced to SciFi at the age of 10 by my dad and read nothing else for many years. Thomas Disch was one of the few whose books I re-read frequently.
I never heard he was gay, and my gaydar is atrociously inaccurate, but in those many repeat readings, it does seem that he was speaking to me in some special way, as so many other gay artists do.
How sad. He'll be missed by many.

[JackBeck]

10. What a heartbreaking story.

:-(