RIP, Anne. May you soar with dragons.

Anne McCaffrey has been one of my favorite authors since childhood. I stopped reading her newer work at about 1998 or so, as it seemed she was just mining a lot of her older worlds without putting much effort into the actual writing. But her earlier work could--and did--bring tears my eyes. She wrote about human, flawed women as heroes and role models, and I loved them fiercely, from Menolly to Lessa to Killashandra Ree.

Anne McCaffrey shaped science fiction and fantasy on a genre-wide scale, affecting more than gender perceptions. She was the first woman to win a Hugo, IIRC, and touched lives far and wide. She is one of the few authors I ever wished to meet in my life; I was just thinking of her a couple of nights ago. Even though I never met her in person, I was blessed to have her--and her characters--in my life. It has been the richer for it.