Octavia Butler Dead
Written byPosted on February 26, 2006
Filed Under Butler, Octavia, Obits, Speculative Fiction
Octavia Butler died on Saturday as a result of a fall from her home in Seattle. I talked with the King County Medical Examiner’s office. They have confirmed that they have an Octavia Butler there. Damn.
This is a major loss to American letters and I’m a bit shaken up by this. I’ll have more to say about Octavia Butler’s importance as soon as I collect myself. But I was extremely fortunate enough to talk with Octavia just before she passed away. You can listen to the podcast here.
The email currently making the rounds:
“Yesterday Octavia Butler fell outside her house during what neighbors thought was a stroke. A neighbor kid found her outside her house. They rushed her to the hospital, and found blood had pooled in her brain, they operated but she passed away today.”
(Source: Steven Barnes’ blog.)
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Books To Jump Up and Down Over
Beyond Heaving Bosoms by Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan. The famed writers behind Smart Bitches, Trashy Books have written a very funny and thoughtful volume about romances, both Old Skool and New Skool. Here is a book that any smug and humorless literary manboy beating his flabby passive chest over Banville or Bolano should probably read pronto, if only for the distant possibility that he might get over himself. While the Choose Your Own Adventure segment at the end caused me to have a very disturbing dream involving Shelley Long (don't ask), Sarah and Candy did have me rethinking many of my own misperceptions when I wasn't busy laughing. They're not afraid to take on the New York Times Bok Review or even the groupthink within certain sectors of the romance community.
Alice Fantastic by Maggie Estep. This wild and highly enjoyable narrative involves two sisters (presumably, the third one was still being rented out by Chekhov), a hippie ex-junkie mother who lives with seventeen dogs, a murder, gambling, and libidinous Hollywood actresses who live in Woodstock. But this is the wonderful Maggie Estep we're talking here. And what seems at first like a quirky yarn becomes something unexpectedly moving about connectivity. What I love about Estep's work is the way that she'll juxtapose an extremely astute observation (now that you mention it, why do cab drivers always have somebody to talk with on the phone past midnight?) with an often outrageous story development.
Generosity by Richard Powers. It doesn't come out until September 29th, but Richard Powers's latest will have anyone committed to books reconsidering their literary fervor. I foresee some animosity from the vanilla critics hostile to idea-driven novels, but book bloggers, YouTube chroniclers, and MFAs would do well to plunge into this chance-taking narrative, which introduces vital questions about what the reader's relationship is with media, scientific dissection, and "creative nonfiction." Are we rats fleeing to happy cities? Or can we find the humanism within the purported plague?
Pieces for the Left Hand by J. Robert Lennon. Lennon is one of the most underrated fiction writers working today. Much as On the Night Plain proved that Lennon had a lot more in the toolbox than heartfelt (and often very funny) suburban satire, this slim but fascinating volume juxtaposes 100 small-town anecdotes -- arranged by category -- in a manner that reads, at times, like Nicholson Baker's passions for minutiae and, at other times, Stewart O'Nan's concern for psychological detail. The result is fiction that makes us wonder about whether one person's subjective view of particulars can entirely be trusted. This book never found a publisher in 2005. But thankfully, Graywolf has released it in the United States, along with Lennon's latest novel, The Castle.
Wonderful World by Javier Calvo. This wonderfully raucous volume has been completely ignored by the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times. But it's probably one of the most delightful reading experiences I've had this year. Calvo cavalierly mashes up multiple genres and manages to mix up familial subtext with larger-than-life, almost cartoonish characters. (Indeed, one might argue that one mobster's penis is a character of its own in this sprawling novel.). This is not an easy thing to pull off, but Calvo makes it work. And it's helped immeasurably by Mara Faye Lethem's idiom-specific translation. (See longer post.)
The Means of Reproduction, Michelle Goldberg This thoughtful book tackles the complicated (and little discussed) subject of reproductive rights from numerous angles, which includes a number of unpleasant but necessary ones. The upshot is that there isn't a quick fix solution for declining birth rates and fundamentalist abuses. Just about every political faction has contributed to the friction. But you'll want to read this book anyway to refamiliarize yourself with the topic, but also to understand just what's occurred during the past several decades to get us where we are today. (See also podcast interview with Goldberg.)
Contact Ed by email.
Or send materials to:
315 Flatbush Avenue, #231
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Or send materials to:
315 Flatbush Avenue, #231
Brooklyn, NY 11217
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Oh no, tell me it isn’t true! Awful, awful, awful news if so, I love her books so much….
This is such sad news. RIP, Ms. Butler.
How sad. Ms. Butler was such an imaginative writer. This is a great loss to the literary community.
How sad. Ms. Butler was such an imaginative writer. This is a great loss to the literary community.
What a shock and a loss! Really, I’m stunned. It only made it into my paper today. Was just fishing around for more news.
I am weeping…
Very sad.
I have read thousands of science fiction novels and she was in my 10 ten list. Great writer.
What a loss to Humanity and a loss to the world of Literature. I thank her for the Worlds she exposed to me.
I guess it is true …. Octavia Butler, dead?I remember the first thing of hers i ever read, “Bloodchild”; it was the cover story in the magazine …… she could make even really [arrg, disgusting, stuff] interesting ………
Octavia Butler keep me up at night and her voice keeps shaping my world. I love her books and will miss the ones she wont write…
Octavia Butler keep me up at night and her voice keeps shaping my world. I love her books and will miss the ones she won’t write…
I was in tears when I learned of Lady Octavia’s passing. I was blessed, lucky to meet her in person twice. I had my picture taken with her. She was a true lady with dignity and grace. I will mourn her but she will always live in her books.
Hello everyone. I am indeed saddened to hear about the passing of Octavia Butler. To be honest, I give her credit for my career that I enjoy in the media.
I ask all of you to do something for me.
If you wouldn’t mind, go to my blog: http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/webb.php and post your comments about how she affected you there under my article about her. I am publishing an article for my new magazine called CONVERSATIONS and would like to use your comments.
If you want to be credited in the article for your comments, please leave your name and your town.
You will have to join http://www.jacksonfreepress.com to leave a comment but they won’t send you unsolicited information.
Thanks. http://www.cawebbconversations.com
I typed in her name just to see what was up with her and found this awful news. I loved her books so much. she wrote about many worlds and even the future of our own. I will miss her work. Wayne
I feel so sad. I was so moved by “Lillith’s Brood”. I thought she was brilliant, and I mourn her loss.
Her writings as an African American Female author and commentator made a magnanimous impact upon my life.
She spoke for the unheard. She shared with the untouchable.
Her laughter, keen wit, dedication for social justice and love for truth will be missed. How fortunate this century has been to have experienced the greatness of Octavia Butler.
I just heard the awful news. I am stunned and deeply saddened. Years ago Essence magazine introduced me to the writings of Ms. Butler with an excerpt of Wildseed. I was floored and desperately had to have that book. It completely blew me away. Ms. Butler’s imagination coupled with creativity and strength will be greatly missed.
I listened to the interview you did with her…and am too saddened by the news. Ever since I was introduced to her work by a friend of mine I became a huge fan. Last year I had the chance to meet her at a booksigning in Harlem…I wish there would have been more times….she had so much in her that is now silenced. R.I.P
When and where is the funeral?
Octavia Butler: a memorial April 2nd on Thursday night 7:30 @ the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame 325 5th Avenue, Seattle downtown
This is a tragic loss in more than one way. Octavia was not only a fantastic writer, she was also a mentor to young writers of color. The world desperately needs more fiction of all kinds by diverse authors. The best memorial I could think of for Ms. Butler would be some kind of ongoing award for young writers of diverse backgrounds.
Another piece of my soul is lost with the passing of Ms. Butler. As a child, I read her first novel “Kindred”, during the same time when ABC first aired the Block buster mini- series “Roots”. These events lead me to question, race, and gender and my place in the world. As young adult, I found that herr novels were truly insightful and inspired me to explore the scientific world of possibilities, beyond race, color, creed, or national origin. It is through the world of science fiction novels by Ms. Butler and countless others (,far too many to mention,) that I found a fulfilling career as a environmental scientist. And for this, I am eternally grateful for Ms. Butler’s contributions to the world of arts and letters.
R.I.P. Sista Butler, your creativity and imagination will be sorely missed.
it is february 2007 and i still feel the intense pain of her loss…having met her and read everything at least twice, i still am unlocking the secrets and parallells she weaves in her stories…. i cannot bring myself to read her last novel “fledgling” yet, it would bring to reality her sudden and untimely passing….and i’m no ready