Goodbye Anne McCaffrey

Dragon flaming by Joshua ©

The reason that I saw a dragon in my son's painting is Anne McCaffrey. Or it would be the years I spent reading every dragon fantasy novel upon which I could lay hands after being stimulated by the Dragonriders of Pern. To be more precise it would probably be the influence of the particular artists that decorated the copies of the Dragonriders of Pern that were out when I began reading and buying them.

Tonight I heard that Anne McCaffrey has died.

Over the years I have read and reread so many of Anne McCaffrey's novels. Not just the dragonriders, but the brainships, the crystal singers, the Talents and the Catteni sequence. Her collaborations led me to other great writers. Her recommendation of a story would convince me to give it a try when the blurb had not.

This dragon keens.

photo: Anne McCaffrey Books ~ Explored by Theen Moy,
via Flickr with CC:by-nc-sa/2.0

-----
I own the original and digital photograph of Dragon Flaming by Joshua. All rights reserved.