Ursula K. Le Guin

It'll be the Earthsea books that I'll remember her for - I can remember devouring them at a sitting, and then rereading them again and again over the years. Sad news.
 
A sad day.

I meet her for the first time in the late 70"s as a teenager. She was very sharp, very funny and very gracious. I made sure to go to as many of her book readings over the intervening 40 years as I could. My early years as a reader were almost exclusively "Hard" science fiction. The Wizard of Earthsea which was so beautifully written opened my eyes to the fantasy genre.

I spoke with her for the last time about a year ago after a reading at Powells bookstore and, even though it had been a decade since we last met, she smiled and brought up the first time we talked where I had blurted out that her writing had changed my reading choices for the rest of my life.

"My imagination makes me human and makes me a fool; it gives me all the world and exiles me from it."- Ursula Le Guin
 
She was a legend, a great one, among the pantheon of Asimov, Bradbury, and Clarke. I'm glad I got a chance to meet her at Powell's in Portland a few years ago for what I think might have been her last public reading/signing. My favorite of hers will always be Lathe of Heaven. Such a brilliant, weird, surreal and beautifully written novel.
 
One of my favorite posts from her website where she was always encouraging young writers.

A Rejection Letter
A copy of a rejection letter my agent received for the first book of mine she handled. Because I am a very kind person, I have omitted the name of the Editor and his publishing house. This is included to cheer up anybody who just got a rejection letter. Hang in there!

Dear Miss Kidd,


Ursula K. Le Guin writes extremely well, but I'm sorry to have to say that on the basis of that one highly distinguishing quality alone I cannot make you an offer for the novel. The book is so endlessly complicated by details of reference and information, the interim legends become so much of a nuisance despite their relevance, that the very action of the story seems to be to become hopelessly bogged down and the book, eventually, unreadable. The whole is so dry and airless, so lacking in pace, that whatever drama and excitement the novel might have had is entirely dissipated by what does seem, a great deal of the time, to be extraneous material. My thanks nonetheless for having thought of us. The manuscript of The Left Hand of Darkness is returned herewith. Yours sincerely,


The Editor


21 June, 1968

Her website Ursula K. Le Guin's Web Site is a treasure trove of interviews, poetry, and advice for writers.
 
She was truly unique and a true visionary, not bound by common tropes and conventions and always pushing the imagination further. Her influence will continue to be felt for many years.
 
A great writer, an inspiring advocate for change, and a sharp wit.
I mourn her passing but, while her spark is extinguished, the beacon it lit burns on.
 
This is sad news.
Thank you Ursula for all the books and ideas that you have given us, and for the causes that you have fought for.
 
RIP, Ursula.

I haven't yet read any of your books. Now is the time.
 
Very sad news. Fortunately her writing will live on and inspire many more people.

The BBC's somewhat meagre obit (if she'd been a TV or film celebrity, instead of merely a brilliant author, it would have been considerably extended with twitter quotes and all the rest of it) US fantasy author Ursula K Le Guin dies
 
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