Jim Baen has died.  I really feel like a part of my world has been chipped off.  Jim Baen saved hard sci fi from the LSD hippy fuzzily wuzzily sci fi of the late '60s early 70's. David Drake has written an obit that pretty much says it all.  All I can add to it is, damn, will Jim Baen be missed.

 

Jim Baen, of Baen Books, is in a coma after a stroke a couple of days ago.  He brought science fiction back from the brink of the fuzzy wuzzies; I sure hope everything turns out all right for him and his family.

Darren McGavin, probably best known for "A Christmas Story", has died at the age of 83.  When I was young, his portrayal of Kolchak - The Night Stalker was one of the highlights of my week.  Even after the series ended, I watched just about everything that came out that he was in; I only watched "A Christmas Story" because he was in it (though I have come to prefer it to every other Christmas movie out there).