The world has lost one of it's gratest minds. RIP Pratchett

[Smeghead]

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-31858156

'Fantasy author Terry Pratchett has died aged 66 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.'

He will be missed

[empath]

Best.
Goodbye.
EVER.

Farewell, kind sir; thank you for all you shared with us. May what lies ahead be better than you could ever imagine.

...you certainly deserve it.

[JustAName]

...Damn. One of the first points of connection IX and I ever had was that we both enjoyed Pratchett's work. Now I know I'll be able to read through his whole body of work if I want to... but I'm not happy about it. :/

[Jenelmo]

I do not know what to say, the author of one of the best fantasy series has passed away.
It is a series that have helped me through many dark times.
He knew it was coming even made his coat of arms Noli Timere Messorem (Don't fear the reaper) but it doesn't make it easier.
The world is a less funny and fantastic place now.

[My pseudonym is Ix]

Sourcerers are never truly part of this world. They merely wear it for a while.

Whichever world gets Terry Pratchett next, they sure as hell aren't ready for him. May the Gods of Mortus Celesti toast his soul

[Ptangmatik]

He's one of the few authors for whom I'll delightedly seek out everything they've ever written.

He'll live on through his work.

[Deedles]

[My pseudonym is Ix]

He's one of the few authors for whom I'll delightedly seek out everything they've ever written.

He'll live on through his work.

Fun fact- I've just spent £30 on Discworld books, to remind myself how good they were

[Garwulf]

This is the tribute I posted on my Livejournal (if anybody wants to read it there instead of here, the link is http://garwulf.livejournal.com/94944.html):

I really, REALLY hate writing obituaries, but sometimes you just have to pick up your pen (or, in this case, I guess, keyboard).

Sir Terry Pratchett passed away today, at the age of 66. He succumbed to the final stages of his Early Onset Alzheimer’s. Today the world lost somebody it really shouldn’t have.

I only met Sir Terry in person once, at Worldcon in Toronto in 2003. I was launching my first print book, The EverQuest Companion, and he had a panel. As a longtime fan, I had to attend – and Sir Terry was as funny in person as he was on the printed page.

He talked about his new Science of the Discworld book, and about these medicinal plants that had realized that the more useful they were to people, the more they would be cultivated – and thus evolved to have useful, clear instructions printed on their leaves (quite badly written, because plants have terrible penmanship). This included warnings about containing nuts, with the exception of those plants which actually did grow nuts, which had warnings that they might NOT contain nuts.

If it wasn’t for the quite useful chairs, we would have all been on the floor, laughing our hindquarters off. Perhaps some people behind me did, just to show the chairs who’s boss.

After the panel, rather nervously, I approached Sir Terry and introduced myself, asking if he might be willing to have a cup of tea or coffee with me. To my amazement, he said yes – and after I watched him take care of some convention administrivia, we sat down for tea.

It’s a strange quirk of memory, but I don’t actually remember exactly what we talked about. I just remember it being one of those great moments that you always hold in your heart with pride. We probably talked a bit of shop (we were both authors, after all). But, at the end, I asked if he would have any objections to us corresponding, and he handed me his business card and informed me in a matter-of-fact way that if I mentioned Viagra, my email would probably be caught in a spam filter.

I thought a few times in the following years of writing to him, but except for one occasion, I never did. He was a fellow professional who I held in the greatest of awe, and I just couldn’t come up with something that felt worth writing to him about.

Except once.

It was a few years after his diagnosis of Early Onset Alzheimer’s, and Sir Terry had made the news after looking into doctor-assisted suicide as an option if it became too much. And, I found where I had put his business card, and sent him an email.

I told him about my own diagnosis with Crohn’s Disease, and how I had been through a number of long recoveries by then as a result. And, I suggested that he might find it more useful to take a stance of “if it’s going to screw with me, I’m going to screw with IT,” and do things like contribute to Alzheimer’s research, and various other things that would ensure that in the end, the disease didn’t win (if he wasn’t already doing such things).

I never received a reply. It may be that he didn’t remember me, or that his own illness prevented him from carrying out correspondence as he once had.

Here’s the thing – Sir Terry was a man who understood that fantasy could be far more than just fantastic stories, and that in humour could lie the greatest insight. That he could approach the world and his writing with a gentle humour, rather than the cruel one so many satirists use, made it all the more powerful. We will not see the like of him again, not for a very long time.

I know Sir Terry’s legacy was (and is) laughter, and I want to find a way to make this tribute funny, with the same loveable humour that he showed the world in life. After all, I think that’s what he'd want if he were still here (well, aside from not being dead, of course – the problem with being a ghost is that you always get stuck with the night shift, the health plan is nonexistent, and you keep having to deal with idiots asking you to use a pointer to spell out words on a board).

I’m trying, Sir Terry. I’m really trying quite hard. But there’s a lot of sorrow in your passing, and sometimes the tears just CAN'T all be from laughter.

Farewell, Sir Terry, and rest well wherever you are now.

[AdmiralMemo]

I've heard so many good things about this guy but never read anything of his. I should add his books to the 207 currently on my "To Read" bookshelves.

[Can't Wear Hats]

This hit me very hard. Having a hard time getting my thoughts down, so I'll just post the same things I said on twitter. I've also added a sprig of lilac to my avatar in his honour.

I've read every single Discworld book multiple times. PTerry taught me to love reading, and made me laugh more times than I can count. My sense of humour and outlook on life wouldn't be the same without his writing. I owe him a lot, "he will be missed" doesn't quite cover it. Even knowing that this was coming sooner rather than later doesn't make it hurt any less.

Goodbye Terry. Thank you, for everything.



"Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?” ― Terry Pratchett, Going Postal

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

Selfishly I am sad that there will never be an additional book to the Discworld universe. Any more will be fan fiction.

Humanly I am sad that he himself is gone. I hope he is in an awesome place. I pray for his family and friends.

My mind doesn't compute this.

[Jenelmo]

I actually that there is one left "The Shepherd's Crown" That has a release date this fall according to what info i can find he had already finished it

[Duckay]

I know this isn't a quite appropriate response but all I can think here is that I am very thankful that I took the opportunity when it came and saw Sir Terry in person when I did. It would have been hard to forgive myself now if I hadn't.

I have a strangely large amount to process.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

He's my favorite author of all time.
Hmmmmmmmmmm

[Gap Filler]

RIP Sir Pterry. Nothing else I can say.

[AdmiralMemo]

I know this isn't a quite appropriate response but all I can think here is that I am very thankful that I took the opportunity when it came and saw Sir Terry in person when I did. It would have been hard to forgive myself now if I hadn't.

I have a strangely large amount to process.

I feel exactly the same way about Leonard Nimoy, so I feel ya, even though I'm not a Pratchett fan (currently).

[BlueChloroplast]

I haven't read all of his books yet but I know if I read a book of his I will enjoy it.

[RedNightmare]

Though I only read the Guards books (and Mort) his work still had a profound effect on my outlook on the world, with all it's big faults and small miracles. He will be missed by many.

[Duckay]

I actually meant to post this here the other day. This is the memorial to Pratchett I chose to post on Facebook. Hopefully some of you will appreciate it.



"Shouldn't it be a cassette?" "Yeah, but where was I going to find a cassette on short notice?"

[korvys]

A perfect tribute, Duckay.


As for finding a cassette... have you tried the tape deck of your car...