Eugie Foster, author, editor, wife, died on September 27th of respiratory failure at Emory University in Atlanta.
In her forty-two years, Eugie lived three lifetimes. She won the Nebula award, the highest award for science fiction literature, and had over one hundred of her stories published. She was an editor for the Georgia General Assembly. She was the director of the Daily Dragon at Dragon Con, and was a regular speaker at genre conventions. She was a model, dancer, and psychologist. She also made my life worth living.
Memorial service will be announced soon.
We do not need flowers. In lieu of flowers, please buy her books and read them. Buy them for others to read until everyone on the planet knows how amazing she was.
–Matthew M. Foster (husband)
Matthew,
I’m so sorry for your loss. She was an incredible writer.
My heart is broken. These past couple of weeks I had feared the worst but kept on hoping. I’m so sorry for your loss, Matthew, though we have never met. I treasured Eugie way back on the Speculations Rumor Mill. What a lovely, shining heart she had. And what a talent. I’m so, so sorry.
Eugie is one of the writers I think of whenever I wonder whether Speculations did any good. (Yes, it did.)
Horrible news. Holding your family in the light.
I am so terribly sorry to hear this news. She was a wonderful writer. My condolences to you and your family.
Thoughts for you and all Eugie’s family and friends. Hearts are broken, everywhere.
So sorry to hear it. A loss for all of us.
I’m so sorry. So, so sorry. I knew Eugie from the Rumor Mill, too, and got to meet her at Launchpad. So brilliant, so beautiful, so sweet. I’m so sorry.
Still reeling as I know you must be. We want to attend Eugie’s memorial. Thanks for keeping us posted throughour.
Matthew – I’m a so deeply sorry for your loss. Eugie has been a great inspiration to myself and so many others, and we will never forget her. Love and peace to you and your dear family.
Deepest condolences. I never knew Eugie but saw her postings as she battled for her life. Tragic loss at such a young age. Wish I had known her.
Matthew I’m so very sorry for your loss. I’ve been following Eugie for years, since live journal was still the next big thing. Many hugs for you and wishing you much support and love in your grief.
Thank you for giving us the gift of you, Eugie. It has been most precious and we will cherish if for always. You are already and will forever be missed.
Terrible and sad news. Eugie was a great writer and will be missed by many.
Pingback: Okay, 2014, no more — we’ve lost enough good people | BrooklynWriter
Pingback: Saying Goodbye to Eugie Foster
We have posted a memorial review column here:
Eugie,
My condolences to your family and friends.
You were a terrific writer and reviewer. You were also brave as hell. Rest in peace.
Laird
How heartbreaking. My sincere and heartfelt conolances to you and your family on your loss. As a fan, I will indeed buy Eugie’s books and share them…So,long may she live on in her words!
I consider myself lucky to have met Eugie and read one of her books. I will never look at Pixy Stix without thinking fondly of her joy at me bringing them to her at Dragon Con.
Oh. I am so sorry.
My sympathies – she was a talent.
Was hoping the recent silence meant nothing. So sorry to hear this news. Tragic.
So sad to hear this. Her work lives on.
This world has lost one of its heros. You have created a legacy which will live on forever. I wish more of the world could be as wonderful as you.
The world is a much poorer place without her wit, her amazing creativity, and her smile. Eugie has always be, and will continue to be an inspiration. My deepest heartfelt condolences to all her loved ones.
Pingback: Saying Goodbye to Eugie Foster | JanNews Blog
Pingback: author, editor, wife
Our family can not begin to have enough words to tell you & your family how sad and sorry we are at your loss.
Eugie was a charming and kind woman, she will be missed greatly here. Our deepest , heartfelt condolences.
We will keep you all in our thoughts and prayers.
My heartfelt condolences and much strength to you, Matthew and Eugie’s family and friends.
Words fail me. Will buy more of her books and give them to friends.
(I’m the lucky editor who lifted “Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask Gentleman, Beast” from the Interzone slushpile. Eugie was a great talent and will be greatly missed.)
Pingback: Black Gate » Blog Archive » Eugie Foster, December 30, 1971 – September 27, 2014
I,feel at a loss; never having heard of her name (or, seen her books!) Will have to “correct that oversight, as soon as possible!!!
Eugie was amazing. The world is poorer without her.
Words fail. She was indescribably lovely and wonderful. The world is both poorer and dimmer without her.
this is truly saddeneding news. Eugie did so much to inspire me and influence me through her writting. She will be missed but never forgotten.
Eugie is at peace! Matthew, I hope that you will find some peace very soon. Praying that God will replace the sadness and tears with smiles and good memories of your times together. Thank you for sharing her with me.
I am so sorry to hear that. Eugie was one of my Launchpad classmates, and I found her to be a gem and a delight. I’d only seen her a couple of times since, but she wasn’t the sort of person you forgot. I’m truly sorry, and all my sympathies to Matthew and all of her family and friends.
I never met Eugie in person, but have known her online since way back in her critter days. This is awful news, the world is a sadder place today without her.
I’ve been an LJ friend from a very long time ago, in Hobkin days. We “met” through the belly dance community. I will miss her posts 🙁
My thoughts are with you. May she rest in peace.
I have admired Eugie’s work for years. I am so sorry to hear that she is gone. We will miss all of the stories that we could have had.
So very sorry to hear this… Eugie guest-spoke at the D*C Writers’ Workshop I attended, and I was so impressed I made it a point to sit in in one of her readings. Warm prayers for strength and peace.
Thank you, Eugie. I never met you, but your fiction never failed to fill me with awe.
Thoughts going out to family and friends.
I’m so very sorry. Eugie has left a big impression, and her writing is unique. Sterkte.
I never had the pleasure of meeting Eugie in person. But she impressed me with what and how she wrote.
Even in difficult times, her posts always radiated hope and determination. I was deeply impressed and will miss her. My thoughts are with Matthew.
I will do my very best to help spreading her work.
I am so, so sorry to hear.
This is very sad. She was a fine writer. Eric and I published a story of hers in The Dragon and the Stars, and she was so easy to work with. We couldn’t have asked for a better writer. I hope you and your family find the strength to get through this time.
I’m so very sorry, Mathew. She was amazing. I will read her work. And remember.
This is terrible news. Prayers sent for strength and peace to her family and friends, particularly her husband Matthew. 🙁
Pingback: SINDR-WORKS
May you keep your dear wife in your heart, may your heart find a way to heal. Bless you.
Very, very sorry to hear this. My condolences.
Eugie, we never met, but I’ll miss you.
Matthew, there are no words. I’m sorry.
I like to believe that the world wobbled at the moment Eugie left us. Despite the heartbreak and the heartache so many of us feel, it was a privilege for all those who’ve known Eugie or read her words. Her stories are a gift to everyone who’s read them and generations yet to come. Please accept my sympathy, Matthew, and all the others who knew and loved her.
I am so sorry for your loss. She will be missed.
I’m so sorry for your loss. I found this blog through a post on the Escape Pod website, where I found many hours of enjoyment from Eugie’s stories and narrations. As Mary Robinette Kowal said above, the world is poorer without her. I will revisit her work and share it with others.
Walk in the light, Eugie. I’m so sad to hear you lost your battle with cancer. Sending my deepest sympathies to your family and loved ones.
Her beautiful work will live on. She said you brought magic to her world, and whimsy. I am so very sorry for your loss, Matthew.
Dear Matthew,
I am so very sorry. Eugie accomplished an amazing amount of good things — both her writing and her good deeds — and made a huge difference in the world. My condolences.
Eileen
My name is Michelle. I did not know your wife but she was a friend on my husband, writer Tom Piccirilli’s FB page. We read her blogs and she was so positive. Tom is in his second year of remission from brain cancer so we understood what she was going through. I am so sorry for you loss. I wish you peace. Best, Tom and Michelle Piccirilli
Terribly sad to hear this news. My condolences to Matthew, and to everyone else who knew Eugie well. I only knew her through LJ and her writing, but even that was enough to show that she was a shining light to many people. Sadly missed.
So, so sorry. Condolences to all who were close to her.
Cancer has taken too much this year. First Jay Lake, and now Eugie Foster. I am very sorry to hear of this. I enjoyed hearing Eugie’s thoughts when she attended panels at JordanCon the couple of times I was able to go there.
The SF&F community has been lessened this year by the passing of these two great authors.
My condolences to Matthew Foster and the rest of her family and loved ones.
Eugie was an amazing author, a great person, and a friend.
My deepest condolences to Matthew Foster and her family and everyone who knew and loved her.
This is sad news indeed. My heart goes out to you, Matthew. My sincere condolences to Eugie’s family and loved ones.
I am so, so sorry to hear this news. I always thought her stories were special, and from all reports, so was she.
Light and peace to you in this sad, sad time. RIP.
I’m so sorry for your loss. She was a kind hearted and sweet person. Wishing strength and peace to all her friends and family
I’m ashamed to say that I knew neither Eugie nor her work, but I’ll remedy the latter pronto. As regards the former, I’ll look her up sometime a long (I hope) ways from now. Matthew, I really do feel your loss. Hang on in there. Sincere condolences — Pete Crowther
I am shocked by this news and deeply saddened by it. I only met Eugie a few times, but, like so many others, I was in awe of her wit, her talent, her vivaciousness. Matthew, you are in my thoughts and my heart. We will all miss her terribly.
A great loss and so sad. I enjoyed her stories, and now will go out and enjoy them some more. RIP.
Pingback: Eugie Foster – Grasping for the Wind
I’m just going to copy what I wrote on Jim Hines’s blog, with some edits.
Oh gods. I “met” Eugie on Critters (I read her stuff and never had anything to actually critique because it was awesome) years and years ago, like nearly 15. I did slush reading for an anthology a friend was doing and she had submitted a story. This would have been 2002. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite fit the tone my friend was going for, and I wrote her back and told her so. (I probably should mention, after I sent it on to my friend and said “You have to read this”, but he ultimately agreed it didn’t fit the anthology… but if not for his disabilities he strongly would have considered doing an anthology around the theme of her story, because it was Just That Awesome.)
I also told her I loved her story, and I hoped it went on to find a home, because it was amazing and full worthy of being published. My memory is touchy, but iirc she had already sold it (my friend had, er, made no progress on the anthology for two years due to health issues and was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of submissions, so I stepped in) and was incredibly polite and sweet about it. When I found her on LJ, I immediately asked to friend her, because someone who could come up with something like that was something I definitely wanted on my friends list.
I remember her from Critters (we didn’t directly interact much but I read her stories and loved them… in retrospect I should have told her that more) and Speculations Rumor Mill, and in a way it seemed like she was… omnipresent. Not because she was vocal. But because she was who she was. And then those sites changed to other places, but it was still the same, at least to me. She’s always been there, and always been awesome and an inspiration; I wished my work was as strong and powerful as hers.
And now she’s gone. My heart goes out to the family, but my heart also goes out to the community, where one of our own SFF family and greatest voices has fallen silent. And I am very, very sad.
Matthew, I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now, and you have all my sympathy and *virtual hugs* that you want. I’m so sorry.
Pingback: Humbled at Dragon*Con: My Memories of Eugie Foster | Matt Wallace
I was at Dragon Con in 2010 because I had a short film in the film festival and had Monday drinks with Mr. & Mrs. Foster. That year she had been nominated for a Hugo and hadn’t won and she took the news with aplomb. On this one day after this news, she was a delight. I knew her for 30 minutes, and she was unforgettable.
I met Eugie in person only briefly, but liked her immediately. The stories I have read make it clear that her writing embodies the best of her; I look forward to reading another of her books, and meeting her all over again. My deepest sympathy to those who knew her far better than I.
I remember Eugie as a lovely young girl and my daughter’s dear friend. She grew up to be a successful and beautiful woman, but in my heart she will always be 20; a little shy, very sweet and very very dear!
I am so very sorry for your loss Matthew!
I will indeed buy several copies of Eugie’s books and donate them to local public school libraries.
I’m so very, very sorry to hear this. I’ve known Eugie by email for about 15 years, although I never met her in person. The world’s lost a great talent, and of course her family has lost so much more.
Darn right I’ll be sharing her books. They’re awesome.
Sorry – I didn’t realize that comments had to be approved. Makes sense with all the spam I just saw. So some of these comments are popping up a little late.
–Matthew M. Foster
Matthew,
I’m so sorry for your loss. I just wanted you to know that Eugie was (and still is) one of my favorite writers, period, in any genre. I’ve read and enjoyed so many of her stories, and thankfully I have many more in my collection that I simply haven’t gotten around to reading yet. I was devastated when I learned the sad news. By sheer coincidence, I happened to already be on her website right when you posted the news. I also couldn’t believe it.
I didn’t know her except through her posts and her stories, but I could see that she was a wonderful, kind, funny, and overall amazing woman. Now I’m beyond disappointed that I’ll never get the chance to meet her in person to tell her how much I admired her and her work.
I only just heard, I’m so sorry.
I’ll remember her always, even though I never knew her. She was my age, and on ‘the right wavelength’. I’ll miss her talent, and everything about her.
Pingback: Eugie, Tom, Creation and Connection | Siliconchef by Brian Richardson