Joanna Russ

[ellenkushner]

Had been about to post chirpy links to wonderful reviews of TEETH and The Witches of Lublin - but just got word of the passing of Joanna Russ in Tucson.  

She was very important to me.  First Diana Wynne Jones, and now Joanna; our mothers are leaving us.  Let us love what they left us, and strive to do them proud to honor their memories.

Comments

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

As we grow old, all our parents leave us, but we honor them by writing about them, and telling their stories.

*leaves a stone*

[droolfangrrl.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Yeah I heard. I would read the passage from _The Female Man_ about the blue book and the pink book and howl with laughter. I'm glad she was able to share her work with us.

My grandma passed last fall, and with my dad passing the year before and my grandpa the year before that, my mom's now living alone. :( Thankfully she's doing ok.

[taraljc.livejournal.com]

As my mum is here on a rare visit and currently tucked up under a blanket on my sofa, waiting for me to finish work so we can watch Doctor Who together, this hits me hard even though I do not have as much familiarity with Russ' work as I ought.

But I am so sorry you have lost someone so important to you, and my thoughts are with you all all who were dear to her.

[pamola.livejournal.com]

That's sad news. I always associate Joanna Russ with Alyx and the warm relationship she had with Fritz Leiber.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Well said. Thank you.

The Mothers Who Leave

[(Anonymous)]

Mothers do that, you know, they leave us. But some leave us better than we were, better than we could have ever been without their trailblazing. Mdm LePrince du Beaumont, Emily Dickinson, Isak Dinesen, Angela Carter, Diana Wynne Jones, and now Joanna Russ. Those are my mothers of the spirit, of the pen. The Story and Poet Mums.

RIP, ladies. Thanks for all the fish. Blessings.

Jane

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

Re: The Mothers Who Leave

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Jane.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Good to know!

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

I loved the Alyx stories! A definite influence.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

It does make one feel bumped up a generation - at least, in the literary world!

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Quite a shock - we'd just seen her in October!
http://ellen-kushner.livejournal.com/2010/10/11/

Thanks.

[taraljc.livejournal.com]

I hadn't realised until I read her interview that I knew her writings about slash, not her fiction. I think because so many of my friends are acafans as well as slashers, that was my introduction to her. I remember being fascinated by a lot of what she said--not necessarily agreeing, but really interested in her take on the genre and what it says about women and desire and society.

(Oddly, I never read slash or femmeslash until the last decade or so, but I remember having 2 loaner copies of Swordspoint which made the rounds of my friends back in 1997 when I moved in with a set of slash-loving room mates who loved media fic but didn't read fantasy...)

So even for those of us who did not know her well, she still managed to make a mark on our lives. And now I'm going to have to hunt up more of her work.

Re: The Mothers Who Leave

[t-windling.livejournal.com]

That's a lovely comment, Jane.

Ellen, I know you and Delia cared for Joanna-the-person as well as Joanna-the-amazing-writer-and-critic. I send my sympathy for your personal loss, as well as the great loss to the sf/field and the feminist movement.