Oh, Ouch

[liralen]

John M. Ford is gone. I've always delighted in his work, savoring the phrases and going slowly through the complex geographies of most of his plots. Some, like How Much for Just The Planetwere fun. Some, like The Final Reflection made me really think about what it takes to make a real society, especially "evil empires". Some like Fugue State were a study in how prose images can harmonize. Some, like his Arthurian poem, just gave me endless delight as I got more and more into all the details of the legend. I got to meet him once.

Making Light has the details of his death. Quick after decades of fighting health problems.

As Teresa wrote, "There's a hole in the universe."

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Against Entropy

The worm drives helically through the wood
And does not know the dust left in the bore
Once made the table integral and good;
And suddenly the crystal hits the floor.
Electrons find their paths in subtle ways,
A massless eddy in a trail of smoke;
The names of lovers, light of other days—
Perhaps you will not miss them. That’s the joke.
The universe winds down. That’s how it’s made.
But memory is everything to lose;
Although some of the colors have to fade,
Do not believe you’ll get the chance to choose.
Regret, by definition, comes too late;
Say what you mean. Bear witness. Iterate.

—John M. Ford