RIP: Andre Norton

Over the weekend, I got my most recent copy of Locus (the only magazine I read cover-to-cover :)).  In it, the lede was that Andre Norton died on the 17th of March, 2005.

I'm not really surprised, she'd been in poor health for quite some time, but...

Andre wrote the very first novel I ever checked out of a library (possibly the first novel I ever read), when I was 6 years old.  I went to the Briarcliff Manor public library (inside the Briarcliff Manor train station - it's still there) and checked out my first book with my sparkling new library card.

It was Star Rangers (1953), and the adventures of Kartr and his band of rangers utterly enthralled me.

I was hooked, utterly and irrevocably.

I have many of her books in the library at home, some of which are worn to the point that they're almost unreadable.  Its been so wonderful seeing Baen and other publishers re-issue her stories, she was truly one of the great ones.

Farewell Alice.