Octavia E. Butler has died

I saw a reference to this a few hours ago, but I guess I was hoping it wasn't true. There's now a short obituary up on the SFWA site now, which is as official as it gets.

I won't say she was my favorite writer (the things she was compelled to write about were only rarely the ones I really wanted to read), but she was an important writer, and a major figure in the field. She was a great person to have on the SF team, even before the MacArthur "genius" award, and the world is lessened by her passing.

My condolences to her family and friends.

And, since this weekend has already seen the deaths of Don Knotts and Darren McGavin, may I please say "enough, already"?