Charles Brown, 1937-2009

Charles N. Brown, founder and long-time editor of Locus (and a fixture of the SFnal fan/pro scene even longer than that) died in his sleep on Sunday night, on the way home from Readercon.

On the one hand, I'm sure Charles would have appreciated dying on the way home from a con. But there are so many cons still to come that will now have to go on without him.

Charles Brown was one of the great Big Name Fans: smart and opinionated, talkative but good at listening, so familiar and dependable that he seemed like part of the furniture. But there's now a big hole in the room of SFF, and it will never quite be filled. Farewell, Charles.

His full obituary appears on Locus Online -- where else?