{"id":40227,"date":"2022-05-16T06:30:27","date_gmt":"2022-05-15T18:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=40227"},"modified":"2022-05-16T10:11:57","modified_gmt":"2022-05-15T22:11:57","slug":"in-memoriam-patricia-mckillip-1948-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2022\/05\/16\/in-memoriam-patricia-mckillip-1948-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"In Memoriam: Patricia McKillip, 1948 – 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"I have learned with great sadness of the passing of renowned Fantasy author, Patricia McKillip<\/a>, on May 6.<\/p>\n

LocusMag has an obituary, here<\/a>, that charts her literary contribution, and OregonLive also features her career, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What I would like to celebrate today is how much I love her work and the extent of her writing’s influence on my own. Whenever I get asked about writers I admire, Patricia McKillip is always on the list — and what we love, as I know I’ve said here before, we generally aspire to emulate.<\/p>\n

My love and enthusiasm for Patricia McKillip’s work has always centered on her “gorgeous words”, sympathetic and identifiable characters, and the wonder and delight of the worlds created with each new story.<\/p>\n

She wrote many books, so some are very old friends now. As recently as last year, I posted (again) on rereading The Riddlemaster of Hed<\/em><\/a> — which was the very first Patricia McKillip novel I encountered.<\/p>\n

That first encounter set a trend, which has endured from that day to this. And the Riddlemaster<\/strong> series (which includes Heir of Sea and Fire<\/em> and Harpist in the Wind <\/em>respectively) was swiftly joined on the bookshelf by The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Other favourites, over the years, include The Changeling Sea<\/em><\/strong> (1988), Ombria in Shadow<\/strong><\/em> (2002), and Solstice Wood<\/em><\/strong> (2006.) Most recently, in 2016, I was charmed all over again by Kingfisher<\/strong><\/em> and the creation of a world in which Arthurian-style knights drive cars and carry cellphones. (The same world appears in the short story, The Knight of the Well<\/em>, which appears in the McKillip collection, Wonders of the Invisible World<\/em><\/strong>.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I’ve\u00a0 mentioned Ms McKillip’s language and storytelling, characterization and worldbuilding gifts, but the threads and themes that endure through her work include kindness and compassion, warmth and human understanding — whether as self-knowledge or resolving problems through knowing others. In short, her books are life affirming in their essence, which I believe may be why I return to them time after time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I am not the only reader to fall beneath Patricia McKillip’s spell. Not long after first reading The Riddlemaster of Hed<\/em>, I encountered an eleven-year-old boy who could not stop talking to me about the story. Clearly, he loved it as much as I did. A university friend married a man who was an equally avid fan, resulting in many in-depth and enthusiastic conversations. And Rebecca Fisher<\/a>, who posted the Big Worlds on Small Screen series<\/a> here for a couple of years, is also a devotee.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I don’t believe there can be a greater tribute for a person’s life and work than having touched the lives of innumerable people in positive ways — and that is my summation of Patricia McKillip and the gift of her writing to the reading world. Although I never knew her, except through the pages of her books, I shall miss her greatly.
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n

~*~
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prior Posts On The Books and Writing of Patricia McKillip:<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/h3>\n

On “…On Anything, Really”:<\/span><\/h3>\n