And Other Fell On Good Ground, And Sprang Up, And Bare Fruit An Hundredfold

The very first post I made when I started this blog two Decembers ago was comprised of her words. Rather than try to articulate what my heart has been going through since getting the news today of her death on Saturday, I return to her words.

Embrace diversity.
Unite --
Or be divided,
     robbed,
     ruled,
     killed
By those who see you as prey.
Embrace diversity
Or be destroyed.
-- EARTHSEED: The Books of the Living

That's from Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. As said before, if you're unfamiliar with her work, get thee to a library. Here are some other places for information.

• Her Time Warner page.
• Her essay on NPR where you can hear her wonderful voice.
• Her great interview on Democracy Now (transcript).
• Her SFWA page.
• Associated Press article.
• Seattle Times article.
• Seattle P-I article.
• Jervey Tervalon remembrance.
• Slate tribute.

Thank you, Giggles, for the call earlier today to break the news in a way nobody but you could have.

Image liberated from Stanford.