Acclaimed and adored American author Ursula K Le Guin has died at age 88.
The New York Times confirmed Le Guin’s passing when speaking with her son Theo Downes-Le Guin. He did not disclose the exact cause of death but noted that she had been in poor health for a number of months.
Le Guin’s legacy as a writer is rich with accolades (including Hugo and Nebula awards), impressive sales and an indelible influence on those that read her work. The Left Hand of Darkness author operated largely in the worlds of fantasy and science-fiction, but her art transcended genres. Le Guin’s works dealt with difficult questions and would be translated into over 40 languages selling millions worldwide.
“I think hard times are coming, when we will be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, and can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies, to other ways of being. And even imagine some real grounds for hope,” said Le Guin when receiving her National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2014. “We will need writers who can remember freedom: poets, visionaries—the realists of a larger reality. Right now, I think we need writers who know the difference between production of a market commodity and the practice of an art.”
The literary world has been quick to express the feeling of loss in Le Guin’s passing and celebrate the author’s legacy. Neil Gaiman, Mary Robinette Kowal, Stephen King and a growing number more have provided tributes to the late writer.
I just learned that Ursula K. Le Guin has died. Her words are always with us. Some of them are written on my soul. I miss her as a glorious funny prickly person, & I miss her as the deepest and smartest of the writers, too. Still honoured I got to do this: https://t.co/U4mma5pJMw
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) January 23, 2018
I'm sitting in an airport crying. Ursula Le Guin. You have taken my words with you.
— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) January 23, 2018
Usula K. LeGuin, one of the greats, has passed. Not just a science fiction writer; a literary icon. Godspeed into the galaxy.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) January 23, 2018
https://twitter.com/jaclynf/status/955930015467819009
https://twitter.com/ChuckWendig/status/955943786919677953
Ursula Le Guin has died. She is a master storytelling. She is fierce and frighteningly smart and does not tolerate fools. Her EARTHSEA books are a revelation.
— Shannon Hale (@haleshannon) January 23, 2018
I just saw the sad news that Ursula K. Le Guin has died. I think I need to stop working, go for a walk with the dog, and give thanks for all her deep thought, wisdom and insight, distilled into so many massively influential books and stories.
— Garth Nix (@garthnix) January 23, 2018
"There's a point, around the age of twenty, when you have to choose whether to be like everybody else the rest of your life, or to make a virtue of your peculiarities."
~ Ursula K. Le Guin, who died today. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/QPYD8NcMeD
— Aaron Vallely (@Vallmeister) January 23, 2018
RIP Ursula Le Guin.
Here she is in 1987, turning down an offer to blurb an all-male sci-fi anthology. https://t.co/rz6Q0jSwWT pic.twitter.com/n3wgHQgDgu
— Letters of Note (@LettersOfNote) January 23, 2018
(Via New York Times)
