On Le Guin's Passing
Jan. 23rd, 2018 06:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
labingiI am saddened by the passing of Ursula Le Guin. It was her time. She was almost ninety and lived an amazing life, contributing immensely, but the world is poorer without her.
Of all my literary idols, she was the only one who wrote in my native language whose life overlapped with mine. Of them all from any language, she was the only one I've ever had the privilege of meeting—once, briefly, at a workshop. I saw her again when she presented at the 2007 ASLE Conference at the University of Oregon. I treasure both memories. I wrote her twice. She answered both letters, though I don't think, across almost twenty years, she remembered me from the first time. She said she would read my book (The Hour before Morning) if she got to it on her giant pile of books. I don't think she ever got to it. For the past couple of years, I have been accustoming myself to the idea of her passing, that I'd missed my chance to ever speak to her beyond that brief workshop intro. It's okay.
What she gave us is more than we could ever ask. It is enough. I'll miss her, but she's still here with me. But I'll miss her.
Of all my literary idols, she was the only one who wrote in my native language whose life overlapped with mine. Of them all from any language, she was the only one I've ever had the privilege of meeting—once, briefly, at a workshop. I saw her again when she presented at the 2007 ASLE Conference at the University of Oregon. I treasure both memories. I wrote her twice. She answered both letters, though I don't think, across almost twenty years, she remembered me from the first time. She said she would read my book (The Hour before Morning) if she got to it on her giant pile of books. I don't think she ever got to it. For the past couple of years, I have been accustoming myself to the idea of her passing, that I'd missed my chance to ever speak to her beyond that brief workshop intro. It's okay.
What she gave us is more than we could ever ask. It is enough. I'll miss her, but she's still here with me. But I'll miss her.
