Very Sad News For Fans Of The Culture.....

[LazyGun]

I was very shocked and saddened to read that Iain Banks has announced that he has late-stage terminal cancer and is not expected to live beyond 12 months....

He recently married his long-time girlfriend ( asking her if she would do him the honour of becoming his widow - black humour being a trademark) and is spending time on a honeymoon and then a tour of meaningful places..

I have spent many years reading and re-reading both his Sci-Fi and modern contemporary novels, and he has been my favourite author for decades. The Culture was one of the greatest ever Sci-Fi inventions, and his work has been endlessly inventive. Indeed ,so much did I like his writing that it influenced my choice of screen-name.

I wish him a pain-free ,dignified and happy last few months and will miss him and his works enormously....

http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/books/features/iain-banks-reveals-he-is-dying-of-cancer-1-2874469

[emmie]

mentioned earlier, but it is...

[marval]

It is sad news.

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/ChatterBank/Question1230996.html

[LazyGun]

Was it ,Em? Sorry, must have missed it- Apologies for the replication...

[emmie]

sorry not being critical, but i also thought it a very sad story.

[gness]

Nice words LazyGun......my wishes for him also.

[pdq1]

Obviously removing the Gall Bladder is not sufficient to stop the progress of this horrible disease. I can never understand why we have to rely on the public for research donations when the government splashes money about elsewhere especially overseas aid.

[Flyhalf]

A great loss, a man of humour and warmth (despite the black tone of his writing).
I think his best work was "Raw Spirit", a joyous tour of Scottish distilleries.

[emmie]

he isn't dead yet, is he ?

[LazyGun]

Not yet, Em.

I am looking forward, in a melancholic sort of way, to reading what looks likely to be his last novel, "The Quarry". Apparently the publishers are rushing to bring forward the publication date so that he has a reasonable chance of still being around when it is published....

[Khandro]

LG; // so that he has a reasonable chance of still being around when it is published.... // and let us pray that this applies to you too.