Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

High school science teacher, science fiction author, science fiction fan, and generally nice guy (based on my few brief conversations with him and what many of my friends have said), Harry Stubbs, better known as Hal Clement, died yesterday. A familiar face from East-Coast science fiction conventions is, alas, gone. To me he was an acquaintance and a respected member of my community (both as a member of fandom and as one of the big names among "hard science" SF writers); I know that to some of my friends he was also a personal friend.

He was someone I'd wanted to get to know better, but there usually seemed to be too much competition for his time. And an even bigger obstacle was something Bruce Adelsohn wrote in rec.music.filk:

I was always too afraid I'd come off the ardent fanboy, and I was too stinkin' proud to show that face to one of the classiest acts around.

Harold Feld wrote a song, noting the timing of the current solar flare/solar storm, which I'll be asking for permission to repost here. But I'm sure I can get away with one verse in any case:

Science, he taught, is not lifeless and dry.
He wrote tales of wonder; he painted the sky.
He served country in war; he taught children in peace.
Small wonder the Heavens now mark his release

Cribbed from the SFWA obituary page: Clement's first story was published in 1942, his first novel in 1949.