A great man died yesterday. I did not know him at all, yet I can't even begin to describe my sorrow. James Oliver Rigney, Jr was commonly known by his pen name, Robert Jordan, under which he wrote the Wheel of Time series of books. There are eleven (incredibly thick) books currently with the final book still in the works at the time of his death.I'd been reading these books with some degree of consistency since 1991, when I was a sophomore in college, so I can only assume that's why I feel so sorrowful...his books had been a part of my entire adult life. Also, I'd begun following his blog (mostly inconsistently) on which he interacted with the thousands of fans of WoT, as well as giving an on-going update on his health status. He'd been battling a rather rare disease, but right up until the end, he seemed so hopeful and confident that he'd beat it...or at least greatly delay it getting him.
Rigney was a professed Christian...high church as he described himself. His faith was strong in his eternal destination, but instead of rejoicing because a brother has gone to be with his Savior, I'm sad, because it seems so wrong. He wasn't done...his contribution was not finished. A month short of his 59th birthday, he had much more writing and living to do.
I miss him.
1 comment:
Yeah, I saw he died and I too am sad. I started reading the books in college also...my fantasy novel fix. Glad to see you are kind of geeky also. I heard he had been dictating plot points, ideas, etc. to an army of people to make sure the final book goes the direction he wanted it to.
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