Following upon the previous post, Kage Baker has passed away.
A few years back she was guest of honor at ConQuest, in Kansas City. Here in St. Louis some folks at the public library contacted me to see if I could get her to come here to do a presentation. In my office at the time as president of the Missouri Center for the Book I made inquiries, set up a venue, and actually made arrangements. A couple of local fans who were at the Kansas City convention volunteered to drive Kage and her sister to St. Louis. They said they had a marvelous time with her and were pleased to take Kage around the city on tour.
I’d expected more from the library. Of course I sent around a notice that Kage would be in town, doing a reading, but book events are notoriously hard to get people, even dedicated readers, to attend, and we ended up with a very small gathering in a hall much too large.
Kage was gracious. We huddled around and she read a pirate story to us and we had a terrific conversation. It was a fun evening and I came away very impressed by her wit and charm. That’s kind of a cliched expression, but it was true. I liked her very much. I’d already been quite taken by her books, which are the kind of treasures you find from time to time that you come to feel a special warmth for. Great characters, wonderful storylines, and a terrific premise.
She actually published quite a bit. There’s plenty there to read and reread. Nevertheless, there doubtless was much more we will never now discover. She will be missed by some of us. She should be remembered.
