RIP Anita Rowland, blogging pioneer and sf convention runner

Cory Doctorow 9:06 am Tue Dec 11, 2007

RIP, Anita Rowland, the pioneering blogger and prominent science fiction fan and west coast con-runner. Anita died yesterday of cancer at the age of 51. I met Anita and her husband, Jack William Bell, through science fiction circles, and got to know them both as gregarious, generous, friendly souls with sunny dispositions and a penchant for hilarious, geeky antics. I saw Anita this summer at the World Science Fiction Convention in Yokohama, Japan, and though she was very thin and bald from the chemo treatments, she was grinning sunnily and clearly having a wonderful time and not letting anything get her down. She was and remains an inspiration, and it's a terrible thing that she was taken from us so early.

My deepest condolences to Jack and her family. I've just made a donation to Anita's medical fund — her treatment was incredibly expensive and put a heavy burden on the family finances — and I hope you'll consider doing so too.

Link to Anita's site, Link to Jack William Bell's memorial for Anita, Link to Anita's medical fund

(Image: Anita rides a Segway with Phil Torrone's help)

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