Sad

In last three months, several people in my “inner circle of cherished friends” have passed away. I find it difficult to find the right words.

Torsten Low, of the publishing house “Verlag Torsten Low2, died after the Klischee Book Fair in Darmstadt. I had seen him there—we even spoke briefly about next year’s Leipzig Book Fair.

The very next day, he was gone. Far too soon. Far, far, far too soon.

He was a wonderful, creative, and warm-hearted person—humorous and full of drive. His publishing house released a wide variety of books, and Torsten allowed himself the liberty to select books simply because he liked them and thought they were good. That is by no means a given. At large publishing houses, it is increasingly the marketing departments that decide which books get published—relying on lists of keywords and “tropes” that they believe are currently popular, rather than anything truly new or innovative.

Torsten was different. He had the courage to venture into areas that didn’t conform to the “bland average.”

He was an impressive person, through and through. Almost every weekend, he, his wife — and quite often his daughter, too — would head off to conventions, book fairs, and festivals with their book stall. He was a giant within the scene. He once described himself with a T-shirt that read: “Caution! Snappy Publisher!” But he wasn’t “snappy” at all. He was practically paternal toward his authors; you always felt well looked after with him — both on a personal level and in terms of publishing. I truly liked him a great deal — him and his family.

My thoughts are with Tina and Emily.
I will miss him dearly. We will all miss him.

Ad astra, Torsten. Shake things up among the stars.

***

And now, Kathy Mar has passed away, too. She was a “filker” — a singer-songwriter within the realm of fantasy and science fiction fandom.

When I first started writing filk songs, she was already a well-known performer. I loved Kathy’s songs and admired her unique outlook on life, her strength, and her incredible talent.
I still believe that her songs rank among the best ever written within the filk scene — emotional, political, and brimming with inner energy.

Kathy was a “flower power” musician who never abandoned her principles — a hippie spirit in a world that is steadily losing its freedom. She always had the courage to do things differently.
During a convention in the U.S., I once had the privilege of staying at her home — a place that offered shelter to a diverse array of people. It was a space filled with music and creativity. I remember waking up one night to see more than half a dozen people, completely unselfconscious and stark naked, walking right past me on their way to the hot tub in the garden.

At Kathy’s place, you could always count on an evening full of songs, a couch to sleep on, and a serving of her “killer lasagna.” And, of course, the hot tub.
Now, she sings among the stars.