Saturday, March 1, 2014

To Aaron Allston

I was saddened to learn this morning that author Aaron Allston passed away yesterday. He was to be the guest of honor at Visioncon in Branson, MO. While in the airport he collapsed. The cause of death was heart failure. He was 53.

I had the honor and pleasure of meeting Aaron several times at conventions, most notably Origins in Columbus, Oh. He was one of three Star Wars authors that would be sitting at a table over in authors' alley. Him, Michael A. Stackpole, and Timmothy Zahn formed their own kind of trilogy. Aaron was always pleasant to talk with and friendly to his fans. I attended several of his lectures on writing. They were fun and educational. The mark of a man that knows his craft and is enthused about it.

I knew him before the conventions because of his writing though. I loved several of his Star Wars novels. He was one of the writers in the X-Wing series. Starfighters of Adumar was a favorite of mine for both its adventure and comedy. He also did work on some Dungeons and Dragons books. While those were before I got into the game, his influence can still be felt.

I learned a lot from reading his work and attending his seminars. At Origins 2013 I also bought a book a book from him on plotting. It is a good book and has some interesting exercises. I will be trying some of the exercises and posting them here. That is my tribute to his legacy. So look forward to some of those soon.

Aaron Allston will be missed. He has left wonderful works to remember him by though.

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