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From: kcarroll@utzoo.UUCP (Kieran A. Carroll)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: FUZZIES AND OTHER PEOPLE by H. Beam Piper
Message-ID: <4061@utzoo.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 11-Jul-84 14:17:51 EDT
Article-I.D.: utzoo.4061
Posted: Wed Jul 11 14:17:51 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 11-Jul-84 14:17:51 EDT
References: <1640@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
Lines: 16

*
   From what I've read from various sources, I gather that the reason that
Piper suicided (or at least the proximate one) was that he was
broke, and had a philosophical objection against going on welfare
for a living. The reason that he was broke, was that his literary agent
had died, and not left any records to show whether Piper was owed any money.
Piper thought that his stories were no longer selling, that he was a failure.
In fact, Piper's agent had sold several of his novels to Analog (I think)
before dying; he just didn't let Piper know about it. So, if Piper had
known about how successful he in fact was, he might never have felt
despondent enough to take his option. Personally, I think that this
is one of the greatest tragedies in the SF circle. Piper was a great writer,
and but for an unlikely turn of fate, he might still have been with us.

-Kieran A. Carroll
...decvax!utzoo!kcarroll