Ann Cecil
Ann Cecil, an amazing woman and staff at all but the most recent Alpha, died this morning. She will be very much missed.
Ann was active in fandom and helped found PARSEC and Confluence. More than that, she committed part of each year to helping pass on her knowledge of science fiction and fantasy to the next generation of writers. Ann was known at Alpha for her cookies, as she spent a great deal of Alpha each year baking and watching twenty students and most of the staff thunder upstairs to get them. Her insights on story, though, made her invaluable. She not only read every single story at the workshop, her critiques were thorough and always helpful. The workshop will not be the same without her.
January 12, 2011 @ 1:49 am
She was an amazing woman. I got to see her in action in 2003 (and it seems like an eyeblink ago!) and am grateful for the experience. I am glad to have gotten to spend the time around her in Pittsburgh that I did, in her house that was walled with books, and always smelled vaguely of sweet spices.
She is missed. 🙁
January 14, 2011 @ 1:30 pm
I am so very sorry to hear this news. She will be held in the hearts of the many students she touched. RIP Ann.
January 15, 2011 @ 9:14 am
I am very saddened — Ann was a true advocate for genre fiction and a great writer and critic. I know that both Parsec and Alpha will feel this loss greatly. She was a passionate lover of life, and I will remember her fondly.
January 9, 2013 @ 1:33 pm
I _thought_ PARSEC planned to honor Ann’s contributions with some type annual award, but here we are, nearing the 2nd anniversary of her death, and I find nothing indicating anything was done in memory of her substantial contributions to PARSEC and her mentoring of budding writers. (I knew Ann before PARSEC; quite a woman, quite a lady.)
January 9, 2013 @ 4:34 pm
Unfortunately, we at the blog are not in charge of PARSEC; all we do is help with the workshop. However, I think Ann would like to know that her cookies are still spoken of and that she is much missed.