I heard about Mark Siegel's passing last week, and all the while I've been hoping it was just a typo, or a mistake, or something. But, unfortunately, it's true: Mark died last week after his daily workout. The Arizona Republic has a really nice obituary for him, along with a picture of him in a hat that seems perfect for Mark.

Mark and I met at the Writers of the Future workshop in 2000, and while I thought he was a bit abrasive at first, I enjoyed talking with him and getting to know him. I also remember him on his way back to our hotel one day after what looked like a strenuous jog -- the guy couldn't stop working out. My best memory of Mark that week was our limo ride to the gala awards ceremony, after we found that they actually had liquor in the limo! Here's Mark surrounded by women (my wife Elizabeth and his daughter Mandy):



Since then, I've exchanged tons of stories and novel excerpts with Mark, and his logical reasoning has fixed more than a dozen of my goof ups in my current novel. I've also partied with him at ConJose, where he threatened to throw Dave Truesdale out the window. He was hilarious and a lot of fun to hang out with.

And he's also written some hilarious and poignant and ingenious novels, and I know he was working on new stuff all the time, including one set during a past WorldCon (in the '70s, I think) featuring characters a lot like Tim and Serena Powers.

I still wish Mark's dying was some sort of cosmic typo. He'll be missed.