Farewell to A Friend

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

It probably shouldn’t surprise me that this year would have a final sting and take one of my mentors and friends as it ends.

Okay, I’m personifying the year and that’s stupid, but it is has been a bad one.

I first met David Drake because when I was sat down for a signing, I noticed the corner with the Baen (mostly) guys was the happiest, most cheerful bunch. The others sat at the tables, either in gloom or being “G-d or Shakespeare” as Diana Wynne Jones called it.

But the Baen people talked to each other and made jokes, and frankly, I wanted to be there. So I would sit with them, and they — in their defense — were very tolerant of the literary fantasy weirdo with the accent. And got used to me.

When my career crashed in 03 I needed to talk to someone, and Dave Drake was the only one who would agree to tell me the truth: had I done something to deserve it?

Of course I had not, it was just the field and how it then worked. He let me rage at him for 2 hours, away from the con, in a very cold park, and then we came back. And a few months later he recommended me to Baen, which led to selling Draw One In the Dark.

We remained friends over the years, though our correspondence tagged off of the last few years, between health and moving and you know how life goes.

It was still a shock to hear of his death. Yes, I knew he’s been ill and had retired from writing novels — I subscribe to the newsletter –but it was still somewhat shocking, because, well… he wasn’t that old, as we measure age these days.

I need to unpack the library and unearth Lord of the Isles.

All day, since yesterday night, memories have kept coming. Just silly things over a 20 year plus friendship: his sending me articles about painting my mailbox, after a long joke-conversation on how ugly my then-massive (so returned manuscripts didn’t get too folded and could be sent out again) mailbox. Visiting DMNS with him, and his admonitions on Ammonite shells. Because he didn’t visit in magic, but why tempt fate.

Getting lost when we both happened to go to the bathroom during a Baen dinner, and deciding to hang out in the nearest lit area until people found us. (Both of us had a tragic lack of sense of direction.)

His web mistress entrusting him to me to get him to the taxi (?) to the airport, (what was she thinking? I couldn’t find it either) but then Dan finding me and dragging me off to get our plane. I got home and was worried, so I emailed him asking him if he was all right. He answered with this multi-page adventure of getting lost, and ranging over the neighborhood, including the gas station, then fighting off a pack of werewolves and more or less by accident finding the airport and his gate. (I’m almost sure it was fictional. ALMOST.)

Or the time we’d both read a book on the fall of Troy and started talking to each other about it … at a very boring panel on… something. Over the head of the poor panelist stuck between us. (Well, you know the primary duty of a panelist is to be entertaining. We were failing before, but the people LOVED our discussion, and started shouting questions to us and– Eventually the other panelists gave up.)

Or the time he asked me, just before a panel started at World Fantasy, whether I colored my hair. For those not read in, yes I do. My hair has been white since the first pregnancy almost killed me. And it’s weird white. Colorless, like vinyls siding that’s been too long in the sun.

Anyway, at the time I was just turned forty, and there I am, at a panel, with the room filled with writers and editors (World Fantasy was then more of a convention for the pros) and David Drake shouts, “Sarah, do you color your hair?”

I had to turn it somehow. I mean, really. But he was perfectly innocent. It had just occurred to him to ask, so he asked. So I said “Dave, of course I do. I work with editors and publishers. I’ve been white haired for years.”

He immediately laughed and claimed the same cause for his salt-and-pepper hair.

I’m sure the memories, funny or sad or poignant will keep coming through the next few days. It’s hard to imagine that someone so alive, and who was such a part of my life is gone.

I’ll keep his family and closer friends in my thoughts. It must be that much more difficult for them.

Right now I remember him, after a World Fantasy banquet, showing me the paperback in his pocket — I think it was one of the World of Tiers — and telling me that he always kept it there, for when he could no longer endure the chitchat and the crowd.

I hope in that eternal convention bar where I’m convinced those of us who work between worlds end up (Too good for hell, and yet too ill for heaven) he’s found a nice corner table, from which he can quietly observe all our departed colleagues in their fun and their fights. And I hope he has a favorite paperback in his pocket. Just in case.

56 thoughts on “Farewell to A Friend”

  2. Writing a post about him (I never knew him personally) on Locals that will go up later today.

    There are some writers I call Great Teachers, because everything I read by them teaches me something about writing or storytelling. Poul Anderson was one. Drake was another. He was criminally underappreciated.

    Liked by 2 people

  3. David’s stories were good companions. Certain ones helped me through some particularly dark times. Getting to meet and chat with him at my first LibertyCon, was a dream come true. He was very gracious and polite to me when I was trying not to fangirl all over the place.

    His memory will be a blessing.

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  4. Right now I remember him, after a World Fantasy banquet, showing me the paperback in his pocket — I think it was one of the World of Tiers — and telling me that he always kept it there, for when he could no longer endure the chitchat and the crowd.

    Never met him, but that makes it clear we would’ve gotten along.

    …probably hiding in different corners, quietly reading completely different things.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Same.

        I resisted putting Nook and Kindle on my phone for years. Only had them on the computer so I could de-DRM, didn’t use it for reading. Instead had a Nook eReader, then moved to 8″ Samsung (not Nook version). When the latter (10 years old), and at the same time, my 8 year old computer started being flaky (*battery issues both) thought “this is dumb”. Always wanted a Windows tablet with detaching keyboard (not that I use it in tablet mode, ever). Cost to get the Microsoft Surface on sale price (**256 GB RAM drive, 16GB memory) was less than a laptop + Samsung 8″ replacements at their on sale prices. So now I use the laptop and the phone to read on. Apps aren’t the best for properly syncing what has been read. Worse if I’m reading using Calibre (Baen ebooks) VS generic epub Android ereader (one of these days will figure out how to add “my” epub books to the Windows and Android Nook App). But, having the apps on my phone means “hurry up and wait” has new meaning. When others are complaining about standing in lines, over the last 3 years, I have my book out (it only looks like I’m on the internet). One location where there was no cell coverage, or not internet, someone asked “how do you have coverage?” Me: “Don’t. Reading ebook.”

        ((*)) Could have gone after market, maybe. Just easier to wipe clean, and pass off to recycle.
        ((**)) External drives to store pictures, etc.

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        1. I resisted eReaders for quite awhile. My wife wanted to get me an eReader one year, and I settled on the Nook Simple Touch as it seemed the most versatile with the best screen quality. I still have it. But I typically use a Kindle Paperwhite that’s water resistant now. And I also use Calibre, because when they say “buy” the eBook I feel I should actually be able to own it, not lease it from them.

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          1. use Calibre, because when they say “buy” the eBook I feel I should actually be able to own it, not lease it from them.
            ………………………….

            Absolutely.

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  5. I was very sad to see the news when it appeared on my Facebook feed last night. And the mention of “cognitive decline” makes me shudder, because of how my mother went.

    I was in high school when I originally discovered him via a fix-up of his early Hammer’s Slammers stories. I read other books by him when I could find them in the library, or second-hand, and discovered his Republic of Cinnabar Navy books almost by accident.

    We met almost by accident during setup for ConGlomeration 2, back in 2002. He was the GoH, I was a vendor, and we both had places we needed to be, things we needed to do, so it was brief. I wish we could’ve had time to sit down and talk about writing.

    He will be missed.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. I am sorry for David Drakes loss. He’s gone beyond the Rim. There was one particularly bad time when I was on bedrest to stop from delivering too early, my brother mailed me … The Sea Hag and I was hooked. Sigh.

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  9. These losses always seem to cast that dark mist over us, even though we know that the deceased would not want it so; yet time and prayer seem the only avenues for us to press on and find some mild consolation in the memories of happier moments. My condolences to you and the family, and prayers for all. May he find rest and wholeness in his next chapter. God bless.

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  10. Hammer’s Slammer’s was one of the series that got me through the end of high school. That and Jerry Pournell and S. M. Sterling’s Sparta trilogy in the Falkenberg arc. I had fond dreams of showing up one day at school with a hover tank and flattening the place. David Drake is part of the reason I studied armor and armored tactics in college 1.0. I also came to appreciate the stories and characters themselves, and his skill at word craft.

    He’ll be missed. Raises a glass

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  11. I never knew him. Except, his words have kept me company many a night, and helped me realize that I was not alone. Others, too, had similar thoughts, similar visions. In many ways, he was a guide.

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  12. Please accept my condolences on your loss, Ms. Hoyt.

    Drake was in some ways a classical man. He knew Latin for crying out loud and had been to Vietnam and then was a lawyer for a small town who’d rather drive a bus.

    I enjoyed his Cinnabar series, and I enjoyed sampling some of his other work.

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  13. Never knew him except the words he wrote. Sorry for your and his families loss. The world has lost a wizard of story telling.

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  14. I came to read his work earlier this year (no idea how I missed out. Life, I guess). I’ve read the Hammer’s Slammers stories, now it’s time to find the others.

    Reba McEntire sang this song on a recent Grand Ole Opry show. She wrote it for her mother, but I can assure you it was mightily dusty across the airwaves.

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    1. If you liked “Hammer’s Slammers”…

      The Belisarius series, and The General series are highly recommended.

      (I too have many of the other books still on my wish list… Never managed to get to Northworld or Isles, for instance. Still missing the later Lt. Leary books.)

      Liked by 1 person

        1. The General series has been extended several times, the last (that I know about) being The Savior. 10 volumes if you bought the paperbacks. though I don’t know if The Reformer and The Tyrant were ever released in paperback.

          Sarah – loved this post. I imagine him wandering into Niven’s “For a Foggy Night”…

          Liked by 1 person

  15. I met him a few times at conventions, and that taught me a few things. (In a good way.) His wife is a lovely person at cons; so please pray for her and their family, because this is a hard thing.

    I am pretty sure he was pursued by the good Lord without actually realizing it, from things that came up in his travel stories that were pretty clearly mystical experiences, as described by someone not used to having anything like that.

    So I have hope that the good Lord just decided to come and pick him up, so He wouldn’t have to worry about the man’s sense of direction or totalling more computers on the way.

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  18. I feel like I’ve lost a favorite uncle. Absolutely gut punched this morning reading this.

    I started reading Hammer’s Slammer’s (Tanks, with Frick’n Laser beams, DUH) way way too young. Probably 1982-ish. roughly. Not the reading fare I should have had but, the cover didn’t stop mom/dad from getting that for me. Hell, I tried like mad as a kid to understand how to say Joachim’s Steuben’s damn NAME for so long. I was about 11-ish I’d guess. I’ve read almost everything else by him that I could find. From the superb “General” series with Stirling (Yes I know a lot was Stirling, not complaining). To the Belisarius series (Yes, Flint, same) to The Isles, From Lt. Leary Commanding, (so good). To all of the Slammer’s books over the years. Time to break out the Drake books again and get the audio books out for another go.

    God Speed, fair winds and a following sea to your soul Uncle David. Thank you for so many wonderful books and in some of them, role models to a young boy living way out in the sticks.

    When Jim Baen passed and Drake wrote his eulogy, I wonder who will write David’s?

    So sorry for your loss Sarah, condolences, and hugs from Alaska.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. You can add the Northworld trilogy, Starliner and a few others to that list. All good, as were the three in the (incomplete, now never to be completed, dammit) Time of Heros series. I’ll miss him.

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  19. I only got to meet him once, a book signing at a store I used to work at.

    I was actually working at another job by that time, but came in specifically to work this event. I also got some time to speak to him one on one in the break room before the event. Besides both being vets, we are also both alumni of the University of Iowa. He signed my book “to a former fellow Hawkeye”.

    I found him a little intimidating in that I had to work to keep up with him given his knowledge of so many things.

    I still remember reading Contact! in Analog magazine while Jr. High School. I kept an eye our for his stuff, but didn’t how much of it was being published in Galaxy (which the local library didn’t carry), so didn’t see his Slammers stories until a friend pointed me to the first anthology.

    After that he was “name on the book, buy the book” list.

    RIP Sir.

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  20. Thank you for sharing your memories, Sarah.

    I read Hammer’s Slammers in high school and it was a pivotal book in that 1) It dealt in a sort of realism I had not really experienced in Sci-fi or Fantasy to that date and 2) Like TXRed, it gave me a random abiding interest in armor that has not really disappeared in the 40 odd years since I read him.

    I still consider The Forlorn Hope one of the best sci-fiction military books I have read. It was only in thinking about the first notification of his death that I realized that unconsciously, I have tried to model my leadership style against one of the lead protagonists, Lieutenant Albrecht Waldstejn.

    Thanks, Mr. Drake. Fair winds and clear skies.

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  23. David Drake is probably going to wake up finding he’s driving a floating tank taking on an army of demons in some other universe. And having a blast doing it. Best wishes on his new adventures!

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  24. Those of us of a certain age had a few WWII vets as high school teachers, and then we went through the bell curve of those vets passing, now basically all gone. Then the Korean War vets, my dad’s age, passed. We had Vietnam vets as senior DIs and higher ranking officers, or later as bosses and “older” senior coworkers. And now, like David Drake, they are going too.

    Whenever we lose these folks we lose all the ungiven lessons and advice and untold stories they had to give. Sometimes, like David Drake, they managed to write some of that stuff down, and talk about things, and give some advice, so it’s not all lost beyond the veil. But it’s never all, and while we are all poorer now for their absence, we are so much richer for what they managed to give us.

    Rest in peace David Drake. Condolences to his family, and all who met him, and to all the rest who like me read his stories and appreciated his work.

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  25. David Drake was the sort of gentleman that this world is ever in want of. He had his darkness, as such men do, but chose not to spread it to others. His patience and dignity (and sense of humor, let’s not forget that) were a rare treat to a young writer with even less practical knowledge about things than the norm.

    May the example he set continue to inspire and teach those who come after.

    Liked by 1 person

  26. David Drake, in many ways, was one of the most important authors in forming how I write my stories.
    Never write down to your audience.
    Tell the story straight and true.
    The classic tales can inspire people if you’re willing to work for it.
    The world is often dark, but not always.
    And sometimes…just sometimes…people get exactly what they deserve.

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  28. I just posted this on the MHI Effbook page, I’ll throw it in here as well:
    When son was on his first deployment to Iraq, one of the occasions he was able to call when I asked if he needed anything, he said “Books. I need stuff to read, sci-fi, adventure, stuff like that.” So, to the used bookstore.

    One thing I included was the five books of ‘The General’ series by Drake and Stirling which I’d had a while, I did tell him I wanted those back(a couple of them were impossible to find anymore).

    One thing that made me send those was he’d sent me a picture of him in full battle rattle with a checked scarf like the 5th Descott picked up in the first book, and I’d sent the pic to Drake labeled ‘Sgt. X on detached duty from the 5th Descott’. Day later he replied “I love it!”
    When son sent the books back I contacted Drake again, told him about them, and asked if he’d be willing to sign them so I could give the set to him on on return, “Send them to me. I’ll get Steve to sign them, too.” He did, and the set was given to son when he got back.

    David was a good guy.

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  31. “When you find yourself in hell, keep marching until you come out the other side . . . .” I read his Redliners, and I’m pretty sure that was him coming out the other side. Talk about catharsis . . . . I just wish I could have met him this side.

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  32. I first ran into his stories in The Fleet anthologies back in middleschool. I remember how striking his stories were, and ended up finding and devouring his Slammers books, and then pretty much everything else of his I found.

    The world is a smaller place for his passing, but a greater place for his having been here at all.

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  33. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, continue the story.

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  34. Pingback: David Drake, RIP : The Other McCain

  35. Back in college (early 80’s) two of my apartment mates and I used to pass books around. Roommate John would read darn near anything (E.G. he had an extensive GOR collection :-) ) but had gotten Hammers Slammers from a friend. Later I ran into Northworld Trilogy (not my cup of tea particularly) and recently Lt Leary (How’d I miss this?). Thank you dear Hostess for the remembrance of an author (like most) that I only know through their writing.

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  36. I’m so sorry for the loss of a man who clearly meant so much to you and others. Thankful he lived. People like him leave a mark on individual lives and the culture.

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      1. Midwest panel chaos… I see nothing wrong with a panel veering off topic, or indeed with the audience becoming part of the panel, because I am Midwest.

        East and West convention panels are very different, or were. So yeah, I imagine that would freak some panelists out.

        Liked by 1 person

  40. Wish I could have known the guy.

    We’ll raise to thee the parting glass
    And drink a health, whate’er befall.
    As one we rise, and to thee call,
    “Godspeed and joy! So say we all!”

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