The science fiction world is grieving today with the passing of Jay Lake. I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing him, and I hadn’t yet gotten around to reading the works of his that are on my ever-mighty, ever-growing To Read list.

But I do know people who did know him. And I read people on the Internet who knew him. And I’m part of a fandom community that was definitely impacted by him, and who is now diminished by his passing.

I’ve posted before about not only my own low-grade fight with cancer, but also by the recent passing of my young cousin Phillip. When Phillip went into hospice care, that was the signal to me that his end was coming. And while I didn’t follow Mr. Lake’s posts regularly, I have seen several of them–and I’d seen the similar announcement on his site. I’ve lost two family members to cancer, and have had to fight it off myself. It’s a familiar enemy. So while I don’t have direct experience with the level of the battle that Jay had to fight, I have a pretty damned good idea. And I definitely know what it’s like to be in a family who loses a loved one to that kind of battle.

So yeah. Many, many condolences to all in the greater SF/F community who knew and loved this man, and to his friends and family.

Link roundup–because yes, big impact on the SF/F community:

• Announcement on Jay Lake’s site
• Jay Lake: In Memoriam on tor.com
• Jay Lake, Remembered by John Scalzi
• Required writing by Chaz Brenchley
• The Birds of Leaving Call to Us, by Cherie Priest
• R.I.P. Jay Lake, Irreplaceable Science Fiction And Fantasy Author on io9.com