Anne McCaffrey died at her home on Monday 21st November (November 2011)

Yesterday evening I simply couldn't get my courage up. My mind was in turmoil and I felt so sad... I am so, so, so glad that I decided to pay her visit on her 85th birthday, earlier this year! And she looked so much better, walked so much better than she had done before... Then came the bad news before she was to travel to Dragon*Con and I got a fright. But she pulled through yet again, as she had done several times before. This last time turned out to be too much even for our strong Annie to cope with.

A quiet funeral service will be held for her Saturday at Collier's Funeral Home in Dublin. And the family is planning a larger memorial will be held sometime next year for more family and friends. Anne's daughter Gigi confirmed to me it will possibly be streamed online.

Remember that lovely little white rose bush I gave Anne on her birthday as part of the set of gifts from us fans? It's in the picture in the post about her birthday below. Over the telephone her daughter Gigi said she planted it in her garden and that at first it didn't do well and wilted somewhat. Then, like our beloved author, it defied the odds and shot up and bloomed perfectly when it was time. That set me off crying again. Damn.

Anne has touched my life in so many ways I can't begin to describe them all. But apart from her great books and wonderful stories she "gave" me friends and I got acquainted with so many wonderful people of all ages, from all over the world, just through the shared love for an author. And I know, from personal experience, that she touched so many people that way that you would almost think that she was more than "just an author". She certainly was gifted, in many more ways than having an uncanny good way to tell a story and write it down.

Yesterday I twittered:
"Heaven better had dragons. Anne McCaffrey deserves one. Goodbye my friend."

To which Jody Lynne Nye reacted with:
"Well, would it be heaven without dragons?"

My favourite Pern poem suddenly gets another meaning...

Harper, tell me of the road
That leads beyond this Hold,
That wends its way beyond the hill...
Does it go further on until
It ends in sunset's gold?

Dear, dear, Annie,
Thank you for everything
Rest In Peace

Todd McCaffrey wrote on his facebook page:
At about 5 p.m. Monday November 21st, 2011, Anne McCaffrey passed away. Mum was getting ready to go back to the hospital because she was feeling "puny" and collapsed while she was moving into her wheelchair. Her daughter, Georgeanne Kennedy, and son-in-law, Geoffrey Kennedy were with her. She was in no pain and it was over in an instant. She first had a heart attack in late 2000 and a stroke in 2001, so we were well-prepared and knew that we were on "golden time" with Mum these past ten years and more. She leaves behind an incredible legacy of marvelous books and a huge legion of fans. She won practically every major award in available to authors of science fiction and fantasy, including both Hugo and Nebula Awards, the American Library Association's Margaret A. Edwards award for Lifetime Literary achievement in Young Adult fiction, was an inductee into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, and was a SFWA Nebula Grandmaster. She was also a great cook, magnificent mother, doting grandmother, ardent quilter, knitter, bridge player, horsewoman, fencer, actress, singer, and all-around nice person. We are blessed to have known her, just as we are blessed with the knowledge that she has touched so many lives and made such huge changes in them. Mum always said, "Don't just pay back a favor -- pass it on!" In light of that spirit, we ask that, instead of condolences or flowers, that commemorators make a donation to their favorite charity. We know that we haven't lost Mum -- that she has truly passed on her legacy of love and honor to all those who were touched by her -- and that we have only to open one of her books to find her again. Rest well, Mum, you've earned it!

Anne McCaffrey thanks all fans for birthday wishes! (April 2011)
Anne was delighted with the booklet with the collection of all birthday wishes made by fans online on the dedicated bulletin boards and with her other gifts, including a new birthday portrait in the 'Anne McCaffrey Birthday Series' by artist Linda Eicher and the poster, program and DVD of the UK premiere of the play 'Dragonsong' by Lutheatre (University of Leicester Student's Union) in December last year. Anne specifically asked me to thank all those who remembered her birthday. A short report of my visit and a couple of more photo's can be found at the Anne McCaffrey forum 'A Meeting of Minds'.

Dragon's Time available for pre-order (April 2011)
Dragon's Time, the new Pern novel by Anne and Todd McCaffrey (sequel to Dragongirl) is scheduled for publication in the United States on June 29, 2011. It is availabe for pre-order at Amazon for a very attractive price: go here to put your order in on amazon.com.
Originally we also had news, and even a pre-order link, for Dragon's Time's sequel here, but Todd McCaffrey informed us that Amazon was a bit forward of the actual news and happenings. Though vatious titles (like Dragon's School and Dragon's Night) have circulated, nothing has been settled upon yet. Since this news comes from the author himself I have, of course, immediately removed the news about the not (yet) existing titles and apologise for any inconvenience this caused.

Pern Museum to present birthday wishes to Anne on her 85th birthday (March 2011)
My wife and I will be traveling to Dragonhold-Underhil to not only deliver our own heartfelt birthday wishes on this special 85th birthday, we will deliver birthday wishes of dozens of fans who posted their own wishes online on the two main McCaffrey related bulletin boards: Anne McCaffrey Fans Forum and A Meeting of Minds Forum. We are very glad you reacted in such great numbers so we could cut and paste your wishes and collected them into a binder we will present personally to Anne on her 85th birthday on April 1, 2011.
We also realise we have been woefully negligent in posting news here and we will do our best to make 2011 a better year than 2010 was in that respect.

Happy Birthday Anne McCaffrey (April 2010)
On behalf of myself, The Pern Museum & Archives and the myriad of fans Anne still has all over the world I wish the Dragonlady a most wonderful 84th birthday. Let's hope for many more in as much health and happiness as is humanly possible. Anne, we hope you like the bouquet we had a florist send to you and wish you many happy returns and hope you have a fabulous day. Congratulations!

A Pern Museum world exclusive: cover art for Dragongirl! (Jan 2010)
We are proud to say it seems that it's becoming a tradition for the Perm Museum & Archives to get the permission of the reknowed British artist Les Edwards for the world premiere of new Pern cover art. This time we proudly present Les Edward's art for the cover of the new Pern book Dragongirl, by Todd McCaffrey (publication date rescheduled to July 27, 2010). Dragongirl is already available for pre-order on Amazon.com and you will support this website by doing so. Like the previous Pern novel the gorgeous artwork will grace both the US and UK covers of the book.If you want to see more artwork by Les Edwards we heartily recommend a visit to his website full of wonders. To admire the full work of art please click on the thumbnail or use this link.

Older news can be found in the News Archive

Sky Dragon's (by Anne & Todd) available for pre-order
Anne and Todd's latest collaboration Pern novel, Sky Dragons, is with the publisher. The publication date for the USA seems to be June 26, 2012. As often happens the UK has another planned publication date which is set earlier, on May 26, 2012. Click here to pre-order Sky Dragons on amazon.com.

NEW visit The Pern Museum & Archives Amazon Pern Bookstore! NEW

New Pern CD by Opland & Freeman!
Tania Opland and Mike Freeman, the musicians of the Masterharper of Pern CD and the Pern Songbook have finished theri new Pern CD titled Sunsets Gold. Personally I think its even better than the first Pern CD!

Click here to order your copy of this great new CD!

More Mac!

There's a section on this website that is dedicated to all the non-Pern books and stories by Anne McCaffrey.

Please check it out here.

Todd

On January 12, 2009: Todd did a signing at Mysterious Galaxy, San Diego, USA, for his then new book Dragon Harper. See pictures of that event here.

Rules for Pern and McCaffrey fandom
Together with the end of the forum and chatfacility on Anne's website (in January 2005) a substantial relaxation of the rules regarding McCaffrey fandom was announced. In the new setting, rules are virtually non-existent except for a few sensible ones regarding copyright and decent behaviour, to which no fan will be opposed. In the event that rights are sold for film, TV or other media, the rules may change again. Sites who have not done so are invited to register as official fansites to be listed in an online database.

read the rules >>

Other Fine Pern/Anne McCaffrey Resource Sites:

---

PERN CHAT

free hit counter
started October 25, 2004