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03/28/2005: "Another Voice in the Literary Chorus is Gone"

Close the Book on Andre Norton...

Her death was announced by her friend, Jean Rabe, who said Norton died Thursday of congestive heart failure at her home in Murfreesboro, a Nashville suburb, on March 18, 2005. She was 93.

Norton requested before her death that she not have a funeral service, but instead asked to be cremated along with a copy of her first and last novels.

Born Alice Mary Norton on February 17, 1912, in Cleveland, she wrote more than 130 books in many genres during her career of nearly 70 years. Amongst her works were the Witch World books, which eventually numbered 30 in the series. She used a pen name -- which she made her legal name in 1934 -- because she expected to be writing mostly for young boys and thought a male name would help sales. In this she joined the ranks of other female novelists, such as James Tiptree and George Eliot.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America recently created the Andre Norton Award for young adult novels, and the first award will be presented in 2006.

My first exposure to Andre Norton came in 1977, via a Scholastic Order of her book "Daybreak: 2250 A.D. (originally published as Starman's Son)". The story is about a mutant young man who sets out across a nuclear war-wasted America in search of a lost city. Filled with danger, the book enchanted me, and I went on to read many other of Norton's books. In later years, I knew her books could be relied upon when the reading shelf got thin. I will miss her.