Author Janet Kagan died 29 February 2008 of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) after a long illness. She was 63 years old, and is survived by her husband, Eric "Ric" Kagan, and myriad friends.
Kagan won the Hugo for Best Novelette in 1993 for "The Nutcracker Coup," and was the author of the classic Star Trek novel Uhura's Song, the novel Hellspark, and the fix-up novel Mirabile.
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Gardner Dozois, who bought many of her stories while editing Asimov's Science Fiction magazine, wrote: Her "Mama Jason" stories such as "The Loch Moose Monster" and "Return of the Kangaroo Rex" were some of the most popular stories ever published in Asimov's, and were eventually gathered in the collection Mirabile.
Another Asimov's story, "The Nutcracker Coup," won her a Hugo Award in 1993. She wrote one of the most popular Star Trek novels ever, and one of the best, Uhura's Song. Her single solo non-Star Trek novel, Hellspark, was also widely popular. In fact, readers who liked Janet's work really liked it; she had many devoted fans, and I'm sure that if she had been able to continue writing, she'd have added several more Hugos to her bag by now.
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Long-time friend Susan Casper wrote: One thing Janet was passionate about was the November Is National Writers month, and she would try to write something every November for NaNoWriMo. She was also passionate about encouraging new writers and giving her expertise to the writers online trying also to write for the month. She was an excellent teacher.
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Janet Kagan was one of the first authors I met when I started working at Asimov's, and instantly became a friend. I remember a science fiction gathering soon after we met, she and several other authors spent a few hours sitting with me, probing my knowledge of the field (and clucking their tongues over the classics I hadn't yet read). While reminiscing about the books, they gave me a reading list that I simply had to read if I was going to be a professional, and I set out to do just that.
I also remember several wonderful parties at Janet and Ricky's home. He is a wonderful cook, and would explain the intricacies of the dishes he prepared over the fire pit they'd built in their kitchen (all of them delicious). Afterwards, there was clean-up, and (since these were usually Christmas Eve tree-decorating parties) the decorating of the tree (along with lots of talking, laughing, and friendship). They would attract the most wonderful diversity of people.They were remarkably easy to be with, whether at their home, mine, or at conventions, and had an incredible range of interests and experiences.
I've missed seeing them over the past several years. Janet suffered greatly from Lyme disease, but always had a smile for me, and would ask about my family, as if it had only been days since we'd seen each other, rather than months. I'll miss her.
—Ian Randal Strock
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