BattleTech - The Board Game of Armored Combat
BattleTech Game Systems => General BattleTech Discussion => Topic started by: Lysenko on 07 February 2012, 22:22:28
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I just wanted to pass along the news that Ardath Mayhar, author of The Sword and Dagger, died last Wednesday (1 FEB 2012). She was 81. Her biggest contribution to the fiction and universe was the concept of the "command circuit." She told me once that there had to be a way to send messages without dealing with Comstar. Thus, the Davion 'pony express in space' was created. :)
(http://ww3.hdnux.com/photos/04/53/62/1227918/3/628x471.jpg)
Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine :
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
In memoria æterna erit iustus,
ab auditione mala non timebit.
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also wrote a Fuzzy book
:-)
great author
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That she did. She also wrote westerns, frontier stories, and fanatsy!
She was always packing heat, too. The other pistol she usually had in her purse was a long-barreled .22 revolver. :)
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Sigh. You know this sort of thing will happen to all, the great and small, good and wicked, it just isn't pleasant when it happens. Ms Mayhar, I only know you by the one book you wrote for BattleTech, but it was a very enjoyable one. My thanks.
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That she did. She also wrote westerns, frontier stories, and fanatsy!
She was always packing heat, too. The other pistol she usually had in her purse was a long-barreled .22 revolver. :)
Looks like a Walther in that picture.
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I always wanted to get a copy of her novel "The Sword and Dagger" to read and have in my collection, but never found one for the right price. I did see a copy in a Battletech book collection on a popular bidding site and Had the winning bid till the last 20 seconds when someone snuck in on me and took it away. Every time I wander into one of those used book stores I always check for a copy.
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Hers was the first Battletech novel I ever read. That novel started me playing a game for the last 23 years. Thank you Ms Mayhar.
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Rest in peace, Mrs. Mayhar, pioneer to so many things that have brought fun and joy to those on these Btech Boards.
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Sadly I haven't read her novel yet. but no matter who it is that has passed away it is always sad. RIP young lady your legacy lives on in the books you have written and in your family.
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That is great pic to remember her by O0
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wonder if the novel will come out on e-book
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Thank you for the posting. She had a very engaging writing style that I still fondly remember. I will have to dig up my copy and reread it to honor her memory.
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Battlecorps had an interview with her at one point so I'll have to find that and reread it in honor of her as well.
Set Jump coordinates to the unknown, Jump. Goodbye ma'am.
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The one novel I don't own, maybe TPTB should get a limited run made up in her honor and put it out.
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Thoughts for her family and friends. And much appreciation for her role in setting up a rip-roaring universe we still love today.
W.
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A truly sad day...... She will be missed.
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I can't say I especially enjoyed The Sword and the Dagger, but her contribution to BattleTech can't be ignored. Every death is a tragedy, no matter who they are. RIP.
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I also only knew here for the one book.
I shall miss her and I hope she is smiling down on us now.
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I also knew her for only "that one BT book" - incidentially, the first BT book I ever read. Took me all of... 3 hours I think to read it back to back, and I was hooked and grabbed the next BT book (Thunder Rift) that day.
For all those who haven't read it, there's a detailed plot synopsis over at Sarna.net: The Sword and the Dagger (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/The_Sword_and_the_Dagger)
The article also covers her brief essay about "Writing BattleTech: The Sword and the Dagger". From what she said there, it seems the book was written under a special contract different from all other BT book authors and that contract is the reason why FASA (or FanPro, or now Topps/IMR/CGL) could never re-publish it in English.
Rest in Peace, Ardath Mayhar.
Edit: Lysenko, where did you get that picture from?
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The Sword and the Dagger was my favorite among the 6 BT novels that were translated in French, and that were the first BT fiction I ever read and hooked me to the BT Universe. My condolences to her family, and ùmy thanks for such great moments. May her rest in peace.
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I enjoyed The Sword and the Dagger.
Wish you the best wherever you are now, Ardath Mayhar.
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Man, I guess I should go find a copy of Sword and the Dagger to read. It's one of the many books I still haven't read. :(
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@Frabby: The pic came from an article last year on mysantonio.com about finding more shuttle debris at Lake Nacogdoches last year (Nacogdoches is near Chireno where she was from). She's just mentioned in the pic roll. that pic is exactly what she looked like when I first met in 1995 when I went into her bookstore "The View From Orbit."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Drought-uncoversfuel-tank-from-shuttle-1699327.php#photo-1227918 (http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Drought-uncoversfuel-tank-from-shuttle-1699327.php#photo-1227918)
I was looking for a copy of "The Sword and the Dagger" and didn't know I was asking the author if they had any BT novels! /that conversion began a friendship with a wonderful lady. I just taled to her about 2 weeks before she died, and while she was "feeling poorly," I was firmly convinced that she'd outlive me. She had grit. :)
Edit: oh, and the pic is #89 of 106 on the pic roll.
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I, too, get hooked into Battletech universe thanks to Ardath Mayhar and that marvelous novel that was Sword and Dagger....
RIP and many thanks for all :(
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Lysenko it must of been a thrill for you to meet her and get to know her. May she RIP.
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Toughts and prayers!
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I read The Sword and the Dagger for the first time five years ago. After almost 20 years since the Warrior trilogy introduced me to Battletech, it was as being face to face with a universe reborn. It was as intense as that first time.
Thank you, Mrs. Mayhar.
R.I.P.
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New Battletech state Blog about her passing,,,, :'(
Craig
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That is great pic to remember her by O0
Indeed it is and i'm sorry to hear the news.
I managed to find a copy of the book a few years ago, and while rough in places
i enjoyed it.
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That novel, along with the Grey Death books was my intro to Battletech fiction.
It's a sign about how long you've been around when the writers you loved reading pass away in their old age. First McCaffrey, now this.
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Wow, was reading it again when passed. I started reading the books again in chronological order.
How unfortunate..
Brainburn
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Well like I said I never read this book. And when I went looking for it, the price at certain sites has really pushed it up after her passing. I will have to wait but I will get this book and read it. But I will look for some of her other work too.
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Sword & Dagger is pretty close to the Holy Grail of BT books. I was fortunate enough to have a friend who had it lend it to me. Actually finding a copy is pretty darn lucky...
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I received copy of Ms. Mayhar's book last year and hadn't had the time to read it. It sad to hear her die....I'll try make time now to read it. I hope her journey elsewhere will be more rewarding.
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Interestingly enough, hers was the last dead tree BT book I bought (I own the whole collection now). Sorry to her of her passing.
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Thanks for the post. Hers was the first BT novel I read. Reread it again just last year. The Victor was my favorite mech for a long time because of her. Rest in peace.
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I can't say I enjoyed Sword and Dagger, but not because of the writing. It's a bit like Phantom Menace, lots of good pieces, which kinda fit together awkwardly. Still, some great images in the book, like the Davion-Liao Aerospace fight at the beginning, the command circuit, and the Davion training Gauntlets. Kinda wish she'd gotten a second crack at the series.
Thanks for the words, Ardath, we'll try to keep 'em alive for you.
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That is great pic to remember her by O0
Agreed!
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I think "Sword and Dagger" was the first BT book I read as well. Must have been a pretty good one to have generated such an interest in more. I see what you mean about the price. Ye Gods! Try an interlibrary loan to get one. Those are usually free.
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I am a long time dying,
but my heart, cross-hatched with scars,
has never flinched from blows.
-From "Requium for the Living" by Ardath Mayhar.
A fitting elegy for a self-proclaimed Mean Little Old Lady at Work.
I always enjoyed her poetry. Rest in peace, dear lady. You earned it.