Thanks to everyone who wrote to inquire about Dad’s health. He is living with us now under Hospice Care. He had a heart attack that put him in the hospital and then had another one while in ICU. They didn’t think he would make it out of ICU but he went home for a few days until the meds he was on caused him to fall due to low blood pressure. I’m working nights and taking care of him until Kathy gets home. We are getting his house ready to sell and waiting to see how things go.

Stephen King will have two books out this year as well as the collected graphic novel of THE GUNSLINGER BORN. DUMA KEY will be out late in the year and features a new location to add to the horror map. BLAZE is a posthumous Richard Bachman novel that has already been released.

Kurt Vonnegut, the literary father of Billy Pilgrim, Eliot Rosewater and Kilgore Trout, has moved on to his reward. He was more prolific than some of his peers and less that others but he always maintained a presence and entertained with each of his titles. For those of you who have never read Vonnegut’s works, I recommend that you do so and do so very soon. It’s an experience that can’t be explained, but can only be understood after you have read him

Johnny Hart, creator of B.C. and The Wizard of Id comic strips, has had his pen go dry, so to speak. He is only one of several comic artists that have left an impression on me. Many of the others have passed earlier and their creations have been carried on by others, some have done well others haven’t managed to capture the spark that the creators have. It will be a matter of time before we know if B.C., Og, the ants, The King and The Wizard make the transition.

Barry