RIP Barrington J. Bayley (1937-2008)

I heard the sad news from a UK friend this morning:

Barry died at 9pm yesterday.   He had recently undergone surgery for bowel cancer.   The cause of death has not yet been determined:  a post-mortem will be performed soon.

Many of us knew that Barry's health had been poor in recent years, so in a sense this wasn't too unexpected, but at the same time it comes as a shock. I knew him only slightly (we met just a couple of times, e-mailed occasionally), but liked what I knew. He was one of those authors who, alas, fail to receive the popular attention they so much deserve; his work was far, far better than the people who thought themselves chic to ignore it.