RIP Leo Dillon

Quite a few World Fantasy Cons ago, after the banquet had been and gone, Pam and I were sitting in the otherwise almost deserted hotel bar summoning up the strength to go pack our stuff for the drive home when we were joined by another couple who were in roughly the same state: Leo and Diane Dillon. We chatted, joked, laughed and all the usual stuff, and now I honestly can't recall what we talked about.

What I do remember, though, is how much we liked the pair of them. I assumed that, somewhere down the line, we'd hook up again because of my Paper Tiger job. Hey, wouldn't it be ace if I could publish a Dillon book? Yes, it'd be a great book; more important, me being entirely selfish, I could have all the fun of working with these extraordinary, wonderful people.

That never happened, because the folk at Paper Tiger Head Office had never heard of Leo and Diane and thought I was arguing just another special case. The fact that it didn't is something I'm going to regret 'til the end of my life.

Farewell, Leo: it's going to be tough for the rest of us doing without you.