I was very saddened to hear about George Alec Effinger's death. While I hadn't been in touch in a while, we'd hung out some at conventions over the years. George had a hard life, was often ill, and I wasn't all that shocked to hear he'd died relatively young (at 55). Still...you couldn't help but hope it was just one of those bizarre net-rumors, like the people who post, almost daily, that Reagan or Hope had died.
We also had very strange weather. It was sunny, humid and in the '70s in the morning and early afternoon. It turned very windy and we spent the afternoon having tornado watches. Despite that, in our part of Pittsburgh, there was little lightning or rain, and the wind probably only gusted to about 50 mph.
