It is with deep sadness we announce the passing of Dave Duncan, a founding and honorary lifetime member of SF Canada, an inductee of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and one of Canada’s legendary speculative fiction writers. He was the author of sixty-five books, including several fantasy series (among them The Seventh Sword, A Man of His Word, and A Handful of Men) as well as seven books about The King’s Blades. He twice won an Aurora Award for best novel.
Born in Newport-on-Tay, Scotland on June 30, 1933, Dave left the old country in 1957, after graduating from the University of St. Andrews. He settled in Calgary, Alberta where he worked as a petroleum geologist for 30 years. He was innovative in his approach to the oil business and, in addition to being a working geologist, founded a data company specializing in timely retrieval and dissemination of well information.
Dave was a master storyteller who sometimes liked to say that when he didn’t like the real world he could invent his own. And what brilliant, intricate worlds he created.
When the oil patch took a downturn in the eighties, Dave submitted a manuscript to Del Rey in New York. To his delight, it was accepted and the confidence he gained from that allowed him, at age 53, to switch careers completely and turn to writing full time. That novel, “A Rose Red City”, was the first of over sixty books. He ranged across genres, writing mostly fantasy but also science fiction, young adult and historical, making him one of the country’s most prolific and much-loved authors.
He wife of fifty-nine years, Janet, was his biggest supporter, a respected influence, and his in-house editor.
As well as writing, he successfully explored painting, photography, computer programming, genealogy and many other passions that came and went. But writing was the passion that stayed and was his true calling.
Never one to leave loose ends, fans will be pleased to know Dave Duncan finished his last book days before his death.
We’ll miss you, Dave.