ANDRE NORTON (1912-2005)

One of the most important influences in my life has passed away. Miss
Andre Norton had died.

Her Beastmaster books were the first books I ever read where the hero was
a Native American. Until then I honestly thought only whites could be
heroes in book. It was a revelation. I know this may seem like a trivial
matter in this day of diversity awareness, but in the late fifties heroes
in YA books were white, middle class and male. Miss Norton's Hosteen Storm
helped changed that in SF and Fantasy.

Dane Thorson of the Solar Queen was as real to me as my family. He was my
brother in many ways. I read those books over and over again to experience
a place where a frightened smart kid could find himself and be accepted
for who and what he was without having to be ashamed of what he was not.

And the WitchWorld trio showed me a place where intelligence and difference
worked to bring friends together. Problems had to solved, not run over by
force. I often daydreamed of my own WitchWorld adventures with my friends
Ann and John as boon companions on epic quests.

I find it hard to imagine a world where there will be no more Witch World,
Solar Queen or Beastmaster novels. Miss Norton's books literally saved my
life as a teenager. Growing up mixed race, non-athletic, and
hyperintelligent in a town that valued none of those things was very
difficult. But her misfit heroes and heroines showed me a world where the
intelligent prevailed, where brain often bested brawn, and where
difference did not equal dismissal.

I thank her with all my heart for that.

I will miss you, Alice Mary Norton.


The obituary in her hometown paper.

Obituary for Miss Andre Norton posted on the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America website

The New York Times: Andre Norton Dies at 93; a Master of Science Fiction