Don Sakers (June 16, 1958 – May 17, 2021) was an American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

writer and fan who lived in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, and wrote several novels and edited a short story collection. In 2009 he succeeded

Thomas Easton Thomas A. Easton (born 17 July 1944) is a teacher and well-known science fiction critic and author. He retired as a professor from Thomas College of Maine in 2014 and now teaches part-time at Mount Ida College in Newton, MA. Easton holds a Bachel ...

as book reviewer for Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine. Sakers is probably best known in the

community as a frequent guest speaker at

science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expre ...

s. When asked about the reaction to the diversity elements in his SF, Sakers said:

Writing career and SF fandom

Sakers was the author of SF novels ''Dance for the Ivory Madonna'' (2002) and companion titles ''The Leaves of October'' (1988), ''A Voice in Every Wind'' (2003), ''Weaving the Web of Days'' (2004), and ''A Rose From Old Terra'' (2007); and dark fantasy novel ''Curse of the Zwilling'' (2003). He was also author of the short story "The Cold Solution" ( ''Analog'', 1991) and other short fiction. Sakers was editor of ''Carmen Miranda's Ghost Is Haunting Space Station Three'' (1990), an anthology of stories based on

Leslie Fish Leslie Fish is a folk musician, author, and anarchist political activist. Music Along with The DeHorn Crew, in 1976 she created the first commercial filk recording, ''Folk Songs for Folk Who Ain't Even Been Yet''. Her second recording, ''Solar S ...

's song of the same name; the ''SF Book of Days'' (2004); and the ''Gaylaxicon 2006 Sampler''. Sakers was also the author of two gay young adult novels: ''Act Well Your Part'' (1986) and ''Lucky in Love'' (1988).

Melissa Scott Melissa Scott (born 1960, in Little Rock, Arkansas) is an American science fiction and fantasy author noted for her science fiction novels featuring LGBT characters and elaborate settings. Biography Scott studied history at Harvard College and B ...

called him "a left wing

Heinlein Heinlein or Henlein is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Karl Heinlein (1892–1960), Austrian former footballer * Klaus Heinlein (born 1953), German former footballer * Konrad Henlein (1898–1945), Nazi German politici ...

." A member of the

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. Whil ...

, he wrote numerous obituaries for their web site, including that of Lisa A. Barnett.

''Dance for the Ivory Madonna''

According to a ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' review, ''Dance for the Ivory Madonna'' is about when; Sakers described the book as being about "a lot of things: friendship, toleration, a celebration of the creative spirit, a paean to unconventionality. It's about what's wrong with today's world, what's right with today's world, and what hope there is for the future. It's about how our technology affects us, and about the decisions we can make regarding those effects." ''Dance for the Ivory Madonna'' was a

Spectrum Award The Spectrum Awards were established in 1994 by Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner to recognize the best in fantasy, science fiction, and horror artwork created each year. Spectrum Award categories * Grand Master * Advertising * Book * Comics * Concept ...

finalist.

Science fiction conventions

Sakers was guest of honor at the 1995 Gaylaxicon, and was a frequent guest speaker at other Gaylaxicons, Albacon,

Arisia Arisia is a Boston-area, volunteer-run science fiction convention, named for a planet in the Lensman novels by E. E. "Doc" Smith. The name was chosen in response to an older Boston-area con, Boskone, which took the typical ending for a conve ...

, and

Boskone Boskone is an annual science fiction convention ("con") run by the New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA) in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. In the words of the convention organizers, "Boskone is a regional Science Fiction ...

Personal life

Sakers was born in

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city ...

, Japan, but grew up in the United States. He was openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

and had

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

and autism. He shared a home in

Anne Arundel County, Maryland Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, wh ...

with his spouse, costumer Thomas Atkinson. Their house, known as Meerkat Meade, was featured in ''Weird Maryland''. His self-described "

day job Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any oth ...

" was with the

Anne Arundel County Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, whi ...

public library, where he worked for 42 years. Sakers was an active blogger.Profile at Blogger.com
Accessed January 23, 2008. Sakers died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

on May 17, 2021, aged 62.

Bibliography

Novels

;Scattered Worlds Mosaic # # # # # # A collection of two short stories. # # ''The Leaves of October'' (started as a short story in August 1983's ''

Analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

'', and was expanded as a novel in 1988)

Short fiction

;Collections * Includes some non-fiction pieces. ;StoriesShort stories unless otherwise noted.

Review columns

——————— ;Notes

References

External links

Official web site

Scattered Worlds web site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sakers, Don 1958 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers American librarians American male novelists American male short story writers American science fiction writers Analog Science Fiction and Fact people American gay writers American LGBT novelists People from Anne Arundel County, Maryland Science fiction fans 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers People on the autism spectrum 21st-century LGBT people