Miracle Worker author passes

Before writing it, when I was pitching my current novel Wake to publishers, I said it was "William Gibson meets William Gibson."

Back then, you see, there were two William Gibsons, and the one who'd been read the most probably isn't the one you're thinking of. Yes, indeed, there's Bill Gibson of Vancouver, British Columbia, author of the seminal cyberpunk novel Neuromancer.

But even more people, I suspect, have read (and certainly more people have seen the movie versions of) works by the other William Gibson: the man who wrote The Miracle Worker, the story of deafblind Helen Keller's relationship with her teacher, Annie Sullivan. That William Gibson died this past Tuesday, at the age of 94.

My novel Wake and my character of Caitlin Decter would not have existed without William Gibson's marvelous play (and screenplay), because that's where I first learned the story of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan, a story that continues to captivate me. I'm sorry to see him go.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site