Terry Pratchett Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s

Terry Pratchett author of the Discworld series has been diagnosed with a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer’s, but emphasizes that he is working on several projects currently and isn’t dead yet.

While writer’s can and do get sick like the rest of us, I suppose it is strangely jarring for fans who face the death not only of someone who produces creative work they enjoy but also the death of characters and worlds that have become like friends. Sure these fictions persist in works already created, or in some cases might continue to be written by someone else (whether this is good or bad is a matter for debate) professionally or in fanfiction, but for those of us who crave facts about our fictional worlds, that can never quite be the same.

Sigh.