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When one looks in the box, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the cat.

Reactor

Brian M. Thomsen, author, Tor consulting editor, and all-around good guy, passed away in his Brooklyn home yesterday from an apparent and sudden heart attack. He was in his late forties or early fifties. Brian is survived by his wife Donna.

Brian had more publishing knowledge in his pinkie than most of us could acquire in a life time. He dropped out of pursuing a PhD program in English in favor of his beloved career and was one of the founding editors of Warner/Popular Library’s Questar Science Fiction & Fantasy line and also later ran the fantasy line at TSR. He was also the editor of C.J.Cherryh’s Hugo Award winning novel Cyteen. He has been a Hugo nominee, and has served as a World Fantasy Award judge.

Brian was the author of more than sixty short stories and articles. He also wrote two fantasy novels, as well as such nonfiction works as Ireland’s Most Wanted, The Awful Truths, and Man of Two Worlds. Brian’s latest work included Oval Office Occult: A Book of White House Weirdness, a collection of true stories about U.S. presidents and their encounters with occult phenomena, as well as Pasta Fazool for the Wiseguy’s Soul, a hilarious homage to both the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and every wiseguy film to ever grace the screen (both published by Andrews & McMeel).

Brian was incredibly intelligent, good-humored, and passionate about his craft. You could not have asked for a sweeter, more generous, or more thoughtful person to work with. He was much more than just a co-worker—for many of us, he was a dear friend. I apologize for the brevity of this post, we’re all in quite a bit of shock right now. We’ll add more details as we receive them.

EDIT 2:31PM EDT:

Brian’s wake will be held at:

Ralph Aievoli Funeral Home

718-331-2100
1275 65th St,
Brooklyn, NY 11219

(corner of 13th and 65th)

Wed, 24 Sep,  2:00-4:30PM;  7:00-9:30PM

Thurs, 25 Sep,  2:00-4:30PM;  7:00-9:30PM

EDIT 5:02PM EDT:

The funeral will be held on Friday tentatively scheduled at 10:15AM at:

Our Lady of Angels Church
7320 4th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11209

(718) 836-7200

For direction: http://www.ourladyofangelsparish.org/directions.htm

EDIT 09.26.08 10:44AM EDT:

The family has asked that donations in Brian’s name be made to Regis High School in Manhattan. Brian was a graduate, and his extensive library will be donated there.

Regis High School
55 East 84th Street
New York, NY 10028

212-288-1100

The actual page for donations is here.

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