I was saddened to learn this weekend of the death of Jerry Wright, who was the founder and one of the editors of the long-running ezine Bewildering Stories.

Jerry was the second editor to ever publish a story of mine, SPPAM, in Dec. 2003 (Jayme Blaschke published the first two). SPPAM was a crucial story in my development as a fiction writer, because when Gardner Dozois at Asimov's rejected it, he sent me a hand-written note, saying "this is better than 99 of what is in the slush pile. So keep trying, because you have the ability to succeed."

I gave it to Jerry, who later (2006) included it in The First Bewildering Stories Anthology - which is where this art is from.

I later included it in "Texas & Other Planets".

I've had 16 stories published in Bewildering over the years; one - "I Got You" - was a honorable mention in the "Year's Best Science Fiction" in 2005.

I'm sorry that Jerry passed away, but there's a of of people who miss him, and that is a great legacy for any man.