daniel stern, rest in peace

on january 24th, daniel stern passed away. i missed this very sad event because i was in the middle of a very arduous airplane journey.

i recently opened up the latest issue of gulf coast literary magazine, and saw the journal dedicated to his memory.

that's very sad, indeed.

i took a short story workshop from daniel stern as a sophomore at the university of houston. i quote things he said in this workshop nearly every day.

"the most important thing about your character is the guy standing next to him." - d. stern

"get out of your character's heads!" - d. stern

among many, many others. the list of authors who learned from this distinguished master craftsman could extend for pages and pages. also, he left us many, many great things to read.

i only just found out this morning that he has, alas passed away. i was actually looking for him to send him a copy of my first novel. now, i can only hope he is looking down over my shoulder and whispering in my ear, among the hundreds of authors whose prose was shaped by his guidance.

he was a good man. he was a wonderful author. he was one of the best teachers of authors.

daniel stern, rest in peace.

obituary: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/26/books/26dstern.html?ex=1327467600&en=b8347f42f851eb86&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss