Two passings

I was saddened by two recent deaths, one of some I admired from afar and the other much closer to home. I know I'm not alone in mourning the passing of Ursula K. LeGuin, whose science fiction and fantasy novels meant a lot to me.

Her books made a big impression, although I lost track of her more recent work. I loved the gentle Taoism of the Earthsea Trilogy as well as works like The Dispossessed and The Word for World is Forest. One that's been on my mind a lot lately is The Left Hand of Darkness, which really shakes up the notion of gender among other things. She was a brilliant thinker and writer of fiction and nonfiction and even once translated the Tao Te Ching.

This week also saw the passing of the Rev. Dennis Sparks, who for several years was executive director of the WV Council of Churches, which was a very influential position. Dennis used his position to fight for social justice not only by advocating for the disadvantaged but by providing an opportunity and platform for people to speak for themselves. The good guys won some on his watch.

Dennis and I always teased each other about religion. I hope he goes to wherever good if slightly heretical Campbellites go. I don't think Ursula expected to go anywhere, which I'm sure was fine with her.