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An Embuggerance.

I'm gonna simply copy and paste everything from this announcement on Paul Kidby's website:
Folks,

I would have liked to keep this one quiet for a little while, but because of upcoming conventions and of course the need to keep my publishers informed, it seems to me unfair to withhold the news. I have been diagnosed with a very rare form of early onset Alzheimer's, which lay behind this year's phantom "stroke".

We are taking it fairly philosophically down here and possibly with a mild optimism. For now work is continuing on the completion of Nation and the basic notes are already being laid down for Unseen Academicals. All other things being equal, I expect to meet most current and, as far as possible, future commitments but will discuss things with the various organisers. Frankly, I would prefer it if people kept things cheerful, because I think there's time for at least a few more books yet :o)

Terry Pratchett

PS I would just like to draw attention to everyone reading the above that this should
be interpreted as 'I am not dead'. I will, of course, be dead at some future point, as will everybody else. For me, this maybe further off than you think - it's too soon to tell. I know it's a very human thing to say "Is there anything I can do", but in this case I would only entertain offers from very high-end experts in brain chemistry.
Mr. Pratchett has always made me laugh with his Discworld books, in particular his City Watch series, but getting Alzheimer's is no laughing matter, of course.

Like the man says, I shall try to feel cheerful, but it won't be easy with this knowledge. What a total bummer. It's awesome how he manages to keep his humour intact.
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Comments

  1. Kenny Mah13/12/07 12:39 pm

    Damnit. Poor Terry. :(

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nazri14/12/07 10:05 pm

    Oh my, oh my...

    He wrote a lovely sad news, though (i don't mean to be rude).

    I really-really love his works and hoping for more.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous16/12/07 9:20 pm

    That's what people don't understand, sadness is funny. Everyone in Discworld is kinda sad in one way or another, that's what makes it funny :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous17/12/07 3:51 pm

    Discworld! Ah, I could never get enough of the quirkiness of Terry Pratchett's world. Sad, humourous, dismal and very entertaining!

    That aside, you're doing anything this Wednesday, Ted? You wanna take your missus out for a free movie date? I've got free passes to the Atonement to give out. It's going to be at TGV Suria KLCC at 9.00pm.

    Pass the word around to your buds as well if they're interested in catching this screen adaptation of Ian McEwan's book, rather than reading the book itself! LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ted Mahsun18/12/07 9:08 pm

    Check your mail, Wanderer!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ted Mahsun18/12/07 9:10 pm

    Anon,

    Though I agree the "sad" characters in Discworld can be funny at times, I'm still loathe to laugh at someone with Alzheimer's.

    ReplyDelete

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