Popular science fiction author John Varley has died at 78. His family confirmed the passing of the writer.
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Varley passed away on December 10 at his home in Beaverton, Oregon. While an exact cause of death hasn’t been revealed, Varley struggled with both COPD and diabetes.
Born in Texas in 1947, Varley wrote his first novelette, “Picnic on Nearside,” in 1974. It was the first in his Eight Worlds universe. This would be the setting for many of his stories including The Opiuchi Hotline, Rolling Thunder, Wizard, Demon, and Dark Lightning.
Throughout his career, he received multiple award nominations including 15 Hugo Award nominations, nine Nebula Award nominations, and 40 Locus Award nominations. He was a multi-Hugo and Locus Award-winning novel as well.
John Varley Dies
In recent years, Varley had suffered health issues. In March 2021, he had emergency quadruple bypass surgery. The resulting surgery saved his life but left him in financial dire straits. The author turned to GoFundMe to help raise money during this time.
He later reflected on the surgery on his blog.
The author wrote, “The sawbones quickly determined that my heart was far too screwed up for a stent, so on the 22nd I went under the knife and they did four bypasses. I hadn’t even known there were four things to bypass!”
Varley also described the recovery process as well.
He wrote, “A word of thanks here for nurses, and for this nursing staff in particular. If you pray, you should always include them in your prayers. We don’t pray, but endeavor to always hold them in the highest esteem. I didn’t have a single grouchy old grump like you see in the movies. They were always there when I needed them, ready to do what needed to be done. This, during a time of plague when they were putting themselves in danger every day, and working much longer hours. All hail!”
Varley continued, “Then it was home, and coronary rehab classes, thrice weekly, where I spent half an hour on a machine that simulated rowing but didn’t get you anywhere, followed by another half hour of whatever torturous exercise they had devised for us that day. I had flashbacks to C.O. Wilson Junior High. That was the last time I did any exercise at all, when I was fourteen. The coaches despised us all except for the football players, but they hated me in particular because I was 6’6”, didn’t get the point of basketball, and couldn’t run, dribble, or shoot. A triple threat!”