Saturday, December 30, 2017

The Alphabet Now Ends with Y

Mayor Greg Fischer ✔@louisvillemayor
The world has lost a great talent and prolific author in Sue Grafton — and in Louisville we have lost a citizen, friend, neighbor, a master gardener and hometown hero. Her legacy will live on through her words, which will entertain and thrill readers for generations to come.
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29 comments:

  1. Joan EmersonDecember 30, 2017 at 1:07 AM

    Such an amazing writer, so many books for us to treasure.
    This is such a huge loss; thoughts and prayers for her family.

    There simply are no words . . . .

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  2. Gigi NorwoodDecember 30, 2017 at 1:45 AM

    While I was not a devoted fan, I did get through a good part of her alphabet. She was a groundbreaking writer in many ways, and her loss is bound to be deeply felt throughout the mystery writing community.

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  3. Grace KoshidaDecember 30, 2017 at 4:53 AM

    Sue Grafton was one of the first mystery authors I read (along with Marcia Muller) in the 1980s that featured a female PI. I read up to "X" and have her last book (Y is for Yesterday) on hold at the library.

    I saw Sue Grafton at several mystery conventions...the surprise for me was that she was always so funny and she obviously loved what she did.

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  4. AnnDecember 30, 2017 at 5:57 AM

    Perhaps Z is for Zenith? I think the joy she took at the near miraculous finding oh the old family truck just a couple of weeks ago gave her almost as much pleasure as finishing the alphabet. Do read about on her Facebook page for December 17.

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  5. Edith MaxwellDecember 30, 2017 at 6:56 AM

    I could barely comprehend this news yesterday. I wish this goddess of crime fiction a well-deserved rest, wherever her soul lands, and send her my thanks for so many years of reading entertainment and for being a role model to me and hundreds of other mystery authors. Ending on Y is a good place, Sue.

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  6. Amanda Le RougetelDecember 30, 2017 at 7:24 AM

    Like Grace, Sue Grafton was one of the first mystery authors whose work I read. In 1986, I had moved from the Alberta prairie to the Maritimes (Halifax) and was exploring the book shops in my new town. A is for Alibi was on the shelf and I quickly made my way through the early letters of the alphabet. I liked Kinsey from the start - her quirks, her commitment to justice, her little black dress, her eating habits (peanut butter and pickle on a napkin, eaten over the sink - so efficient at clean-up time) and that crazy wonderful studio apartment, owned by Henry the retired baker.

    Reading Kinsey then led me to finding VI Washawaksi by Sara Paretsky and, eventually, over the years many other mystery authors whose characters now inhabit my fiction world.

    Thank you to Sue Grafton for her character and her craft. May she rest in peace.

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  7. Liz MillironDecember 30, 2017 at 8:20 AM

    I saw the news this morning. What a shock and loss.

    Mary/Liz

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  8. Jenn McKinlayDecember 30, 2017 at 8:35 AM

    I was lucky enough to meet her at Bouchercon in Long Beach - she was funny, friendly, encouraging - basically, everything you’d expect of the talented writer who gave us Kinsey Millhone. It is a sad day in mystery land. RIP.

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  9. Karen in OhioDecember 30, 2017 at 8:45 AM

    Of all the mystery authors I've admired, Sue Grafton is one I never had the chance to either meet or hear speak. Her sister Ann was a head librarian at my own community library, and Sue was a frequent guest over the years. I either learned about her appearances too late, or was unavailable to attend, sadly.

    Such a loss to the reading and writing community.

    Her enormous task--writing 26 books in a series--always made me anxious. Every time I read one I wondered how she would pull off writing the entire alphabet. In a way, it's fitting that she left it with one more to go.

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  10. JudiDecember 30, 2017 at 9:11 AM

    Still finding it so hard to believe - and accept. The world's loss.

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  11. Deb RomanoDecember 30, 2017 at 9:27 AM

    I can't believe that Sue-and Kinsey-are gone. I fully expected her to find a way to write about Kinsey after Z. Like Grace, I haven't been able to get Y is for Yesterday from the library yet.

    Thank you, Sue, for so many years of reading pleasure!

    DebRo

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  12. Denise AnnDecember 30, 2017 at 11:01 AM

    The closest I ever got to meeting Sue Grafton was when I had a volunteer job with The Diane Rehm Show (WAMU). We volunteers would read the book, do other research, and create a script -- with questions and probable answers! I did one for Sue Grafton, and got to listen on the radio as my script came to life.

    Sue Grafton brought me as a reader so much joy. Loved Kinsey from A is for Alibi -- and I am sad about Z but more sad for her close family and friends who have lost a treasure.

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  13. Pat DDecember 30, 2017 at 11:02 AM

    My sister (deceased now) and I used to guess at what each book title would be. I am so sorry to say goodbye to her.

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  14. Kathy ReelDecember 30, 2017 at 11:03 AM

    Before I had the beautiful, wonderful connection to the mystery/crime community that I now have, there was Sue Grafton and her alphabet series. That Sue was a Kentucky girl like me was one of the reasons I first picked up her books. And, oh the hours of reading enjoyment I have had with Kinsey Millhone. I got to meet Sue here in my town of Owensboro, KY and chat a few minutes with her. She was gracious and smart and a master storyteller. Not finishing with Z seems somehow right to me, that there is a story still waiting to be told and awaiting us in the great beyond.

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  15. Ingrid ThoftDecember 30, 2017 at 11:12 AM

    I first met Sue as a fan when I was in college, more than twenty years ago. She was gracious and charming, and I'll never forget that she signed "H is for Homicide" with the inscription, "Drive with Care." I met her again at the Shamus Awards ceremony in Long Beach, and she was lovely. I told her there would be no Fina without Kinsey; I'm so glad I had the chance to tell her that.

    During that same conference, I was on a panel that Hank moderated, and I looked out at the audience, and there Sue was! That wasn't intimidating at all! As readers and writers, we were so lucky to have her.

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  16. Hallie EphronDecember 30, 2017 at 11:47 AM

    I can't remember the first Kinsey MIlhone mystery I read, seems like she was just always there. A lodestar for the rest of us.

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  17. Deborah CrombieDecember 30, 2017 at 12:32 PM

    Right, Hallie, but Sue was particularly a beacon for women who started writing crime fiction in the eighties and the nineties. If she could do it, maybe we could, too! And she was a role model; kind, funny, always gracious, and grounded in her own life. I cannot imagine how much she'll be missed by her family and friends.

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  18. SheilaDecember 30, 2017 at 12:40 PM

    I met Sue Grafton years ago at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. I was there for a conference and she was speaking and promoting R is for Ricochet. Some of my friends and I went to hear her speak and got many signed copies of her book. Afterward, we went to the bar and were sitting there with our pile of books when she walked in and saw us. She came over and asked if she could join us for a drink. She had a couple of drinks with us over the course of about 1 1/2 hours. She was funny and gracious. Especially when I suggested the next book should be S is for Sheila (I did mention the alcohol, right?)I was planning to give my mother one of the signed books for Christmas but couldn't wait that long. I called her than night and asked the impossible to answer question "guess who I met today?" Mom's guess - Robert Redford. When I told her it was Sue Grafton she got so excited and said that was better than meeting Robert Redford. I think I have to agree.

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  19. Rick RobinsonDecember 30, 2017 at 12:56 PM

    I met and talked with her at several book signings in southern California, and she always had time to answer questions and just chat. So gracious. I admit I bogged down on the series about "J", but have the next several on a shelf, so I'll read another soon. Her passing is a tremendous loss for the mystery-writing community, for fans and for mystery readers in general. She will be very missed.

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  20. Julia Spencer-FlemingDecember 30, 2017 at 1:18 PM

    She was, along with her many shining personal qualities, one of the trailblazers for women writing crime fiction today. She showed women could right tough and hard, and Kinsey showed that readers would flock to a book with a strong woman at the center.

    She sent me an email once, telling me she enjoyed my books. I felt like I had been knighted my the Queen.

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  21. WENDYDecember 30, 2017 at 1:41 PM

    Such a sad loss. I began reading Sue Grafton when there were just three books in the series and was always eager for, the next. She wrote about Santa Barbara (renamed Santa Teresa) which is close to my home in Ojai, so it was always fun to decipher her renamed streets and locales. I always felt there was a great deal of Sue Grafton in Kinsey and just knew I would like her.
    Zzzz is for Rest In Peace, Sue Grafton.

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  22. Hank Phillippi RyanDecember 30, 2017 at 2:05 PM

    Everyone has a Sue story, and that is part of the wonder. A very difficult day.

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  23. Hank Phillippi RyanDecember 30, 2017 at 2:07 PM

    Someone said to me: Sue allowed us to decide on our own what happens to Kinsey .Which is making me cry.

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  24. Mark BakerDecember 30, 2017 at 2:27 PM

    I just started "reading" (listening to the audios) of this series a few years back, so I've only made it to "I." I'm so sorry to hear this news. I never really had to a chance to meet Sue (one brief time at the LA Times Festival of Books at least a decade ago), but all these warm memories of her are making me smile. She sounds like a wonderful woman as well as a wonderful writer.

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  25. Jay RobertsDecember 30, 2017 at 4:57 PM

    This is what I posted on my Facebook page when I heard the news yesterday:

    "I have always read mysteries. From Encyclopedia Brown to Sherlock Holmes, I've read a lot. But one of the first authors I read as an "adult" reader who is slightly obsessed with mysteries and thrillers was Sue Grafton's alphabet series starring PI Kinsey Millhone.

    Her latest novel in the series is called "Y Is For Yesterday". It was published in August and will now sadly be the final installment. There will be no "Z".

    Sue Grafton passed away today at the age of 77 following a two year fight with cancer...the one killer that never seems to be caught and brought to justice."

    On Twitter, part of what I wrote said: "Her passing today fills me with sadness and memories of joyous reading."


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  26. BibliophileDecember 30, 2017 at 5:29 PM

    Still in shock that she died. I remember reading Sue Grafton after I started reading mysteries in the 6th grade. Agatha Christie was the first then I started reading Nancy Drew and Sue Grafton, among other women mystery authors. Although I had not met her, I remember Sue Grafton's comments on different social media and how she encouraged other aspiring authors in the Guppies. I was thinking of signing up for the Guppies. Sue Grafton will be missed. She left an amazing legacy with her Kinsey Millhouse books.

    Diana

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  27. sbpDecember 31, 2017 at 9:19 AM

    Have looked forward to her new book for years, she was one of my favorites. Such sad news...

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