I sent this once upon a time to the Jim Butcher mailing list, back when there was one, and it's all still true.

Roger Zelazny was one of the greats. I had the privilege of meeting him on a number of occasions, and on each one he was nothing short of a stellar gentleman and keen company to someone who really didn't deserve it at all (particularly as I was still in my undergrad days and hadn't a clue what I was talking about in pretty much any regard). On the last occasion, he was totally ignored by a convention gone comic-happy and my wife and I spent probably a half hour with him keeping him company at a signing. We won. The comic fans lost. That's all I can say about that.

His readings of his work were always dry, self-effacing, and good enough to make me want to shake him and beg for more. While other authors I could gossip about drank and were pointless twerps, the Z sipped his Diet Coke and displayed gentle genius, soft-spoken and sharp-witted. I have never met a writer I respect more, nor can I think of one passed on that I could more sorely miss.

If I ever write anything of merit, there are three people I owe it to, and I am not embarrassed to name them. Jim Butcher, for showing me it can be done, and you don't have to be in a cheap flat in New York to do it. Lou Fisher, for teaching me the technical craft and encouraging me all the way. But before either, Roger Zelazny, for making it clear that it could be a great and powerful calling, worthy of a good person, and able to affect people deeply. Some of you know me and are aware that I am not given to great outward emotion, but I am worked up just typing these paragraphs. He is that important to me.

And that is what I have to say about Roger Zelazny.