Farewell!

I found out today that Mark Haas has died.

I never got to meet him in person, sadly, but he and I did e-mail each other a few times. He even read an Oz short story of mine once. I also got the pleasure to read his book The Medicine Man of Oz, featuring Dr. Herby. (This book was pulled from publication because the main character was still copyrighted. Very sad, as I think he improved the character.)

In addition, he wrote some Oz books himself, including Leprechauns in Oz and the forthcoming The Emerald Mountain of Oz.

He was also an active poster at the International Wizard of Oz Club Message Board. Although he and I often had conflicting viewpoints, his posts helped provoke thought among Oz fans. He could disagree, but not be completely against who he was disagreeing with. He was the first one to sign my petition for a new Oz movie.

I will miss him very much. Mark has follwed some of the great Royal Historians over the Shifting Sands.