Charles Brown, co-founder and editor of Locus, died on July 12, 2009, peacefully and in his sleep.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Brown personally, though I was in his presence at least once per year, at one convention or another. I did ask him a question at the World Fantasy Convention in 1998, I remember: he had sounded like he was complaining about how many SF/F/H books were published each year, which seemed to me like complaining about riches. He explained that there used to be a time when you could really have hold of the entire field, and have real conversations with others about everything that was important; the loss of that sense of community was what he mourned. Despite that, though, it always seemed like he had read everything worth reading in the field. His recommendations always led me to good stuff, and his editorials in Locus were always great fun to read.

Locus's own obituary is here. The great website Bibliophile Stalker has a compilation of tributes here.

This was terrible news to come home to. I'd always looked forward to someday sharing a meal with Brown. I even contemplated seeking work as an intern with Locus when I was considering abandoning the practice of law altogether a few years ago. Now I'll never have the chance to even have a good conversation with him. This makes me very sad.