…#GNUTerryPratchett

I only met Terry Pratchett once in person. But I met him thousands of times in my mind whilst reading his books. And my life was imminently enriched because of his words and his presence.

And who is Terry Pratchett? you might ask, if you’ve never heard of him. And what the heck is #GNU?

The first answer is easy (and not) – Terry Pratchett (aka PTerry, Sir Terry {he really is a “Sir”}, STP, The Great Man, etc.) is one of my Very Favorite Authors. So much so, that I’ve been a subscriber of the zines Discworld Monthly and Wossname for years and years, which I cannot say for any other of my fandoms.

Sadly, Sir Terry passed away last month, leaving me and his family, friends, and many fans bereft. (Aside: I had no idea it would be so difficult to write this post. I’ve been thinking about the writing of this since he passed, but the Grief does not so easily go away, and the Grief is making the tears spring and the words jumble in my head and the screen rather difficult to see…)

So, wiping the tears and trying again:

I first encountered Sir Terry when I was in high school, and a frequent visitor at the library. I have no recollection of which of his books I first read, but I can tell you that Mort was – and remains – my favorite of his work. In Mort, his fourth Discworld book (1987), a slightly wacky human named, you guessed it, Mort (short for Mortimer), becomes Death’s apprentice. Yes, Death. The dude who goes around and collects people when they die. A character, who, as it happens, talks IN ALL CAPS.

A character who is quite beloved in the canon of The Creator, and a character who graciously announced his Creator’s departure from this veil:

… making his (Sir Terry’s) tribe … *wipes more tears*

However, as he himself wrote:

So, it’s not really THE END. Or even the end. or The End. Because STP’s ripples are going to last a long, long time.

(I really really did not know it would be so difficult to write this post. I want it to be magnificent, a tribute worthy of him, but I stare at the screen and all I can do is sob.)

Sir Terry created a world called the Discworld, a world that is very similar to our own (“roundworld”, as we call it), but it happens to be a flat world, perched on the back of four elephants, which are in turn standing on the back of a giant turtle (The Great A’Tuin) swimming through space.

Image from http://imgkid.com/terry-pratchett-art.shtml

Part philosophy, part satire, part puns, part serious, part critical, part, erm, I could go on, the 40 or so books that explore the Discworld are considered “fantasy”, and as such, were not at first considered worthy of, well, much of anything, but now “people” (the ones who didn’t know it already) are coming to realize what a genius PTerry truly was.

And, even more amazingly, how many people he touched.

In the private Facebook group for Discworld Monthly (13,000 strong), a number of members have mentioned that Sir Terry saved their lives. That while they were struggling with something terrible, reading his words kept them going.

And have I mentioned that he’s funny? Quite, quite hilarious, actually, and there have been any number of times when I (and other of his readers) have experienced somewhat embarrassing situations because of laughing out loud in public at his words.

From: http://memeguy.com/c/502/some_funny_quotes_from_my_favorite_author_sir_terry_pratchett

In 2008, Sir Terry was diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer’s called posterior cortical atrophy (PCA). He knew it would eventually claim his life, but he fought it, he fought it so hard. And even as he fought, he retained his humor (or, in his case, his humour; after all, he is decidedly British), writing about “being the butt of my own jokes“.  (and I’m crying yet again.)

Due to his diagnosis, he became a champion of Dignity in Dying, or basically, the right to end your own life when your life is nothing but suffering. He even participated in a documentary called Choosing to Die, something I honestly have not and cannot watch, but which I am ever so proud of him doing. As written in an article in Metro News, “Describing his reasons for making the documentary, Pratchett said ‘it should be possible for someone stricken with a serious and ultimately fatal illness to choose to die peacefully with medical help, rather than suffer’.” (I don’t know if he suffered at the end, and I fervently hope not.)

*takes a moment to cry some more*

Now, what in the heck does #GNU stand for? The website gnuterrypratchett.com explains it best, as does this:

#GNU is basically a way for Terry Pratchett to live on. And some redditors (the gods of small things bless all of them) came up with the idea for #GNUTerryPratchett, which is basically adding code to websites that will continuously put his name out into the world wide web.

If you use Firefox or Chrome for your browser, you can download a plugin and see what sites have the code going. Mine does (I added it straightaway via a WordPress plugin), as does the Guardian. It comforts me to see the little dots blinking away as I write this post. (Sorry I haven’t a way to show you the blinky dots…)  (And the clacks code may be small, but it is mighty!)

*goes to bathroom to blow my nose and splash cold water on my face*

Now, if you’ve never read any of Terry Pratchett’s books, you must do so. Immediately. (And lucky, lucky you, to read his work for the first time…) But a question oft asked is: what book do I start with? Do I start at the beginning? In the middle? Do I start with Discworld (for tho most of his books are set on Discworld, ther are others he wrote too)?

Well, someone came up with this handy chart to assist with the ‘where do I start in Discworld’ question, so I would refer to it as needed:

My other favorite book of his is called Nation, and is not in the Discworld canon. It is, I have to tell you, not funny at all. But it’s amazing. And PTerry himself has said that it is the book he’s most proud of.

When I was able to meet him in 2009, at the very first North American Discworld Convention, he wasn’t able to sign as many books as he used to, and you were allowed only two. I chose Once More with Footnotes (because his books are chock-full of them, adding to the hilarity) and Nation. Because it is my favorite. (By the way, I recently learned that OMWF, which he actually signed TWICE for me, is worth a lot of money because they didn’t print that many copies.) (Not that I’d sell my copy, like, ever.) (And btw, my badge # was 136 – out of 1,000 – if that tells you anything!)

A photo I took at the 2009 convention: Terry preparing to be “interviewed” by his American adult editor, Jennifer Brehl. The questions she asked were ones sent in by attendees at the conference.

So, that, my dear friends (and #AtoZChallenge2015 visitors), is my G.

A tribute to a Great Man.

(((ripples)))