I feel a great disturbance in the Force

Anyone familiar with the science fiction scene around Austin will know that Bruce Sterling has been at the epicenter of all worthy happenings since there were enough happenings to be considered a "scene." He is an institution. The Mighty Bruce is akin to the Godfather of all things SFnal in Texas. Where other great writers have passed on (Chad Oliver) or moved away (Lew Shiner, Howard Waldrop--tho Howard got smart and came back), Bruce has been the great constant, the "e" to Austin's "emcee squared." So it was with no small degree of shock that I received the following via email:

I have been asked to join the faculty at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. I have accepted, and will become a Californian academic in January. I'll also be escaping the Austin cedar season by spending November and December in Europe. Basically, I'm leaving Texas.

Whoo. This feels like a seismic shift in the firmament. Bruce will no longer call Austin home, and instead hang his hat on the Left Coast. I mean, really. The time zones are all wonky out there. That just ain't right. Even the Santa Barbara Freebirds World Burrito has a Bizarro world feel to it.

I make no claim of being close, personal buddies with Bruce, but he throws fantastic parties. He can discuss Bollywood movies with an evangelical fervor. He's provided me with great writing criticism--sometimes acerbic, often scathing--at Turkey City. In short, his departure is a tremendous loss for Austin's SF community. California should count itself lucky.

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