According to the website Tor, Tanith Lee (1947 – 2015) enjoyed a long and prolific writing career. She authored more than 90 books and 300 short stories. She also wrote several poems, four BBC Radio plays, and two episodes of the cult sci-fi television series Blake’s 7.
Lee began her working life undertaking various clerical roles while she worked on her first novel. Completing the work, her book The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971. This first attempt was well received and it triggered a successful writing career. Over the course of her career, Lee won a number of awards, the most prestigious of which were the World Fantasy Awards for Best Short Story in 1983 and 1984. More recently, in 2014, she was awarded the Bram Stoker lifetime achievement award from the Horror Writers Association (Lee wrote several vampire-themed novels, including Sabella, or the Bloodstone.)
The Daily Telegraph notes that Lee was regarded by many critics as of equal stature to Ursula Le Guin and Terry Pratchett, without ever obtaining the same level of commercial success.
Reacting to news of Lee’s passing, British horror writer Ramsey Campbell tweeted: “Yet more sad news – another remarkable person and writer gone. I hope Tanith Lee is somewhere magical.”
Lee’s two episodes of Blake’s 7 were titled Sarcophagus and Sand. Both introduced an element of fantasy genre into the ordinarily gritty science fiction drama. Both episodes , especially season three’s Sarcophagus, are regarded by fans of the series as among the show’s best. An excerpt is featured in the Blake’s 7 season 3 trailer below.
Lee’s website has been reduced to one page, in tribute, with a message, taken from one of Lee’s works. This, the website May Sue notes, reads:
“Though we come and go, and pass into the shadows, where we leave behind us stories told – on paper, on the wings of butterflies, on the wind, on the hearts of others – there we are remembered, there we work magic and great change – passing on the fire like a torch – forever and forever. Till the sky falls, and all things are flawless and need no words at all.”
