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Sci-Fi Novelist Anne McCaffrey Dies

'Dragonriders of Pern' author passed away at 85.

Award-winning science-fiction author Anne McCaffrey passed away on Monday at 85 years of age. The author of the famous Dragonriders of Pern series, McCaffrey was considered a pioneer among female sci-fi writers and was the first woman to win both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award. She continued to write well into her 80s and was answering fans’ emails on her website just weeks before her death. Though she had planned on attending a science-fiction gathering in August, McCaffrey’s son wrote on her blog that she was having health issues and apologized on her behalf: “’Sorry that old age came up and bit me on the a**.’”