BIRDS OF PREY (1984)
Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 30” x 20”

This story was set in the late Roman Empire, but there’s a hint of a SF twist present on the first page of the book. 1/2

#bookcover #fantasy #sciencefiction #daviddrake #baen

#HopeThursday #Reparations #DavidDrake #DaveThePotter

The Boston Museum of Fine Arts returns two pieces of art made by an enslaved artist, David Drake (aka, Dave the Potter), to his descendants:

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/10/29/mfa-boston-returns-david-drake-pottery-heirs

Rocznice i urodziny:
»80 rocznica urodzin Davida Drake’a«

David Drake przyszedł na świat 24 września 1945 roku.

https://www.fahrenheit.net.pl/rocznice-urodziny/80-rocznica-urodzin-davida-drakea/

#Fahrenheit_zin #DavidDrake #pisarz #Denkirch #HammersSlammers #Belizariusz #Belisarius #WładcaWysp #LordoftheIsles

Aktualności:
»Rok temu odszedł David Drake«

David Drake, amerykański pisarz fantasy i science fiction, zmarł 10 grudnia 2023 roku w wieku 78 lat.

https://www.fahrenheit.net.pl/aktualnosci/rok-temu-odszedl-david-drake/

#Fahrenheit_zin #DavidDrake #HammersSlammers #WładcaWysp #LordoftheIsles

Just found out that #DavidDrake died today. He’d been in poor health for a while, so this isn’t exactly a surprise, but it’s still an ugly shock. 78 years is a good run, but it’s not enough. It’s never enough.

We only met once, at World Fantasy Con thirty or so years ago. Corresponded occasionally after that. I won’t claim him as a friend, but he was at least a friendly colleague—and he did regard me as a colleague, which was a hell of an ego boost for a young writer. Maybe one of these days I’ll even live up to it.

He was badly damaged by his experiences in Vietnam, and that damage came out in his writing. A lot of readers bounced off his style, and a lot of others bounced off … certain characterizations and plot elements. If you’re in the latter group, you know what I mean. I came close, a few times. But I didn’t stop reading his work. Couldn’t, really.

His work helped me deal with a whole lot of the snakes in my own head, and I know a number of other vets, across multiple generations, who can say the same.

There is a very small number of military science fiction writers who get it right, out of a sea of hi-ho, we’re off for jolly adventures—including a great many who are praised for their realism. Truffaut was right: it’s impossible to make an anti-war movie, and maybe it’s impossible to write an anti-war book too. I’ve largely abandoned the genre for a number of reasons, and that’s one of them.

He never claimed to be anti-war. He wasn’t pro-war either. He just looked unflinchingly at the insanity of the whole thing. And maybe that was for the benefit of his own sanity, but he brought a whole lot of us along for the ride.

Ave atque vale. I hope he’d appreciate that.

#NewYork-ers, go see the fabulous exhibit of mid-19th century ceramics from Old Edgefield, SC at the #MetMuseum before it closes on Feb. 5!

The star of the show is Dave, an enslaved man who wrote poems on his jars and signed his name in big swooping letters even though it was illegal for him to read or write. 1/4

#ceramics #pottery #SC #DavidDrake #TheMet #NYC #art #artmuseum

"The art and poetry, conversation, and essays in this volume seek to gather shattered, scattered pieces of Black history and put them back together again."

I'm luxuriating in the pre-semester ability to slowly read this new book "Praise Songs for Dave the Potter," edited by P. Gabrielle Foreman. Such a wonderful presentation of art and poetry by David Drake, Jonathan Green, and Glenis Redmond. Beautiful and thoughtful memory work.

#book #DavidDrake #poetry #pottery #art #AfricanAmericanArt