Michael Fessler|Feb 24, 2019
Dear Vonda,
Your work has been important to me for decades - I first encountered it in my teens, and I’ve now introduced it to my teenagers. Thank you. My thoughts are with you, and I wish you and your loved ones and health care professionals the appropriate combination of insight, strength, courage, patience, and chutzpah!
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Ellen Eades|Feb 24, 2019
Dearest Jane, I will get in touch with you as soon as I return from Hawaii to join Team Vonda. Thank you for taking point on this. I'll be thinking of her, and you, and sending lots of love.
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Melita Kennedy|Feb 24, 2019
I think the first story of yours I read was Dreamsnake. I faithfully read everything else I could get my hands on through the years. I'm particularly fond of the Starfarers tetralogy and just reread it last fall.

F*** cancer.

My thoughts are with you.
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Erica Ruppert|Feb 24, 2019
Dreamsnake was one of the first novels I read when I discovered science fiction as a kid. It's still with me.
All my best wishes, Vonda.
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Melinda LaFevers|Feb 24, 2019
So sorry to hear this. I have enjoyed her writings over the years. I write a column on Herbs, and when I was researching Oregano, I ran across a study that indicates Oregano extract can be beneficial in fighting certain forms of cancer. No human studies had been done at the time that I was researching it, and I don't know if that is still the case. This was a couple of years ago. But the study said that in the laboratory, samples with the oregano had a much higher death rate of the cancer cells than the samples without. The oregano extract did not kill the cancer directly, but worked through apoptosis by strengthening and aiding the body's natural defenses against cancer. Again, this is only in the laboratory. I know it has been tested against at least three forms of cancer, but I don't know how many more. This is a link to one of the studies done. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0068808 And this link is to a study done on certain spices that seem to have cancer fighting properties. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4997408/ Best of luck.
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Anon L|Feb 24, 2019
I read several of her novels when I was a teenager. They were in my high school Library. I read the Starfarer Quartet and Superluminal for sure, and possibly others. I'm grateful to her for writing them, and saddened to hear of her current condition.

To paraphrase Carl Sagan, books are magic, letting you look into the mind of another even if you've never met them or lived millennia apart.

I hope her illness progresses and ends as peacefully as possible, and when she passes, a small part of her will continue on inside of everyone who's ever read her books, me among them.
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Tom Becker|Feb 24, 2019
Vonda, I hope you feel better and that you can get in a clinical trial that helps.
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Lori Chapek-Carleton|Feb 24, 2019
Stage 4 breast cancer survivor here. Cancer sucks. Fiercely positive energy focusing on your health and welfare. Through their body of work, authors achieve immortality.
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caren p|Feb 24, 2019
years ago, i owned a bookstore in issaquah. the very first author to cross the threshold for a reading and signing was vonda. the mailing that went out asked for food bank donations in exchange for something, probably store credit.

when she arrived, she also brought with her a bag of chocolate treats to donate. i asked about her gift, and she said (i'm paraphrasing), "even people who are down and out deserve treats"...

to be honest, i don't think i'd ever given thought to providing anything except staples before, but i've also never forgotten what she said, and try to add a little happiness to each new donation. it has become a tradition, and i have vonda to thank.
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Ellen Datlow|Feb 24, 2019
Please give Vonda my love (or if you're reading this -Vonda-much love to you).
Ellen
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