A September 4 post on his Facebook page:
An update on my cancer diagnosis. I will undergo radiation treatments five days a week for 6½ weeks beginning in a week or two. Hey that means I can read in the dark! Concurrent with the radiation will be once-a-week chemotherapy (due to the time proximity of my heart attack, they couldn't do the more standard once-every-three-weeks dose). Well I can't lose my hair...that's already gone!
I will give them these 6-8 weeks but honestly, there is a large difference between quality of life and quantity of life and I don't want to merely exist, I want to live.
Really sorry to hear this news.
ReplyDeleteJust a quick addition -- Al was the chair of two Bouchercons held in Toronto. The first one was in 1992 and the second was in 1994.
ReplyDeleteThis is sad news. Al was the perfect host at the 1992 Bouchercon. He was everywhere, helping out, answering questions, introducing us to Toronto, a city he loved and knew well. I remember him especially well because when we spoke on the phone planning a panel he recognized the origins of my last name and could spell it AND pronounce it. We share a few funny stories about how names were adapted to the "new" world.
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