Philip Jose Farmer, Peoria's leading Burton enthusiast, died today.


He was a .

That's a bit eerie - his analogue character Peter Jairus Frigate died in 2008. May he find himself next to RFB on one of the explorer's many resurrections by the River. F.I.P. (Float In Peace.)

By the way, wearing my Burton scholar hat, I can often point to the biographical passage PJF used in each characterization element of his RFB. It's amusing bug-hunting.

I need to finish unpacking my library and then reread "To Your Scattered Bodies Go" in Farmer's memory. I never met him in real life, but he was a fine writer.

...and I shall re-read my favorite series of his "The World of Tiers".

For any who might be reading this thread but are unfamiliar with his works - he would place himself in his stories under an alias. The alias was easily identifiable as being him by the use of his initials. PJF. For example:

Paul Janus Finnegan
Peter Jairus Frigate

Riverworld is/was a sci-fi channel series.

The World of Tiers was not the best written set of books (Behind the Walls of Terra in particular had some non-sequitor scenes) but I really like them anyway. I found one of the books at my library when I was like 12. It took several years to track down the rest of the series as they were out of print at the time that I discovered them and the internet was not yet in full swing for resources like Amazon or Bibliophile.

I only read some of Riverworld. I should really try it again.