Gail Carriger

So I was going to delete and rewrite this entry after I got the phone call relaying Charles's death, but knowing Charles and his adoration of food in all its many forms. I thought it only right, Gentle Reader, that he be memorialized first with a meal...

Supper for Today, 1876, in a London Townhouse

• Celery Soup - made with beef stock and cream
• Minced Veal - simmer cubed veal in cream, lemon, lemon peal, salt, and white pepper
• Corner vegetables - artichokes, asparagus, salsafy (salsify is the modern spelling – apparently its roots taste like oyster)
• Soufflé Pudding - sort of like custard fool, made in a mold edged with dried cherry & candied citron (pudding rises to 4x its original height!) serve with brandy sauce

I've known Charles only a comparatively short while, four years or so. We met formally and as equals, for I was listed as a reference when he hired a dear friend and former employee of mine. He found her eccentric dress a bit difficult to deal with, odd coming from a long time SF/F fan, and I was able to reassure him that the intensity of her clothing was pail by comparison to the intensity of her mind. It was only later we met as young new author and legendary magazine editor.
Many people, I am sure, will be out there talking about Charles as a professional, what he has done for the SF/F community, so I will not touch on that here. Instead, I will leave you with my flashes of memory of Charles as I knew him: a bare-footed, autocratic, jovial hobbit. Charles was old school SF/F in a way that very few others still manage to be without also being jaded and grumpy. I will remember him for his parties, for his love of opera and fine dining, and for his crazy house stuffed with archaeological pottery (mostly fake or black market), other oddball artifacts (why so many puppets), and the Hugo TP holder (can you think of a better use?). I will remember him for his opinions – good books came in hardback, OK books in trade, and he wouldn't touch a paperback with a ten foot poll; real SF was written by men like Heinlein and Ellison; and what's with this modern obsession with chicky Urban Fantasy, how'd that even get into our genre? And I will remember him for his delights – wine, food, entertainment, crazy driving, belly dancing, toe rings, more wine, more food. I'm fortunate to have entered his world briefly. I'm grateful to have known him, and glad to be left with a great memory of this last Passover complete with Rabi Bob and, as was to be expected, sharing some truly fabulous food.

Charles did love the ladies, so today's parasol picture is for him.


Gail's Daily Dose
Your Infusion of Cute:
More delicious parasols for sale
Your Tisane of Smart:
Luxirare is a blog about both high fashion and fine cuisine. I read it and my little brain goes "ooo, yum, ooo, yum" the entire time.
Your Writerly Tinctures:
Life if we didn't have agents

CAKE in Space: With agent.
Soulless: Another review.
Changeless: Gone poof. Starting to gather corrections. Release date currently April 2010.
Blameless:

Quote of the Day:
"O' peppermint tea -
two delights per sip
as steamy hot as passion
cool as a wintry lake dip."
~ Astrid Alauda
(It goes without saying, of course, that peppermint tea is, in fact, not at tea but a tisane.)