David Eddings

July 7th, 1931 ~ June 2nd, 2009

SFFWorld is sad to report on the death of Fantasy writer David Eddings, who passed away at his home in Carson City, Nevada on the 2nd June 2009, aged 77.



Eddings is best known for his many epic fantasy series, including The Belgariad, The Mallorean, and the Dreamers.



Eddings was predeceased by his wife and co-author Leigh Eddings (who died in 2007) Though initially authored by only David, it was later revealed that Leigh helped write all his books, and she was credited as co-author on many from the mid-1990’s onward.



Born in Spokane in Washington state in 1931, David was raised in the Puget Sound area north of Seattle. After graduating from high school in 1949, he worked for a year before majoring in speech, drama and English at junior college. Eddings displayed an early talent for drama and literature, winning a national oratorical contest, and performing the male lead in most of his drama productions. He graduated with a Batchelor of Arts degree from Reed College in 1954, studying Middle English. A master of arts degree followed, from the University of Washington in 1961. He wrote a novel for a thesis at Reed College before being drafted into the US Army. After several years as a college lecturer, a failure to receive a pay raise drove Eddings to leave his job, move to Denver and seek work in a grocery store.



After a time working on missile development for the Boeing Company, Eddings wrote his debut novel, a contemporary adventure called High Hunt, in 1973. According to The Bookseller, he switched to fantasy after noticing a copy of The Lord of the Rings was in its 73rd printing. Eddings realized that the world of fantasy might hold some promise for his talents, and immediately began to annotate a doodle of a map drawn years earlier, which later became known as the world of Aloria.

Towards the end of David’s life, things did not always go well. On January 26, 2007 it was reported that Eddings accidentally burned about a quarter of his office, next door to his house, along with his Excalibur sports car, and the original manuscripts for most of his novels. He was flushing the fuel tank of the car with water when he lit a piece of paper and threw it into the puddle to test if it was still flammable.



On February 28, 2007, Leigh (born Judith Leigh Schall), died following a series of strokes. She was 69. This death of Leigh affected David deeply, and it is perhaps no coincidence that there have been no new books published by Eddings from 2006 until his death.

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Joshua says: I was behind the curve on this one. I just learned about it last night when I searched the net to see ... well, if he was still alive. I did not expect him to write after his wife died in 2007, and in fact, he did not. David Eddings' last book was published in the fall of 2006, and two rows of bookshelf in my house are taken up with hardcover copies of his and his wife's life work.

I became an avid reader from 1992 onward, and found I could relate particularly to his book titled The Losers, which I consider his best work.