William Sanders, Editor of Helix, Dead at 75

William Sanders, author, editor, and pow-wow dancer, has died at the age of 75.  He was co-founder and editor of the science fiction magazine Helix SF.  He was born in Arkansas, April 28, 1942, and died in Oklahoma, June 29, 2017.

Journey to Fusang {image courtesy of SF Site}

William Sanders, who also wrote under the pen name Will Sundown, wrote non-fiction, westerns, mysteries, and speculative histories.  Many of his stories reflected his Cherokee heritage, such as the alternate history novel The Wild Blue and the Gray, the fantasy novel The Ballad of Billy Badass and the Rose of Turkestan, and his most anthologized story, “The Undiscovered.” His personal favorite of his works was the short story “Dry Bones.”  He also wrote non-fiction articles and books on backpacking, bicycling, kayaking, and history.

Sanders graduated from Arkansas A&M College before serving in the U. S. Army.  He had the usual list of pre-author careers: “musician, shipping clerk, construction laborer, encyclopedia salesman, traveling preacher, and dishwasher at the New York Stock Exchange cafeteria.” He twice won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History, for The Undiscovered in 1997 and Empire in 1992.  His work received nominations for the Hugo, Nebula, and John Campbell awards.

Sanders, whom even his friends described as curmudgeonly, was fluent in profanity.  He was not afraid of saying things the way he saw them. In 2008 he was involved in the “sheet head controversy,“when some comments he made in an e-mail he considered to be a private conversation were repeated and taken out of context.  This resulted in some writers asking to have their stories removed from the Helix SF archives.  The accusations of racism tarnished his reputation, but he let the slurs roll off of him.  Sanders said arrogance was necessary for a writer. Would like to play pokie games? First, take a look at the article about online pokie games made by casino specialists at Fancasinos. They talk about Australian online pokies with useful details regarding the best games, developers, payout percentage, and remaining important features. What’s more, gamblers are to learn if it is more profitable to play pokies for real money or for free.

How does any writer survive without arrogance? This business is full of rejection and criticism and disappointment – I don’t see how anyone can stand it, can go on slogging away at it, without an armor-plated confidence in his-her own worth.

Sanders is survived by his wife.  The cause of death has not yet been released.

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Susan Macdonald

Susan Macdonald is the author of the children’s book “R is for Renaissance Faire”, as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in “Alternative Truths”, “Swords and Sorceress #30”, Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, “Cat Tails” “Under Western Stars”, and “Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid”. Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio’s web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions,  Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.