Science fiction pioneer dies at 58
Octavia E. Butler, the first black woman to gain national prominence as a science fiction writer, died after falling and striking her head on the cobbled walkway outside her home, a close friend said Sunday. She was 58.
Butler was found outside her home in the north Seattle suburb of Lake Forest Park on Friday. She had suffered from high blood pressure and heart trouble and could only take a few steps without stopping for breath, said Leslie Howle, who knew Butler for two decades and works at the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle.
Butler’s work wasn’t preoccupied with robots and ray guns, Howle said, but used the genre’s artistic freedom to explore race, poverty, politics, religion and human nature.
“She stands alone for what she did,” Howle said. “She was such a beacon and a light in that way.”
Her first novel, “Kindred,” came out in 1979. It concerned a black woman who travels back in time to the South to save a white man. She went on to write about a dozen books, plus numerous essays and short stories.
– Associated Press
NIC seeks teachers for new campus
North Idaho College is looking for instructors for its newest satellite campus.
The Bonners Ferry center is to open this summer, joining similar operations in the Silver Valley, Sandpoint and Post Falls.
Instructors are needed in communications, art, psychology, sociology, creative writing, English, economics, history, mathematics, accounting, human anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, medical transcription, medical software applications, medical coding and legal issues in health care.
Applicants should have at least a bachelor’s degree, and some experience in the subject they would be teaching is preferred.
For more information, contact the Human Resources Department at (208) 769-3304 or visit www.nic.edu/employment.
– Rasha Madkour
KIRKLAND, Wash.
Martha’s book-signing brings out admirers
Several hundred fans lined up for a chance to spend a few seconds with Martha Stewart when the domestic diva was signing copies of a new book.
Ten of her public-relations staff were on hand as security guards and police officers monitored the flow of the crowd Saturday at Sur La Table, a cooking supplies store in this east Seattle suburb.
Dressed in a trim brown suit and slingback shoes, Stewart autographed copies of her new “Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook” – about 240 of them an hour.
Last March, Stewart completed a five-month prison term then served another five months and three weeks of home confinement after being convicted in federal court of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making false statements related to a personal sale of ImClone Systems Inc. stock.
Some thought the experience may have even softened her a bit. Sandy Sterken of Kirkland said she has noticed a difference. “I think she’s not as brash as she used to be,” said Sterken, 55.
– Associated Press