Alec Johnson is Anne McCaffrey’s eldest son. There were times when Alec was also the person who put food on her table, back in the dark days before The White Dragon became a best-seller and we started eating pancakes for dinner because we could.

Since the summer of 2011, when she had to pass on Dragon*Con because of another mini-stroke, Mum was worried that she would pass on before she got “to see my two sons again.” She was looking forward to having Alec over for Thanksgiving; I would arrive the week before Christmas so as to spread out the holiday cheer.

She passed away while Alec was still clearing customs. He flew to Ireland expecting his mother and found a funeral. Even so, he rose to the occasion and wrote a memorial for her, which he delivered eloquently at the service.

Here now he writes just as eloquently of the legacy he received from his mother.