Anne McCaffery named SFWA Grand Master
Ms. McCaffrey is the twenty-second writer recognized by SFWA as a Grand Master. She joins Robert A. Heinlein (1974), Jack Williamson (1975), Clifford D. Simak (1976), L. Sprague de Camp (1978), Fritz Leiber(1981), Andre (1983), Arthur C. Clarke (1985), Isaac Asimov (1986), Alfred Bester (1987), Ray Bradbury (1988), Lester del Rey (1990), Frederik Pohl (1992), Damon Knight (1994), A. E. van Vogt (1995), Jack Vance (1996), Poul Anderson (1997), Hal Clement (1998), Brian Aldiss (1999), Philip Jose Farmer (2000), Ursula K. LeGuin (2003), and Robert Silverberg (2004).
And in fairness, I still think the strength of the female characters in the Pern books is remarkable for their time. Although I now have madonna/whore complex issues over a lot of the details of characterization.
We are amused to note that the artist formerly known as Ms. Andre Norton has apparently joined the ranks of Those Who Need Be Denoted By One Name Only.