Larry Hagman passed away today, in Dallas appropriately. Rebecca and I got to know Larry for two weeks in Australia, when we were traveling around together as guests for Supanova, along with Barbara Eden and James Marsters.  He was a very funny guy, easy to talk to once you got past the awe, and he was *always* reading a book on his iPad.  He knew I was the science fiction author guest for Supanova, but he didn’t really read much science fiction. When I asked him what kind of books he liked, he told me he preferred thrillers, so I recommended my ILL WIND.

We had breakfast, rode on the bus together, chatted about his avocado farm and his commitment to solar power and renewable energy (yes indeed, JR Ewing was in real life a clean-power advocate!)  The Supanova crew was like a big family, and we all got to become close friends.

After about a week of traveling together, we were having lunch during a winery tour. He leaned across the table and said, ‘You know, I did meet another science fiction author once.  I was a guest speaker on a cruise ship, and I met the son of Frank Herbert.  Did you know that he’s writing new Dune books with some other author?”  I blinked at him.  “Larry, *I’m* the other author!”  He did a doubletake, and we both laughed.

I’m so glad I got a chance to know him.