Author Pete Manly (sometimes known as Peter L. Manly) died 27 July 2007, less than a week after checking in to a VA hospital. Born Peter Loughlin Patrick Richard Manly on 8 September 1945, he served as a research officer in the US Air Force (including stints with NASA and various aerospace contractors). He was also an astronomer, scientific instrument builder, engineer for Ford Aerospace and Motorola, journalist, and author. According to friend Randall Whitlock, “Pete was a long-time board member of the Central Arizona Speculative Fiction Society (CASFS). Pete held the distinction of being the first person to have ‘Astronomer’ officially listed as his military occupational specialty.”
As a science fiction author, he co-wrote two stories and two fact articles with Rick Cook, and one story with Joseph J. Lazzaro, as well as one of his own stories, all of which appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact. He also wrote two novels, Dragon 329er and Asterisms, both of which are available at Third Millennium Publishing’s web site.
Outside of science fiction, he was the author of Unusual Telescopes and The 20-cm Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope: A Practical Observing Guide.
There will not be a funeral, as he wanted to be cremated and ashes scattered. There will be a wake. For more information, see the CASFS web site.