The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America is reporting the death of one of their own: Gene Van Troyer died 17 July 2009 of cancer. Born 1 December 1950 in Portland, Oregon, he was a science fiction writer and poet who worked as an English teacher in Japan.
He started writing at the age of 13, started selling his writing at the age of 20, and went to Japan as an exchange student at the age of 24. While there, he became a translation consultant for many of the major Japanese science fiction authors. He wrote SF Magazine‘s “SF Scanner” column, which reviewed American science fiction for its Japanese audience, from 1975 to 1980.
Van Troyer co-edited, with Grania Davis, Speculative Japan: Outstanding Tales of Japanese Science Fiction and Fantasy, which debuted at Nippon 2007, the first World Science Fiction Convention to be held in Japan. He also edited Collaborations, an anthology of collaborative poetry, which appeared the same year.
He is survived by his wife Tomoko, his sons Makato and Akito and his daughter Miika.
SFWA’s obituary is on this page. Kurodahan Press, which published Speculative Japan, has a write-up of the book, and of Van Troyer, on this page