R.I.P., Bubba Smith and William Sleator
Aug. 3rd, 2011 07:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yendiTwo people I was a huge fan of in my teens (and still like today) passed away within the last two days:
William Sleator wrote awesome sci-fi novels that were fun and powerful, a rarity in general (there's just too little actual sci-fi in the YA segment). The Boy Who Reversed Himself is Elayna's favorite. I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I haven't read him in years.
And although Bubba Smith was a football player first, I first learned of him as an actor, particularly from his role as Hightower in the Police Academy movies, which my 12-year-old self still believes were robbed of their well-earned Oscars. I was also a big fan of his on the Joe Pesci show Half Nelson, a show so bad they actually gave a regular part to Victoria Jackson.
William Sleator wrote awesome sci-fi novels that were fun and powerful, a rarity in general (there's just too little actual sci-fi in the YA segment). The Boy Who Reversed Himself is Elayna's favorite. I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I haven't read him in years.
And although Bubba Smith was a football player first, I first learned of him as an actor, particularly from his role as Hightower in the Police Academy movies, which my 12-year-old self still believes were robbed of their well-earned Oscars. I was also a big fan of his on the Joe Pesci show Half Nelson, a show so bad they actually gave a regular part to Victoria Jackson.