Peter David 1956 - 2025
May. 26th, 2025 04:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wonderbinkPeter David, Writer of Stuff, passed away this past weekend. He was my brother-in-law.
He has a extensive Wikipedia entry if you'd like to learn more about the Stuff what that he Wrote (you can read it here). I just want talk about some selected memories I have of him.
The Courtship
They met over a puppet. My sister makes puppets and sells them at science-fiction conventions. He bought a Klingon from her for a comedy skit, which came with a free puppetry lesson. From there, he commissioned a puppet from her in the likeness of an actor in a movie Peter had written. I remember watching my sister watch this movie as she figured out how to make it actor-shaped. She did a good job, to my recollection.
The Wedding
There are many things that I remember about the wedding, but let me stick to two. One was Peter stepping on a glass wrapped in a towel, and everyone cheering "Mazel Tov!" The other was how utterly in love the bride and groom were, judging by their expressions.
The Dispenser of Beer
Early on in their relationship, Peter went with Kathy (my sister) to a wee convention called Chattacon. It was the first con he'd been to off-duty in years. He volunteered to pour beer at the consuite, that's how off-duty he was. Some people didn't know how to handle it.
"Are you Peter David?" somebody asked.
"Yes," Peter said.
"Why are you serving me a beer?"
"Because you asked me for one," Peter replied.
The Moon of Potato
A fanfic writer who went by the name of Lady Sybilla (my memory doesn't run that deep--I just used Fanlore.org) did a novel-length "Team Jacob" Twilight fanfic called Russet Noon. This would be otherwise unremarkable, but Lady S. elevated herself to the heights of Fandom Wank by offering her work up for sale, as in for money, which is simply not done. She didn't react well when people pointed out things about copyright on characters and settings and how they apply to the work of Stephenie Meyer.
Peter found this quite entertaining, and set up a round-robin story on his blog called "Potato Noon" which was authored by many of his writer friends (and even non-writer ones--my older brother made a contribution, which was absolutely ridiculous and fit in perfectly). Soon enough, Peter's parody had made more of an impression than the original fic.
Rib Night
Peter's status as a professional Writer of Stuff landed him a very nice suite each DragonCon. On Sunday night, he would order a mess of ribs from Fat Matt's Rib Shack (and, later, fried chicken from The Colonnade) and invite all his friends over. Peter knew a lot of interesting people--writers, of course, but also artists, actors, filmmakers, and other creative types. I met Joel Hodgson of Mystery Science Theater 3000 at one of Peter's Rib Nights. It was an evening for delicious food and entertaining conversation, and I suspect some of the appeal for certain guests was being in a place where they didn't have to be "on", unlike the rest of the entire convention.
Reactions
Peter described himself as a VIP--Vaguely Important Person. How famous he was depended on which social pool he was in. When I told people he was my brother-in-law for whatever reason, responses ranged from "Who?" to "Oh, my GOD!"
Conclusion
I'm sorry this is such a mess. I've been dealing with severe pain of indeterminate origin in the midst of all this, which is why this sloppy little effort took so long.
Peter was a good man, and he was good to my sister. May his memory be a blessing.
He has a extensive Wikipedia entry if you'd like to learn more about the Stuff what that he Wrote (you can read it here). I just want talk about some selected memories I have of him.
The Courtship
They met over a puppet. My sister makes puppets and sells them at science-fiction conventions. He bought a Klingon from her for a comedy skit, which came with a free puppetry lesson. From there, he commissioned a puppet from her in the likeness of an actor in a movie Peter had written. I remember watching my sister watch this movie as she figured out how to make it actor-shaped. She did a good job, to my recollection.
The Wedding
There are many things that I remember about the wedding, but let me stick to two. One was Peter stepping on a glass wrapped in a towel, and everyone cheering "Mazel Tov!" The other was how utterly in love the bride and groom were, judging by their expressions.
The Dispenser of Beer
Early on in their relationship, Peter went with Kathy (my sister) to a wee convention called Chattacon. It was the first con he'd been to off-duty in years. He volunteered to pour beer at the consuite, that's how off-duty he was. Some people didn't know how to handle it.
"Are you Peter David?" somebody asked.
"Yes," Peter said.
"Why are you serving me a beer?"
"Because you asked me for one," Peter replied.
The Moon of Potato
A fanfic writer who went by the name of Lady Sybilla (my memory doesn't run that deep--I just used Fanlore.org) did a novel-length "Team Jacob" Twilight fanfic called Russet Noon. This would be otherwise unremarkable, but Lady S. elevated herself to the heights of Fandom Wank by offering her work up for sale, as in for money, which is simply not done. She didn't react well when people pointed out things about copyright on characters and settings and how they apply to the work of Stephenie Meyer.
Peter found this quite entertaining, and set up a round-robin story on his blog called "Potato Noon" which was authored by many of his writer friends (and even non-writer ones--my older brother made a contribution, which was absolutely ridiculous and fit in perfectly). Soon enough, Peter's parody had made more of an impression than the original fic.
Rib Night
Peter's status as a professional Writer of Stuff landed him a very nice suite each DragonCon. On Sunday night, he would order a mess of ribs from Fat Matt's Rib Shack (and, later, fried chicken from The Colonnade) and invite all his friends over. Peter knew a lot of interesting people--writers, of course, but also artists, actors, filmmakers, and other creative types. I met Joel Hodgson of Mystery Science Theater 3000 at one of Peter's Rib Nights. It was an evening for delicious food and entertaining conversation, and I suspect some of the appeal for certain guests was being in a place where they didn't have to be "on", unlike the rest of the entire convention.
Reactions
Peter described himself as a VIP--Vaguely Important Person. How famous he was depended on which social pool he was in. When I told people he was my brother-in-law for whatever reason, responses ranged from "Who?" to "Oh, my GOD!"
Conclusion
I'm sorry this is such a mess. I've been dealing with severe pain of indeterminate origin in the midst of all this, which is why this sloppy little effort took so long.
Peter was a good man, and he was good to my sister. May his memory be a blessing.
