Novelist John William Steakley, Jr. died November 27 after a 5-year battle with liver disease.

The Dallas News obituary said it best:

John William Steakley Jr.’s childhood fantasy was to become a science-fiction writer.

He fulfilled that dream, publishing two novels – one of which was the basis of a 1998 motion picture, Vampires directed by John Carpenter.

[Thanks to J.R. Madden for the story.]