The passing of Rusty Hevelin sent shockwaves through fandom, and has already inspired the renaming of a service award in his honor.

There was also grimly serious news from hearings that resulted in Christian Gerhartsreiter being bound over for trial on charges of murdering LASFS member John Sohus in 1985.

January also delivered its share of novelties, from the revelation Tolkien was nominated for a Nobel Prize by C.S. Lewis, to the invention of a conversion kit that lets manual typewriters talk to tablet computers.

Here are the Top 10 posts for January 2012 according to Google Analytics:

1. Rusty Hevelin (1922-2011)
2. Why Didn’t Tolkien Win a Nobel Prize?
3. Top Newsmakers of 2011
4. USBTypewriter: The Greatest Invention Since Sliced Bread
5. Should the Hugos Be Humble?
6. John Sohus (tag)
7. Langford Has Eye Surgery
8. Christian Gerhartsreiter (tag)
9. Pulpfest Creates the Rusty Award
10. Harry Erwin Dies