Thomas J. Bassler, who wrote sf as T. J. Bass, died December 13. He authored a pair of Nebula-nominated books, Half Past Human and its sequel The Godwhale (click to see John DeNardo’s reviews at SF Signal).
A medical doctor, Bassler wrote The Whole Life Diet: An Integrated Program of Nutrition and Exercise for a Lifestyle of Total Health (1979), with Robert E. Burger.
He also garnered attention with his theory that marathon running might confer a sort of immunity from heart disease. According to Runners World (December 2008):
He likened marathoners to the Masai warriors of Kenya and the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico-groups with little or no heart disease. “Marathon runners have much in common with these primitive populations,” Bassler wrote. Runners everywhere repeated Bassler’s tale to friends and skeptics alike. Then a trickle of case studies proved Bassler wrong, and the party was over.
[ Via SF Site, Locus Online and Andrew Porter.]
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I read and enjoyed both of T.J. Bass’s novels and always wondered why he never wrote another. Wonder if he died of heart disease? Or collapsed while running a marathon at age 79? I have to stop looking for ironies in everything… it’s a bad habit.
You may remember that celebrity runner Jim Fixx did, in fact, die of a heart attack during his daily run.