I started my obit of George Clayton Johnson yesterday by saying…
As many folks across the Internet are announcing, author George Clayton Johnson had died at the age of 86. I believe he was deceased on some websites before he was in reality…but I somehow think he would have enjoyed "outliving" his own death, even if just for a few hours.
…and now I am delighted to hear that he is still "outliving" his own death. George is reportedly still hanging in there and his son says he may just live through another Christmas. An announcement Tuesday night that his death could happen any minute somehow triggered widespread reports on the 'net and in the press that he had passed. I waited until Locus (the science-fiction news site) and other official-type sources had posted it before I decided it was so. Locus seems to have taken their announcement offline and so has Variety.
I don't know that he is awake and aware that this is going on but if he is, I will bet he is wickedly happy even if it only means he will survive his obits by a day or two.
Everything else I wrote about him being a colorful, amazing guy still applies. And doesn't he seem like an even more colorful and amazing guy now?