January 3, 2005: Kelly Freas

Frank Kelly Freas, 11-time winner of the Hugo for Best Professional Artist, and one of the best-liked members of the professional science fiction community for many, many years, died in his sleep yesterday morning. He was born in 1922.

I didn't know Kelly well; we met and talked at many conventions over the years, but it was always just convention talk. Nevertheless, I liked him a great deal. He was witty, kind, and interested in everything around him.

I had the great pleasure of commissioning him to do covers for two GURPS books based on the Golden Age science fiction he loved so much: GURPS Lensman and GURPS Planet Krishna.

To read more about Kelly, visit his website at www.kellyfreas.com
-- Steve Jackson

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