At PASS last fall I had the opportunity to meet one of the Apress editors, James Huddleston. I spent quite a bit of time talking to him about a number of topics and we even kicked around some book ideas. I was really looking forward to working with him in the future because he was just such an interesting guy.

I found out last week that he pass away suddenly, and I'd like to extend my sincerest condolences to his family.

Here's the release I got from Apress:

It’s with great sadness that Apress learned one of their own, editor James Huddleston, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, February 25, leaving his partner Judith, and a young family. He will be missed. He took pride in his work as an editor, but equally gratifying was his work as a classicist. His translations, from the original Greek, of Homer’s Odyssey and Hesiod’s Shield of Herakles can be found on The Chicago Homer: http://www.library.northwestern.edu/homer/.

You know, it's always saddened me that when someone dies, their live is summed up in just a couple sentences. Is it really possible to do that? Well, it's what we've got though, so I guess we have to live with it. The other thing that gets to me is just the injustice of it all. Here you've got a hard-working family man who actually contributed something to society, and he gets a couple lines. Then you've got Anna Nicole who got tons of press on everything from her hairdresser to the guy who designed her coffin lid. Whatever.

Take care James.

Posted by Sean McCown on March 12, 2007 11:08 AM