David Gemmell, stalwart author of numerous sword-and-sorcery/heroic fantasy novels, died on this date in 2006. Credited by many with keeping fantasticated blood n' thunder fiction popular during the 1990s, Gemmell deserves a post on this anniversary.

Born in 1948, Gemmell grew up on the streets of one of the meaner parts of London. A bookish boy, he took up boxing, all the while wishing he could've been a huscarle at Hastings, putting the axe to invading Normans. As a teen, David was expelled from school and jailed more than once. It should also be noted that he delivered Sean Connery's beer back in the '60s.

Gemmell started a career in journalism in his twenties--while moonlighting as a bouncer in SoHo pubs. Then, he was misdiagnosed with cancer in 1976. That crisis prompted David to write a novel which would, eventually, become Legend.

A friend of Gemmell urged David to submit the novel for publication. In 1982 the publisher, Century Hutchinson, bought the manuscript, which was published in 1984. Legend was released in the UK and sold well. It remained Gemmell's favorite until his death.

David wrote more novels in the Legend/'Drenai' universe for the rest of the decade, along with starting new series. Gemmell had the bit in his teeth and UK publishers wanted whatever he could write.

During the 1990s, Gemmell was, arguably, the foremost novelist writing heroic fantasy/S&S in the Anglosphere. David cranked out at least one novel a year and his fans bought them up. His big break in the USA came when Legend was finally published by Del Rey in 1994. I still remember my friend, Chris Hale, handing me his copy and saying, "You need to read this."

Gemmell continued to move plenty of units into the twenty-first century. However, as David told an interviewer in 2005:

"I smoke heavily, drink more alcohol than is considered good for me, and have a passion for chocolate and foods full of animal fats. In short, in health terms, I am a walking disaster waiting to happen."

The disaster happened in mid-2006. David had to undergo quadruple bypass surgery. Gemmell seemed to rebound fairly well, but he was found slumped over his computer keyboard on July 28, 2006. He was working on his latest novel.

David lived his life according to his own code. He wrote what he wanted to write and died doing what he loved.