American novelist and illustrator Greg Bear, best known for penning books in the Star Wars, Star Trek, and Halo Franchises, and serving as one of the five co-founders of San Diego Comic-Con has died. Bear’s wife had recently confirmed that he’d been having a number of health issues, revealing he had suffered a stroke in recent days and lost consciousness while in the hospital. Astrid bear confirmed that her husband’s care team believed he was unlikely to regain consciousness and if he did it would require immense medical care. Greg is survived by his wife, his son, Erik, and daughter, Alexandra, he was 71 years old.
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Born in San Diego, California in 1951, Bear’s first novel Hegira was first published in 1979. Throughout his career Bear has been a prolific science-fiction writer covering a variety of expansive topics, and largely making a name for himself as an author without writing licensed books (though he did do a few of these in his career). Notable titles from Bear’s 30+ novels include 1985’s Blood Music, 1987’s The Forge of God, and 1993’s Moving Mars. In his career he would pen the Star Wars novel Rogue Planet, set between the events of Episodes 1 and 2; a Star Trek tie-in with Corona, and The Forerunner Saga trilogy of novels that tie-in to Halo. Bear’s final book was 2021’s The Unfinished Land.
According to Bear’s official biography on his website, the man’s work in literary fiction wasn’t his only line of work as his interested and insight into science fiction resulted in him serving in positions that utilized those talents. From 1983 to 1999 Bear served on the Citizens Advisory Council on National Space Policy, a group that advised NASA on commercial space travel. Bear also noted that he “lectured at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, on the nature and future of crime and criminal justice,” and “even consulted with the U.S. Army and the State Department on bio-security matters” after 9/11.
