Portal:Speculative fiction/Selected biography/57

Anne Inez McCaffrey (1 April 1926 – 21 November 2011) was an author of science fiction and fantasy fiction, and was best known for her Dragonriders of Pern series. She published nearly 100 books, mainly fiction, beginning in 1967. Born in the United States, she emigrated to Ireland in 1970, where she lived in a home of her own design, "Dragonhold–Underhill". Formerly, she traveled to many conventions and made other appearances. When her health permitted, she attended Writers of the Future—for which she was a long-time judge—and DragonCon.

Up until 1990 McCaffrey co-authored more than 30 books: at least fifteen with Elizabeth Ann Scarborough; other fiction with Margaret Ball, Mercedes Lackey, Elizabeth Moon, Jody Lynn Nye, and S. M. Stirling; the non-fiction Diversity of Dragons with Richard Woods. During the last decade she and her middle child Todd McCaffrey collaborated to continue the history of Pern. As of June 2011, they had completed four Pern books jointly and Todd has authored three solo. Another collaborative sequel is expected in spring 2012.

In 1968, McCaffrey became the first woman to win a Hugo Award for a work of fiction, and in 1969 became the first woman to win a Nebula Award. She became the first with a science fiction title on The New York Times Best Seller list in 1978, with The White Dragon. The Science Fiction Writers of America in 2005 named her the 22nd Grand Master, a now-annual award to living writers of fantasy and science fiction. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame inducted her 17 June 2006.