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ASI President John Goodwin’s Eulogy for David Farland

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(@wulfmoon)
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THE WRITER WHISPERER, DAVID FARLAND

David Wolverton (Dave Farland) wrote short stories as a child and dreamt of becoming a writer. He went to Brigham Young University to study writing. While there, he became ill and feverish and started having fantastic dreams. In one such dream, two futuristic mercenaries took shelter in the skull of some giant beast and talked while waiting out a storm. He wrote that dream into the short story "On My Way to Paradise," which won the Writers of the Future Gold Award and started a very successful career as an author. He expanded that short story into a novel of the same name, which spent several months on the Locus bestseller list and won a Philip K. Dick Memorial Special Award. He wrote several other bestselling SF novels under Dave Wolverton, including "Star Wars: The Courtship of Princess Leia."

In fantasy, writing as David Farland, he was best known for his New York Times bestselling Runelords fantasy series and his YA series Of Mice and Magic. He novelized the unproduced L. Ron Hubbard film script as the New York Times bestseller, "A Very Strange Trip," for which he earned the Guinness World Record for the "largest single-author book signing."

Dave returned to BYU as a writing professor for several years but eventually returned to full-time writing.

He became a Writers of the Future Contest judge in 1991 and served as an instructor at the annual WotF workshop. He later took the Coordinating Judge and Editor hats for the Writers of the Future yearly anthology. He taught writing workshops, helped guide thousands of emerging writers, and considered it his greatest joy to help others.

One only needs to look at Dave's vast roster of names discovered and nurtured. It is no wonder his keen eye for talent was dubbed "Writer Whisperer."

Dave was an extraordinary individual, a kind soul, and a cherished personal friend and friend to everyone here at Writers of the Future. He was always there to lend a helping hand. Dave will be greatly missed. But it is good to know that due to his excellent work and dedication to creating the future, science fiction and fantasy will continue to be in good hands.

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Posted : January 16, 2022 6:21 pm
Cherrie, Scott_M_Sands, Joel C. Scoberg and 10 people reacted
Dragonchef
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Posted : January 17, 2022 8:16 am
James (Ease)
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Such a wonderful wonderful man. The writing world was so incredibly blessed to have had him.

VOL 40 2nd Quarter: Third Place ("Ashes to Ashes, Blood to Carbonfiber")
Past submissions: R - HM - HM - HM - HM - HM - SHM - SHM
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Posted : January 18, 2022 6:02 am
Joel C. Scoberg
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Such a terribly sad day for the writing community.

The king of "paying it forward" for aspiring writers; sharing his tips, expertise and - perhaps most precious of all - his time, as a judge for Writers of the Future (among his many other hats). I, for one, am a much better writer for having listened to his online lessons, and I bet there are thousands upon thousands of other writers out there who will say the same. An inspiration and a true legend. He will be greatly missed.

3rd Place Q3 Vol 41
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Posted : January 18, 2022 2:20 pm
storysinger
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Very moving ceremony. Rest in peace Dave.

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Posted : January 21, 2022 12:05 pm
Jason Toth
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Wanted to share the video we made that was played at the service this morning for anyone that was not able to watch it live.

https://writersofthefuture.com/the-writer-whisperer-david-farland/

 

 
Posted : January 21, 2022 1:24 pm
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Cray Dimensional
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@jason thank you. I wanted to watch live, but had to work 

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V40 : HM, RWC, R, HM
V41 : RWC, R, R, P
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Posted : January 21, 2022 1:50 pm
(@wulfmoon)
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Posted by: @jason

Wanted to share the video we made that was played at the service this morning for anyone that was not able to watch it live.

https://writersofthefuture.com/the-writer-whisperer-david-farland/

 

That video added so much to the ceremony, Jason. Thank you for sharing in its creation, and in sharing it here. Wonderful choice to use the LotR music for background. That was perfect.

And I LOVED the video clip with Dave singing to his grandbaby. That was so precious! 

Click here to JOIN THE WULF PACK!
"Super-Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler" won Best SFF Story of 2019! Read it in Writers of the Future, Vol. 35. Order HERE!
Need writing help? My award-winning SUPER SECRETS articles are FREE in DreamForge.
IT’S HERE! Many have been begged me to publish the Super Secrets of Writing. How to Write a Howling Good Story is now a #1 BESTSELLING BOOK! Get yours at your favorite retailer HERE!

 
Posted : January 21, 2022 2:42 pm
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