Update, 2/12/2017
Dear Friends of Ed,
With deepest sadness, I must report that our friend and mentor, Edward W. Bryant, Jr. passed away in his sleep on February 10, 2017.
Locus Magazine and Westword have posted wonderful remembrances, and the Friends of Ed Bryant group on Facebook is filled with pictures and tributes to Ed from his friends, students, and fans. I have disabled the PayPal donation button on this site, since the fund that it once fed is no longer valid. However, if I am involved in any kind of fundraising or scholarship drive for Ed, I will suggest that this site be used for that purpose.
Over the last eight years, people have used this site to send thousands of dollars to the supplemental needs trust set up for Ed Bryant by the late Melanie Tem. You have all helped Ed in ways beyond just the donated funds, and I know he was aware of and deeply grateful for that. Thank you all.
Please watch this space or the aforementioned Friends of Ed Bryant group on Facebook for further news. (By its nature, the group is much more dynamic than this website, so it is probably the most current source of news regarding Ed and his legacy.)
Stace Johnson
Webmaster, FriendsOfEd.org
Moderator, Friends of Ed Bryant Facebook group
Update, 12/2/2012
Friends,
One of our own, Andrew Burt, has stepped up to the plate with an incredible offer. His company, Reanimus Press, is now taking ebook pre-orders for the entire Ed Edward W Bryant Jr catalog, and the proceeds will go almost entirely to Ed!
If you've ever wanted to get your hands on some rare and expensive words by Ed, here's your chance. The following books are currently being prepped for ebook format, and will be available in early 2013, but Reanimus is taking the pre-orders now in order to facilitate getting the funds into Ed's hands.
Flirting with Death
Particle Theory
Among the Dead and Other Events Leading to the Apocalypse
Neon Twilight
Darker Passions
Cinnabar
Phoenix without Ashes (with Harlan Ellison, who is generously donating his portion of the proceeds to Ed)
The Baku: Tales of the Nuclear Age
Wyoming Sun
Here's the link: Ed Bryant catalog at Reanimus Press
Of course, you can always donate through this website if you wish, and both sites help Ed in different ways. Donations through this site go into a supplemental needs trust to help Ed take care of miscellaneous expenses, while funds from the ebook purchases can be used for more pressing matters, like buying a car or paying medical bills. It's up to you how you want to donate; just donate!
(Thanks to Andrew Burt for the effort, and to Ellen Datlow for spreading the word.)
Update, 11/29/2012
Dear Friends of Ed,
As we trundle toward the Mayan apocalypse, we find Ed in need of help once again. In addition to some health problems related to a leg fracture and a recent fall, his car has died. To make matters worse, I was informed by the Colorado Fund for People with Disabilities that his fund account is negative and in danger of being closed unless more donations come in to bring the account positive.
The PayPal donation link is at the bottom of this page (or click here to go directly to it.)
Please link to this website from Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Google+ so we can generate this much needed help for Ed. Also, please join the Friends of Ed Bryant group on Facebook if you aren't already a member. Thanks!
Stace Johnson
Update, 9/11/2011
Dear Friends of Ed,
Ed recently had another bout with gastroparesis (over his birthday, no less) and spent more than a week in the hospital. He's out now and is improving, but further crisis issues have come to light. Ed's house is in danger due to unpaid property taxes and he is being forced to divert what limited funds he has toward payment of those taxes. The long-term plan is for Ed to sell the house and move into managed housing, but is immediate need is for supplemental funds to cover general expenses that he cannot afford to pay due to the tax burden. Please help spread the word about this website and Ed's supplemental needs trust fund so we can generate more income in his time of need. Other plans are also in the works to help reduce his living expenses and manage his finances on an ongoing basis, but in order to get there, he needs help NOW. The Paypal link for online donations is at the bottom of this page.
Please link to this website from Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ so we can generate this much needed help for Ed. Also, please join the Friends of Ed Bryant group on Facebook if you aren't already a member. Thanks!
Stace Johnson
Note from Melanie Tem, 2/12/2010
Dear Friends of Ed,
Ed is in the hospital because of a serious bout of gastroparesis which was at first thought to have been a heart attack. He'll probably be released tomorrow and will have another health issue to handle, but the angiogram showed his heart surgery from 5 years ago is holding, everything's open or nearly so, and he kidneys do not seem to have been damaged by this recent episode of dehydration severe enough to have landed him in ICU.
Whew.
In other Ed news:
We expect to hear within the next couple of months the results of his appeal of the SSI denial.
He is now a client of a Senior Care Management program which, if the program works as it's intended to, will help him manage the financial, organizational, housing, and other parts of his life. We hope this will reduce his anxiety and stress and improve his overall health
Just keeping you posted....
Melanie.
About Ed Bryant
Edward Bryant is best known as a horror and science fiction writer, with numerous Nebula and Bram Stoker awards for his fiction. He is also known as a reviewer and critic, with his work appearing regularly in Locus Magazine and The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror anthologies.
Perhaps more important, though, is Ed's reputation as a teacher and mentor. He has been instrumental in the careers of many successful writers and editors, several of whom have gone on to become award winners or bestselling authors in their own right. Because of this and his legendary kindness, Ed is beloved by many people in the United States and abroad, and that is the basis for the creation of this site.
Over the last few years, Ed has fallen on hard times due to financial complications from his heart bypass surgery in 2004, a limited income stream, and predatory actions by individuals who took advantage of Ed's kindness. At one point, Ed (who is also a Type-I diabetic) did not have funds available to purchase insulin and was in danger of foreclosure on his house. Thankfully, friends and caregivers stepped in to handle those troubles, but Ed is still facing a long uphill battle to satisfy his financial and medical responsibilities.
To that end, a third party trust fund has been set up for Ed at the Colorado Fund for People with Disabilities. The PayPal donation button below goes to an account administered by the Colorado Fund. Please consider helping Ed by donating funds to the third party trust using this button.
NOTE: This donation is not tax deductible because it is intended for the benefit of one individual.
What can the donated funds be used for?
There have been some questions regarding what the supplemental needs trust fund can be used for. In general, the donated funds can be used for noncritical essential purchases that are not covered by government assistance. For instance, rent or mortgage payments, food, and similar critical essentials are usually not able to be covered by funds from the supplemental needs trust because the disabled individual may already be receiving government assistance for those basic needs. However, the funds can be used for transportation, fuel costs, general living supplies, some medical supplies, phone service, auto repairs, entertainment, and insurance costs, to name just a few.
Unfortunately, according to Ed, the funds cannot be used to pay his overdue property taxes because of the Colorado Senior Tax Exemption program. As a senior, Ed qualifies for that program, and though he is not currently receiving assistance from it, the fact that it exists prevents CFPD from using funds to help with his property tax issues.
That doesn't mean the donations made through the Friends of Ed website are useless to him, though. These funds can go to pay for noncritical essentials that would otherwise have to be forfeited or paid from other sources. In other words, donations to this fund help Ed maintain quality of life that he would not otherwise have due to his other financial burdens.
2/12/2017 -- DONATIONS VIA THIS WEBSITE HAVE BEEN DISABLED DUE TO THE PASSING OF MR. BRYANT
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