Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (September 15, 1942 – August 31, 2025) was an American writer. She was known for her series of historical horror novels about Count Saint-Germain.
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro | |
|---|---|
 Yarbro in 2009 | |
| Born | Karen Erickson[1] September 15, 1942 Berkeley, California, U.S. |
| Died | August 31, 2025 (aged 82) San Francisco Bay Area, California, U.S. |
| Pen name | Quinn Fawcett, Trystam Kith, Terry Nelson Bonner, T. C. F. Hopkins, Camellia Gabor, Vanessa Pryor |
| Occupation | Author |
| Language | English |
| Education | San Francisco State College |
| Genre | Science fiction, horror |
| Notable works | The Saint-Germain Cycle |
| Spouse |
Donald Simpson
(m. 1969; div. 1982) |
| Website | |
| www | |
Early life and career
editYarbro was born in Berkeley, California, on September 15, 1942. She attended Berkeley schools through high school followed by three years at San Francisco State College (now University).
Writing for over 45 years, Yarbro worked in a wide variety of genres, from science fiction to westerns, from young adult adventure to historical horror. She was the author of over 70 novels and numerous short stories. In addition to the Count Saint-Germain novels, she also published numerous volumes in a popular series of channeled wisdom from the entity Michael in the Messages from Michael series.
Yarbro's contribution to the horror genre has been recognised in a variety of ways: she was named a Grand Master at the World Horror Convention in 2003, and in 2005 the International Horror Guild named her a "Living Legend".[2] She has received the Knightly Order of the Brasov Citadel from the Transylvanian Society of Dracula.[3] In 2009 the Horror Writers' Association presented Yarbro with the Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award.[4] In 2014, she was honored with the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.[5] Additionally, two of her novels, The Palace (1979) and Ariosto (1980) were nominated for the World Fantasy Award, neither winning.[6]
In 2016, she reported that on average, she wrote three to four books and one or two short stories and/or essays a year. She wrote six hours per day, six days per week except when traveling. Five days a week she spent three to four hours doing research.[7]
Aside from writing, she worked as a cartographer, read tarot card and palms, and composed music. Over the years she studied seven instruments, voice, and musical theory: composition, voice, and piano continued to be active interests for her. The newsletter, Yclept Yarbro, about her and her writings has been published since 1995 by Lindig Hall Harris.[8] She played a major role in popularizing The Eye of Argon, a novella that became part of widespread science fiction convention reading game.[9]
Personal life and death
editIn November 1969, she married Donald Simpson and divorced in February 1982. She had no children.
Yarbro died on August 31, 2025, 15 days before her 83rd birthday.[10]
Pseudonyms
edit- Quinn Fawcett, for projects coauthored with Bill Fawcett
- Trystam Kith, for the two volume Trouble in the Forest historical fantasy series featuring vampire antagonists
- Terry Nelson Bonner, for the fifth volume of The Making of Australia series
- T. C. F. Hopkins, for historical nonfiction
- Camille Gabor, for the high fantasy series, The Vildecaz Talents
- Vanessa Pryor, for the romance novel Taste of Wine
The Michael teachings
editMessages from Michael is the first in a series of four books recounting three-decade-long "conversation" between a group of friends centered around Sarah Chambers (1937≠1998) with a channeled entity and spiritual teacher that has come to be known as Michael. As of September 2013 this conversation continues, as the Michael group continues to conduct closed sessions in the San Francisco Bay Area. A core concept of the teachings is "all choices made are equally valid."
Yarbro's book presented a heavily fictionalized version of Sarah Chambers' group, which gave Chambers the alias of "Jessica Lansing". The three subsequent books contain more edited channeling transcripts, along with background material.
Bibliography
editFootnotes
edit- ^ Jernigan, Jean (11 July 1970). "Fantasy Brings Success". The Berkeley Gazette. p. 6.
- ^ ":: ihg ::International Horror Guild :: ihg ::". Archived from the original on 31 October 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
- ^ Macmillan. "Chelsea Quinn Yarbro". Macmillan. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
- ^ "Yarbro, Wilson Win Lifetime Horror Award". Horror Writers Association Blog. 25 January 2009. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
- ^ "World Fantasy Awards Home Page". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
- ^ World Fantasy Awards Archived December 1, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "◊◊Chelsea Quinn Yarbro◊◊". Retrieved 18 January 2016.
- ^ "More about Chelsea Quinn Yarbro". Retrieved 18 January 2016.
- ^ Weinstein, Lee (November 2004). "In Search of "The Eye of Argon"". The New York Review of Science Fiction. 17 (3, Issue 195). Pleasantville, N.Y.: Dragon Press: 1, 6–8. ISSN 1052-9438.
- ^ "Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (1942–2025)". Locus Magazine. 2 September 2025. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
References
edit- Clute, John; John Grant (1997). The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 1041–1042. ISBN 0-88184-708-9.
- Clute, John; Peter Nicholls (1995). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. pp. 1357–1358. ISBN 0-312-13486-X.
- Searles, Baird; Meacham, Beth; Franklin, Michael (July 1982), A Reader's Guide to Fantasy, Avon, pp. 158–160, ISBN 0-380-80333-X
- Sullivan, Jack, ed. (1986). The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural. Viking Press. pp. 470. ISBN 0-670-80902-0.
External links
edit
- Official website
- Chelsea Quinn Yarbro at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Chelsea Quinn Yarbro at IMDb
- About Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (1942-2025), a memorial by Tom Whitmore, Sept 3, 2025
- Chelsea Quinn Yarbro at Library of Congress, with 79 library catalog records
- Quinn Fawcett (joint pseudonym of Yarbro and Bill Fawcett) at LC Authorities, with 12 records, and at WorldCat