LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION honoring the life and work of prominent science
fiction author Octavia E. Butler

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to pay proper tribute
to individuals of great character whose lives exemplify the highest
ideals of humanity; and
WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is justly proud to honor the life and
work of prominent science fiction author Octavia E. Butler; and
WHEREAS, The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, City
College of New York, will host the National Black Writers Conference
dedicated to the memory of Octavia Butler on Saturday, March 28, 2009,
in Brooklyn, New York; and
WHEREAS, Octavia Butler died on Friday, February 24, 2006; she was a
true asset to society; and
WHEREAS, Octavia Butler's father was a shoeshine man who died when she
was a child; her mother was a maid who brought her along on jobs; Octa-
via Butler rose from these humble beginnings to become one of the coun-
try's leading writers - a female African American pioneer in the white,
male domain of science fiction; and
WHEREAS, An only child, Octavia Butler grew up in Southern California
and moved to Seattle in 1999, after her mother's death; she earned an
Associate degree at Pasadena City College and took extension classes at
California State University, Los Angeles, before participating in the
Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Workshop in 1970; and
WHEREAS, A reclusive writer, Octavia Butler was a giant in stature and
in accomplishment; she was one of the Northwest's most prominent science
fiction writers; and
WHEREAS, Octavia Butler remains the only science fiction writer to
receive one of the vaunted "genius grants" from the John D. and Cathe-
rine T. MacArthur Foundation, a significant windfall in 1995 that
followed years of poverty and personal struggles with shyness and self-
doubt; and
WHEREAS, Butler's most popular work is KINDRED, a time-travel novel in
which a black woman from 1976 Southern California is transported back to
the violent days of slavery before the Civil War; the 1979 novel became
a popular staple of school and college courses and now has more than a
quarter million copies in print, but its birth was agonizing, like so
much in Octavia Butler's solitary life; and
WHEREAS, Octavia Butler had published many other novels; they include:
PATTERNMASTER, MIND OF MY MIND, SURVIVOR, WILD SEED, CLAY'S ARK, DAWN,
ADULTHOOD RITES, IMAGO, PARABLE OF THE SOWER, PARABLE OF THE TALENTS,
and BLOODCHILD; and
WHEREAS, In 2000, Octavia Butler was a recipient of the PEN Center
West Lifetime Achievement Award; a world-class science fiction writer in
her own right, she was one of the first and one of the best to discuss
gender and race in science fiction; and
WHEREAS, Octavia Butler conveyed in her writing the deep pain she felt
about the injustices around her; all of it was a metaphor for war,
poverty, power struggles and discrimination; all of this hurt her very
deeply, but her gift was that she could use words for the pain and make
the world better; and
WHEREAS, The anonymity of Octavia Butler's life in Seattle suited both
her artistic devotion and temperament; she became a frequent participant
in readings and writers' conferences, especially Clarion West, which
played a crucial role in her own start; she also served on the advisory
board of Seattle's Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame; and

WHEREAS, Armed with a humanistic spirit, imbued with a sense of
compassion, Octavia Butler's life was a portrait of service, a legacy
which will long endure the passage of time and will remain as a comfort-
ing memory to all she served and befriended; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
mourn the death of prominent science fiction author Octavia E. Butler;
and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to the family of Octavia E. Butler.