Keith Parkinson

Keith Parkinson
Oct. 22, 1958 – Oct. 26, 2005

Wednesday afternoon, while surrounded by his family Keith Parkinson passed away after a 16 month battle with Leukemia. Keith was a wonderful person, a fantastically talented artist, a good friend and most importantly a loving husband and father.

He was getting better, he had had a transplant a year ago and the prognosis was good. I wasn’t there for the every day updates but the last time I had spoken with his wife she was optimistic. This man was one of the friendliest people I knew, very kind and happy. Even right out of the hospital after a treatment with no hair I saw him and he was upbeat. His talent was extraordinary, his work awe inspiring.

On of my favorite memories of Keith was right after he moved out here to San Diego. He ran a one shot DnD game that I got to attend. He was trying to get us in a situation where we were in trouble and I rolled a natural 20 so this plan completely didn’t work. If you’ve never played DnD just suffice it to say I thwarted his plan and he had to improvise. I got the best annoyed look from him for that, it was a fun afternoon.

The last time I actually saw Keith was when they were doing a drive for the Leukemia National Registry. He was upbeat and excited that so many people had come glossing over the fact that we were all there simply because we loved him.

Keith was 47 years old and he will be missed, by his family and friends, by his fans and by those who didn’t even realize he touched their lives with his art. You can see his genius on many different book covers, mostly fantasy by Eddings, Goodkind, Brooks and others.

If you would like to make a donation in Keith’s memory please donate to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society:

http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/all_page?item_id=8477