Science fiction fans and authors are rallying behind Sheila Williams, the longtime editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction, after her family launched a fundraiser to help cover the cost of moving her and her husband into assisted living. Williams was hospitalized after suffering a brain aneurysm in January, and while she has since made progress in her recovery, the toll of the health crisis, layered on top of her role as her husband’s full-time caretaker, has left the family needing more support than her adult daughters can provide on their own.
Williams’s connection to Asimov’s runs back further than almost anyone else in the genre. She joined the magazine in June 1982 and spent ten years working directly alongside Isaac Asimov himself before he died in 1992. She moved into the executive editor chair at sister publication Analog from 1998 to 2004, then returned to Asimov’s as editor that same year when Gardner Dozois retired after a 19-year run. In January 2024, Williams passed Dozois’s tenure to become the longest-serving editor in the magazine’s history, a run that will carry Asimov’s into its 50th anniversary issue in March 2027.
Her editorial track record includes two Hugo Awards for Best Editor, Short Form, in 2011 and 2012, along with 17 total Hugo nominations in the category, one as recently as 2025. Stories she edited at Asimov’s have collectively won 53 Hugo Awards and 28 Nebula Awards. In 1993 she co-founded the Dell Magazines Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing with Rick Wilber, a program designed to give young writers a cash prize, a conference appearance, and direct mentorship from Williams and other established authors, several of whom went on to become working professionals in the field. In 2017, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America gave her the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award, shared jointly with Dozois, for a career spent developing both new and established voices in the genre.
Williams’s hospitalization in January prompted an outpouring from the writing community, with Asimov’s naming senior managing editor Emily Hockaday as interim editor while Williams recovers. Author Kristine Kathryn Rusch is now among those pointing fans toward the fundraiser, writing on Facebook that Williams gave the field great reading and a vision of a marvelous future, and urging the community to return the favor now that Williams and her husband need it most.
The GoFundMe lays it out:
Hi - This is Irene and Juliet, the daughters of Sheila and David. As many of you know, last December our mom suffered a brain aneurysm, leading to a heart attack and a stroke. Over the last nine months, her recovery has been significant but slow. She has progressed from neuro-ICU to acute care to her current placement in a rehab facility. Sheila has been working hard to regain as much functionality as she can, but still has an extremely long way to go. Physically she remains paralyzed on her left side and cognitively she is getting better every day, but she still needs 24-hour care. And unfortunately as of August 7, Medicare will no longer cover her rehabilitation or her stay at any facility.
To make matters worse, at the time of her aneurysm Sheila was the primary caregiver along with my sister Juliet for our dad, David, who has been battling Parkinson’s for the last several years. Since the aneurism, Juliet lives at home with him as his primary caregiver, but this is becoming increasingly unsustainable due to increasing levels of full time and specialized care David requires. At this point, it is becoming apparent that Juliet and I cannot safely provide the level of care he needs at home without additional aid.
Over the past months we have done everything we can to make sure both of our parents have the best possible care at every step. Making sure they have had the best medical treatment and physical therapy possible while also managing the endless bureaucracy and relentless advocacy for both parents needed to ensure this level of care was actually delivered. Our days are filled with conversations with medical providers, financial wrangling with insurers and health care bureaucrats, and seemingly-endless decisions. I’m proud of what Juliet and I have been able to do for our parents so far and how much our mom has been able to recover. But, unfortunately, given the imminent lapse of Mom’s Medicare coverage and Dad’s current condition, the next steps for Mom and Dad feel extremely fraught, and we are no longer feeling confident that we alone can provide the level of care our parents need.
After extensive research, it seems like the best option for both Mom and Dad would be an assisted living facility, with my dad being placed in the added memory care division. We believe that this is the best option for their continued care and recovery, with full time care by medical and physical therapy professionals.
We love our parents deeply and want them to be as safe and comfortable as possible. Our goal is to eventually bring our parents back home once they have progressed further and require less full time assistance. Juliet and I wish we could do more ourselves, but we know this is the safest and most compassionate option for both Sheila and David, which is why we are now asking for help. Any support you can offer would mean the world to us, and will fully go towards ensuring both our parents can continue receiving the necessary medical and rehabilitation care they deserve. Thank you so much for considering our family and for any help you can provide. Just sharing the Go Fund Me is deeply appreciated.
With love, Irene and Juliet Bruce
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-irenes-parents-get-skilled-nursing-care
Does an editor who spent four decades building careers for other writers get to lean on the community she built when she needs it, or does an industry that runs on freelance rates and vanishing benefits leave people like Williams to fend for themselves after everything they’ve given it?
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If I send a link to this story to the members of my local science fiction and fantasy club, will they be able to read the story, Jon? There's just a lot more meat on the bones here than on the GoFundMe page, itself.