Rest in Peace: Isaac Wilcott (1980-2015)

Isaac William Wilcott

Born September 22, 1980

Died September 9, 2015

It is with great regret and a heavy heart I must report that Mr. Isaac Wilcott, has passed away this year.

I owe him a great debt which will not be repayed in this life. I visited his A.E. van Vogt homage website when I was laboring in furious joy on the authorized sequel to A.E. van Vogt’s seminal work, WORLD OF NULL A. I had, until then, only seen and read the novelized version, which differed in important respects from the original serialized magazine version. Mr. Wilcott gave me access not only to the original, but to his comparative notes. He also then volunteered to read the manuscript, and made other valuable suggestions, and even went so far as to interview me and help publicize the work.

It would have been difficult without his help. The project may have failed altogether. I am glad I dedicated the book to him: it is a small monument, but I have no more to offer.

All he did for me was out of the generosity of his heart. He was a pleasure to speak to, and he was that rarity in these rude and rough times, a man who was a perfect gentleman, who knew the art of how to put others at ease and make them welcome.

His website bout A.E. van Vogt is a tireless collection of significant information and a labor of love. Anyone interested in the history of the Campbellian ‘Golden Age’ of Science Fiction could do worse than to look and see: http://www.icshi.net/.

He was born in AD 1980, making him some twenty years my junior. Had I known he was to be taken from us so suddenly, I would have taken more steps to get to know him better. I thought I would have more time.

What I did not know was that he was afflicted with seizures, a neurological disorder that prevented him from getting his master’s degree in history. The afflictions grew throughout his life, and he also developed painful arthritis, and suffered bouts of despair. Let us hope and pray that he is now embraced in the joy this life on earth did not show him, and more.

He is buried at the Ochiltree County cemetery near Perryton, Texas, where his grandfather and great-grandfather are buried.

***

Isaac was born on September 22, 1980 to Curtis and Sandra Wilcott of Ridgecrest, CA in Fort Collins, Colorado. He was a member of China Lake Baptist Church in Ridgecrest, California.

Isaac is survived by his parents, Sandra and Curtis, two brothers, Daniel, of Ridgecrest, CA, and Elijah and wife Angel, of Greenville, SC; a sister, Esther Parker and husband, Andrew, of Portland, Oregon; and his grandmother, Winona Molesworth of Amarillo, Texas.

The family requests that memorials be made to China Lake Baptist Church, P. O. Box 23, Ridgecrest, CA 93556.