Sue Bolich (S.A Bolich) wasn't a flashy person and didn't really advertise her cancer like some writers have. (That's no criticism of those folks, just how Sue was.)
It's hard for me to describe how wonderfully solid and dependable Sue was. You can read her bio and see her books at http://www.sabolichbooks.com/.
What I can tell you about Sue is: She was a great sounding board. She didn't suffer fools. She was tough and kind, self-reliant and neighborly.
Sue was direct in a way the way that feels like home for those of us who grew up or lived in the Mountain West. She was the kind of direct that can be uncomfortable.
She knew that daylight is burning and there's stock (horses in her case) to be taken care of and chores to be done and words waiting to be written.
Sue's directness was a valuable asset to the Norwescon Writers Workshop.
She and I disagreed on politics; we were friends anyway. That’s how friendship works. We would have probably voted differently in the election she didn't live to cast a vote in. Or maybe not, because she didn't suffer fools.
When I first started organizing Rapid Fire Readings for Broad Universe, Sue had my back. Her knowledge and experience gave me confidence and helped me see potential problems.
In 2015, when I worried that a RFR at recent Worldcon might draw disruptive people from the GamerGate and Rapid Puppy camps, I crafted an emergency plan and asked her and another BU member to stand by my side if I needed to deal with a disruptive person. Both of them were willing.
During the height of the Rapid Puppy and GamerGate controversies, supporting someone meant taking a huge risk of being doxed and trolled and having SWAT show up at your house. (Fortunately, we didn't need the back-up plan.)
I can't tell you how grateful I was that Sue was willing to take that risk and have my back.
Breast cancer is the most-common cancer in women (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,) and 1 of in 8 women in the United States will develop invasive breast cancer during her lifetime (American Cancer Society.)
Sue was among those 1 in 8 women. My mom was one of those women
For several years Sue was among the 2.8 million breast cancer survivors. My mom was among those women for 13 years.
But that monster came back. One of these days we'll beat that monster back for good.