October 9, 2006: Wilson "Bob" Tucker

He had more than 20 published novels and a number of short stories to his credit, but Bob was best known as a science fiction fan. He was one of the organizers, and is sometimes credited as chair, of the second World Science Fiction Convention. He coined the name "space opera," and "tuckerization" has become a general term for the practice of dropping friends' names into fiction. Friendly and outgoing, he was greatly in demand as a convention guest.

Here's the SFWA memorial page.
-- Steve Jackson