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Back in the day, when the Twilight Zone and the Outer Limits were exciting, new shows, the characters of smart starpeople were more often than not presented as haughty, cold, self-absorbed, even cruel beings, who recognized but ignored the needs of 'lesser' beings.
In my travels forward through time, I have met a few smart starpeople who acted like that. However, I have been lucky in that I have met far more smart starpeople who proved to be thoughtful, concerned, caring, every-day beings. 
And then, I had the very good fortune to meet C. Dean Anderson. Dean and I were put on panels together at various science fiction conventions. I, as a technical editor and writer of science fiction short stories, was a panelist. Dean, the talented, professional novelist, working technical writer and for-really scientist, was usually the moderator. 
As such, Dean could have taken a Star-turn, but instead, he was invariably kind and sharing with every person on his panels and with every person in our audiences. Everybody got a chance to share ideas and have fun. If someone wanted to talk more after the panel ended, Dean made time for them.
That was the Dean Andersson I knew. He was a smart, gifted starperson who gladly, quietly shared what he had with those around him. In this, Dean walked lightly on the earth and left it a better place than he found it. 
If you missed getting to know C. Dean Andersson while he was here, it is not too late for you to get to know something of him now. He left behind some wonderful novels for you. Read them and meet the writer who was Dean. When you do, I know you'll be glad you took the time to get to know that smart, quiet, amazing, kindly starperson whom I knew as  Dean Andersson.
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