Happy 80th birthday to Ursula K. Le Guin!

And happy 40th to her creation, The Left Hand of Darkness.
Le Guin is the first science fiction writer to get me thinking about gender and feminism and a number of other things. She continues to be an inspiration (plus we quoted her at our wedding :-).

And in an unrelated to birthdays note, Jana and I once met her on an elevator at WisCon. We chatted for a bit, then she got off at her floor. Jana (in all fairness, not a fan, and only aware of those sf  writers and editors who I've introduced her to or whose works I've read to her) said, "Who's the nice elderly lady everyone's getting all silly about?" :-D
Who indeed. At any rate, she was favorably impressed and allowed as Le Guin seemed quite cool.