George R. R. Martin is definitely "Not Dead Yet"

Following the sad news that Sir George Martin, "the fifth Beatle", had passed away earlier this week aged 90, R.R. Martin wrote a blog post titled "Not Dead Yet" pre-empting the reports of his own untimely demise:

While it is strangely moving to realize that so many people around the world care so deeply about my life and death, I have to go with Mark Twain and insist that the rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

It was Sir George Martin, of Beatles fame, who has passed away. Not me.

He will be missed. I never met Sir George (I did meet Paul McCartney once, for about a minute, while waiting for the valet to bring my rental car up at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills), but like many millions of others, I loved the Beatles, and Martin's contribution to their music is worthy of recognition and honor.

As for me, I am still here, still writing, still editing, still going to movies and reading books, and I expect to hang around for quite a while yet, thank you very much.

But thank you all for caring.

R.R. Martin's death has been the subject of consdirable study - there's even a website monitoring the situation.

Game Of Thrones season six premieres 24 April on HBO. The below trailer features a cover of “Wicked Game” performed by James Vincent McMorrow.