Stephen Robinett (a.k.a. “Tak Hallus”) is dead–and has been, it seems, since 2003.
He sort of fell out of the field by the 1980s, and personally I thought it was a mistake to drop his pseudonym: “Tak Hallus” is weird and instantly memorable, whereas I can never remember if his real name has a final “e” or not without looking it up (and I’m a huge fan). But reading his Stargate as a serial in Analog was one of the highlights of my teenage geekdom, and I know that I’m not alone in this. It seems weird that his passing went unremarked for so long in the field, now that we are Living In The Future and know everything before it happens, and also what two flavors of talking head think about it.
Well, crap. I enjoyed his work immensely, and yes, when Analog made available the cover for Stargate (which you are using as an icon now) as a print, I bought it.
I know he wrote a couple of mysteries too. I need to look those up.
That’s the ultimate sf magazine cover for me.