Legendary Marvel Comics And Star Trek Writer Peter David Has Passed Away At 68
Comic book and Star Trek fans woke up to a rough but not unexpected announcement today as legendary writer Peter David passed away of health complications after fighting a tough battle with kidney disease over the last several years.
Peter David’s career is prolific in comics and tie-in novels to the point where there’s not many who haven’t been touched by his work over the last several decades. At Marvel Comics, he worked on Spider-Man 2099, The Incredible Hulk, X-Factor and more. DC Comics he’s notable for runs on Aquaman, Supergirl, and Young Justice. He’s also done dozens of Star Trek novel tie ins, worked on the hit sci-fi series Babylon 5 and that just scratches the surface of his career.
In recent years, he’s been struggling, though, as his medical problems caught up and the freelance work for these big entertainment corporations didn’t end up paying very well.
In 2017, Peter David revealed he was in disastrous shape financially even after decades of service to these mainstream comic companies. He wrote on his blog at the time:
Many years ago I had a television series on the air called "Space Cases." And I made a lot of money that year. I mean a lot. And I had a ton of money sitting in my bank account ready to send to the IRS on April 15th. It was all good.
And then the day that I was going to send the check, I swung by the nearest ATM to withdraw some cash and was astounded to see that half the money in my account was gone. Why was it gone? Because my then wife withdrew it in order to pay for a divorce lawyer, which was how I found out my marriage was dissolving. So the money never went to the IRS because I had to use the remainder to hire my own attorney.
Over the years, I never managed to land another project that would pay me that much. I had lots of people make promises–I even did the work for some of them–and none ever came up with the money. Meanwhile I tried to make payment arrangements with the IRS but they didn't last, because throughout the year I'd send in the payments but then on April 15 I had no money to pay the income tax because I'd already sent them all my spare money.
Then they seemed to just forget about it. Which was great.
Except recently they now seem to have remembered. And they want all the money, plus penalty and interest, or they are going to financially destroy me.
How much? $88,000.
At the time, he raised $45,555 of that on a GoFundMe and said he got help from online friends to pay off the debt.
His situation only got worse from there, however, as his health began to deteriorate in the early 2020s. He suffered kidney failure, a heart attack, and numerous strokes, making it difficult for him to work at all and adding a ridiculous healthcare bill to his problems. Once again, he opened a GoFundMe.
Over the years, the GoFundMe has raised $300,614. While it seems like a lot, going through the updates to see the amount of surgeries, dialysis, doctor’s appointments for infections that he’s gone through, the money evaporated rather quickly.
His wife provided an update on December 13, 2024:
Well I have a mountain of paperwork to find. Peter was rejected for Medicaid after being on it for a year and a half. Insurance pays only for so many weeks unless there is a new diagnosis then the clock goes back to zero and he has that many more weeks. Medicaid is why we are not totally broke the other reasons are GoFundMe and Patreon. We shut the GoFundMe down because I thought we were financially secure while I continue to try to find a job I can live with. Now this has reared its ugly head.
Yesterday’s meeting was both good and bad news. We do have a plan to fight the rejection starting with an appeal to the Suffolk county social services office. Gives us a little time to get the paperwork together. However this is all happening during the holiday season which, actually gives us less time over all.
Getting the paperwork has been like pulling teeth. I have power of attorney but I have to get vetted for every company that Disney uses for payroll and the like. Then it has to go through the Disney lawyers who sign off on it and that can take a long time like seven to ten business days or two weeks to us mortal folk.
I am making progress however it is like I get a puzzle piece I have to use to finish the Medicaid paperwork.
I am tired and very frustrated. But I will continue to work on this because in the alternative I loose everything.
The situation got worse again at the end of the year as the Davids had already closed the GoFundMe, thinking that they were in sound financial shape, but it seems like they have bills piling up once more even though his health has stabilized:
Peter is at his new normal and no infections
Our big problem is Medicaid rejecting Peter. We have a hearing on Wednesday. There may be a new go fund me to pay his medical bills which are stacking up. I have kept up so far but the budget is squeaking.
Now, another Star Trek novelist Keith R.A. DeCandido broke the news of his passing to Facebook, saying, “Just got the news that Peter David finally lost his rather lengthy battle with his failing physical form last night. I first met Peter 35 years ago, when he appeared on The Chronic Rift public access show, and over the last three-and-a-half decades, he has been a respected creator, a good friend, a valued colleague, and a generally wonderful person.”
“I have a lot to say about him, but right now I'm just sad that I won't get to enjoy his delightfully smart and funny presence ever again. And I'm also thinking of his wife Kathleen O'Shea David, and his daughters Ariel, Shana, Gwen, and Caroline.”
“Picture with this post is one of my favorites, from Peter and Kath's wedding in May 2001, of Peter with his best man, the late great Harlan Ellison, a picture that Peter said perfectly summed up his and Harlan's friendship, with Peter as the Daffy Duck to Harlan's Bugs Bunny.”
“Rest in peace, my friend,” he concluded.
Fans are reacting across the internet. Razorfist mentioned Peter David’s lesser-known work on the Phantom and how great it was.
Fantasy editor Sean Korsgaard also shared his reaction:
Even though 68 isn’t young by any means, it definitely feels as if David were lost too soon. Do you have memories of Peter David and his work? Leave a comment and let us know.
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I first read Peter David’s work on Spectacular Spider Man - “The death of Jean de Wolf”. That was my introduction to how cool it was to have a wonderful and skilled writer on the book. It was different. I didn’t want deWolf to die - and spider man was as enraged as I was. I still remember it. I was 13 years old.
Everything with Peter Davids name on it after that - I bought. I’m glad to have read his work.
Yeah. I do have some memories of Peter David. I was at a con and his daughter stuck on "count pickula" (a pickle verison of count dracula) on something of Harlan Ellison's and Harlan was like WTF is this? I remember another panel he was on, talking about the absurdity of the the Enterprise "listing" in space in the original series. It was a lot of fun. I think he also talked about the decontamination scene in Enterprise being sexy but not feeling sexy at all. He signed a book for me. I really enjoyed his work. He will be missed.