Dear Twitter: George R. R. Martin is not dead
UPDATE: March 9, 2016, 1:55 p.m. EST George R. R. Martin has responded to the confusion caused by George Martin's death: "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," the author wrote in his Livejournal.
"I expect to hang around for quite a while yet, thank you very much. But thank you all for caring."
ORIGINAL POST: It's true: George Martin, the legendary English music producer who's been hailed as "the fifth Beatle" by no less than Sir Paul McCartney himself, died at the age of 90.
You May Also Like
But George R. R. Martin, the New Jersey-born fantasy author best known for his Song of Ice and Fire saga? Yeah, he's still very much alive.
Not that you'd know it from scores of confused Twitter users mistakenly mourning the death of the guy behind Game of Thrones.
Even a few professionals (semi-understandably) mixed up the two celebrities.
Numerous as they are, though, these tweeters can't compare with the number of users writing how they thought, for one heart-stopping moment, that George R. R. Martin had died -- before breathing a huge sigh of relief once they realized their mistake. (Unstated but implied: #nodisrespecttogeorgemartin.)
And then, of course, there are those who just want to watch the world burn.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Topics Books Game Of Thrones Music X/Twitter
Hillary Busis was Mashable's Deputy Entertainment Editor. Her coverage focused on the film and television industry. A graduate of Columbia, Hillary previously worked as a digital news editor at Entertainment Weekly, where she also cohosted a weekly show on EW's Sirius XM Radio channel. Her work has been featured in Vulture, Slate and the Wall Street Journal, among other publications, and she's also appeared as a guest on the 'Today' show and HuffPost Live.
