Kage Baker, who was with the agency long before its official inception, died in the early hours of January 31, 2010, after a short but heroic battle with cancer. 
 

She is best known for her Company works, an SF series spanning human history, two planets, and at least 3 variations on the human race; the tale ultimately ran to 8 volumes and dozens of short stories and novellas.  

She also wrote fantasy, notably the novels The Anvil of the World and The House of the Stag, the latter a finalist for a World Fantasy Best Novel Award in 2009.   She won the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award in 2004 for the novella Empress of Mars, published by Asimov’s magazine, and later expanded and published as a Tor novel.   She was nominated several times for both the Hugo and Nebula awards.

Kage’s most recent novels are Not Less Than Gods, a steampunk novel featuring members of The Gentlemen’s Speculative Society (a Company precursor), and The Bird of the River, a romance set in the universe of Anvil of the World. Both will be published posthumously by Tor. 

Forty-eight hours after Baker's death, Locus released it's 2010 recommended reading list, featuring three of Baker's book titles: The Hotel Under the Sand, The Women of Nell Gwynne's, and The Empress of Mars. Further, three of the recommended anthologies include stories by her.