Harlan Ellison says he is dying

[Sir Rhosis]

I suppose, technically, we all are to one degree or another. Those are his words. He plans a final convention appearance.

Short interview here:

http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=30610

I've always been a fan of his work, own most every book he's written. Love him or hate him, if this is true, one of the giants of the field is leaving us.

Sir Rhosis

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

God bless the man. He's worth ten times ten thousand of his "critics" - and all the fanbois on the Internet who've used his name in vain are doomed to die anonymous failures.

 

[Procutus]

That is a damn shame. I met Harlan in 1988 here in Cleveland at the Superman Convention - he was witty, funny and completely engaging. I too, own a large number of his books and I'm grateful I got to meet him when I did.

I sincerely hope that he's with us for quite some time.

 

[Shatnertage]

Sad to hear it, but the excerpts from the interview were downright inspirational, in a good way. What an incredible life.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I met him thirty-five years ago, when he spoke to a small group (about thirty people) at my university. He was a magnetic personality, riveting - and yet probably one of the most scattered personalities you can imagine when trying to do something like light his pipe (yeah, despite his frequent declarations that he's never used drugs or alcohol, he smoked).

 

[doubleohfive]

Very sad news indeed. Ellison has always been one of my inspirations when pursuing my own career as a writer. The world will be much lesser a place without him.

 

[Procutus]

Ellison has always been one of my inspirations when pursuing my own career as a writer.

Same here, his short-stories are what convinced me to try my own hand at writing them as well. I was also drawn to the fact that we both grew up in Northern Ohio, in two towns just barely seven miles apart.

 

[Harvey]

His anthology of film reviews, "Watching," made for fascinating (if sometimes mixed) reading a few months ago. If I haven't been able to read as much of his works as I would like, it doesn't discount his tremendous talent, even if he has a reputation for being a curmudgeon. It's a shame he never finished that autobiography Susan Ivanova was shown reading on Babylon 5. I would have liked to have read that.

Hopefully he's not as close to death's door as he seems to think, but if he is, he'll be missed.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I'm sorry, but Harlan Ellison's writing convinced me that I should probably just give up and learn accounting.

When I was young I had several immediate responses to a piece of writing that excited me. One, the useful one, was "I want to do that." Another, one of heartfelt admiration, was "I wish I had written that." But a few folks were, and are, just humbling: "Not on the best day of my life."

 

[Sir Rhosis]

After hearing about him for a number of years, around '79, I bought "Strange Wine." Book knocked me on my ass. Especially "Croaton." Story to this day engages me, enrages me, makes me think, makes me sympathetic, makes me... like he said, it is about responsibility. Never forget those days discovering his work.

Sir Rhosis

 

[MANT!]

The Former "Angry Young Man" of Science fiction is finally losing his demons..
It appears that he finally has found peace..

I've seen the teleplay "The Discarded" and am glad that he feels his work was respected in that one broadcast..


he will be missed..

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Well, he is 76, hope the cantankerous old bastard has a few more years left. Wish they still played his rants on Syfy like they did in the olden days.

BTW, I love that he watches America's Got Talent.

 

[Kelso]

It's strange to think that he is done writing. I mean, it would already probably take me the rest of my life to read everything that he has written, but still.

At least he's able to look back on a long, happy life. Hope I can say that some day.

 

[Amaris]

What a shame. Ellison has always been a firebrand, an angry, ranting man, but his work has always been excellent, and I hate to see him go. I never like it when brilliant minds go dark. I hope whatever time he has left (hopefully many more years), is spent in whatever way makes him happy.

 

[Ziz]

On his unfinished work
"My wife has instructions that the instant I die, she has to burn all the unfinished stories. And there may be a hundred unfinished stories in this house, maybe more than that. There's three quarters of a novel. No, these things are not to be finished by other writers, no matter how good they are.

This comment impressed me the most.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Indeed, that's one of the few things I've ever heard him say that I actually agree with. I can totally understand why he'd do that.

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Agreed. That's the way it should be, too.

 

[JarodRussell]

I think Death is too afraid of getting sued, so Ellison is going to live forever.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Death is probably more in dread of being upbraided for what a lame and amateurish job Ellison thinks it's been doing.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I think Death is too afraid of getting sued, so Ellison is going to live forever.