My senior year English Lit teacher told me, unequivocally, that no one would ever want to read anything I would ever think to write. Well, once I first became published in six countries, I packed up a bundle to have her choke on, only to find out the bitch was dead. Oh well. The last laugh is mine, nonetheless.
RIP Harlan Ellison (1934-2018)
- Thread starter JaxsBrokenHeart
- Start date
I rarely ever use the word curmudgeon but I think Ellison was one of the few that is worthy of that.
Started watching, couldn't stop. The man was a consummate entertainer even (especially) as he prodded and provoked.
Wow, an end of an era. I wasn't familiar with his writing beyond his television work, but I'm well aware of the influence he had on science-fiction. He may have been a curmudgeon, but he was a brilliant one nonetheless.
May you finally rest in peace, Harlan.
May you finally rest in peace, Harlan.
As shocking as that sounds, I'm not at all surprised. That must be heartbreaking for fans of his literary fans.
I am genuinely saddened by this news. A true loss to American literature at large, and science fiction/fantasy in particular. I will have no time or patience for anyone who is still butt-hurt because Ellison said something bad about Trek or Roddenberry once. Get the fuck over it already!
I encourage anyone who has not seen it, to find a copy of the documentary Dreams With Sharp Teeth - very interesting and incredibly entertaining (especially the sequences featuring Robin Williams hanging out with Harlan). Here's the trailer:
I encourage anyone who has not seen it, to find a copy of the documentary Dreams With Sharp Teeth - very interesting and incredibly entertaining (especially the sequences featuring Robin Williams hanging out with Harlan). Here's the trailer:
I would imagine that his estate is probably set up to prevent that. Copyright law extends for decades after the death of the original author, so I wouldn't expect to see any nuTrek remakes.
Who's he going to sue now?
RIP
RIP
It's hard to believe that the angry young man of Science Fiction was 84. He's one of my favorite writers and, in my opinion, the last of the great SF writers, even though he was just a boy when the others were already in middle age. Like Clarke, Asimov, and the rest, he was a giant influence on me as a writer. From classic fiction like "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" to slice-of-life essays like "The Three Most Important Things In Life," Ellison was a presence in American culture that everyone should experience.
He was not exactly a gentle creature and I only agreed with maybe half of what he ever said, but his dedication to high standards and the greater good was inspiring (as was his devotion to intellectual property rights). His opinions, even when misguided, had the full force of a monstrous intellect behind them and could not be ignored. And the passion that informed his writing will never be surpassed. One of my favorite essays of his was "Reaping The Whirlwind," the original 1974 preface to Approaching Oblivion, and the last several paragraphs are even more powerful now than they were then:
RIP, Harlan Ellison, and thanks for everything.
I wonder if this means that The Last Dangerous Visions is truly dead, or if someone will now gather it up and publish it in his memory.
He was not exactly a gentle creature and I only agreed with maybe half of what he ever said, but his dedication to high standards and the greater good was inspiring (as was his devotion to intellectual property rights). His opinions, even when misguided, had the full force of a monstrous intellect behind them and could not be ignored. And the passion that informed his writing will never be surpassed. One of my favorite essays of his was "Reaping The Whirlwind," the original 1974 preface to Approaching Oblivion, and the last several paragraphs are even more powerful now than they were then:
Harlan Ellison said:
RIP, Harlan Ellison, and thanks for everything.
I wonder if this means that The Last Dangerous Visions is truly dead, or if someone will now gather it up and publish it in his memory.
It was a joke...
You didn't make that clear... because it's a question that I would expect some people to seriously ask, if they don't know how copyright works, or that some authors put extremely tight restrictions on their body of work, post-death.
For example, even now Marion Zimmer Bradley's estate won't allow fanfic. Lots of luck with that, since I have no intention of destroying what's in my own fanzine collection or what I've written, but the restriction still exists.
It wouldn't surprise me if Ellison did everything he could think of to legally restrict his own work in perpetuity, never mind the current legal limits.
Actually, WarpFactorZ did mak it clear it was a joke, with the parenthetic (too soon). As in "when is a joke too soon".
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Agreed. Sometimes his story forwards and afterwards were even more pointed and entertaining than the stories themselves. His introduction to Deathbird and Other Stories talks about a funeral for a friend and hating the comforting platitudes one often hears at such times, and how the stories in that collection were him raging against death. I think I may read that this weekend. Seems apropos somehow...
With reports that he instructed his wife to burn all unfinished manuscripts upon his death, I think that's the final shred of hope we'll ever see The Last Dangerous Visions. Besides, over the decades, I think most (if not all) of the authors have gotten their stories back and had them published elsewhere. I just saw an announcement for an upcoming collection of Gordon R Dickson stories that will include his LDV story.
