You know what breaks my heart is when he said I don't want my wife to look for my laugh and look for me and he passed his wife went 2 years after him thats a very soul crushing vision to me
Harlan, man. I met you back in 1982 (your first words to me, in that Florida heat, were, "Don't have a stroke! Don't have a stroke!"). I was a student of yours at a fantasy writing workshop the next year, crashed a party of yours once, made you laugh like hell with my L. Frank Baum pun, chatted a dozen more times with you through the years, and wept the day I heard you'd died. And I assure you: Somebody is still reading your stuff.
The guy sold 2 stories his first year, and more than a hundred his second. That's insane! I guess when you learn about him staying up all night pulling 12 hour shifts at the typewriter it makes you realise the importance of work ethic. It's nothing without talent, of course, but the reverse is also true.
Quick historical footnote. Harlan also had ample opportunities to publish too because of the still prevalent pulp magazine market, which sadly no longer exists. But there are lot of places popping up online these days for young writers to get their start.
Never met him, wanted to, but was ill right before a Con where he was attending. Shame as always wanted to jut listen to him. Loved A Boy and His Dog, both the film that I saw when it came out and the book. Love listening to him the Late Show with Tom Synder, especially when he'd say things about places they went to and Tom would try so hard to make Ellison shut up.It was so funny.
Any conversation I get into involving literature, I make sure to mention 3 things: The Dead Zone (my personal all time favorite novel), Lolita (the finest novel ever written because of Nabokov's use of language), and Harlan Ellison (my favorite writer)...
A campfire was the primal science fiction 3-D film for hominids, as the night sky was the first Rorshach test. We are projectors who both absorb light and expel it back in new forms. Everything is sci-fi if seen rightly. Every element an epiphany. Transparent fluid that becomes your body. What an uncanny Creation. As Nietzsche put it: "Man would rather have the void for a purpose than be void of purpose." We are congealed water that has learned to tame flame. And crucibles of miracles.
I wish more of Ellison's books were in the store. Whether it's in the sci-fi section, or the mainstream, I don't see many of Harlan's books at all. Blame the publishers, I guess, for taking his stuff out of print.
+Raelspark Yeah, you can only really find his stuff online these days. When I went to a local B&N they didn't have a single story/collection of his on the shelves.
i heard he didnt like how star trek mucked up his script. apparently he wrote for drug dealers to be on the enterprise, so if hes being far fetched like that, i can see why it was changed up
+Ian Williams I defend B-5. I really liked it. Especially, the civil war between the alien races. I think it was way better than Deep Space Nine (as far as space station shows go).
You know what breaks my heart is when he said I don't want my wife to look for my laugh and look for me and he passed his wife went 2 years after him thats a very soul crushing vision to me
Harlan, man. I met you back in 1982 (your first words to me, in that Florida heat, were, "Don't have a stroke! Don't have a stroke!"). I was a student of yours at a fantasy writing workshop the next year, crashed a party of yours once, made you laugh like hell with my L. Frank Baum pun, chatted a dozen more times with you through the years, and wept the day I heard you'd died. And I assure you:
Somebody is still reading your stuff.
"I can tell you why your writing isn't selling: It's crap! Stop writing crap! If it weren't crap, it would sell!" - Harlan Ellison
and then there is a tiktok 😂 with books crap
when a video starts with william gibson saying badass you know it's gonna be good
The guy sold 2 stories his first year, and more than a hundred his second. That's insane! I guess when you learn about him staying up all night pulling 12 hour shifts at the typewriter it makes you realise the importance of work ethic. It's nothing without talent, of course, but the reverse is also true.
Quick historical footnote. Harlan also had ample opportunities to publish too because of the still prevalent pulp magazine market, which sadly no longer exists.
But there are lot of places popping up online these days for young writers to get their start.
I guess I oughtta throw Conrad's Heart Of Darkness in there, too, for his use of language. Thanks for uploading the cool Ellison footage!
Never met him, wanted to, but was ill right before a Con where he was attending. Shame as always wanted to jut listen to him. Loved A Boy and His Dog, both the film that I saw when it came out and the book. Love listening to him the Late Show with Tom Synder, especially when he'd say things about places they went to and Tom would try so hard to make Ellison shut up.It was so funny.
*60 years as a very imaginative (and at times, genius) writer. Not bad for such a bad-boy!*
Great stuff! Thanks for uploading. 8)
Any conversation I get into involving literature, I make sure to mention 3 things: The Dead Zone (my personal all time favorite novel), Lolita (the finest novel ever written because of Nabokov's use of language), and Harlan Ellison (my favorite writer)...
A campfire was the primal science fiction 3-D film for hominids, as the night sky was the first Rorshach test.
We are projectors who both absorb light and expel it back in new forms.
Everything is sci-fi if seen rightly.
Every element an epiphany.
Transparent fluid that becomes your body.
What an uncanny Creation.
As Nietzsche put it: "Man would rather have the void for a purpose than be void of purpose."
We are congealed water that has learned to tame flame.
And crucibles of miracles.
You know your literature, man!
Well, sometimes crap sells like you wouldn't believe it. I wonder what would Harlan would've thought about the Twilight and 50 shades books?
I wish more of Ellison's books were in the store. Whether it's in the sci-fi section, or the mainstream, I don't see many of Harlan's books at all. Blame the publishers, I guess, for taking his stuff out of print.
+Raelspark Yeah, you can only really find his stuff online these days. When I went to a local B&N they didn't have a single story/collection of his on the shelves.
i heard he didnt like how star trek mucked up his script. apparently he wrote for drug dealers to be on the enterprise, so if hes being far fetched like that, i can see why it was changed up
I bet Harlan accepted the email from Arthur C Clarke.
Why couldn't Kirk and McCoy take Joan Collins back to their own time?
Michael Donovan You need to read her sister's book, "Hollywood Wives," for the rest of the story and the untold backstory.
Michael Donovan It wasn't in her contract.
+Michael Donovan Also read the original script - it's nothing like what got made into the series....
I love Ellison but Babylon-5 is rubbish.
+Ian Williams I defend B-5. I really liked it. Especially, the civil war between the alien races. I think it was way better than Deep Space Nine (as far as space station shows go).
+Ian Williams Care to back that up??
It was pretty good despite being overloaded with self-righteous boomers who destroyed the west over their lifetimes.