Harlan Ellison is not well!

[AE35Unit]

Originally Posted by Connavar

I havent even read Ellison but i can understand what you would feel he is a legend that you have respect for even if you havent read him.

Its natural to feel loss, real pain when an author you adored passes away. Reading quality writing lets you get to know the author in a way, there is few things as personal as written words. I have felt like losing close family when my the author i had read most died in 2008. I felt it in my gut for days. When you count on someone like that, read him many years you dont need to meet in real life to feel loss.

Absolutely! Even tho i didnt enjoy all his fiction I felt gutted when I heard Asimov had died back in 92! It was even worse when Clarke died!

[HighWiredSith]

Although I wish him the best, I am not a fan. I did notice he was well enough to file yet another lawsuit claiming yet another film company stole his ideas. I'm not sure if the man is convinced that the entire genre of speculative fiction belongs to him personally or is just delusional. I know personally three people who have personally met Mr. Ellison and they all tell the same story - he's a bitter, egotistical, cantankerous old fart who treats his fans like dirt. One of these three is still a huge fan and convinced the persona is just that, an image that he feels he must uphold. I am not so convinced. As I said, one human being to another, I wish him all the best - but I won't buy anything he's written and avoid it when I can.

[Lilmizflashythang]

I watch a show on the Science Channel, The Prophets of Science fiction. And Mr. Ellison was talking about Heinlein last night. The guy seem to sneer at any fan of science fiction, and not just the hippies that Heinlein was having a problem with.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Lilmizflashythang

The guy seem to sneer at any fan of science fiction, and not just the hippies that Heinlein was having a problem with.

Not quite, though it is easy to get that impression. He does, however, have little patience for certain types of fan and, given some of what I've seen myself in that category, I can easily understand it, especially given how many seem to want to challenge Ellison in some way.

I would also suggest reading his essay, "Xenogenesis" for more background on why he (and several other sf writers) might have a fair degree of ambivalence toward their "fans"; in the essay he deals not only with some of his own experiences, but collects together a number of incidents shared by other writers. There are things in there which would make your hair stand on end....

[jojajihisc]

Originally Posted by Lilmizflashythang

I watch a show on the Science Channel, The Prophets of Science fiction. And Mr. Ellison was talking about Heinlein last night. The guy seem to sneer at any fan of science fiction, and not just the hippies that Heinlein was having a problem with.

The one thing I've found about listening to Harlan Ellison speak is you can count on plenty of hyperbole. Many things he feels worth talking about are also worth exaggerating apparently. I have to admit though, it does keep me listening.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by jojajihisc

The one thing I've found about listening to Harlan Ellison speak is you can count on plenty of hyperbole. Many things he feels worth talking about are also worth exaggerating apparently. I have to admit though, it does keep me listening.

That, too, is a good point. Ellison has had a long career of public speaking/entertaining an audience (including having done stand-up comedy, if memory serves); and, as Neil Gaiman has noted, there is a great deal of "performance art" in Ellison's presentation of himself. It is when he gets quiet and serious that one often sees his genuine thoughts on matters; at least these are the times when what he says and the thrust of so much of his writing seem most closely aligned....

[Extollager]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

I would also suggest reading his essay, "Xenogenesis" for more background on why he (and several other sf writers) might have a fair degree of ambivalence toward their "fans"; in the essay he deals not only with some of his own experiences, but collects together a number of incidents shared by other writers. There are things in there which would make your hair stand on end....

You were hardly exaggerating, JD. I've been reading that essay this afternoon. Ellison makes me ashamed of what sf "fans" have done -- sick practical jokes, repeated thefts of valuables from his home, etc.

Does anyone have an update on how Ellison is doing?

[j. d. worthington]

Ellison, of course, made it clear that he made a distinction between fans who were decent human beings and those who pulled this sort of thing; but also (of course) one cannot know which a person is until they've either pulled such or not. And, of course, the majority are decent people, but there are quite enough of the other type to make even lovers of these branches of imaginative literature (such as myself) a bit wary of fandom....

And no, I don't see much in the way of updates recently. He had lost a considerable amount of weight, and was having various illnesses; but just how serious it all is I really don't know. He has said that he is dying, but whether this is a long-term terminal illness, or something else... I'd like to know, but I've not seen any answers yet....

[Extollager]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

Ellison, of course, made it clear that he made a distinction between fans who were decent human beings and those who pulled this sort of thing

Yes -- he emphasizes this strongly. He suggests it's about 95% to 5%.

Thanks for the update.

[pyan]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

I would also suggest reading his essay, "Xenogenesis" for more background on why he (and several other sf writers) might have a fair degree of ambivalence toward their "fans"; in the essay he deals not only with some of his own experiences, but collects together a number of incidents shared by other writers. There are things in there which would make your hair stand on end....

Sounded interesting, so I downloaded it to my Kindle (it's in Over the Edge - a bargain at £2.99/$4.70ish) and you're not joking: I'm amazed that "fans" would behave like this. The one that really got me was the un-named Golden Age writer that asked the "fan " to babysit while he and his wife went out...

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by pyan

Sounded interesting, so I downloaded it to my Kindle (it's in Over the Edge - a bargain at £2.99/$4.70ish) and you're not joking: I'm amazed that "fans" would behave like this. The one that really got me was the un-named Golden Age writer that asked the "fan " to babysit while he and his wife went out...

I may be misremembering this somewhat (it has been quite a long time since I read the essay) but, if memory serves, what makes this one even more horrific is the fact that he (the fan) got to know them over a considerable period of time before doing this. That isn't simply coarse, callous, or callow... that indicates a deliberate, long-range effort to worm your way into someone's confidence before taking advantage of them, in this case in perhaps the most egregious way possible short of murder....

[Connavar]

What happened to the baby or do I even want to really know that essay sounds horrific...

I respect authors I havent read but the ones I'm fan are special,rare to me. When I met recently a Swedish children lit great I admired I was almost too much in awe to just smile and shake her hand.

[j. d. worthington]

If memory serves (as I said, it has been quite a long time since I read the essay), the child was their grandchild, and the "fan" molested her. Needless to say, this left them devastated, not to mention carrying a load of guilt for having left her in his care for even a very brief time, and after having come to trust him over a period of (again, if memory serves) of some months....

[JoanDrake]

I've never met Ellison and only read one thing he wrote when he was angered...Just on the basis of that alone, however, I would severely avoid getting on his wrong side. He may actually have something but my suspicion (and hope) is that he is like the old Chief in "Little Big Man" who thought "Today is a good day to Die" and then lived for 20 more years.

[wonkishere]

I have read Harlan's Ellison's work, a bit about his life, and a lot of rants. I think the thing that you quickly realize about him after awhile is that he's a rather angry person. He's described a lot of bad arguments and physical confrontations over the year.
I have liked many of his stories, most notably Repent Harlequin! Said the ticktock man.

It's a very short story, but I liked it a lot. I remember reading about a publication in Canada called the Bloomsbury Review (I think) that gave him the honorary position of "slayer of dragons" or something to that effect, to sort of remember him for helping defend them against various legal assaults that threatened to derail the magazine.

I'm not too fond of his litigious nature, but I guess it's a part of the package. He's always been willing to put up a fight, and in some ways that good, and in some ways it is bad. He's been involved in protecting other people's interests, but he's also gotten into some arguments that were just plain stupid. Some of the lawsuits have sounded ridiculous. I think it's mostly because he had a tendency to see a fight coming before there really one was, and assumed the worst of people.

I hope that he's doing better than he let on. If not, I hope he gets a graceful exit. It can be a difficult thing to growl in America, but hopefully he's been successful enough, and has enough family left that he isn't going out alone.