Article: thedailypage.com
Harlan Ellison says he’s dying. Damn. I don’t know him as a close friend, but he’s somebody I can call and know I’m going to talk to a sensible, can-do sort of acquaintance, on whatever it might be. Brilliant man, wonderful writer. I learned how to write a short story after hearing him explain what a short story is. [“Compression of time and space. Everybody has to come together at the right moment.”] And this gesture of going out for a final foray is like him. He’s going to a con. He has his vanity intact no matter what his body is doing. He’s happy. He’s, well, not at peace with it, but dealing with it. Good for him! I like this guy a lot, I respect him of long acquaintance, and the world will be poorer for losing him.
I’m beyond sorry to hear this news.
I’ve never met him, but I’ve read a lot of his work. He will be greatly missed.
Well we’ve all got to go sometime, but preferably not for another century or too. It’s too bad, Harlan Ellison is a great writer. His death will be a great loss.
Wayne
I just finished reading Julia Phillips’ biography of James Tiptree Jr. I knew that Ellison was a great writer an had heard he was a character. I was amazed at the extent of his efforts encouraging and helping another writer.
Dangerous Visions and Again, Dangerous Visions were compilations of Harlan’s. The Last Dangerous Visions was never published. Dammit! Harlan made a lot of room for new writers. He can be pushy, sounds very egotistical, and probably lives up to his reputation. He’s 75 years old, he’s had a hefty lifetime of working and getting things the way he wanted them. Yet, he never stopped giving other writers a chance. I still have a lot of trouble watching his screemplay of Star Trek’s “The City on the Edge of Forever”. I wonder if Harlan will publish his autobiography that Claudia Christian was “reading” in an episode of Babylon 5, on which Harlan also collaborated, and was even in a scene as a Psi Corps technician working with Psi Cop Al Bester.
I hope that whatever it is, it’s just gas, but if not, Harlan, we’ll miss you. “Do not go gently into that good night.”
there’s a good interview with him here: http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=30610
Harlan has been suffering form many serious medical issues, for the last few years. And Norman Spinrad is not in the best of shape because of his cancer condition.