Vale Harlan Ellison

[Bramblethorn]

Harlan Ellison has died, aged 84.

Possibly best known for his science fiction stories, including "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" & "A Boy and His Dog", and editing the anthology "Dangerous Visions", but he was a prolific TV writer; if you watched US TV in the 60s and 70s you probably saw his work.

I have mixed feelings about him; I love some of his work, but I also have serious issues with some of his behaviour to women. Still, he was a huge force in SF and beyond.

 

[Paul_Chance]

By all accounts he could be an ass-hat.

But, I love his short story collections. The guy could tell a tale.

 

[Alice_Rosaleen]

"My soul would be an outlaw."

 

[TANSTAAFL58]

The Starlost. A low budget Sci-fi TV show, made in Canada (sorry). It was a mess, although if his original story had been used it would have been amazing.

There is an old story that he was featured in a cartoon in Playboy. The first panel has a short man saying to a tall beautiful woman"What would you say to a little fuck?" She replies "Hello little fuck!"

So where's Cordwainer Bird? Likely playing poker with Kilgore Trout, Richard Bachman and Mark Twain.

 

[Oblimo]

By all accounts he could be an ass-hat.

He was an asshat when he was on the job. He was a professional asshat.

Off the record and behind-the-scenes he was a lot of fun to talk to.

 

[Hypoxia]

I hadn't followed what he'd done lately. What he did back when was absurdly awesome.

 

[jehoram]

There is an old story that he was featured in a cartoon in Playboy. The first panel has a short man saying to a tall beautiful woman"What would you say to a little fuck?" She replies "Hello little fuck!"

The way Isaac Asimov told the story, the encounter happened while the two were waiting for an elevator, and the woman's response was actually "Go away, little fuck." But the truth came out years later when Ike admitted that he made the story up. He and Harlan were often sparring partners at sci-fi conventions, but I don't think there was any real animosity between them.

On the other hand, Ellison's bitterness toward Gene Roddenberry is pretty well documented. He wrote the episode "City on the Edge of Forever" but was screwed out of some of his payment for it and was unhappy with the way it was re-written to fit the Star Trek format.

 

[TANSTAAFL58]

The way Isaac Asimov told the story, the encounter happened while the two were waiting for an elevator, and the woman's response was actually "Go away, little fuck." But the truth came out years later when Ike admitted that he made the story up. He and Harlan were often sparring partners at sci-fi conventions, but I don't think there was any real animosity between them.

On the other hand, Ellison's bitterness toward Gene Roddenberry is pretty well documented. He wrote the episode "City on the Edge of Forever" but was screwed out of some of his payment for it and was unhappy with the way it was re-written to fit the Star Trek format.

Oddly enough, one of the things Roddenberry objected to was someone dealing drugs on the Enterprise. The drug the drove McCoy insane was supposed to be a recreational drug, and I think it was supposed to be Scotty. That plot point showed up in a different form in Enterprise,. TNG (a game) and DS9 (a different game).

 

[lovecraft68]

Harlan Ellison has died, aged 84.

Possibly best known for his science fiction stories, including "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" & "A Boy and His Dog", and editing the anthology "Dangerous Visions", but he was a prolific TV writer; if you watched US TV in the 60s and 70s you probably saw his work.

I have mixed feelings about him; I love some of his work, but I also have serious issues with some of his behaviour to women. Still, he was a huge force in SF and beyond.

Nothings changed. If you have talent you can do whatever you want to women.

Point proven by all the "he was a great guy outside of work' that are here and all over social media. Great guy to other guys maybe.