Today, December 18, is the birthday of Alfred Bester (1913-1987). I’ve not had a chance to read anything by him today. It has been all errands and running amuck around. Maybe sometime over the next week I can work something in.
I didn’t want the day to pass unremarked, so I’m putting up this brief post.
Today, December 16, marks the birth of two outstanding writers, Randall Garrett (1927-1987) and Phillip K. Dick (1928-1982). PKD is still well known and in print nearly 40 years after his death. Randall Garrett not so much. Garrett didn’t write nearly as many novels as PKD did, which is probably part of the reason for that.
Both were original and are worth seeking out. If you like a blend of sf and mystery, then you definitely should track down some Garrett.
I’ve not had a chance to read anything by either of these guys today, but I didn’t want to let the day pass without making a note of it.
L. Sprague and Catherine Crook de Camp
Today, November 27, is the birthday of L. Sprague de Camp (1907-2000). I had the pleasure of meeting Sprague and his lovely wife Catherine on several occasions after they moved to Plano, Texas in the 1990s. They attended some of the local conventions.
I am more than well aware that de Camp isn’t exactly popular in Robert E. Howard fandom because of how he portrayed Howard in his biography Dark Valley Destiny.
But this is my science fiction blog, not my fantasy blog. L. Sprague de Camp wrote plenty of science fiction, especially early in his career. I think he was a better short story writer than novelist, but that’s just me. I’m going to look at one of de Camp’s early science fiction stories today. Continue reading
Today, November 26, marks the birth of Frederik Pohl (1919-2013). Pohl was one of the first writers I read when I began reading adult science fiction. The Best of Frederik Pohl was one of the first books I bought when I joined the Science Fiction Book Club, maybe the very first. Pohl had a dark and cynical veiwpoint, it was nothing compared to his friend and sometime collaborator, C. M. Kornbluth.
Today I read “The Day the Icicle Works Closed”. First published in the February 1960 issue of Galaxy, this is one of Pohl’s best stories. It was included in both The Best of Frederik Pohl and Platinum Pohl The Collected Best Stories, which is where I reread it for this post. Continue reading
I’ve not posted much here recently, but then I’ve not been posting much at Adventures Fantastic, my main blog, either. Work and other concerns, such as fiction writing, but mostly work, have been eating into my time. But I want to acknowledge three birthdays today, October 15. Two of the writers I want to acknowledge are pretty pulpy, while the third is less pulpy but no less enjoyable. Continue reading
Today, August 3, is Clifford D. Simak’s birthday. Simak (1904-1988) is a favorite in these here parts. It’s been a long day, It’s late, and I’m tired. I’ll raise a glass in his memory shortly, but I’m not going to do a full post tonight. The computer keeps freezing up for a few seconds at a time, and I don’t have the patience to reboot it.
I’ve got a post in mind and will get it up in a few days.
Cyril Kornbluth (1923-1958) was born on this date, July 23. He died of a heart attack. Had he lived, he probably would have become the editor of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
Kornbluth was extremely cynical, something that was quite obvious from his work. But he also had a great sense of humor. An excellent example is the story I read in honor of his birth, “The Education of Tigress McCardle”. It was first published in the July 1957 issue of Venture Science Fiction Magazine. I have no idea why it wasn’t included in The Best of C. M. Kornbluth. It is one of his best.
There are several things going on in this story. Some rube who talks like a hick has been elected president, and the Constitution has been changed to make him king. Meanwhile, a Chinese merchant on the West Coast has decided it’s time to revive the Yellow Peril and reinvents himself as the new Fu Manchu. He manages to get a parental licensing measure implemented and makes the king think it’s his idea.
This is all backstory. Continue reading
Robert Sheckley (1928-2005) was born on this date, July 16. Sheckley worked at all lengths, but he is probably best remembered for his short stories. They tended to be witty and satirical.
I’m not going to review a story because I’ve spent most of the day getting an online exam ready and trying to calm some nervous students. Not that I blame them. Summer classes move fast, this course is challenging in a normal semester, and the online format isn’t helping. I haven’t had time to read one.
In spite of that, I want to make note of the occasion. Sheckley was an important writer who deserves to be remembered.
I was fortunate enough to meet him the year he died. He was a guest at ConDFW in February of that year. This was only a few weeks before he traveled to the Ukraine and fell ill. After returning home, he died in December.
I remember sitting around a table in a small conference room where he read one of his stories. There couldn’t have been more than a dozen of us in the room. I was rather surprised there weren’t more people there. He’d recently had a story published in an anthology, which he was gracious enough to sign for me along with a couple of collections I had brought with me.
Robert A. Heinlein
Today, July 7, is the birthday of Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988). It’s become fashionable to slam him now that he isn’t around to defend himself. It seems the words of Marc Antony still are true “The evil men do live after them; the good is oft interred with their bones” (Julius Caesar, Act III, scene 2, lines 3-4).
Granted there are some Heinlein works I have no intention of rereading or even reading in the first place, but there is no denying he cast a long shadow over the genre. When you still have detractors over thirty years after your death, you have had an impact. Continue reading
There are some writers who are superstars and whose names and works live long after they have entered the long night. There are others who do consistently good work, have their cadres of fans, and are forgotten within a few years or decades of their passing.
Keith Laumer
One such author was Keith Laumer (1925-1993), who was born on this day, June 9. Laumer died nearly three decades ago. In the early 2000’s Baen published a number of omnibuses of his work. Since then, he’s fallen into neglect.
Laumer is best remembered for his tales of the diplomat Retief or perhaps the Bolo series of intelligent tanks. But he wrote a number of other things, all of them enjoyable. He could do action and adventure, space opera, and time travel. He knew how to tell an entertaining story, and he could hide a moral lesson in it without detracting from the entertainment or beating you over the head with his message. Continue reading