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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b>From:</b> extropy-chat <<a href="mailto:extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org">extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org</a>> <b>On Behalf Of </b>John Grigg<br><br><b>Subject:</b> [ExI] Harlan Ellison, one of science fiction’s most controversial authors, has died<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>>>…<span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#424242'>I had no idea that he had assaulted my friend Charles Platt.... Wow...</span><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>>…Eh? Ellison attacked John Wayne! Unacceptable.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>>…I am sorry to see Ellison has passed, but I can’t empathize with criticism of the Duke. He was a good guy.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>>…spike<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I did some searching on this and found that Ellison wrote the Star Trek episode “City of the Edge of Forever” which is by far my favorite episode of the original series. I don’t like the things he did, but I will cheerfully acknowledge his brilliance.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Keith, are you there, me lad? Was Ellison among your many friends?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Regarding the business of Ellison’s groping Connie Willis, Isaac Asmov relates a story about an award ceremony where he was on the stage in front of a jillion people, posed for photos when this happened:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div style='border:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:7.0pt 7.0pt 7.0pt 7.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'>SCIENCE <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'>103 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'>A charming young woman, not quite five feet tall, made the presenta- <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'>tion and in simple gratitude I placed my arm about her waist. Owing to <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'>her unusually short height, however, I didn’t manage to get low enough <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'>and the result brought laughter from the audience. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'>Trying to dismiss this embarrassing faux pas (though I must admit <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'>that neither of us budged) I said, “I’m sorry, folks. That’s just the Asimov <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'>grip.’’ <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'>And from the audience, Ben Bov</span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas'>a<span style='color:#333333'> (who, it seems appropriate to say in <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'>this particular connection, is my bosom buddy) called out, “Is that <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'>anything like the swine flu?” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'>I was wiped out, and what does one do when one has been wiped out by <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'>a beloved pal? Why, one turns about and proceeds to try to wipe out some <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:whitesmoke;word-break:break-all'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#333333'>other beloved pal. — In this case, Arthur C. Clarke.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>This is from a 1977 edition of Fact and Science Fiction, which I read at every opportunity in my misspent youth, not for the fiction but for Asimov’s non-fiction essay in every issue.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Note that I am not suggesting that Ellison’s pawing of Willis was accidental, even though I accept Asimov’s explanation. Just saying: people who are giants of creativity are not necessarily good at everything. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Anyone who has attended a gathering of really smart people know that such meetings are sometimes socially awkward (with the term “sometimes” defined as always) as the participants seem to compete to out-geek each other. This is a good thing if one is socially awkward oneself: one feels comfortable among those similarly afflicted. It is most entertaining when one brings a normal mate to such gatherings, just to watch the normal one’s horrified expressions at the things we do and say. The Hako Sote episode at my house is still urban legend in my neighborhood.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>spike<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div></div></body></html>