According to a source close to Harlan Ellison, his life will soon be tragically cut short. The source of this information is…Harlan Ellison, and his announcement of…of…wait, you mean he doesn’t have a disease or anything? That he knows of?
The brief announcement from Ellison consisted of his claiming that he feels like he’s melting and that he’s going to die at Madcon, held in Madison, Wisconsin. Why he feels the need to announce his life will be truncated in Wisconsin, we’ve no idea. But it would be unfortunate for a great man to cut himself off.
If we seem a little cavalier about this, it’s because Ellison, while undeniably incredibly talented (here’s a list of the awards he’s won) and a giant in both science fiction and journalism (he actually infiltrated street gangs in Brooklyn to report on them), has, shall we say, a bit of a record for causing drama. Just ask Connie Willis, whom he groped on-stage at a science fiction convention. Or Charles Platt, whom he beat up after Platt had dared to say something Harlan had done was in bad taste. Or the Penny Arcade guys, whom Ellison decided to insult because…well…because. To say nothing of the fact that the man holds grudges that verge on vendettas (he claims to have sent a professor who told him he couldn’t write a copy of every story he published for forty years) and sues at the drop of a hat. He’s probably going to sue every blog that makes fun of him for this.
So, really, Harlan could be dying. Or he could just be acting like Harlan, and being allowed to get away with it once again because nobody likes to beat up incredibly talented authors, the elderly, or anybody more than a foot shorter than themselves.
Either way, I really hope I can get him to sign my DVD copy of “The City on the Edge of Forever”.
[ via Topless Robot ]
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You know, I have great admiration for the guy. His talent to be sure, but the little fella has lived his life on his terms and will not back the fuck down on anything. He vigorously defends what he sees as his property as well he should. If we want to make fun of him for suing Cameron, let’s also remember how we like to point out “Avatar” is only “Dances With Pocahontas In Space” and then look at it in a new light.
Egomaniac, shameless self-promoter, could use some anger management classes to be sure. I would never care to meet him, even though I enjoy his stories. I expect we will hear from a lot of souls after he’s gone and can’t sue them, adding to legend of what a jerk he is.
There’s nothing worse than an egomaniac who’s earned the ego in question.
Dan, some clarifications: 1) There was no “groping” – you can see the entire failed shtick here: [video.google.com]; 2) Harlan didn’t “beat up” Charles – he socked him in the jaw for upsetting an old friend’s widow & unfortunately I witnessed the event, as recounted here: [harlanellison.com]; and 3) I think the Penny Arcade matter turned out to be nothing more than an onstage misunderstanding between Harlan and only ONE of the PA guys, and the other one hadn’t taken offense at all. Be wary of what other blogs post as gospel – besides, Harlan tends to openly cop to his mistakes as well as his triumphs. Be well.
Short in size. Big in existence.