Harlan Ellison

Harlan was a writing God, who passed away in 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlan_Ellison

He wrote edgy crazy stories, and don’t ever call it science fiction where he could hear you. I’d put a list here, but it would be too long. But your favorite TOS or Outer Limits story was probably by Harlan. And your favorite movie was ripped off from a Harlan story.

I’m reading his biography, and came upon this:

And when, in October 1973, he delivered a paid guest lecture at OSU, he savored the irony as well as the closure. “The lecture bureau called me and I was on the road in Ohio and they said, ‘Ohio State wants you.’ And I said, ‘They pay double,’ and they did. The first two hours, I spent running down Ohio State on what an anti-Semitic place it was, what a stupid place it was, and how you could not get an education there. I went on and then it was as if a bird had flown carrying that huge stone free from my body, and I was free. I did two more hours—a four-hour talk—and they got their money’s worth.””

— A Lit Fuse: The Provocative Life of Harlan Ellison by Nat Segaloff

https://a.co/3qMA5K5

I have come to the conclusion that Harlan may not be totally honest in his autobiographical recollections.  I know this only because I was there.  He didn’t do four hours; he didn’t run down OSU – much.  He was profane and insulting, of course, but… Harlan.

I had to go to the bathroom.  I mean, I really had to go to the bathroom.  I had drunk a few 3.2% beers.  But every time someone stood up and left (and it was usually a couple), he Harlaned them.  ‘Hey, where are you going?  What the hell is wrong with you?  Is it something I said?  Come back here!’.

Eventually, biology won.  I stood up and started out, and sure enough – Harlan.  So I turned around and said ‘Harlan, I’ve got to take a piss!’.  Mershon Auditorium all laughed, and as I was walking out I heard ‘Well, at least I’ve got the audience relaxed’.

RIP to one of the great ones. What am I saying. Harlan will never R in P; he’s suing somebody somewhere right now.