I used to love Harlan until he groped Connie Willis on stage at the Hugos at LaConIV and acted all weird and "what's everyone upset about?" about it afterwards. Now he just reminds me of all that's wrong with the SF white male old guard. Fade away, man. Fade. Away.

I mean, come on. Connie Willis. Fuck you, Harlan Ellison.

I like his ideas, usually. The man is probably going insane from a few different social phobias.

Ah, Harlan, we hardly knew ye... oh, you mean he's not dead? Hmmmmmm... It's hard to believe he's still relevant, though he has such a tremendous body of excellent work. I think he's become a crotchety, bitter old man, especially now that many of his Golden Age peers are long gone or in their twilight.

He's a good writer, a better thinker, and man... I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream still gives me the creeps just thinking about it.

But yeah, from what I heard he's kind of douchey in his old age.

Will Ellison be there? He's a blast in person; he loves to interact with fans. If you write to him at his web site he usually takes the time to actually write back. I've talked with him on a few occasions and it's always been fun.

It's Harlan Ellison®. Don't forget the ® symbol.

Seriously. It's vitally important.

I read his original edition of "City on the edge of forever." The one he swears was mutilated by Gene Roddenberry. It's filled with space pirates and drug dealers and has none of the punch of the story that actually aired. When he won awards for it he pissed all over the people who shaped his work into something worth watching.

He's more famous for his bombast than his work. Which is sad, considering he's one of the best short story writers of the 20th century. If only he'd let his work be his voice and not his strident, warbling falsetto.

I forgot about Harlan. I filed him in the "crazy old man" category a few years ago. I liked him until he went all Luddite about some of his books being posted on usenet (and poorly scanned copies at that!). And then started suing.

I would expect a science fiction writer of all people to promote new technology, find a way to profit from it and gain more fans. Not piss off the ones he has.

Has he turned in The Last Dangerous Visions yet?

@jennaw: That was also my turning point. 100% creepy.

@jennaw and inkymonkey: Mine, too. He has been infantile and cruel to plenty of my colleagues in publishing for years (like, screaming at assistant editors for no reason), but behind the scenes. Then goddamn, to do that to Connie Willis. Still makes my jaw clench in outrage.

And then I worry about the current crop of young, male SF and fantasy writers--will they become like Harlan and his brethern when they hit 50, 60, 70? I really hope not. But is that just happens to men when they hit a certain age?

@Rick Chandler: Ellison will be there, provided the theater has booster seats.

I assumed all great artists are insane. Where do you think all that creative energy comes from? A seriously distorted mind.

I was at that preview screening at the Aero back in May, and the man was there himself. This is the report I sent to my writing group:

When the theater's manager began introducing the American Cinematheque's upcoming film series, "Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror," Ellison boomed from the back of the auditorium: "Don't you use THAT WORD! Would you call a black movie a NIGGER FILM?"

The audience oood, because I think most of them hadn't come to see Harlan Ellison, Professional Author. They'd come to see Harlan Ellison, Professional Harlan Ellison, and they'd gotten their first taste.

"Dreams with Sharp Teeth" was about and featured PHE. There were a lot of fascinating archival photos and movies from his youth, some of which rendered the man overcome with emotion. There were also scenes of him emotionally overcoming audiences who were acting too stupid for him to stay silent. There wasn't, I thought, enough about the work, other than four scenes of him reading his own stuff (and Ellison is a captivating storyteller, whether it's off a teleprompter or off-the-cuff), including a scene from "Repent, Harlequin!" that demonstrated the mighty writing and speaking voice that sends people into giddy tailspins.

But there was also a lot of material that showed him turning from PA to PHE. Here's Robin Williams getting the guided tour of Ellison's house, the Lost Aztec Temple of Mars (which looked pretty fucking incredible). Here's Neil Gaiman, recounting a phone message that began with, "Gaiman, I'm going to bomb your house," rolled off the horrible things Ellison was going to do, and ended with "Call me." Here's a critic from the Village Voice, here's a writer whose name I've forgotten, here's one person after another telling about the man, but not enough about the work.

Now, a thought: America is short on public intellectuals and short on honest outlets for them. "The Daily Show" and "Real Time With Bill Mahrer" might be as close as we get these days. They're comedy shows, sure, but there are few things more honest than laughter; either you make someone laugh or you don't. News programs are more exercises in spinning events to fit an agenda, rather than shows about getting to the truth. Ellison, in his appearances, is funny as hell and unafraid to cleave straight to what he seems to take as personal truth. This would mean his importance is as an American public intellectual, someone whose life's work is standing up and pointing out that, no, this person is full of shit and this is why and dammit we should all demand more from those who would fill our minds with puerile crap. Maybe writing pulp novels and science fiction stories was the gateway to that field.

Anyway. It wasn't my documentary, and it wasn't really Ellison's either. In the Q&A, it seemed clear that while he may have handed over video tape and film, he had squat to do with the film's production or editing. It was also clear that he wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone's bullshit, especially when some guy wandered to the front of the theater, talking too softly for me to understand him from my seat but loud enough to annoy Ellison into firing off a string of invective I wish I'd written down just to get it right (I'm pretty sure the words "douchebag" and "motherfucker" were in there). When the guy turned out to be someone who was complimenting Ellison about not giving film and tv studios an even break, Ellison's wrath turned on a dime, and he apologized several times throughout the Q&A.

Still, it was telling: Harlan Ellison is quick to fight, even when it's a fight that's not worth having. And, while he'd make for interesting dinner company, I sure as hell wouldn't want to live with him, or as him, even if it meant churning out a body of work like his. It would be too fucking tiring.

Check that: the preview I went to was in August.

@Rick Chandler: I agree, I heard him talk like 10 years ago and met him and his wife afterwards as well. He is quite the character. I guess you either like (or liked) him or hate him.

Ellison boomed from the back of the auditorium: "Don't you use THAT WORD! Would you call a black movie a NIGGER FILM?"

That sums him up pretty nicely.

Cause if anyone questioned him using "that word" he'd talk about marching in selma and all the black people he knew and how he'd earned the right and blah blah blah.

He's been a crotchety old asshole since he was very young, he's just now grown into it.

There are far more talented people out there who are far less obnoxious than Ellison and all his folderol.

@FrankenPC: I think that's just a stereotype that comes from the loudmouths like Ellison who take up all the attention. There are a lot of great talents who aren't crazy.

The most unexpected place I've ever come across Harlan Ellison in print is [www.esquire.com]
Frank Sinatra has a Cold
It is pleasing for me to read about one world class asshole being annoyed by another.

@jennaw: Amen, Jenna. (full disclosure: I am an old buddy of Connie's from way back, though we don't see each other that much any more). Harlan had won the crowd over just the day before with a delightfully funny rambling speech -- say halfway between PA and PHA -- and then he totally blew it. You could feel the entire convention *curdle*, couldn't you?

@Tacoma --

Thanks for the link to "Frank Sinatra has a Cold." I heard of that article many years ago and never had a chance to read it. Appreciate it.

@evil tortie's mom: It was freaky. The massive intake of breath nearly suffocated Anaheim, that's for sure.

"... *BECOME* a crotchety, bitter old man?"

seriously, wasn't he born that way?

The last time I saw him was some short tv thing where he, a man who made his career on cutting edge scifi and challenging the powers that be, lectured us on why comics should stop changing superheroes and why the Golden Age Green Lantern was the best.

Hey, we all get old and watch time pass us by . . .

I have loved Harlan Ellison since I was a teen & read his film column in "Fantasy & Science Fiction" magazine. Some of the essays infuriated me to blind rage, but some really changed how I look at cinema in general and science fiction in particular. His fiction is always entertaining, too.

I know a group here who sometimes put on a sci-fi convention. One of the bigwigs had a run-in with HE which ended with him screeching "You're dead to me, ya hear? DEAD!" If we ever get another convention off the ground, that's going to be a pull quote on our posters. :D

It's funny, but after wasting a bunch of time looking for some response from Connie about that incident, I can find plenty of opinion, and a video, but nothing from her. From the point he puts the mic in his mouth and she takes the hammer away, asking 'are you going to be good?', to which he responds twice 'no', I think he probably intended to be amusing, and probably didn't think any of the other things he's been credited with thinking. There's no question it was a pretty stupid and ignorant thing to do, but it doesn't affect my enjoyment of his writing one bit. There are actor's who are asses, but make great movies; there are singers who are asses and make great music; and there are writers who behave like asses and write fantastic stories.

I read Gentleman Junkie and Deathbird Stories years ago, and was hooked, and I'll look forward to some insight into the man when Dreams with Sharp Teeth makes it into DVD distribution. I'd love to be able to write like him, though doing so probably requires being broken in some deep way that makes behaving in public challenging at the best of times.

@Steve_Smith: I did read a response from her somewhere back closer to when it happened. She was very cool about it and not traumatized--not that I'd expect her to be--but not pleased with him. But I'm not sure why Connie as the victim has to make some outraged, hairpulling, public response in order for the incident to be taken as the complete shit it was.

No matter how outrageous and genius and iconoclastic and whatever you may be or think you are, you do not MOLEST another person in order to further your self-image or make a little joke. I can overlook a lot of asinine behavior and enjoy the work, but I draw the line at people who degrade others. Regardless of whether the objects of these actions themselves feel degraded -- I'm glad she doesn't -- but that doesn't make his action any less reprehensible.

It's tiresome how forgiving people are of offenses committed by people they like against people who aren't them.

@JENNAW: I'm not going to defend his actions, as I agree they were completely out of line, however I think people are giving him far more credit for his meaning to degrade Connie that I think he deserves. If Howard Stern had done it, I'd say yes, he did it entirely to degrade the woman, but I don't get that from the video - he just looks like he's being an idiot with no social graces whatsoever. Connie doesn't even flinch, and yet look at the reaction from everyone else.

I can also understand and agree with your not liking how people forgive others of reprehensible behavior toward other people, but at the same time I find it amazing how many people just jump up to the moral high ground in droves for offenses that have nothing to do with them. For what its worth, Ellison may have committed far worse offenses than this in his day, but before the Internet was there to out him, no one would ever have known.

@Steve_Smith: Yes, men are so often put in their places with physical gestures of belittlement, and intent totally matters. Except that it doesn't. You don't fondle someone as a joke. Hands off other people, period.*

There is no equivalence between moral outrage and enabling. People "jump to the moral high ground" when they find someone's actions beyond the pale because if you don't stand against this sort of thing, it becomes okay. I guess I don't get that attempted comparison. When someone hurts or attempts to degrade another person, I think society should be outraged.

(And I would say giving a pass to people with no social graces will turn most sf conventions into free-for-alls--bad precedent.)

Ellison is not some idiot savant -- he's a very smart man and very self-centered. He knows how people are expected to behave in public and prefers not to do so. And while I won't ascribe *evil* intent, the very fact that he DID this at all in public on stage in front of the world to someone else...

* unless they are in on it

@JENNAW: It's certainly not my intention to defend him, but I can separate the Ellison from public appearances from the Ellison on the bookshelf. Also, it would be a bit naive to think that women in positions of power don't degrade men with physical or verbal gestures of belittlement, but I'd agree that you shouldn't fondle someone as a joke.

In any event, I think there's already been way too much attention wasted on this subject, so I'd suggest you and I don't waste any more of ours on it.

@JennaW: Jennaw, I'm going to agree with your points here. I was pretty active in (yes, I'm going to expose my dark nerdy past) the Toastmasters International organization for a few years, and even though this was a group where individuals had to be voted in as members, there were troublemakers who ran amok and were never called on it. I have to regard the behavior of the other members, who never raised any objection to reprehensible behavior, to be, if nothing else, enablers of the troublemakers. There were very few individuals within my little corner of that organization that seemed to understand this, and even though they actually had recourse against these people (they can always be voted out by a majority of a club's quorum) it rarely happened.

Frankly, this struck me as spinelessness on the part of my fellow members.

This is one of the reasons I am no longer part of that organization (though not the only one), and in all fairness I am not clear if this "enabling behavior" was just part of the "culture" of our area, or of American Toastmasters as a whole. Obviously fandom and "writerdom" are not bound by any kind of member "code," so it would be far more difficult to dissuade anti-social behavior.

@Steve_Smith: Sorry, Steve -- I guess I wasted some more time on it.

@Steve_Smith: Good for you, so continue enjoying his work. The fact is a lot of people found his behavior at LACon to be the end of the line for them; I'm one of them.

And I'm not going to take your suggestion, 'cause I'm not done yet. And, yes, I am so naive. The ravening hordes of women out there molesting men and keepin' 'em down is definitely equal to the numbers of men behaving that way. I, like all useless "debate" shows on TV, must constantly take all sides of every argument to avoid accusations of imbalance. Forgot that. But we now have detente: NO FONDLING! Let's write that up and send it to SFWA.

@DanielBrenton: Spinelessness seems a very good description of the behavior. People should speak out against oppressors even when they're just "good ol' boys" or whatever. People who haven't been on the regular receiving end of that kind of bullying and don't have much in the way of empathy have no idea how destructive it can be; they shrug off the one or two little incidents that happen to them and can't understand the fuss, but for a lot of people, it spoils situations, opportunities, and even lives. Perpetrators of this kind of insidious shittiness should be required to stop or be exiled from the group if they just can't control themselves.

Hey Harlan! I know you're reading this, because you've always read your press clippings. When's THE LAST DANGEROUS VISIONS coming out, man? You've got the families of a dozen writers who have freakin' died in the 30 years since they submitted their stories to you for that collection- maybe you owe it to those dead writers to release the damned collection already.

@JENNAW: I admire your resolve, and for the record, I wasn't calling you naive. You made a comment sarcastically " Yes, men are so often put in their places with physical gestures of belittlement", and anyone believing that's not a two sided issue needs to spend more time engaged in corporate politics. Men aren't automatically assholes, but people in power are more likely to behave like assholes because they're in positions of power, and that holds true regardless of gender. Pointing that out doesn't mean I like it, it merely means I understand it exists. Suggesting that Ellison didn't fondle Connie to belittle her and take away her power doesn't mean that I in any way excuse what he did, I just don't agree with the way it was reacted to.

In an ideal world it never would have happened. Given that it did happen, Connie should have slapped him right there, and everyone in the audience should have stood up and called him on it, right there. I don't get the impression that happened, which means that the people who were in a position to make a call as to what really was going on and make it clear that it wasn't acceptable behavior did bugger all, and the only people throwing stones are doing so from the other side of thousands of miles of copper and fiber where you can be guaranteed it will do no good. You talk about cowardice? If I'm with someone and they handle anyone in an inappropriate manner I'll be the first to call them out, but I'm never going to sit on my hands and then blog about how inappropriate they were later.

As far as his work goes, I'm sure if you looked down a list of authors that are considered significant contributors to not just the arts but to history, I think you'll find lots of reasons to dislike any number of them greatly, and yet for the most part don't we excuse the failings of the artist and celebrate the art?

I don't expect you to agree with me, and for what it's worth, I'm not really disagreeing with you either.

I'd let Harlan grope me.

Here's the video. Noteworthy is that she had her arm around him before the incident. Funny how people seem to leave that out of the description.

That said, while I love his work, I skipped going to an appearance he made at a local bookstore. I don't really need to experience his legendary assholism to enhance my enjoyment of his stories, and I don't find it terribly entertaining.

Noteworthy is that she had her arm around him before the incident. Funny how people seem to leave that out of the description.

What difference does it make if her arm was around him? Oh, that's right--it doesn't.

Y'all don't know Harlan, but I do. We go back to 1981 when I attended a Colorado Mountain College writers workshop. There was an unknown worshop participant there named Dan Simmons. I watched Harlan, who didn't know this man before, tell him he would help him. He told Dan that his life had changed and would never be the same. If you know who Dan is then you know that Harlan's words were prophetic.

Harlan helped me too-- my husband left me and my numerous babies for another woman. Harlan helped me with moral support, advice and written letters of encouragement. He was and is my friend.

I have watched the film of the Connie Willis incident. If you knew Harlan and you knew the length of his friendship with Ms. Willis then you would know that he was sincerely being playful with someone he had a long easy camraderie with. I have watched that film over and over. Each time I see her react, not in an enraged or outraged fashion. She appears to respond the way we all do when faced with something innocent and childlike. She was lovely and gracious and charming. The small blip on the screen of that interaction was raised to Richter scale proportions, I believe-- by people who for other reasons dislike Harlan.

Please don't speak ill of my friend. If you knew the degree of his boundless kindness and the scope of his quiet philantropy you would never say unkind things about him. If you only knew first hand, the way I do--what a truly fine a human being he is, you couldn't be unkind to him. His 20 year relationship with his wife is beautiful beyond description. He adores her the way Clark Gable adored Carole Lombard. It's fairytale stuff-- read his words that reference his lovely Susan. If you want to see what true love is, find the pictures on the internet of the two of them together--recent pictures. They reflect a devotion that is beyond words. To see/know/understand the love that Harlan has for Susan is to underscore the obvious-- he would never hurt her. Not ever.

I know.
Cindy