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Not All Men Hurt Others: Some Are Magnificent Heroes
thinking about some beautiful, marvelous men who were very good to me … as a writer
Oh Harlan and his pipe.
A prop: Harlan Ellison never smoked tobacco, nor did he drink alcohol. The pipe was a ruse, along with his famous irascibility. Harlan Ellison had a softer heart than even mine.
And the quiet dignity and carefully chosen words of Algis Budrys, a poet of the Cold War, a man who understood the dangers of corporatism and fascism masquerading as communism.
And the thoughtfulness, equitable nature, and open, wide-ranging mind of Sylvan Barnet.
All three, men who were good to me. Some may not know their names now, but these were three writers who shaped a lot of writing, many writing careers, and in Sylvan Barnet’s case, the thought processes of millions of college students.
The first time I met Harlan Ellison, I was a student at the Clarion Science Fiction Writers Workshop at Michigan State University. It was 1984, and I’d resolved not to ever pursue any higher education again after what had happened to me during my final year at the women’s college where I’d been a four-year full scholarship student.
