Discussion of the man and his work.

Thank you, Harlan. I got it. New launch date 5/24. Should reach you in 2 days.

BTW, I meant the Wells Fargo Express not Santa Fe!

Newsletter renewel
Hi Susan,
I just summer newsletter flyer in mail this morning and see
I need to renew. Is year's worth still $15? Whatever the price,
I'll send along a check once I know. Thanks.

A Friendly Note for Chuck Messer
As a long-time buf of arcane TV history, I'm well aware of Frederick Ziv, the inventor of radio and television syndication.
As a '50s kid, I used to see that logo all the time; at one point I thought it was an obscure Roman numeral.
I later learned that Ziv broke into TV by simply starting to film his many radio hits, like "Mr. District Attorney", "Boston Blackie", and "The Cisco Kid".
(And did you know that Ziv had Bogart and Bacall in a radio show called "Bold Venture"? For TV he had to settle for Dane Clark. But I digress.)

I'm also aware of Lynn Cartwright (Mrs. Leo Gordon), who was some "little tootsie" - over six feet tall in flats.
Her last movie appearance, after her husband's passing and just before her own, was in "A League Of Their Own", as Geena Davis's character in old age in the framing story.

So there too (as my father would say).

Harlan:
Apologies for the above gratuitous showing-off.
This is my way of "being patient".
Whenever you're ready ...
(And I'll remember about butter and garlic for spaghetti.)

Reply to Rob Replying to Harlan Replying to Rob
I get Harlan's paranoia; the only reason I ever bother to put up my city is so, when I'm addressing Harlan, he knows its me. My name is like the Swedish version of John Smith. Of course, hell, the internet is so porous that, even I'm loathe to contact someone about something coming up, I hate mentioning anything (of course, the flipside of that is, when I have to call or mail something to Harlan, I feel innately inclined to go through the formality of here to avoid bugging him).

Harlan - don't worry, I wouldn't expect anyone to layout his home address; no way I would either. I emailed Rick, that perhaps I could get the address, or even send an attachment via Susan.

I'll bet this is what the Santa Fe was like in the 19th century!

--------------------

Tom Morgan, thank you for that. I still have one free throw left.

Grand European Tour
Hey Kids and Kiddettes:
Just wanted to check in as my wife Lissa Price and I arrived home safely from her European book tour. (OK, relatively unscathed -- I have a mystery stomach ailment probably from Istanbul and she got knocked out with a brief illness in Spain.) The tour went well -- lots of teen fans. In fact, about sixty screaming teen fans in Istanbul, oddly enough. TV interviews, radio interviews, blogger interviews -- Lissa handled them like the pro she is.
So we're back and we're fine. And I ordered the new Harlan books immediately!

Patience is more an unpaneled den.

I'm glad Harlan is paranoid. Didn't want to be alone.

As I said in the forums, 2+2=4 is not paranoia it's math.

Rob,
If you are having trouble getting funds to Harlan and Susan I can do for you what I do for folks all over the world. If you have access to a Paypal account and want to do it let me know. I get the feeling Harlan would like to get this deal done.

By the way I like your drawings (espsecially the big guy at the desk) and am glad this group is helping you sort things out.

A good day to all here.

HALF -- 45, count 'em 45 pounds

Harlan, Susan, Cris and I have had many conversations about health -- and for good reason. It's been a challenging few years and will continue to be so. (Waiting on news about Cris at the moment. Not a scare as of yet...)

But as of this morning I am down 45 pounds since January. Halfway to my eventual goal of 90. As Cris noted yesterday while we moved a bunch of twenty pound boxes from the garage into her car "you didn't even breathe hard"...and it was true.

Stay tuned, but if you'd ike to see a few pictures of my weight over the last decade you can check out my diet diary: http://steveshcgdiary.blogspot.com/

(The word "sobering" has multiple meanings in this context.)

Stay tuned.

The Camus Story a.k.a. Pizza With Neil is on the B-side of Dreams With Sharp Teeth.

Response to Harlan Ellison's Response to Rob's Response to ...
Given that once upon a time, Harlan Ellison had his address listed in the phone book for so many years, and also given the similar age break down and back ground of the community here, I am curious - is there anyone that does not have Harlan Ellison's home address?

But just like having the knowledge of the H-bomb doesn't mean you ought to be able to use it, my interpretation of Rob's query was that it was actually a request for permission to make use of that knowledge. And also whether there might be any harmful consequences, like massive radiation or nuclear winter.

It's clear that permission has been given. Now, getting the Postal Service to cooperate is another matter.

Best of luck.

jimmy

Not sure if this is a good or bad time to mention it, but apparently the two series of RIPCORD are due out on DVD shortly: http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Ripcord-Seasons-1-and-2/18461

(Obligatory disclaimer: I have nothing to do with the releaser or the Web site cited. Just noticed it a few days ago and thought it might be of interest hereabouts.)

Unk

re: "Patience is a kind of endless purgatory."

Yeah, that's solid.

REPLY TO ROB and INTERIM REPLY TO MIKE DORAN

I'm loath to post it out here in the open, but my home address is known to so many Webderlanders, that I would not be cranky were one of them to pass it along to you. My caution is nothing personal...my justified paranoia about internet viral jackanappery surely IS.

----------------------------------------------------------------Mr. Doran:

Rather would I be in right now, sucking down my spaghetti (no sauce, butter&garlic only) and meatballs, but between Mr. Messer and at least two other close--intrusive--mind yer own bizness--friends of mine who have cozzened me to recount (yet again) that "Cay-mus" story co-starring Babe Unger, I have sighed and gone with the tide. So I will return here anon, and set it down full-length. For Posterity. Or your friends on the other site who might give a straw. Be patient.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

What Jason Davis said, regarding BRAIN MOVIES 3& 4
Sorry about that Mr. Davis
I didn't even see the wrong month written when reading that message -- just cut and pasted, with the merry month of May already in my head, and figured everyone else saw the same thing.

Glad YOU caught that!

HARLAN ~ "Patience is a kind of endless purgatory."

Wherever that was forged it sure as hell works for ME!

Tomorrow I'd like to send the big "IT" off again, lest ye give word you'd gotten it before that moment.

I'm assuming the HERC address is still the one I should use but if there really is a more reliable one it would be great. The correspondence has bearing on our business with those comics but also extremely personal matters I'd like to share with you.

I wouldn't be surprised if my first mailing were sitting somewhere in your house under a heap of unread mail! But I'll get the next one to you if I have to hike the hills to deliver it in person!

Give me a better address if there IS one.

Thanks again. I'm lousy at the patience game but sometimes it's worth the strain.

Mr. Mike Doran:

Although I’m not Harlan, I thought I’d pass on some tidbits I picked up about Ziv TV and Maurice “Babe” Unger.

Fredrick Ziv took advantage of the lack of re-runs back in the 50’s and created a TV production company to produce shows for syndication during the off-seasons, and for non-network affiliated stations.

He called upon his old friend Babe Unger, who owned and ran a mattress factory, to come help him with the production end of the company.

Unger said, in essence, “But I don’t a damn thing about TV production!”

To which Ziv replied, “Don’t worry, it’s just like making mattresses.”

Little did Harlan know back then he was writing a mattress.

By the way, the little tootsie who played the reporter who pronounced Camus “cay-mus” , was the wife of writer and actor Leo Gordon, who got little parts for wifey in movies (mostly for Roger Corman) and TV. You can see her in The Wasp Woman, as the lead receptionist. She goes for a deep voice in that part. Couldn’t act for shit in that part, either.

Chuck

Visuals

Riffing off the commentary about the upcoming BRAIN MOVIES editions, I was reminded again how much the visual aspects of science fiction books, in particular, excited me as a child. It is no real surprise, given my orientation towards the visual arts later in life.

Book covers, in particular, had an impact. When I look at the beautiful Michael Whelan work that adorns CUTTER'S WORLD, i get an echo of that thrill from long ago when the monthly SCIENCE FICTION BOOK CLUB flyer would arrive with all of the selections on offer. Looking through the catalog I would often select a book more out of attraction for the cover than for the author or the novel itself -- this is what led me to discover Anne McCaffrey, Andre Norton, Robert Silverberg and Ben Bova.

The names Rowena Morrill, Michael Whelan, Hannes Bok, Vincent de Fate, Frank Kelly Freas, Rick Sterbach and many others were as much celebrities to me as Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke, Gerrold and that guy who wrote CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER.

(I was that target consumer who bought old SF magazines for their covers, and spent a good portion of my allowance buying the posterized F&SF cover collection in the mid-70s, sadly now vanished with time and packing.)

To get that thrill again was a very cool thing. Thanks to both Jason and Harlan (and Michael Whelan) for that.

(Obviously I bought the book for its cover, but I trust the contents will be kinda fun too.)
______________________________________________

(This, of course, can sometimes backfire. I will be chastised as a heathen, but I cannot read Iain M Banks. I excitedly ordered MATTER because of the chillingly desolate cover and found it nearly unreadable.) (I do not discount his abilities as a writer. The story did not live up to my expectations, nor did I like the style. But that's me. Tens of thousands of other readers beg to differ.)
______________________________________________

The above makes me think of a subject I've never mentioned to Harlan that bugged me regarding that episode of Trek. And it has nothing to do with him, the story or the production.

How many other people here found themselves unhappy that the show never went back to the Guardian's planet? I wanted, so much, to see more of the world than we'd been shown. Visually, again, I keyed in on the structures in the background -- the "ruins" or "runes" or combination of both -- and wanted to walk the streets, discover other creations. I wanted, so badly, to explore that city. Described by the Guardian in Harlan's second draft as "Empty. Built to last after even I am gone".

I mention this here for no reason in particular, sans the reminder of the artwork above. The visual of that city, later compounded by reading the multitudinous books/articles/commentaries and the revelation that ruins may have been runes, and the city was on a cadaverous world made as if an ash flick had been made into a planet (this makes me I want to go back and reread the unexpurgated CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER book again).

Am I the only one, or did anyone else feel that the world needed another adventure, and not just through the portal...?

Harlan? Did you even ever consider such a thing?

BRAIN MOVIES 3 & 4 - A Correction
Please note that the Birthday Editions of BRAIN MOVIES Volumes Three and Four will be available through Monday, the 27th of MAY 2013.

We apologize for the error in today's e-mail.

A Notice about the new BRAIN MOVIE books
I just read a notice about the NEW BRAIN MOVIE BOOKS, volumes THREE and FOUR. It was sent out by Harlan Books, and reads as follows:

"In five days—on the 27th of April—the Birthday Editions,
featuring more than 90 pages each of bonus material,
will go out of print."

Just a "heads up" for those who haven't ordered yet.

Mr. Dornan,
Your note lacked a formal address, as in "Dear So and So", or "Hi John Doe". And while a first guess would be that it was directed at Harlan Ellison, I'm not sure he -- or whomever the note might be for -- would know that for certain.

UPDATE FOR ROB

As of today, "it" has not surfaced at the HERC mailbox. Herodotus: "Patience is a kind of endless purgatory."

Actually, I made that up, but I enjoy aggrandizing myself with quotes and their sources bearing unarguable gravitas. Do with that what you will.

Yr. pal, Harlan

Harry O., its era -

Recently I started finding old shows from that era on YouTube and DailyMotion.com.

I found the pilot movie to the Six Million Dollar Man (YouTube), which, to my astonishment, I found to be quite good. The cast provided the impact, with the chameleon-like Darren McGavin stealing the show as the officious Oliver Spencer (in lieu of Oscar Goldman). McGavin is completely convincing in every note and gesture.

Martin Balsam (the first Rudy Wells) is ALWAYS good, whatever he does. I was fascinated by the tone of the show, meditative, almost Zen-like emphasis on the psychological ordeal for Austin (he attempts suicide), and relatively little on action. It was the internal story not the over-charged blow-up actioner we see today. I liked the approach a LOT. It would never be done that way now.

Even Lee Majors demonstrated some noteworthy acting skills.

My ONLY regret is the absence of that great music by Oliver Nelson.

Remembering 3 of 3
Let's take a moment to remember cartoonist George Baker (May 22, 1915 – May 7, 1975), who created the Sad Sack during World War II and continued drawing the comic books until his death. I don't remember ever buying Sad Sack comics, but there were always copies around - probably got them in the kind of complicated trades only kids can put together - and I always enjoyed them. You'd be hard-pressed to find more homely comics characters, but Baker made them human and relatable and very funny. Thanks for all the great comics, sir!

Recommendations
I watched the 1998 MASK OF ZORRO on Netflix recently, a film I had not seen since it was in theaters, and boy oh boy did I have fun. ZORRO is exhilarating, it's smart, it's sly, it's funny, and it's romantic as all hell. Recommended, big-time.

And to Harlan: dunno whether this has reached your attention, but Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy teamed up recently for a delightfully funny car commercial called "The Challenge". I think you will enjoy it.

http://youtu.be/WPkByAkAdZs

Misplaced nostalgia
The following is a very silly question about something long in your past.

There's a blog called Mystery*File, run by Steve Lewis, where some of us gather to exchange arcane info on mysteries in prose, on film, and on TV.

There's a fellow named Michael Shonk, who is an enthusiast of early TV (as am I).
His most recent posting has to do with "King Of Diamonds", the Ziv show Broderick Crawford did after "Highway Patrol".
This show's executive producer credited himself with his facsimile signature, which Michael was unable to decipher.
Fortunately(?), I could; the signatory was "Babe" Unger.
I recognized that name from one of your "Glass Teat" essays, wherein you recounted a run-in you had with him at the rushes of "Ripcord" (the Camus affair).
I told that story (very badly, I'm afraid, but I did credit you) just now at Mystery*Scene, but my curiosity was stoked and I went to various sources in the Net to try and find out more.
And found -
- one photo of Mr. Unger on a "Highway Patrol" tribute site.
His real first name was Maurice.
And that's it.
That and your Camus story.
I pass this along by way of inquiring if you could help Mr. Shonk and me with any other information you might have about Maurice "Babe" Unger and his position with Ziv TV.

Well, I told you this was silly ...
All best to you and yours.

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