======================================================== From: clarked@dnc.net Date: 9 Aug 98 18:18:50 -0600 Subject: webderland Rick: I just wanted to tell you that I appreciate your website and your comments, even though many may not. But it's just like you said. Others have the opportunity to do better. There's people who bitch but don't do. Let's face it, they're a dime a dozen. Then there's people who put their energy into creating something unique, something that thinking people can appreciate. This is what you have done, and I thank you. I discovered Ellison a few months ago, so I'm in that area now where most of his stuff is new to me. I find him to be a very interesting and entertaining writer. He makes me laugh, and he makes me think about life. I won't ask for more than that. It's enough for me. Please continue. Dave ======================================================== From: Cdgoffard@aol.com Date: 9 Aug 98 18:06:44 -0600 Subject: Hi I like the Ellison website you maintain a lot; I only wish it had been around when I was a teenager in L.A. and desperate for someone to share the joy of the work with. Ellison did a great kindness for me when I was 13 years old that I'm sure he's forgotten. I had just been booted off my junior high school newspaper by an English teacher who didn't like my attacks on some stupid school policies, and HE took up the issue on an episode of Hour 25 devoted to censorship, read a long letter I had written on the air, even gave me an encouraging phonecall afterward. It gave me a kind of status at the school, and enormous courage in dealing with the bastards who sacked me. That was 13 years ago. I've read maybe 30 of his books since, and, like you, find the language and sensibility contagious. Even in my newspaper work -- I'm a cop reporter at the St. Petersburg Times -- Ellisonesque locutions seem to slip through. But I haven't really spoken to HE since junior high, or tried to. This is why: The work means so much to me that I worry an encounter with him might taint the pleasure. Among other things, we know he can be prickly, especially if you have the misfortune of stammering something dumb. I wonder if you grappled with this apprehension in getting to know him. At any rate, thanks for the web page, which is done with love and intellience. Christopher Goffard ======================================================== From: IsisEve@aol.com Date: 7 Aug 98 16:37:56 -0600 Subject: Re: Webderland Just so you know, there are those of us who have no critiques/whines/bitches/complaints or otherwise. This chica has none, anyhow. Keep up the good work. Isis ======================================================== From: mfraley@noble.cioe.com Date: 5 Aug 98 02:48:56 -0600 Subject: The latest rant I just got through reading your latest rant, and I want you to know that I can appreciate the incredible amount of frustration you expressed in it. I think you've done a great job with the website, I keep the thing bookmarked, no matter how matter what. I've received some pretty spiteful criticisms over my own dabblings in the Weird Wide Web and I know I've just had the slightest taste of what you've had to put up with from the snout-nosed piglets in the audience. No joke. I'm impressed by the amount of work put into the site, as well as the steady high quality. I realised a few days ago how much the site meant to me when I kept getting "not found" messages through the browser. I actually started worrying about you too, wondering if it had all gotten just too much for you. Well, I'm glad I could find it tonight. Very glad. --M ======================================================== From: jdjz@epix.net Date: 14 Aug 98 20:42:44 -0600 Subject: A friendly face! Hi Rick! My name is Daelynn. I've signed the guestbook before. I'm an AVID reader of Ellison. I read your recent rant (I only check in every 2 months or so) and I was very impressed. It's about time someone gives the chowderheads what they deserve! The only reason I'm writing this is to say "Great job!!!" I have a poetry site but I adore your site. Keep doing what you do and try your best to ignore the deep roots of inbreeding that tend to show themselves whenever an enlightened mind enters the room! At any rate, I'll still be coming to visit Webderland and I'll still be writing and I'll still be looking forward to what Ellison (and you) have to say. Hang in there. No one ever said it would be easy but some days it's alot harder than Mother ever imagined. I would also like to start helping you out by sending reviews and bits (it's hard as I work and play mommy so I know what you mean). At any rate, when you start to think the whole world is against you, a friendly face shows up and that was the point of my visit. Keep working! Daelynn Farrell ======================================================== From: Kryten61@aol.com Date: 14 Aug 98 00:40:32 -0600 Subject: TLDV Dear Rick, I just wanted to say I found your essay very interesting and well-written. I had heard of TLDV, but I wasn't aware of all the fuss over it over the years. Some people, usually the un-creative ones, just have to bitch about something, it seems! My attitude is this: I have no idea of the state of his health, but I do know that Harlan is getting up there, and he even mentioned in the semi- autobiographical love letter to his wife, "Susan," that there are fewer days ahead than there are behind. Given that, if Harlan only had time to finish a book of his own short stories, or a volume of other people's, I'd say fuck the anthology! I want Harlan to keep writing his own stories while he's still around to do it! But, as Dennis Miller says, that's just my opinion; I could be wrong! Keep up the good work on the webpage! Very truly yours, Jeffrey L. Koehn ======================================================== From: wombatty@intergate.bc.ca Date: 13 Sep 98 01:31:48 -0600 Subject: Harlan Ellison I can never be bored reading Harlan Ellison - his writing is so cutting and to the point that it restores some little hope in this sordid existence. He pisses me off yet I find him an addiction that I hope I never lose. Finding your site was like discovering gold after what seems like an eternity searching through great mounds of shit. Like a lot of human so called achievements the internet promises so much and yet delivers so little - there is no software substitute for imagination, intelligence and uncompromising honesty. Enough rambling. The point is thank you. ======================================================== From: "Pizzuti, Craig" Subject: Thumbs up...Way up by the way... Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 11:49:04 -0600 I just finished reading your rant and just wanted to drop you a short line...First apologizing for not having anything for you that you can add to your site (I'm a serious reader but don't have the writing talent such as you and Unca H) and secondly to thank you for the many words and pictures that help me get through a slow day at work and sharpen up my knowledge of the man and where I can get his stuff...I've been a fanboy of his for a long time and after finding your web site I'm not only learning more about his stuff...but other writers and newsworthy info to help broaden my mind so that I can have my own INFORMED opinion as Unca says I'm entitled to (bless his little giving heart *grin*) Thanks again... Craig Pizzuti ======================================================== From: john@ariatech.demon.co.uk Date: 15 Jul 98 11:51:06 -0600 Subject: THE HARLAN ELLISON EXPERIENCE Dear Mr Wyatt : Thank you for all that you do on the Webb for Mr Ellison. Like him, I'm not much with the Internet, nor the opportunities it gives for the mentally crippled to abuse those much better than themselves. I have worked in the computer industry for almost twenty and I discover every day that I am selling computers to idiots who are far less inteligent than the machines they buy. To use a phrase of computer technolgy you might not be acquainted with - I get **pissed off** [Cf. "Idiots Guide..."] with those who abuse Mr Ellison in general - and particularly those who have ago at Susan. The reasons for this are complex but are primarilly predicated on an odd parallel. Both Susan and I come from Manchester. [ It's a little village in the north of England - the place where Industrial Civilization started - the former working resdence of A M Turring - and the birth place of the micro-processor. As you can see we have contributed very well to the down fall of civilised life - aint that cute! We Mancunians do not take any shit -we've got the best damn soccer team in the world and the best brutal thug supporters in the bloody world - ask any one!] Another interesting parallel is that my wife is American from South Carolina. I love symetry - don't you? You can understand therefore that any one who unwarrentedly critizises a man and women they have no right even to stand in the shadow of are vermin to be tracked down by a righteous angel of death. My respect for Harlan Ellison is beyond my ability to articulate, and I hope and wish him have the same happiness and fulfilment that I and my Lady Brenda have. You know he even tolerates my occasional missive - which I must write because its ver important for me to know that he knows he aint busting his arse for nowt. Once again thanks for all you do to keep us informed about the world of a remarkable human being. Regards John Sutcliffe ======================================================== From: dmoore22@sprynet.com Date: 14 Jul 98 22:15:40 -0600 Subject: Just a clapping letter, no complaints... clap, cla Hiya. I think you've made the best site I've run into as far as ease of use and amount of information and organization. So clap, clap... great job! Its clean and precise without any of the garbage animations and frames and things that take forever to load and are boring after seeing them once. And your latest RANT cracked me up. I like a lot of Ellison's stuff (thanks for the stories online too, btw) both fiction and non, and then there's stuff I don't care for or don't understand, but that's okay too. The ONLY, SINGLE complaint I could have is that I'm worried that I'll read the whole site and have nothing more to read in between updates... pout... which is the best kind of complaint, I think, cause it always nice to know your work is appreciated and people want more :) So here's another CLAP and thanks for a great site :) Dave E Moore ======================================================== From: VasquezUCM@aol.com Date: 13 Jul 98 20:49:18 -0600 Subject: Let me at 'em! Rick, I read your rant and I can't believe you've been catching this crap from people (term used loosely). Let me at 'em! Maybe you ain't prepared to "get medieval" but I gotta couple of swords here ... It's only been recently that I've had the spare time to check out the kind of internet sites that I thought would make this damned computer worth-while. See, we got it to put out a small local fishing magazine 4 years ago. I'm just now getting to the point where I'm only working 1 job, plus the magazine instead of 3 jobs and can "surf the web" for stuff that I think is actually useful and interesting. I figured I'd finally found something GOOD when I came across your site. Here's all this info about a guy that I actually respect. And I can tell you that those are few and far between. There's Harlan Ellison who don't take no crap off'n nobody ... and then there's you, Rick. Bustin' your ass to get this stuff out here to those of us who really care and who could never get this stuff before. I first read HE damned near 20 years ago. And loved his stuff ever since. But it's so damned hard to find. Now - because of your web-site - not only have I ordered his stuff through HERC, but I also know when he's on PI or Si- Fi channel or making personal appearances. I was most impressed when I ordered some books, then read on your site about HE's cellulitis and staff infection. I figured it'd be a while before I got those autographed books. But no - HE apparently went right on signing and I got a new inventory list with a note saying those books were on their way. It's thing's like that which make me think how cool this internet thing is. And it's the dreadlyfully few people like you who make it possible. Say let me say, "Thanks" yet again for your site. And you can send all those morons who don't get down on their knees and thank you for it down to my place for a quick lesson in reality. Some times, a good, swift kick in the ass - or an introduction to the basics in broadswords - is the only thing that will get through to certain kinds of people. Forgive me for taking up your time with my own rant. I just had to get that out before I threw this IBM across the room and gave up completely on the human race. Keep up the good work and don't let the assholes getcha down! Julie Wyatt Bradenton, FL ======================================================== From: grim_knight@hotmail.com Date: 13 Jul 98 16:55:16 -0600 Subject: Good words.. Rick, You know me from the newsgroup, but of course I'm a frequent visitor to your page as well........... why I don't post on the board, I'm not sure, but that's not what I'm writing about. I just wanted to say that since I stumbled across your web site about a year and a half ago, on random search while numbing away the hours working for Microsoft on a support contract, I've liked it. Sure, I had the moments of thinking that perhaps it could use some more pizazz here and there, frames and what not, simply because I like them... but I also like that you've kept it purely Lynx compliant and accessable to Joe Bloe who is encountering the internet for the first time from a library. The public access factor balances all in my regard; if they can't read, they can't learn nothing, now can they? And the content is worth more than its weight. Isn't it horrible how intellectual elitism, nasty thing that I can't help but live with/for, has its double edged prong? We have the Internet.. the pinnacle of our intelligence, a secret world of free speech that could have easily been kept from the yearning-can't-program-their-own-friggin'-VCR-masses-but-want-to-get-online-masses but at the same time we're all for letting them on in our vain, oh-so-self-defeating-hope that they might find amongst the myriad words and thoughts whatever spark it is we have that makes us dream, fear, hope, and above all... *think*. I know you know what I mean... and it's not elitism that drives those words. It's part of why I think we're both drawn to Harlan so much.... he's to some people the very epitome of what's wrong with Intellectualists, and to others he's the voice that speaks so much to self.... the voice that is terrible becuase it cares so freakin' much and keeps being let down.. the voice that wants, damnit, goddouble damnit, to see the ideal be reality and keeps getting burned. Sorry about that.. I'm prone to ramble, but I really wanted to let you know how happy I am with the web page that you've done. It was one of the first things I wrote when I came to the newsgroup, and one I believe still.. I'm glad you represent Harlan to the net-cruising world. You aren't a fan boy, no more than I (despite people's beliefs... fanboy is a phase you go through with anyone, or anything... but by the time Harlan's said something you disagree with for the nine zillioneth time, and you find you still respect him just as much as you did before, but for entirely different reasons than he might be The Great Savant We've All Been Searching For, you've entered something entirely seperate from Fanboy status). You're a real human being, who has a hell of a lot of respect for another real human.... for the type of human Harlan is. I feel the same. Anyway, I'm a work and must return soon..... you know the drill. One last thing.... I'm hoping that you'll be attending Dragoncon this year. This will be my frist con of any sort other than pure Anime (Dallas is not a very convention-prone city) and getting the chance to thank you in person for this page would be an enjoyable event, methinks. Don't worry; this isn't an attempt to meet Ellison by approval by proxy or such other nutso ideas... I've written Harlan, and he'll do with it what he will. Thanks again, Rob Terry (sorry about the formatting.. I mistakenly left off the 't' at the end of net and had to resend... argh, what a day... ;p) ======================================================== From: ktrudeau@elnet.com Date: 13 Jul 98 16:48:44 -0600 Subject: ummm...my stool in the aisle is kinda wobbly, Mist Rick: Okay, so this note is partially motivated by your rant today, but also by the fact that I spent over an hour yesterday fascinated by _Bugfuck_, and don't know where I would have found/read it had I not been a faithful clicker on Ellison Webderland. So, let me offer some very belated thank yous for your work putting everything and anything online so that lazy slobs like me can have served up for them, gratis. I was introduced to Unca Harlan by a friend twelve or thirteen years ago, saw him at Stony Brook when I was getting my masters (no, not the infamous Dachau appearance--that was evidently some years earlier--although he did call some ignorant woman in the audience a cunt...), and I find your site to be invaluable in keeping up with the man's capers and japes while engrossed in my busy modern life style. So, thanks. And Chris Priest can kiss my ass too. (metaphorically speaking, of course ) Kevin ======================================================== From: smeghead@erols.com Date: 13 Jul 98 00:47:28 -0600 Subject: Re: Paladin (And your latest rant) All this. You know, I was about to write, "All this and your only payments are the pleasure of turning people on to great writing, the occasional thanks from people like myself, and a friendly acquaintanceship with the greatest short story writer alive" ... Damn, Rick. I want to be _you_. --well ... That's not true. I want to be Harlan (Hey, if you're dreaming, shoot for the moon, huh?) But I'll settle for being me should my writing get out there and be appreciated--even if it doesn't (yeah, right; I'll hold people hostage if need be to get this book published), I'll still be okay being me, but I'll still envy what you've got--only a wistful, passing envy, true, but still ... You do good work. I know that this will either send you into happy maniacal laughter or sad maniacal laughter, given all the extracurricular stuff you're already doing, but you ARE a good writer, with your own unique voice. When are you going to start putting out your OWN magnum opi? Alex Jay Berman -- on a quest to get as many people possible to subscribe to Paul Riddell's great newsletter so I can get my grubby hands on that copy of _Slippage_ ... ======================================================== From: KevinHlousek@chicago.avenew.com Date: 22 Jul 98 13:41:18 -0600 Subject: The HE/Slippage/Susan Saga Hello, Rick, hope you've been well. I just wanted to let you know I read thru the subject correspondence from alt.fan; while I was not surprised by Harlan's response (but, then, I'm one with the toadies and minions, continuing to subvert the culture and society at large by spreading the word on himself), and thoroughly enjoyed the words of David Gerrold, I'm - well, old enough to know better, but still unable to understand fandom at large. Do the folks who purport themselves to be defenders and/or students of literature perceive in any way that the men and women who create and dream and make the effort to put it all down on paper, as best they can, to be shared, to entertain, to enlighten, that they are human beings who have to endure many of the trials that we, the readers, also experience? Granted, those who have been successful, have been prolific through the years, are in the public eye, may do it from a loftier place than most of us; but when the temblor comes and the arteries seize up, it seems safe to say that Lachesis, Chlotho and Atropos aren't checking resumes and financial statements before they deliver the package. (BTW - I also wonder how those who portray themselves as fans can be so unaware of the previously mentioned events; if they don't read the dailys or watch the news, don't they at least go over the intros to the books? Or did the rest of us just imagine that these events were recounted there? Just wondering). I'd like to think that most readers understand that, no matter who the writer is, he/she must be judged on a body of work; not deadlines, not scheduling, not the one or two stories over a period of - what is it now, 40+ years? - that didn't sing or soar or hit a home run for them. Harlan has entertained, enlightened, infuriated, educated, and frightened in ways that are uniquely his own, sharing large portions of dreams and visions, along with large side orders of his life, friends and various facets of the writer's professional world. Probably why, when he makes an appearance, and a fan just walks up and says "Thank you", no further explanation is needed, because he knows exactly where that person is coming from. If I dropped everything and devoted the next ten years to setting words to paper, and at the end of the ten years, he offered the critique "Not bad" ... I could live with that. Take care, and thank your mother for the chicken soup. ======================================================== Date: Thu, 16 Jul 1998 12:39:45 -0500 From: rcarlson@artic.edu (Ray Carlson) Subject: Heaping Praise Dear Rick, A long overdue, short note, to tell you how much I really enjoy HE Webderland and appreciate all the hard work that goes into it. Also, dig your rants and always look forward to them. Glad to see they're becoming more frequent. Please continue the great work and don't let the few knuckleheads get you down. All the best, Ray Carlson ======================================================== From: SubdwarfA2@aol.com Date: 19 Jul 98 20:52:20 -0600 Subject: Rant 7/9/98 All those who complain about your wonderful site...fuck 'em...people have lives too. Go on, Rick and don't listen to the twisted pigfuckers who bitch and moan. JP Inloes ======================================================== From: AceRimmr61@aol.com Date: 21 Jul 98 02:45:08 -0600 Dear Mr. Wyatt, I just popped on for my monthly visit to your webpage, and read with great interest the essay, "Bugfuck!," and your accompanying rant, "Critics and Other Worthless Appendages." Very interesting reading, to say the least! With regards to your essay, I enjoyed it very much, and I quite agree with your stance. It never ceases to amaze me that just because some people are well-versed in an author or genre, they feel that they have the necessary expertise to critisize. Rubbish! Myself, I've been reading your page ever since I got my first computer a few months ago, and enjoy it very much! Keep up the good work! I have no criticism whatsoever! Likewise, I will always back Harlan to the hilt, even when I don't necessarily agree with him. I can see why he's often despised. I'm reminded of Steve Gerber's satirically wry Howard The Duck. When Howard was campaigning for president, an astounded listener reacted to one of Howard's speeches by gasping, "My God! He's telling the truth! He'll be dead in a week!" Which is pretty much the case with Ellison. Oh, he does have a remarkable talent for embellishment and hyperbole, but he pretty much tells the unvarnished truth. And very few people can handle the truth! Well, I've blathered on long enough. Thanks again for your time, and don't let the critics get to you! Sincerely, Jeffrey L. Koehn ======================================================== From: "Doug Alexander" Subject: Thanks for the web site! Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 17:20:35 -0400 I just got done reading your latest rant and from the sounds of it you get a lot of negative feedback. I would hope there are a lot of people who have told you what a wonderful site it is and that they are grateful for your efforts but then they might be like me a devoted fan of the site for years who has never quite gotten around to telling you there glad for work you put into it. Well I am sure you get a lot of spam in your e-mails so i'll leave off with this being semi brief. Sorry if this is not overly grammatically correct but I have a Learning Disability in english that makes my mails look like they originated from from a 5th grader and not a college grad. Thanks again for making this site possible I have visited it for years and hope to do so for years more. Doug Alexander ======================================================== From: jeet@unreal.org Date: 22 Jul 98 12:21:18 -0600 Subject: rant I'll keep this short and sweet. Read the latest rant. The classic plight of anyone who has balls enough to say what they believe in. It seems anyone with integrity is harassed by those that lack it. I'm an essayist, and I would dare to say I probably get more hate mail from the mindless mudskippers than you do. I write, or wrote rather, for a game site. I rarely commented on games, but on the mentality of gamers. (using gamers as a microcosm for society, of course) It seems that gamers are an increasing population with decreasing gray matter. The site I wrote for was recently closed, in fact, due to incessant whining from the ill informed masses. I'm about to sign on at another site, and thus continue my love affair with peon defense systems. You have my sympathy, my empathy, and my respect. By the way, you'd be surprised how satisfying a well placed, "Fuck off" can be at times. :) Jeet Kristian Bland jeet@unreal.org ======================================================== From: mgpfeff@m8.sprynet.com Date: 22 Jul 98 14:04:56 -0600 Subject: Your Recent Rant I was quite interested in the recent Rant contained on the Webderland site. It seemed surprising at first that you had gotten so much carping from self-important attention seekers seeking to improve their own self-perception by trying to take you down a peg. Then, however, I thought of the venomous postings I've seen in the HE newsgroup. I personally have enjoyed your site greatly for the last two years. I have found it to be quite well organized as well as very interesting. Sites like yours have inspired me to work on my own site (based around the life and writings of Robert Bloch), which, hopefully, will be launched sometime in the next couple of months. While I doubt that your Rant will change the minds of any of the dolts who are fond of hurling brickbats at anyone else's efforts (nothing stops that kind of mealy sniping), I did want to underscore my thanks for your efforts in producing a resource for one of my favorite writers. Non illegitimus carborundum! -- Mike ======================================================== From: Erev591324@aol.com Date: 31 Jul 98 23:30:58 -0600 Subject: the harlan ellison web pae dear mr wyatt--- i just wanted you to know that I appreicate all of your hard work on the web page. as a fan of mr. ellison's for me years it is a wonderful place on the net to go---i save my visites to your page for when i am in need of a "treat." thank you so much for your obvious hard work, effort and committment to a wonderful site. d g k goldberg To: Rwyatt From: JanL@olp.net Date: 31 Jul 98 04:24:06 -0600 Subject: recent rant Rick, Yeow! I am amazed that you were forced to respond to the type of comments you have apparently been recieving. I have only had a computer since December of 1997, but one of the first searches I made online was for Harlan Ellison Resources.......yours is the only one I bookmarked for frequent returns. I can't imagine anyone being upset over your lack of criticism of Ellison or his work. I want to weep because Tom Snyder is leaving his show and I know that means goodbye to his eclectic guest list, especially Harlan. I am not particularly interested in hearing negative things about someone whose work, intelligence and humor I admire. Frankly, I am clueless about building a website, and with the demands on my time, I am THRILLED that you take the time to do what you do. Sorry for the grief you have experienced. I think that sometimes a creative effort is so good that certain people feel compelled to criticize, even if they must reach far and wide for a complaint. It is not in their natures' to acknowledge the value of a work if they think there is the slightest possibility they will appear to be in the majority. So they complain to stand out....which de-values their whole position. For what it is worth, I appreciate your efforts...the site is professional in appearance, respectful, well-written. I think they are upset because they didn't think to do this first. Jan..... ." Women and cats will do as they please and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea" ....Robert Heinlein... ...ICQ users contact me at #7609742 ======================================================== From: HobGad95@aol.com Date: 8 Jul 98 17:59:26 -0600 Subject: Essential Ellison vs. White Wolf series Hi, I was wondering if you could answer something for me---will the current reprints from White Wolf cover all of the material in The Essential Ellison or should I pick up Essential just for the hell of it? I have to say that your site is really amazing. I don't go to many fan sites but yours is a fan site that doesn't seem like it. You don't waste time and space by just sitting there and repeating how great H.E. is. Thank You for the care and appreciation for H.E. you've put into the site. With the release of the White Wolf series I've just started my journey into H.E.'s work. Sure, I'd heard about him, but as of last year I'm finding myself becoming more a fan everyday. I even tape him when he's on Tom Snyder because the two of them together is really cool. Enough rambling. Thanks, Tony Adams ======================================================== From: pash@julian.uwo.ca Date: 10 Jul 98 00:53:44 -0600 Subject: The HE Site, etc. Dear Mr. Wyatt, Since you're encouraging comments, I might as well take the time to make one or two. I wanted to congratulate you on this exceedingly extensive site. I've been something of an Ellison fan since I caught a few appearances of his on the long-defunct Prisoners of Gravity. I pride myself on being able to spot true talent - filtering it out of the 99% crap that bombards us every day, if you will. The first time I saw Ellison, I was impressed by this guy who was ranting away like he'd just caught some neighbourhood kids shaving his dog. Further appearances by this intensely opinionated S.O.B. further convinced me that Ellison was that all-too-rare real thing, and I've set out to get to know a little bit more about the man and myth ever since. Your site has been a great resource, and I thank you for it. In particular, your upcoming appearances listing has enabled me to catch a couple of televised appearances that I otherwise would never have seen, a fact that I deeply appreciate. So, if I may add a word of encouragement, I urge you to brush aside with dismissive hand the overstuffed opinions of the Internet's flotsam and jetsam. Your hard work is appreciated by those who, like myself, are seeking illumination in the darkness, rather than pitching crap over the nearest candle. Okay, enough of that. Cheers, Peter Ash ======================================================== Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 14:27:17 +0000 From: Mike Varela Subject: An Audience of Starving People I couldn't read all the crap you shoved into this web page in one sitting -- which is really the maximum time I allow myself to sit at any website -- so here's responses to snippets of things that flagged my attention. If you feel compelled to write back to me, know this: I may delete it before reading it, as my moods are subject to frequent change, as my lack of time dictates. Regarding your stance on the SC half-an-audience's attitude to Harlan's lecure? I can understand dismay over this. Generation X kids suffer from an extremely victim-oriented public education system, for one thing. They're curriculum also forces them to read primarily politically correct material for class study material -- material where Huck Finn (I still suspect this guy to be of Norwegian descent, by the way) is considered too controversial. Hence their intellects are atrophied in terms of humanities. Couple that with an instilled sense in them that there's less of everything to go around -- jobs, food, safe sex, etc., etc. -- and even more so, as they've been led to believe, that they'll never get rich, nor should they waste their time at going about grabbing the bucks, and we see the emerging head of a child who's been raised on more mental pablum than we ever had to slough through as TV kids back before the 60s. However, I could be totally wrong; and what we really have here are a group of people who are highly sophisticated, yet only interested in a narrow field, believing that the mastery of such will earn them a good living. And that pressing issues such as why Tarzan is an important role model, or whatever, are as relevant to their current quest for solutions to their own personal problems (such as being seriously unemployed and deeply in debt most of their life, coupled with aftermath of all this being that they'll never be able to retire until after 85-years of age) as Ed McMann's thoughts on the price of headcheese.... Another way of putting it goes like this (please follow closely, you may be tested on this later on in life): "Who gives a shit who this guy Harlan is, or what he's done as a writer of fiction? It's not like having the cure to cancer or AIDS, is it? Besides, the sucker don't pay my rent." 'nuff said... Ellison on the concept of computers as a threat in making writing/art too easy. Or why art shouldn't be too easy? First of all, I'd like to mirror the same reply HE gave to the FAQ concerning a dead Author's proprietary rights to unfinished work. What an elitist attitude, to assume that great "Art" must never be easy. What about a musician who has mastered playing a piece, such that he can play it effortlessly? I would say that at that stage, the musician can play that piece easily -- in as much as it feels easy for him to play it. (Careful with your responses here, as I'm not going to give away right now what I know as an accomplished musician.) Or how about a magician (same warning here) who masters a diffucult close-up routine that incorporates subtle timing and misdirection, coupled with one or more difficult sleights? At some stage in the perfection of the routine, it too will become easy for him to perform the trick. So ... Does Harlan mean the process of writing and getting published is invalid without first suffering? What the fuck does that mean? Anybody who says you have to suffer over something before you can be an accomplished artist/meister in that field, I immediately place on my list of assorted pervos and other suspected jerkoffs -- preferrably under the S&M subheading. Second of all, Who is Art? Is he a fellow of infinite jest, whom I should have probably known better? What about that writing thingie as a craft? Or, Is art part craft; or is it merely a lecture that's part of some funky 101 course in arts & crafts? These are very important questions! Define "easy." And will Dick Clark finally break up with Ed McMann? And if so, will they get together again, perhaps as Dionne Warwick knockoffs in the telephone psychic business? ======================================================== From: bob maddock (rjrm1965@aol.com) Date: 5 Jan 98 19:57:30 -0600 Subject: cos the f*ing submit button got me nowhere what do i think? hell, i think lots of stuff, how long you got? i think it's perverse that the coworker i've got the hots for gets engaged one week after i get separated...i think reagan's alz kicked in about a month after his first term started...i think this site is pretty damned good...rates a 4.5 (ft) on the laughed-so-hard-i-shot-drpepper-out-my-nose-meter...bout time harlan got a shrine...still get choked up every time i read jefty ======================================================== From: mindela@worldnet.att.net Date: 13 Jan 98 21:38:32 -0600 Subject: Kudos I just wanted to send you a note thanking you for sponsoring the Harlan Ellison website. Mr. Ellison introduced me to science fiction (via Dangerous Visions) and has remained one of my favorite authors. It is a pleasure to read about him, and you deserve a great deal of credit for making this information available. ---Mindy Richards ======================================================== From: malvarez@sun1.wetmore.amphi.com Date: 3 Apr 98 09:57:08 -0600 Subject: Harlan Ellison Hi, By now you are probably tired of reading emails like this, but I figured I'd send it anyway. I enjoyed my visit to your web pages, photos, etc. on Ellison. I don't remember exactly the first time I read him, but he still manages to dazzle me with his prose whenever I read his stuff. I met Ellison back in '78 or '79 when he was in Tucson for a Sci-Fi convention; Ray Bradbury was there too. Super guys and they're both still plugging away. Regards, Mike ======================================================== From: OHedgep477@aol.com Date: 23 Nov 97 11:08:48 -0600 Subject: Your season I think of HE often, over the span of time. HE is kinda of like the leaves out my window as I type this. They are bright orange. They have their time, but they pass. HE seems to have his season each day fresh and new. The memories of yesterday are the colors today with a slight timecolor added. So, here's to the season of HE, the color of time. Keep the season's coming ======================================================== From: RebNan@webtv.net Date: 24 Oct 97 15:00:18 -0600 i just saw his comment on scifi buzz about some of the authors and films that a true fan should know, and it ddid my heart to see names like cordwainer smith, leigh brackett, murray leinster and films like curse of the demon and first men in the moon (although as far as the authors were concerned, i missed seeing the name of a. e. van vogt). this note is just a gesture of appreciation at being reminded of some of the hidden treasures i had forgotten. thanks for your time and trouble. ralphplus ======================================================== From: Tsriker@aol.com Date: 23 Nov 97 18:22:30 -0600 Subject: Your recollections w/HE Hi! I can sympathize with your shyness in his presence. I've met him several times at the ICON on Long Island, in NY, and have been awed and impressed every time. I look forward to reading his comments on the lecture you attended - I can't help but wonder, being a former bookseller, about where the young of this country will _ever_ learn about the things they need to know in order to protect themselves from all different levels of exploitation. But, I do go on.... Oh, you know that anecdote about the girl who wants to know "who" Dachau is? I was there - _that_, I'll never forget. My former college roomie was with me, and he'd lost most of both sides of his family in various camps. When I repeated what the girl had said, I thought he'd faint. Your work is marvelous. Thanks for caring _and_ doing. Tom Riker ========================================================