Harry Harrison RIP

[ejp626]

Story here

RIP. I admit that I haven't read his work in quite some time, but I enjoyed it a lot in my late teens and early 20s.

I wonder if he ever stopped pushing Esperanto. At least a couple of his books had instructions in the introductions on how to contact some group to get your free Esperanto dictionary.

Well, at least that's how I remember it...

[Pete C]

At least a couple of his books had instructions in the introductions on how to contact some group to get your free Esperanto dictionary.

I wonder if he was friends with Bernard Stollman. There's a Graham Greene spy novel, I forget which one, that has a nice parody of Esperanto.

[Swinger]

RIP!

I've always enjoyed most of his books. I'm still trying to find enough time to read his Eden -trilogy.

[Jazzmoose]

I'm still trying to find enough time to read his Eden -trilogy.

Same here. I did go on a Harrison binge earlier this year, going through the Deathworld Trilogy, most of the Stainless Steel Rat books, and a few scattered novels. I guess he was never one of the "big names", but he was a favorite of mine.

[mjzee]

OK, so this was the SF writer, and not the WMCA DJ.

[BruceH]

Sorry to hear of his passing. I went through the Deathworld trilogy, Bill the Galactic Hero, Make Room! Make Room!, and a bunch of his short stories back in my teen years. Haven't really re-visited him since, but always retained fond memories. True, not one of the 'big names' but I always thought of him as a solid second-echelon sf writer. Nothing wrong with that.

RIP

Edited August 17, 2012 by BruceH

[ejp626]

Sorry to hear of his passing. I went through the Deathworld trilogy, Bill the Galactic Hero, Make Room! Make Room!, and a bunch of his short stories back in my teen years. Haven't really re-visited him since, but always retained fond memories. True, not one of the 'big names' but I always thought of him as a solid second-echelon sf writer. Nothing wrong with that.

RIP

Second tier is not a bad place to be. Personally, I'd probably also put Philip Jose Farmer there (above Harrison), though he is probably considered a bit more influential.

It's interesting that a number of writers who would have been considered fairly important back in the day have faded so much (John Brunner, Samuel Delaney, Harlan Ellison -- has he published much at all lately??). Of course, I don't really keep up with the field any more.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I've read the Eden books a couple or three times, over the last twenty-something years, and enjoyed them; lightweight but enjoyable.

I borrowed a couple of the Stainless Steel Rat books from the library about the time I got the Eden set but found them as pure pulp as could be, so I never read any more.

RIP.

MG

[paul secor]

OK, so this was the SF writer, and not the WMCA DJ.

My first thought when I read the thread title was that it was the dj.

[Tom 1960]

OK, so this was the SF writer, and not the WMCA DJ.

My first thought when I read the thread title was that it was the dj.

Same here although I remember when he worked at WABC/770 in New York. What do I know?

[Jazzmoose]

Second tier is not a bad place to be. Personally, I'd probably also put Philip Jose Farmer there (above Harrison), though he is probably considered a bit more influential.

Not to turn this into a 'rate the author' thread, but I wouldn't put Farmer anywhere near second tier. While I enjoyed some of his books when I first tried them (decades ago), I recently tried a few and find him to be unreadable from the start, and even when I liked his stuff there was certainly no payoff. Just meandering nonsense. Kind of the Kenny G. of SF...

[mjzee]

OK, so this was the SF writer, and not the WMCA DJ.

My first thought when I read the thread title was that it was the dj.

Same here although I remember when he worked at WABC/770 in New York. What do I know?

He did the 10 AM - 2 PM slot in the '60's on WMCA, when I was in my formative years. His show was very much geared towards housewives - his daily giveaway was a dozen roses.

[BruceH]

Second tier, so to speak, is freakin' terrific. Don't get me wrong.