I had the honour of being yelled at by Harlan at the 1990 Worldcon. He saw a queue and decided that it wasn't for him and came to the front. I was the voluteer sorting stuff out for people. I took a deep breath (knowing his reputation for tearing a piece out of anybody in his way) and quietly asked him by to join the end of the queue. The entire queue seemed to gulp at that moment. After a huge yell of "Do you know who I am?!", and my reply "Of course", he shook my hand and went to the back of the queue! When he (eventually) got to the front, he was a complete sweetie.
it became a story that went around the Convention - which I didn't realise until someone I'd just met told me about the woman who stood Harlan Ellison down...... :)
Harlan was a gem. We spoke on the phone a few times when i was getting the right to use a story of his in the Protectors Anthology, and we corresponded, a letter which briefly went viral. I agree with you mostly, except that that the Civil War statutes went up 50b years after the war to intimidate Black people once civil rights began to be coded into law. Germany doesn't let people celebrate the Nazis, but we do, and our Jim Crow laws inspired the Nazis, so until we have statues that explain that... I don't mind the ones of Confederate traitors being torn down and their schools renamed.
I loved the story about Harlan realizing that Avram was tying a “Thugee strangle knot” with a stray piece of rope as the two walked through a NewYork alleyway seriously worried about some guys also in the alley.
All of history is of value, even the evil parts, maybe especially the evil parts. History cannot be changed by ignoring it or denying it or not studying it. We need to try to learn how to avoid making the mistakes of the past.
Coincidentally, Brad DeLong recently posted about an Isaac Asimov story which included him arguing with Avram Davidson. At the time I took it as a reminder that the post war SF crowd was an argumentative group -- which I think it was, but maybe particularly Avram . . .
Davidson was more explicitly Jewish in his writing than Ellison was. The fact that he wrote stories with names like "Help! I Am Dr. Morris Goldpepper!" really shows that.
I researched the story of Egon Schoenberger, a young jewish man who emigrated to New Zealand in 1939, escaping the Holocaust which took his mother, sister and 2 aunts. (https://mainzdailyphoto.com/2012/09/07/2-degrees-of-separation-1649/). His daughter told me that they weren’t allowed Faber-Castell pencils for school and that her father physically shook when approaching the Dutch-German border on a return many years later and had difficulty crossing. Never went back afterwards.
I had the honour of being yelled at by Harlan at the 1990 Worldcon. He saw a queue and decided that it wasn't for him and came to the front. I was the voluteer sorting stuff out for people. I took a deep breath (knowing his reputation for tearing a piece out of anybody in his way) and quietly asked him by to join the end of the queue. The entire queue seemed to gulp at that moment. After a huge yell of "Do you know who I am?!", and my reply "Of course", he shook my hand and went to the back of the queue! When he (eventually) got to the front, he was a complete sweetie.
That is a great Harlan story!
it became a story that went around the Convention - which I didn't realise until someone I'd just met told me about the woman who stood Harlan Ellison down...... :)
Love this
Thanks!
Harlan was a gem. We spoke on the phone a few times when i was getting the right to use a story of his in the Protectors Anthology, and we corresponded, a letter which briefly went viral. I agree with you mostly, except that that the Civil War statutes went up 50b years after the war to intimidate Black people once civil rights began to be coded into law. Germany doesn't let people celebrate the Nazis, but we do, and our Jim Crow laws inspired the Nazis, so until we have statues that explain that... I don't mind the ones of Confederate traitors being torn down and their schools renamed.
Same
I loved the story about Harlan realizing that Avram was tying a “Thugee strangle knot” with a stray piece of rope as the two walked through a NewYork alleyway seriously worried about some guys also in the alley.
All of history is of value, even the evil parts, maybe especially the evil parts. History cannot be changed by ignoring it or denying it or not studying it. We need to try to learn how to avoid making the mistakes of the past.
Dreams With Sharp Teeth, a film about Harlan Ellison
Fun little documentary about Harlan Ellison. He has a closet full of typewriters, and does lots of swearing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EFETkpdfIU
Coincidentally, Brad DeLong recently posted about an Isaac Asimov story which included him arguing with Avram Davidson. At the time I took it as a reminder that the post war SF crowd was an argumentative group -- which I think it was, but maybe particularly Avram . . .
https://braddelong.substack.com/p/reading-isaac-asimov-on-dominationist
“German made product” - Hahahah! I specifically loved the reference.
There is a time and place for every place in its time.
Davidson was more explicitly Jewish in his writing than Ellison was. The fact that he wrote stories with names like "Help! I Am Dr. Morris Goldpepper!" really shows that.
At this late date, from the distance of 80 years, does it matter if the Germans (or even the Nazi’s) built something like a typewriter?
Not to me, but apparently to some folks.
I researched the story of Egon Schoenberger, a young jewish man who emigrated to New Zealand in 1939, escaping the Holocaust which took his mother, sister and 2 aunts. (https://mainzdailyphoto.com/2012/09/07/2-degrees-of-separation-1649/). His daughter told me that they weren’t allowed Faber-Castell pencils for school and that her father physically shook when approaching the Dutch-German border on a return many years later and had difficulty crossing. Never went back afterwards.
I will not even buy Bayer Aspirin, so that tells you where I stand here. (Though we owned a German made car, so the hell with me, I guess..)
Have you ever pressed the SS key to see what happens?
I've never run across one of the SS typewriters, only seen pictures.