Harlan Ellison Repost

Harlan Ellison died last year. I wrote this at the time. I'm reposting it with minor edits, for no reasons that I can explain.

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 Harlan who?

 Despite habitually referring to him as my Uncle Harlan, we were not related, nor acquainted beyond a couple of passing remarks relayed between us a a very long time ago. Harlan Ellison was a writer. A writer of fantastic stories, of which you ought to be aware.

 There's a Star Trek script, "The City on the Edge of Forever", with which some of you may be familiar. And a better script that existed before his story was adapted- with clean hands and composure- by the creatives responsible for Star Trek. Better? Yes. The aired episode was great- widely seen as the best of the original series. The original script was better.  It had more depth, it had more character, and it had a better ending.  It did not bear the marks of having been made to fit.

 There is also one of the most harrowing AI stories- written long before the damned machines were even possible- called "I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream", and a great many golden age of TV episodes- such as "Demon With A Glass Hand" and "Soldier" for The Outer Limits- the latter apparently swiped as a basis for "The Terminator"- and "Paladin of The Lost Hour" for the Twilight Zone.

 And on and on, frankly. Ellison wrote a lot of stuff. Stories, novels, criticism, elegant musings and raging condemnation. All of it readable and admirable and better than anything most writers produce.

 By far. 

 Better than what you're reading now.

 He is one of my creative influences.  Hence the Uncle designation.

 Harlan helped me understand the importance of wonder. Sometimes an angry wonder, sometimes a gobsmacked wonder, sometimes a laugh because otherwise you will detonate wonder.  He also helped me a great deal with developing my sense of worth as a writer and a creative.

 He will be eulogized. A lot. He will be called a genius and a giant and all sorts of things. And he will be talked about in terms of pranks and anger and bad behavior.

 Well. Yes.  Yes indeedy. Harlan did not suffer fools. Harlan did not censor his behavior. At least, not in the sense that you and I might do so. His actions and reactions have
become legends in the creative community. I believe it was DC Fontana who spoke about places where the grass would no longer grow, in terms of the consequences of angering Harlan.

 But it is important to remember that he was more than those stories.

 He was his stories. And they are all over the place, in the best possible way. His interests were wide, and as far as I can tell, he wrote to all of them.

 On the day of his passing. as a way of dealing with my substantial grief, I urge you this upon you.

 Read Ellison. He's in your library. He's on Amazon. He's in your bookstore, if you are lucky enough to have one. Read him. Watch his episodes. Whether you're a long time fan or someone wondering what the fuck I'm fussing about.

 Read Ellison. You owe it to yourself.

 Because, in the end, stories are important. And he created some of the best you will ever read.