# Ask the guy who is pretty good at SF Story Identification **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [September 7, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417 "2008-09-07T00:08:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 71
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2024, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1401 "2024-01-13T01:16:18Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > The Star, by Clarke. This one was asked so many times, it was in the FAQ for rec.arts.sf-lovers.written. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2024, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1402 "2024-01-13T01:43:59Z")
Huh, just this past summer, I read a different story narrated by a tree. This one was a fig tree, though, and it was about the heritage of the violence between Greeks and Turks on Cyprus. (The Island of Missing Trees, if anyone’s interested). ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2024, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1403 "2024-01-13T02:39:24Z")
Might be the same story: on a starship they have a plant that grows cigarettes, and communicate over impossible distances via the telepathic properties of dog brains. ---
**Author:** ![Mikkel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikkel/32/13151_2.png) [@Mikkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikkel)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2024, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1404 "2024-01-13T09:01:12Z")
Ursula leGuin, it was anthologized in The Winds Twelve Quarters and I think the title was The Direction of the Road. ETA Ninjaed by the questioner himself. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2024, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1405 "2024-01-13T09:28:07Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Decades ago, I found a compilation of old ghost stories (one very clever one by Rudyard Kipling). But the one that stuck in my head was about a ghostly maiden who haunted the lord of a stately mansion built on a headland above the crashing sea. She had killed herself by jumping to her death, to escape an arranged marriage, and was condemned to appear before the lord of the manor the stroke of midnight, and stay with him for one hour. I can’t recall if her once-yearly visit was on Christmas, or New Years, or the anniversary of her death; but in any case, some time in winter. Since she drowned, her appearances always drenched whatever room her victim choose with floods of water, which was both unpleasant for him and ruined the flooring and walls of the room. John Kendrick Bangs The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall Read it here: > **[Short Stories: The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall by John Kendrick Bangs](https://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/WateGhos.shtml)** > > Full online text of The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall by John Kendrick Bangs. Other short stories by John Kendrick Bangs also available along with many others by classic and contemporary authors. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2024, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1406 "2024-01-13T11:31:35Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > > > Decades ago, I found a compilation of old ghost stories (one very clever one by Rudyard Kipling). But the one that stuck in my head was about a ghostly maiden who haunted the lord of a stately mansion built on a headland above the crashing sea. She had killed herself by jumping to her death, to escape an arranged marriage, and was condemned to appear before the lord of the manor the stroke of midnight, and stay with him for one hour. I can’t recall if her once-yearly visit was on Christmas, or New Years, or the anniversary of her death; but in any case, some time in winter. Since she drowned, her appearances always drenched whatever room her victim choose with floods of water, which was both unpleasant for him and ruined the flooring and walls of the room. > > John Kendrick Bangs > The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall > > Read it here: > [Short Stories: The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall by John Kendrick Bangs](https://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/WateGhos.shtml) That’s it! It was better than I remembered, with an Oscar Wildean humor. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2024, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1407 "2024-01-13T17:40:43Z")
[cough] “herself” – but how would you know that, given my name and avatar? No harm, no foul. ---
**Author:** ![Mikkel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikkel/32/13151_2.png) [@Mikkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikkel)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2024, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1408 "2024-01-13T18:24:32Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > No harm, no foul. My apology anyway. I think I remember that you told in the thread about our avatars, but my brain apparently doesn’t retain that kind of information. It’s used for old SciFi books. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2024, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1409 "2024-01-13T18:46:02Z")
A far superior use of brain cells. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2024, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1410 "2024-01-14T07:10:25Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > The Star, by Clarke. Which IMHO is not very good at all. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1411 "2024-01-15T13:36:01Z")
Bangs himself appears as a ghost/spirit in Alan Moore’s _Promethea_ series. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1412 "2024-01-15T15:15:50Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > John Kendrick Bangs > The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall > > Read it here: > [Short Stories: The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall by John Kendrick Bangs](https://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/WateGhos.shtml) Thanks for the link! I seem to recall reading that years ago - reminds me a bit of Wilde’s bittersweet 1887 tale “The Canterville Ghost.” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2024, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1413 "2024-01-23T22:51:32Z")
> [@Eclipse\_Chaser](#): > > I think this is it: “The Bear with the Knot on His Tail” by Stephen Tall. > The crew of the starship detected the civilisation’s distress call in the form of music which got increasingly urgent as they approached the system. There was also a sort of psychic, an elderly woman, on the ship who painted pictures showing increasing distress. > [https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?52502](https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?52502) Right you are! Many thanks. I found it in _The Best of Fantasy and Science Fiction, 20th Series_, ed. by Edward L. Ferman (Doubleday & Co. 1973). It was pretty much as schmaltzy as I remembered, but still good. Definitely a _ST_ feel to it, although the starship crew was a bunch of very smart and quirky, even eccentric, civilian scientists rather than the more buttoned-down, quasi-military Starfleet crews we know so well. ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1414 "2024-01-28T03:15:19Z")
Another short story, of comparatively recent vintage. This one is about a time traveler who goes back in time to the early 1960s New York City folk music scene and becomes obsessed with acquiring a rumored-to-exist bootleg recording of an up and coming performer named Bob Dylan. Thank you in advance. ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1415 "2024-01-28T03:19:07Z")
Older one–an old lady dairy farmer’s milk and eggs start the space program? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1416 "2024-01-28T15:06:36Z")
> [@El\_DeLuxo](#): > > Another short story, of comparatively recent vintage. This one is about a time traveler who goes back in time to the early 1960s New York City folk music scene and becomes obsessed with acquiring a rumored-to-exist bootleg recording of an up and coming performer named Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan, Troy Johnson and the Speed Queen? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1417 "2024-01-28T16:10:44Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Bob Dylan, Troy Johnson and the Speed Queen Here are places where that story appeared: [https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?70852](https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?70852) ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1418 "2024-01-28T20:08:03Z")
Hm. I’d like to read that one! Any more details on the milk/eggs-to-space process? ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1419 "2024-01-28T22:18:28Z")
This sounds familiar to me. If it’s the story I’m thinking about the milk and eggs, when combined, produce a superior rocket fuel. Unfortunately, I’m drawing a complete blank on author/title, except for a vague recollection of it being in a magazine or anthology. It will most likely keep me up some night while my brain is running through my mental filing system. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1420 "2024-01-28T22:25:13Z")
Make Mine Homogenized, by Rick Raphael? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417.md?page=70) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417.md?page=72)