I think George R.R. Martin is an absolute genius story teller. He has to be brilliant to weave such an intricate plot. And he says he’s still working. The Song of Ice and Fire series has as much thought behind it as anything I’ve ever read. And although some will say his writing has declined over the last couple books, I still think he’s one of the best.
George R. R. Martin is definitely a candidate. If he comes close to sticking the landing, the Song of Ice and Fire series will stand for a long as absolutely top-of-the-pile fantasy fiction.
Musicians are risky, because it’s always hard to know who time will really side with, but I would give a vote to John Darnielle (aka The Mountain Goats). He’s a fantastic lyricist who has managed to grow gracefully into more polished recordings without losing his ability to write captivating lyrics married to solid melodies.
Neil Peart’s called The Professor for a reason.
LeBron James, Peyton Manning, Calvin Johnson, Mike Trout.
Freeman Dyson.
Multiple film directors, especially since that particular medium is still so new: Martin Scorsese, Frances Ford Coppola, Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Steven Spielberg… In the annals of cinematographic history they’ll all probably deserve the “genius” designation.
Well, at least I get that commercial now.
I’ll say Leonard Cohen.
If we’re going with athletes, I’ll go with Mayweather and Jon Jones. For my money, Jose Also is the best fighter in the world, but he doesn’t have the innovation to be a genius. He’s just a natural born bad ass.
Beck, John Lasseter, Tina Fey. They don’t display Schopenhaur-level depth, but he didn’t have their technical skills either.
Is Larry David still active? I’d put him in the conversation.
I thought Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was genius, so a nod to its writer, Charlie Kauffman, although he hasn’t exactly been busting them out right and left lately.
Prince is always the first musician that comes to mind when the word genius gets thrown around, but I’m not that knowledgeable in the medium.
I’d suggest Todd Rundgren, but mostly because a lot of his peers consider him one:
“Todd Rundgren is a genius and I don’t use that word a lot.” - Jim Steinman, writer of “Bat Out of Hell”
“All these people would be going on about Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page and I’d be like, yeah, but I’m into Todd Rundgren - he could play guitar like a fucking bastard. He’s a genius. What can you say about Todd, you know? Todd is god” - Colin Newman of Wire
Also, he’s a polymath, having significant careers in several areas. As a musician and producer, obviously, but he wrote the first consumer paint program (for the Apple II), animated his own music videos, and I just found out that he went to Sega with a program described as an embryonic “Guitar Hero” for their video game system.
Kate Bush.
…and Joni Mitchell.