# Harlan Ellison (1934-2018)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 28, 2018, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945 "2018-06-28T19:32:29Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945/1 "2018-06-28T19:32:29Z")
David Gerrold is reporting that Harlan Ellison has died.
Harlan was a giant in the field, and one of the greats of the short story. In his prime, he was outstanding. The list of his great stories is very long: “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream,” “A Boy and His Dog,” “Jeffty is Five,” “‘Repent, Harlequin’ said the Ticktockman.’” (He was as well known for his titles as for his stories himself.
He also worked in TV. It’s no coincidence that some of the best SF shows ever – _The Outer Limits, Star Trek, Babylon 5, The Twilight Zone_ (1985 version) – had him involved.
As an anthologies, he edited the two _Dangerous Visions_ anthology.
Harlan was prickly, a lover of the spotlight, and caustic to enemies. But he was also a loyal and generous friend.
And a helluva writer.
RIP.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945/2 "2018-06-28T19:41:47Z")
Damn! NESFA just published his authorized biography, and I hadn’t bought one yet.
Sorry to see him go. I found him intriguing and infuriating, by turns, but I loved much of his stuff.
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### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945/3 "2018-06-28T19:42:06Z")
Truly one of the greats, a character like no other. I have an autographed copy of Partners In Wonder that he signed for me at a film festival in San Jose.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945/4 "2018-06-28T19:44:50Z")
He worked on Babylon 5, which is where I first heard about him. He even voiced the angry/sarcastic computer in one episode.
The documentary Netflix used to have about him was pretty interesting, too.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945/5 "2018-06-28T19:46:18Z")
You just _know_ he didn’t get all his stories written.
Thank you, Mr. Ellison.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945/6 "2018-06-28T19:49:28Z")
[Link](https://www.cbr.com/harlan-ellison-dies-84/)
SHIT!
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### Author:  [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945/7 "2018-06-28T19:50:35Z")
Oh dammit! This sucks, now I won’t ever get a chance to have dinner and an argument with the man. ☹ Can you imagine being at a dinner with Harlan and Tony Bourdain? Perhaps the afterlife catering crew is already firing up the menu and invitations for that one. Sigh.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945/8 "2018-06-28T20:01:52Z")
Damn, indeed.
I remember an installment of Tom Snyder’s “Tomorrow” talk show, in the early 1980s, on which his guests were Ellison, Isaac Asimov, and Ray Bradbury. Much of the show featured a battle of sharpened wits between Ellison and Asimov, which was tremendously entertaining.
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945/9 "2018-06-28T20:10:14Z")
Goodby, [Sci Fi Guy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lax0g5d6gM).
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945/10 "2018-06-28T20:12:17Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> Damn, indeed.
>
> I remember an installment of Tom Snyder’s “Tomorrow” talk show, in the early 1980s, on which his guests were Ellison, Isaac Asimov, and Ray Bradbury. Much of the show featured a battle of sharpened wits between Ellison and Asimov, which was tremendously entertaining.
The episode is available on YouTube, and I will be watching it again when I get home tonight.
I have met Harlan several times, the first time at a small WhoCon down in Los Angeles back in '79(I think), the second time at a lecture at the Seattle Center back when _Stalking The Nightmare_ was first released, and several times after that at various conventions and book releases. His talks were never boring and almost always over the top, and the stories he told…oh, the stories he told!
The man lived large.
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945/11 "2018-06-28T20:23:13Z")
I met Mr. Ellison twice, once by telephone when I called him at home back in 1983 and again in 1995 at Dragon Con in Atlanta. I was grateful on both occasions that he suffered my presence with no great drama, especially in 1995 when I mentioned the phone call from 1983. 😃
RIP, Mr. Ellison; you done fucking fantastic.
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### Author:  [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945/12 "2018-06-28T20:24:37Z")
The night [Frank Sinatra tried to pick a fight](https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a638/frank-sinatra-has-a-cold-gay-talese/)with him.
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### Author:  [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945/13 "2018-06-28T20:29:36Z")
He wrote the TOS episode City on the Edge of Forever.
RIP.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945/14 "2018-06-28T20:33:44Z")
FUCK!!!
Thanks for everything, Harlan. All the conversations, the signed books, the stories, suffering this fool for a while…everything.
But hey! When’s _The Last Dangerous Visions_ coming out?
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### Author:  [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945/15 "2018-06-28T20:34:05Z")
So, how does this impact the release date of _The Last Dangerous Visions_?
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### Author:  [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945/16 "2018-06-28T20:40:05Z")
Unlikely to be out before Christmas I’d say.
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### Author:  [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945/17 "2018-06-28T20:47:41Z")
For a devout atheist, Ellison was able to conjure up Hell like nobody else on earth. Every single plot twist involving the imprisonment of a human mind inside some non-corporeal entity to suffer forever, from _The Jaunt_ to _Black Mirror_, is part of his legacy. But he could warm your heart in addition to chilling your blood. He wrote essays and stories about every imaginable topic, and they were always interesting. With Tom Wolfe and now Ellison, the collective writing talent of America has taken some major losses lately.
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### Author:  [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945/18 "2018-06-28T20:49:52Z")
Sigh…mrmee, mrmee, mrmee, mrmee…
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### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945/19 "2018-06-28T20:53:59Z")
Watching _A Boy And His Dog_ now. He really, really hated that last line of dialog.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-1934-2018/816945/20 "2018-06-28T21:09:15Z")
> [@blondebear](#):
>
> Truly one of the greats, a character like no other. I have an autographed copy of Partners In Wonder that he signed for me at a film festival in San Jose.
I have a button he autographed at Comic-Con in San Diego for me in the '80s.
I wonder how much my signed Easton Press copy of _Deathbird Stories_ can sell for now? 😛 (Hey, he’d appreciate it.)
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