# Science Fiction Short Story ID Help

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-short-story-id-help/836520>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 4, 2019, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-short-story-id-help/836520 "2019-07-04T15:35:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-short-story-id-help/836520/21 "2019-07-06T02:26:31Z")

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> [@LurkMeister](#):
>
> “Or the Grasses Grow” by Avram Davidson
> 
> [The Avram Davidson Treasury: A Tribute Collection - Avram Davidson - Google Books](https://books.google.com/books?id=2MletZyBxT0C&pg=PT131&lpg=PT131&dq=%22or+the+grasses+grow%22&source=bl&ots=hJNENbFTri&sig=ACfU3U2_7SO6NNHaT4KnvZSgvjBrn9TrlA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiXoKqrxpzjAhXOZs0KHXRGDCYQ6AEwDHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22or%20the%20grasses%20grow%22&f=false)
> 
> I remembered reading the same story, and after some extensive Google-Fu I tracked it down. Here’s the publication history from the ISFDB: [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?46046](http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?46046)

Thank you! Glad to know it wasn’t an invented memory. I knew Ropers would come through.

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**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-short-story-id-help/836520/22 "2019-07-06T02:36:18Z")

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You can always count on the Straight Rope Message Board! 😛

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**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-short-story-id-help/836520/23 "2019-07-06T03:38:38Z")

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> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#):
>
> I can’t parse it to mean anything clear.

Okay, [a visual aid](https://imgur.com/a/635WQoH).

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**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-short-story-id-help/836520/24 "2019-07-06T03:58:47Z")

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> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#):
>
> I can’t parse it to mean anything clear.

Yeah that was my bad. Sorry.

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**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2019, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-short-story-id-help/836520/25 "2019-07-07T19:35:58Z")

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> [@JohnM](#):
>
> Thank you! Glad to know it wasn’t an invented memory. I knew Ropers would come through.

It was the rain, and the teleprompter was hard to read…

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**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:** [July 7, 2019, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-short-story-id-help/836520/26 "2019-07-07T20:26:07Z")

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Surprisingly, the story was not first published during the New Wave period but in 1958:

[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?46046](http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?46046)

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