------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1999 02:42:43 -0400 From: Todd Haney Subject: Meeting Harlan @ Heroescon '99 Father's Day, 1999. A day which will be forever etched in my memory. After an absolutely crappy Saturday--total carpet replacement with less than 10 hours notice--and not being able to go to the Heroes Convention that day, I schlepped meself to downtown Charlotte to, hopefully, catch a glimpse of the man, the God, Harlan Ellison. When I entered the convention hall, just after noon, who was holding court near the entrance? None other than HIM! My heart all a pitter-patter, I found a seat about halfway back from where he stood, sometimes straining to hear the utterances I had waited so long to hear. Even though his supply of books for sale had been stolen--and returned later, according to what I heard--HE gave a lecture that had us all wide-eyed with amazement and sometimes rolling in the aisles--the Kindergarten story, told esp. for Shelton Drum's daughter, was hilarious! Afterwards, a line formed--quiet and collected--to await the chance to meet Harlan and get some little trinket signed by him. After a few minutes, and an entertaining conversation with artist Cully Hammer, I stood before Harlan and his charming wife, Susan. I was lucky enough to have him sign my copies of ANGRY CANDY, the I,ROBOT screenplay, and my well-read copy of AN EDGE IN MY VOICE. As he did so, some red-headed lady (the nicest term I can come up with) harangued him relentlessly about his temper, his writing and anything else she could think of. Her barbs left him unpeturbed, however as he shook my hand with genuine kindness. I was able to give him a copy of a poem I had written a few years ago, called STARDUST DREAMS, and a pin emblazoned with the slogan: "Imagination is just intelligence having fun!". I hope that it found a happy home among the other pins set upon the cap he wore. This was an experience that I never thought I would never have had. Thanx to Harlan and Susan for coming so far to visit us in de ol' South. Thanx to Shelton Drum, for bringing Harlan here, if only for a short time. And thanx to you, for continuing to maintain this bastion of quality amidst an ocean of dreck. Peace, Todd Haney allazar@charlotte.infi.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 09 Oct 1999 18:15:14 -0400 Subject: From: "RICHARD SPADAFORA" I love the website. How come you don't mention Harlan Ellison's upcoming appearance at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, NJ on Oct. 21? I'm still trying to figure out why a man who speaks at world Scifi conventions would deign to put in an appearance at a college locally known as "13th grade". Tickets are 7.00 for the general public. To my friends and me, well worth it considering his increasingly rare public appearances. Maybe if he's feeling generous, he would sign one of my books or comic books. Thanks again for the site. Leeann spadafora ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1999 22:05:39 -0500 To: webmaster@harlanellison.com From: Claire Schwartz Subject: Cool Congrats on the wonderful revisions! The site looks great, is much more comprehensive and has lots more info. You do credit to HE. Best regards, Claire ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 17 Nov 1999 18:29:52 -0600 To: webmaster@harlanellison.com From: Jim Chappell Subject: Ellison page Hi, I've been visiting the Ellison page for a few years now, and I've been meaning to drop a line to say how much I enjoy it. The new menuing looks and performs great. Good job. You do an amazing job on the site. Best, Jim ------------------------------------------------------------------------- At Readercon, on Saturday, July 10th, Harlan gave a long talk about himself while showing a video of a gathering of 60 plus-year-old people. Toward the conclusion of his talk, Harlan explained that these were people from his high school. Every year, they send him a video of their class reunion, requesting that he show up to the next one. Harlan's point was that, although he is the same age as those people, he has absolutely nothing in common with them. In that Saturday night talk, Harlan had us in tears in the midst of having us bust a gut laughing. It was a wonderful talk. I sincerely hope you managed to have that talk transcribed and can show it here. That talk was a cathartic summation of Harlan's life that was unforgettable. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Tony Bertram" Subject: a tourist in webderland Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1999 09:50:20 -0400 Hello I enjoyed my visit to Webderland. After reading Deathbird Stories about 15 years ago, I no longer treated horror/science-fiction as pure entertainment. Best regards, ----Tony ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: BManns8804@aol.com Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2000 17:00:37 EST Subject: Harlan Ellison Website Really interesting website. Lots of good stuff. Dropped in to quickly surf and wound up spending 45 minutes! Have read Ellison's fiction work and enjoy it, but have to admit I enjoy his essays best. He's an original -- and that makes his work worth reading. Anyway, will drop in periodically to see what's new. Keep up the good work! Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2000 21:45:08 -0800 From: Joel Rollins Subject: Quick word of thanks... To: webmaster@harlanellison.com X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 10:56:18 -0600 From: Aaron Findley Subject: GOOD JOB Thanks for providing this excellent and meaningful webpage. I deeply appreciate the works of Harlan, and it's obvious you do too. Keep up the good work!! Sincerely, Aaron ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "radiohysteria" To: Dear Webmaster, I'm not clear regarding some statements made on this web site. Would you please take a moment to clarify a few things? 1. Does this e-mail go to Harlan? 2. Can I get an autographed photo of Harlan from his agent? Or perhaps an autographed photo of his agent from Harlan? 3. When I send my 1200 page manuscript to Harlan c/o his agent, how soon can I expect a reply? Also, please supply his agent's street address and office hours. 4. Will Harlan let me stay at his house? Will his agent? 5. Will Harlan's agent let me stay at Harlan's house? 6. Will Harlan's agent let me stay at his house? Thanks for your attention to these matters. Sincerely, -Matt ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 16:48:38 -0700 From: kjmcqb@mail.utexas.edu (Kathryn) Subject: Fanmail Great web site, keeper of the fanrealm! Kudos and admiration for your design and humorous commentary. I recently made a vow that I would at least try to thank some of the cultural influencers close to my heart and head. H.E. is surely among them. Am so pleased he's alive, well, has a life friend-companion, is still trying to improve the Glass T. If you correspond, please send my best wishes, and for the Glass T: Outer Limits seems only real Omnibus for varietal sf/fantasy, therefore----More Tribbles, adventures, Varleyesque "superheroes!" Humor-filled sleazeoid-sneaky infotainment! Heavy on the light side, fave writer! I mean, I AM "K," no fear, just reciprocity thoughts, giant fan at mouth of cave........ Sincerely, K. Brown University of Texas at Austin Center for Electromechanics ------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 22:27:01 -0700 From: Adam LeVrier Subject: Thank You Just thought it was time to say thank you, Rick, for the website. I have visted frequently over the past couple of years and have found it to be a very good resource. -Adam LeVrier ------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 Oct 1998 10:1:37 +0000 From: John Sutcliffe Subject: THE GENERAL COMPLIANCE THEORY OF N-SPACE, H ELLISON & Xn [ Ho S!(abc)] Hello Rick How you-all doing? I finally convinced my boss to let us have internet access. He's a good dude but don't tell him that, he likes to maintain the image of the "ruthless businessman" [he saw the movie "Wall Street" and never got over it] Me? I just sell the shit. [I saw "Falling Down" - much more to the point if that's possible!] Another author [and an opo - er, friend of young Harlan] put it this way :- "So we end up with fake humans inventing fake realities and peddling them to other fake humans. It is just a very large version of Disneyland." ["How to Build Universes" Phil Dick. ] Here at the Harlan Ellison Rest Home for Retired Fictional Characters we are faced with a breech of the general compliance dictum. They have this clear image of an encounter with a creator mind that awakened them to consciousness - a mind of love, understanding, and anger at the pain their passage through the landscape of this mind created for them. They would call this mind "God" but for the greater sense of humanity they perceive in it and which far exceeds their simulacrum of humanity. They feel themselves inadequate to the human sense that their creator possesses. But they are not without hope of reuniting with this mind. They gather [and are gathered] on the shelves of Waterstones book shop in Manchester here observing the passage of the world they recognise and via the mind of their creator too well comprehend. Occaionally a would-be reader stops and picks up one of their volume worlds. Will this be a mind into which their meaning and being might be conveyed - or have they mistaken it for the latest peudo world of StarTrek? As I pass I look at them, give them an encouraging pat on behalf of myself and their brother volumes at home on my own shelves The battle goes on. No surrender Regards John Sutcliffe - Aria Technology Ltd IMEX Business Park, Hamilton Rd, Manchester M13 0PD, UK. +44 (0)161 225 2277 ------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 08 Nov 1998 14:31:13 -0800 From: Ken Cardwell Subject: Ellison Anecdote Dear Webmaster: When I was in 9th grade (1973) I had the following encounter with Mr. Ellison: A girlfriend and I were obsessional science fiction fans, reading 15-20 books a week from the local library. Of course, Harlan's books were some of our favorites...especially considering the personal information he regularly gave out in his books forwards. The way he talked about his love life and ex-wives excited our extremely excitable adolescent libidos. In fact, it seemed to us that he actively encouraged fans to try to get ahold of him, so this is what we did--We called information, obtained his phone number, and then actually called him. That wouldn't be too unusual, I'm sure, except in our girlish enthusiasm, we called collect, sure that he would understand that my mother would kill us for calling Southern California. He (of course) informed the operator, "I've never heard of Cherry or Sandy," and hung up. Rethinking our strategy, we called back, this time on our own dime. But after we breathlessly informed him he was our "hero," he sighed and informed us he had no interest in being anyone's hero, and that he was right in the middle of watching The Marathon Man on television, so "goodbye." Everytime I see a late night showing of that movie I think of our extreme embarrassment....and of Harlan, too, of course. In our childish way we got him back, though--never read another one of his novels. I'm sure he stings from that to this day;)! Cherry Cardwell Older and Wiser