Harlan Ellison dies at 84

[Aristus]

13. I'm shattered.

What an extraordinary man and writer.

I met him at a fantasy literature convention in Bellevue, Washington in 2006. I also had the astounding privilege of having dinner with him and his wife, Susan.

It's a story I hope to be telling my great-grandchildren someday. One of the highlights of my life.

He was a staunch leftie politically. He was active in the civil rights movement, and wrote more on the struggle for human rights than almost any other modern writer.

He had been in poor health for nearly twenty years, so it shouldn't be a surprise. But I'm wondering if seeing Trump as President had something to do with it. Trump embodies everything that Ellison spent his eventful lifetime opposing: crassness, mediocrity, selfishness, cruelty, unearned acclaim, pettiness, venality, etc.

I wish he had lived long enough to see Trump do the perp walk.