Harlan Ellison once said of the term “blog” that it sounded like “something you upchuck or go to a hospital to have removed from your body.”
Harlan Ellison didn’t care much for personal computers and despised the Internet. He used an Olympia manual typewriter throughout his enviable writing career, which spanned approximately fifty years and over 1,700 stories, articles, scripts, comic books, and novels.
Harlan Ellison was one of the most honored writers of all time, having won multiple Nebula, Hugo, and Edgar awards and many others. Click here to take a tour of his awards.
Harlan designed the Bram Stoker award for the Horror Writers Association. He was named Grand Master of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 2006 by SFWA (but don’t call Harlan a Science Fiction writer, he preferred “speculative fiction” or “fantasist”).
Harlan Ellison was also a fearless purveyor of passionate opinions, a man who harbored absolutely no inhibitions toward expressing his thoughts to anyone at any time. In that way, he was probably one of most courageous people I ever met. Click here to watch Harlan’s touching tributes to writer Robert Bloch and Isaac Asimov and tell me you don’t get choked up.
Or click here to watch Harlan’s impassioned plea to the SFWA to grant the Grand Master award to several aging legends of the genre.
I use the past tense because today, Harlan Ellison died.
I started reading Harlan’s work in high school and never looked back. I have several signed short story collections such as Paingod and Other Delusions, The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World, Ellison Wonderland, and Shatterday as well as the famous anthologies he edited—Dangerous Visions, Again Dangerous Visions— and of course, no Ellison fan should be without The Essential Ellison.
In recent years, I managed to add Partners in Wonder, Phoenix Without Ashes, No Doors, No Windows, Memos From Purgatory, The Other Glass Teat, Stalking the Nightmare, and The Deadly Streets.
I took some of these to a convention called I-CON back in 1999, along with several Star Trek and Starlog magazines, and his book documenting his experiences writing the best original Trek episode, “The City on the Edge of Forever”. Among all of these was a book called Doomsman which I had not yet read.
I was nervous yet exuberant when I stepped up to the autograph table and placed my stack of books before the master. Harlan began signing them and restacking them… until he came to Doomsman. He offered to buy it. I said No.
I said “No” to Harlan Ellison. People make mistakes in life. They step on land mines, they play with loaded guns, they say “No” to Harlan Ellison. All typically suffer the same general consequences.
Harlan tossed the book across the table at me. “Then I’m not gonna fuckin’ sign it.” I was at once embarrassed and elated. Harlan dropped the “F” bomb on me. It was akin to earning a badge of honor. I knew I would wear it proudly for the rest of my writing days.
Then one of us, either Harlan or I, came up with the idea of trading Doomsman for another book on his table. This was how I ended up with Ellison Wonderland. Once the deal was done, Harlan held his treasure high over his head and yelled, ” I got a Doomsman!” That seemed to break the ice. He signed the rest of my books, took a photo with me, and that was it—all in the span of maybe 5 minutes.
In such a short time, I met one of my literary heroes, pulled the pin out of a grenade, had a photo op, and walked away with a memory I hope to cherish until I die… or end up with Alzheimer’s… whichever comes first.
But that ain’t the end of the story, folks. At that point, I still had no idea why Harlan was so determined to obtain my copy of Doomsman.
It wasn’t until a Farpoint convention some years later that the late Ann Crispin revealed to me that Harlan was on a quest to collect as many copies of Doomsman as possible—and destroy them. After researching this later, I found corroborating testimony from fans who either sold or traded their copies of Doomsman only to have Harlan tear the book in half on the spot and hand them back the other story, either Telepower by Lee Hoffman or Thief of Thoth by Lin Carter.
Apparently, the publisher (Belmont) had reprinted an early Ellison story, “The Assassin,” and retitled it Doomsman without Harlan’s knowledge. Remember what I said about pulling the pin from a grenade?
Finally, after that little mystery was solved, I came upon a later printing of Doomsman from a used book dealer at a Balticon. This one is staying in my collection.
The truth is, I love the guy. Harlan Ellison inspired me to pursue the craft of writing with courage and confidence. I admire his chutzpah, his talent, his honesty. Many were offended by his irascible, cantankerous demeanor, to the point of creating an organization called the Enemies of Ellison. Harlan’s fans, of course, responded by forming the Friends of Ellison (F.O.E). 
The 2008 documentary, Dreams With Sharp Teeth—covering Harlan’s life and career—is entertaining, edifying, and utterly addictive. I have it on DVD and I watch it at least four times per year. I recommend it not only for Ellison fans, but for writers of all genres. It also features appearances by Robin Williams, Neil Gaiman, and others. Rotten Tomatoes gives it 100%.
Funny, every time I visit a used book store lately, I note the absence of Harlan Ellison books. They’ve become almost impossible to find these days. I wonder… could it be that people are unwilling to give them up?
I sure as hell won’t.