Harlan Ellison is fearless, and a fearless writer
By Arthur Salm
'I place ethics and courage way way above everything else'
He's shouting again, but that's just Harlan.
"LOOK IN FILE CABINET NUMBER ONE, NEXT TO THE PHOTOCOPIER, IF YOU CAN GET THE STUFF DOWN OFF THE SHELF WITHOUT EVERYTHING FALLING DOWN. IT'S IN DRAWER NUMBER TWO, UNDER 'REMARKS.' "
Author and life-force Harlan Ellison, 70, is seated in his art-deco/curio-shop kitchen calling out to his wife, Susan. His voice carries well, and it has to: The Ellison residence, once a simple tract house in the hills overlooking the San Fernando Valley, has over the years rambled up and out.
It now comprises a bewildering warren of rooms – some of them accessible through intricately carved wooden Hobbit doors just a few feet high – that contain, among, many, many, many other strange and marvelous things, dozens of framed movie posters ("Die Monster Die," "The Brides of Fu Manchu," "The Mummy"), hundreds of classic cartoon-and comic-strip-character juice glasses (a small room off the kitchen is devoted to them), at least that many pipes, a pool table somewhere beneath neat stacks of magazines, a skittles table (Ellison demonstrates the game with glee) and enough geegaws (e.g., Goofy figurines) to populate a one-tenth scale theme park. (more)
Recent profile of Harlan Ellison. Aside from crediting Harlan with single handedly rescuing SF from the so-called schlock of sixties, it's nicely done.
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