Wha? He Says he'd dying, and nobody questions it? Is he some kind of doctor, diagnosing himself...I don't get it. This guys is so full of opinions, but that doesn't mean he's right all the time.
He plans to go in his sleep.
Harlan Ellison will say goodbye this weekend: he's dying
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Re: Harlan Ellison will say goodbye this weekend: he's dying
#12Given the source, I'm inclined to agree that this is probably his third-to-last convention, rather than the last. That said, it is Harlan Ellison; I don't think he would be making these claims if things weren't winding down, and I'll be sad to see him gone.
He's kind of like that asshole friend you acknowledge is an asshole while still enjoying his company. Yeah, he's a raging narcissist who pulled a gun on someone to get out of a bet, and he grabbed another author's mammary gland at a convention, but I don't know, it's Harlan. I mean, he wrote, "Repent, Harlequin, said the Ticktockman". It takes a lot of dickery to eclipse all the great things he's done, and he's hopefully not going to manage that in the time he has left.
Re: Harlan Ellison will say goodbye this weekend: he's dying
#13If you'd like to read an excellent Harlan Ellison story, I would suggest http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ1003-OCT_SINATRA_rev_
Re: Harlan Ellison will say goodbye this weekend: he's dying
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
He does make that point in the article: "An old dog senses when it's his time -- dogs have that capacity; nobody doubts that. Nobody. But everybody doubts when you say, 'I'm dying.' They think you're being a Victorian actress. They think you're doing Bernhardt." Not exactly unheard of, maybe you feel like your battery is just running out. Reminds me of a footnote from "Three Pillars of Zen", p31: "Yasutani-roshi died…
You know how occasionally some old guy will retire and then die within weeks or months of his retirement? Strom Thurmond, for one, did this. Sometimes people assume that without the job to keep them busy some people just lose the will to live, but maybe they're sensing they don't have long to go and retiring in advance so they don't inconvenience anyone.
Not sure Strom's a good example. He was over 100 years old when he died. I saw him in person a couple of times from the Senate gallery and I don't think he was actually there for his last term or so.
Re: Harlan Ellison will say goodbye this weekend: he's dying
#15Embarrassingly I thought he had already died - like Bill Hicks it didn't seem that the world could contain anyone this interesting anymore.
Re: Harlan Ellison will say goodbye this weekend: he's dying
#16Wha? He Says he'd dying, and nobody questions it? Is he some kind of doctor, diagnosing himself...I don't get it. This guys is so full of opinions, but that doesn't mean he's right all the time.
Mark Twain more or less nailed it. Its not unheard of. His belief in it may make it so.
Re: Harlan Ellison will say goodbye this weekend: he's dying
#17Wha? He Says he'd dying, and nobody questions it? Is he some kind of doctor, diagnosing himself...I don't get it. This guys is so full of opinions, but that doesn't mean he's right all the time.
He plans to go in his sleep.
I plan to go on a motorcycle, flying thru flaming hoops over Niagara Falls.