JOURNAL ENTRY #23

August 17, 2008

I met Algis Budrys in Los Angeles more than twenty years ago, when I was at the beginning of my career. He'd reviewed The Hercules Text favorably, and I was ecstatic. I recall trying to look relaxed and casual. He invited me to sit and talk, and we sat down and enjoyed ourselves for an hour or so. He needed only a minute or two to put me at ease.

He was passionate about the field, and about the art of fiction. Actually told me he was glad I'd decided to write SF, and had not gone in another direction. At that point I could have gone back to my apartment without touching the ground. When I asked him which of his novels he was most proud of --an incredibly dumb question--, he did not laugh or roll his eyes. He admitted that his opinion changed from day to day, depending on his mood and other intangibles. But at that moment, he thought maybe Rogue Moon. He probably would have turned the question around except I had only one book. There were no pretensions about Budrys. He was a giant, and I'm sure he knew it. But he played a level table. I was sorry to read of his death earlier this summer. We'll miss him.

By the way, Rogue Moon is a powerhouse.

I was waiting outside the vet's place last week and caught the first two or three minutes of Sean Hannity. He started by pointing out that the swift boating of John Kerry had been done originally on his show. Don't know the details of that, but he seemed to think swiftboating is a cause for pride.

I've been reading Joseph Campbell's Occidental Mythology. Mike Bishop informed me that Paul DiFilippo had written an alternate world story in which Joseph Campbell becomes editor of Astounding in place of that other Campbell. I subsequently picked up a copy of Paul's collection, Lost Pages (Four Walls Eight Windows August 1998), which contains the story "Campbell's World." Along with eight other alternate world stories, featuring alternate outcomes for Anne Frank, Antoine de Sainte Exupery, Franz Kafka, Campbell, and others. I'm only halfway through, but it's a winner.

Incidentally, Occidental Mythology tracks worldwide mythical systems from the Bronze Age. And he does not spare the Bible.

The second draft of Time Travelers Never Die is finished. A major change from the first draft: I threw out the climax and went in a completely different direction.

We watched and enjoyed Young Winston the other evening. It's a 1972 film that I'd missed somehow. Churchill's early years. I have a tendency sometimes to catch TV shows late, also. Usually in syndication. That was how we discovered Third Watch. I saw my first Seinfeld episode the night they showed the final one on the network. The one I saw, earlier in the evening on cable, was the bubble boy. I was hooked from that moment. Anyhow this is by way of saying that we just found Frazier. I guess I'm safe in recommending it.

Kevin Anderson writes interstellar war and politics like nobody else. Orbit Books has just released The Ashes of Worlds, the conclusion to The Saga of Seven Suns. This one is a fitting climax to an unforgettable series.

Jack

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