Frederik Pohl, 1919 - 2013

[Valka]

Some sad news came today via the Robert Silverberg Yahoo! site. Frederik Pohl has died.

He was a science fiction fan, author, and editor decades before most of us on this forum were born. I met him at a science fiction convention in Calgary many years ago, and had the pleasure of spending 10 minutes or so with him while he signed my copy of his autobiography, The Way the Future Was. He leafed through the book, looking at decades-old photos; I can't possibly guess what he was thinking, but I hope they were happy thoughts. He had a very long life and an amazing career.

Rest in peace, Mr. Pohl.

[Buster's Uncle]

He invented fandom...

I loved his stuff -see the Reading Corner Thread- and this is a loss.

[gwillybj]

A star among stars.
Gateway, Starchild, the Heechee, so many...

[Geo]

Wow. Never realized he was on such an advanced age.

[Buster's Uncle]

How enormous is our debt to this Great Man?  As a writer and as an editor, he was a seminal figure in Science Fiction as we know it for over 70 years.  As a founder of the Futurians, a 30's New York SF fan club that put on the first con, he, personally, profoundly shaped the nerdverse we live in.

This site would not be here, and we would not be here and enjoy each other's acquaintance without Fred Pohl.

[Geo]

This site would not be here, and we would not be here and enjoy each other's acquaintance without Fred Pohl.

I think there are two other people who arguably had a greater influence on the existence of this forum. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Thank you, but irrelevant.  The cart follows the horse.

[Geo]

Brian Reynolds and Sid Meier are irrelevant?

[Valka]

BUncle's point, I think, has to do with how our past reading choices (and TV choices) shape our future activities.

For example, I wouldn't have spent 12+ years working backstage in live theatre if I hadn't read The Making of Star Trek (the first one of that name). The descriptions of the tech side of working on a soundstage sounded so interesting, that when the opportunity came to work in the next best thing, I jumped at it.

It's a "six degrees of separation" kind of connection, except not necessarily with people. I got into Star Trek in 1975. That led to an interest in science fiction in general, and I'd always been interested in astronomy. This in turn led to my reading every Isaac Asimov book (mostly his nonfiction essays) I could find in my school library. On several occasions, he mentioned Frederik Pohl, Judith Merrill, and other authors. Naturally, I was curious and had to see what their stories were like...

Fast-forward nearly 38 years later, and I've got hundreds of books by these writers (haven't read them all yet, but getting there). I've been privileged to meet some of the SF giants: Frederik Pohl, Robert Silverberg, Poul Anderson, L. Sprague de Camp... These are all fascinating people, and they in turn influenced others among my favorite writers.

All this reading in turn led me into the Society for Creative Anachronism (aka the Current Middle Ages) after getting hooked on Marion Zimmer Bradley books, and most of my local Shire were also into science fiction, fantasy, and gaming. It was one of the guys in the Shire who taught me how to play the original Civilization board game, and then the first Civ computer game. Ten years after that, I finally ventured online and eventually discovered that there are whole forums dedicated to my favorite computer game.

So here I am. And it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't discovered a love of SF books when I was a child.

[Buster's Uncle]

Yes.

Brian Reynolds and Sid Meier are irrelevant?

It's a science fiction game, Fred was at the center of SF and SF fandom for longer than most people ever live, and I stand behind my remark. 

-Also, you left out sisko and I.  If you don't believe the cart follows the horse, then Sid and Brian had nothing to do with AC2, or I've spent nearly 18 hours a day -often a lot more- for nearly two years building a fantasy.  Fred wrote some fine fantasies, BTW.

[Geo]

-Also, you left out sisko and I.  If you don't believe the cart follows the horse, then Sid and Brian had nothing to do with AC2, or I've spent nearly 18 hours a day -often a lot more- for nearly two years building a fantasy.  Fred wrote some fine fantasies, BTW.

Actually, I thought you meant you and Sisko in the previous post. 

So here I am. And it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't discovered a love of SF books when I was a child.

Well, other places/backgrounds create other scifi 'initiators'. Back in the eighties, Asimov, Vance, Laumer, Niven and Wren were the ones available to me. The ones you named I think heard of first after finishing school.

[Valka]

Wren? Which one?

[Geo]

Wren? Which one?

M.K. Wren for the Phoenix Legacy.

[Valka]

You're the first person I've ever encountered who also likes this trilogy. I've re-read it so many times and end up crying at the end of Sword of the Lamb. Every. Single. Time.

[Geo]

The last pages of Shadow of the Swan is what gets me sometimes.