[MarkL]

Ellison as a writer, certainly deserves a salute. He's superb. As a person, however, he's a punk - unless he's changed in his old age.

I doubt it... He's a terrific speaker who will NOT suffer fools. He can be engaging and funny, or ascerbic and insulting, and he can switch between the two quite quickly. He can be great at cons. He's a terrific writer, but a better commentator (although I rarely agreed with him on politics), but I think that he's at his best as an editor. His "Dangerous Visions" collections introduced many readers to some really wonderful writers.

It's been years since I've seen him at a con, but I once called him at home on a Sunday morning, forgetting that CA was 3 hours earlier than NY time... OOPS! He was more than a bit grumpy with me. Not that I blamed him! lol I think it was about 6:0am there.

Mark

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

"Ellison as a writer, certainly deserves a salute. He's superb. As a person, however, he's a punk - unless he's changed in his old age."

Ellison is a thoroughly fine guy. You could not pick a better person to be stranded on a desert island with. Certainly none more entertaining. What you don't want to do is piss him off. Let's just say that everything you've heard is true. Everything.