Posted on 08/26/2010 7:02:16 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
...died aged 69, was the author of 30 science-fiction novels and five collections of short stories and essays. His work was generally considered "hard" SF -- technologically possible and adhering mostly to scientific fact -- and his best work was an exhilarating mix of optimistic futurism and a central mystery to be solved by scientific investigation and action.
...In Voyage from Yesteryear (1982), a race which embraces individual and economic freedom proves more than a match for visiting Earthmen who wish to gain control. It won Hogan the first of two Prometheus awards from the Libertarian Futurist Society. The second, in 1993, was for The Multiplex Man, a near-future thriller about a man who awakes one day to discover he has had multiple personalities implanted in his mind.
...In recent years he appeared to be attracted towards deliberate contrarianism, expressing his scepticism about global warming being man-made, about the cause of Aids and about evolution, in his book Kicking the Sacred Cow: Heresy and Impermissible Thoughts in Science (2004). His purpose seemed to be to question accepted wisdom and apply the methodology one would expect in scientific investigation to physics, history, medicine and other subjects. However, this caused controversy when he praised the quality of research performed by some Holocaust deniers.
His first three marriages -- to Iris Crossley in 1961, Lynda Shirley Dockerty in 1976 and Jacklyn Price in 1982 -- ended in divorce. He is survived by his fourth wife, Sheryl, whom he married in 2006, and six children: three daughters, Debbie and Jane (twins) and Tina, from his first marriage; and three sons, Alexander, Michael and Edward, from his third.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
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I read an unfamiliar work of fiction for the first time in years on the recommendation of a FReeper:
“Inherit the Stars” by James Hogan (thanks lawdave)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/653287/posts?page=88#88
Really? Wow, that’s too bad. Read some of the books he wrote in the 70s and 80s. Really good stuff and not a hint of what you mentioned. But, people often change mentally when they get older.
He wasn’t a great writer, but it’s definitely a little odd that none (I’ve ever noticed anyway) of his series of books were ever made into a movie. “Inherit the Stars” would make a massive-ass film, and it has built-in sequels. If I had the cash, I’d produce it, and get Terry Gilliam to direct it, and watch it go over budget by $100 million I’m sure. ;’)
That sucks. My life isn’t hard enough these days, right? You gotta give me news of the death of a WRITER?
*sigh*
K. It sucks, but it is what it is.
Dude, what kind of car are you driving if an 80 mile round trip stops you from going somewhere? Even if you were getting 10 miles to the gallon, that trip at the most would cost you an additional $16?
I think the problem with a lot of his books was that they were too intellectual. My personal favorites were “Thrice upon a Time” (very interesting ideas about time and reality), “The Genesis Machine”, and “Voyage from Yesteryear”. I though “Inherit the Stars” was good, but a bit too long—and the two sequels were downright silly. My pick for a movie would be “Voyage from Yesteryear”.
“Code of the Lifemaker”, “Bug Park”, “Giants” series, all books I enjoyed, and my teenage sons (at the time) enjoyed them as well... He streched your imagination in a classic scifi way.
RIP - God Bless
At $2.69.9 a gallon (which is a recent price) that’s nearly $22 at 10 mpg; highway miles is less than half that cost with what I’m drivin’ (which will remain my business, and irrelevant). I used to A) make more money and B) go to the beach nearly daily in the summers, and C) pay less per gallon, sometimes as little as $1 per. That works out to $330 a month (-ish). There are those who are blessed with that kind of money to (literally) burn, I just am not one of them.
The Inherit the Stars books were among the first science fiction novels I read, recommended by a high school English teacher who actually liked science fiction. Great stuff. RIP
I just hate to see all those stories from a few years ago about people not going on vacation or visiting their dying relatives, or whatever because of the evil oil companies under Bush. Now when the gas prices are roughly the same under Obama not one peep from the press. Dont let $13.60 keep you from enjoying the beach!!
The price of gasoline did spike during the Bush administration, but that was orchestrated by the Saudis, who bought and paid for Obama’s Harvard year(s?) and perhaps as well his “vacation” to Pakistan, a couple of election campaigns, probably his dry cleaning...
Thanks!
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