[JURB]

Also, I find L. Neil Smith to be a bit of loon. Typical is this quote (from the piece posted above): "I admit that if I didn't feel bound by the Non-Aggression Principle, there wouldn't be a church left standing above its own ashes west of the Mississippi." Really? Is the libertarian non-agression principle the only thing holding you back from death and wanton destruction? I know he is being facetious, but hyperbole of this type is common to L. Neil. He comes off as a raving lunatic and, all bluster aside, he is not an asset to the side of liberty. Wasn't he the one that, along with the Arizona Libertarian Party, led a revolt against the LP and ran for president alongside/against Harry Browne. Not that this small 'l' libertarian votes LP anyway, but with blowhards like L. Neil Smith and other loonies (spitting druids, potheads uninterested in the cause of freedom, candidates that turn themselves blue due tp Y2K paranoia), no wonder why the LP cannot gain any traction.

[nunya bidness]

Read Valis.

[Greybird]

I was the publisher of the magazine NOMOS: STUDIES IN SPONTANEOUS ORDER when this piece was first printed in 1988. (That iconoclastic, brilliant Chicago libertarian -- small-L -- creation lasted ten years, but is no longer with us.) It's one of the best decisions I ever took part in making.

One brilliant writer on a brilliant-squared writer, both creators of some of the most evocative liberty-loving characters ever put in print. Neil's Win Bear (The Probability Broach) will endure along with Bob's Manuel O'Kelly Davis (The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress) for as long as mankind keeps the upright position.

[redrock]

L.Neil is a grumpy....wise-cracking....bozo.

Just the kind of person we need to remind us of some of the things that have gone wrong in this nation....

redrock

"I am not a Libertarian...I just play one on T.V."

[no-s]

Gee, loon or not, I like El Neil.Hyperbole and all.

I make the kids read Heinlein. The boys have read "Starship Troopers", of course, as well as "Beyond this Horizon", and a few others.

My daughter is curious about Smith's books, I caught her trying to read "Pallas" the other day.

[BlazingArizona]

Wasn't he the one that, along with the Arizona Libertarian Party, led a revolt against the LP and ran for president alongside/against Harry Browne.

Yes, and if you recall Harry Browne's defeatist outpourings after Sept. 11, it's a stand that Arizona Libertarians are most proud of.

[6ppc]

"I admit that if I didn't feel bound by the Non-Aggression Principle, there wouldn't be a church left standing above its own ashes west of the Mississippi."

I think you are taking him a bit too seriously. That statement is obviously a bit of tongue in cheek hyperbole, and intended to be humorous (kind of like how I threaten my daughter when she is purposly yanking my chain).