Five Swift Answers to The Problem of Baby-Eating Authors

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/five-swift-answers-to-the-problem-of-baby-eating-authors

So your fave author has been eating babies! How to justify continuing to
buy their books.

(the bit about Canadian Prime Ministers and baby-eating is historically
accurate)
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

On Friday, April 1, 2022 at 5:46:32 PM UTC-6, James Nicoll wrote:

> (the bit about Canadian Prime Ministers and baby-eating is historically
> accurate)

And here I thought it was our current Prime Minister who faced such
an accusation, although the event in question was merely a youthful
lapse of judgment.

But then, I dropped Stephen Harper for muzzling scientists working for
the Canadian government on climate change.

John Savard

On 2/04/22 12:46, James Nicoll wrote:
> Five Swift Answers to The Problem of Baby-Eating Authors
>
> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/five-swift-answers-to-the-problem-of-baby-eating-authors
>
> So your fave author has been eating babies! How to justify continuing to
> buy their books.
>
> (the bit about Canadian Prime Ministers and baby-eating is historically
> accurate)

"For the record, the vast majority of Canadian prime ministers have
never eaten a baby (or if they have, it was only a few)."

Does that mean that the vast majority of Canadian prime ministers have
only eaten a few babies each?

On 4/1/2022 6:46 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
> Five Swift Answers to The Problem of Baby-Eating Authors
>
> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/five-swift-answers-to-the-problem-of-baby-eating-authors
>
> So your fave author has been eating babies! How to justify continuing to
> buy their books.
>
> (the bit about Canadian Prime Ministers and baby-eating is historically
> accurate)

I note that you did not list any SF/F authors. I guess that Marion
Zimmer Bradley might be at the top of this list.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/27/sff-community-marion-zimmer-bradley-daughter-accuses-abuse

Anyone else ?

Lynn

On Fri, 1 Apr 2022 20:54:23 -0500, Lynn McGuire
<lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 4/1/2022 6:46 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
>> Five Swift Answers to The Problem of Baby-Eating Authors
>>
>> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/five-swift-answers-to-the-problem-of-baby-eating-authors
>>
>> So your fave author has been eating babies! How to justify continuing to
>> buy their books.
>>
>> (the bit about Canadian Prime Ministers and baby-eating is historically
>> accurate)
>
>I note that you did not list any SF/F authors. I guess that Marion
>Zimmer Bradley might be at the top of this list.
>
>https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/27/sff-community-marion-zimmer-bradley-daughter-accuses-abuse
>
>Anyone else ?

If someone had eaten Vladimir Putin as an infant they would deserve a
medal.

In article <t282sl$r9p$2@reader1.panix.com>,
jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:

> Five Swift Answers to The Problem of Baby-Eating Authors
>
> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/five-swift-answers-to-the-problem-of-baby-ea
> ting-authors
>
> So your fave author has been eating babies! How to justify continuing to
> buy their books.
>

Do they eat their eggs hard-boiled, soft-boiled, scrambled, or sunny
side up? (if they eat omelets, I will ban them).

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_.
�-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

On 2022-04-01 7:54 p.m., Lynn McGuire wrote:
> On 4/1/2022 6:46 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
>> Five Swift Answers to The Problem of Baby-Eating Authors
>>
>> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/five-swift-answers-to-the-problem-of-baby-eating-authors
>>
>>
>> So your fave author has been eating babies! How to justify continuing to
>> buy their books.
>>
>> (the bit about Canadian Prime Ministers and baby-eating is historically
>> accurate)
>
> I note that you did not list any SF/F authors.  I guess that Marion
> Zimmer Bradley might be at the top of this list.
>
> https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/27/sff-community-marion-zimmer-bradley-daughter-accuses-abuse
>
>
> Anyone else ?
>
> Lynn
>

Orson Scott Card comes to mind

M.A.R. Barker was recently revealed to have become something of a
Neo-Nazi in his later years. But his work was never all that popular
anyway.

H.P. Lovecraft is almost too obvious to mention.

On 02/04/2022 00.00, Robert Woodward wrote:
> In article <t282sl$r9p$2@reader1.panix.com>,
> jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:
>
>> Five Swift Answers to The Problem of Baby-Eating Authors
>>
>> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/five-swift-answers-to-the-problem-of-baby-ea
>> ting-authors
>>
>> So your fave author has been eating babies! How to justify continuing to
>> buy their books.
>>
>
> Do they eat their eggs hard-boiled, soft-boiled, scrambled, or sunny
> side up? (if they eat omelets, I will ban them).

I think that what's more important is the question of which end of their
eggs they open. We need a swift answer to this!

--
Michael F. Stemper
A preposition is something you should never end a sentence with.

On 4/1/2022 6:46 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
> Five Swift Answers to The Problem of Baby-Eating Authors
>
> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/five-swift-answers-to-the-problem-of-baby-eating-authors
>
> So your fave author has been eating babies! How to justify continuing to
> buy their books.
>
> (the bit about Canadian Prime Ministers and baby-eating is historically
> accurate)

Oh yeah, Robert Heinlein for "Sixth Column".
https://www.amazon.com/Sixth-Column-Robert-Heinlein/dp/1451637705/

Lynn

In article <t2cokf$25v$1@dont-email.me>,
Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>On 4/1/2022 6:46 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
>> Five Swift Answers to The Problem of Baby-Eating Authors
>>
>>
>https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/five-swift-answers-to-the-problem-of-baby-eating-authors
>>
>> So your fave author has been eating babies! How to justify continuing to
>> buy their books.
>>
>> (the bit about Canadian Prime Ministers and baby-eating is historically
>> accurate)
>
>Oh yeah, Robert Heinlein for "Sixth Column".
> https://www.amazon.com/Sixth-Column-Robert-Heinlein/dp/1451637705/

We should cut Heinlein *some* slack in noting that he wrote the
thing from an outline by Campbell, and made some guarded remarks
later on (after Campbell was dead, I think) that he'd changed some
of the worst parts.

I am dead certain, for example, that the Asian-American, whose
family had been slaughtered by the PanAsians and was on a campaign
of revenge, was not in Campbell's original outline.

Not a whole *lot* of slack... I bet if he'd put his mind to it,
he could've edited out the additional spectra.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

In article <r9s53v.4DI@kithrup.com>,
Dorothy J Heydt <djheydt@kithrup.com> wrote:
>In article <t2cokf$25v$1@dont-email.me>,
>Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>>On 4/1/2022 6:46 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
>>> Five Swift Answers to The Problem of Baby-Eating Authors
>>>
>>>
>>https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/five-swift-answers-to-the-problem-of-baby-eating-authors
>>>
>>> So your fave author has been eating babies! How to justify continuing to
>>> buy their books.
>>>
>>> (the bit about Canadian Prime Ministers and baby-eating is historically
>>> accurate)
>>
>>Oh yeah, Robert Heinlein for "Sixth Column".
>> https://www.amazon.com/Sixth-Column-Robert-Heinlein/dp/1451637705/
>
>We should cut Heinlein *some* slack in noting that he wrote the
>thing from an outline by Campbell, and made some guarded remarks
>later on (after Campbell was dead, I think) that he'd changed some
>of the worst parts.
>
>I am dead certain, for example, that the Asian-American, whose
>family had been slaughtered by the PanAsians and was on a campaign
>of revenge, was not in Campbell's original outline.
>
>Not a whole *lot* of slack... I bet if he'd put his mind to it,
>he could've edited out the additional spectra.
>

The Campbell original is available. I know I've read it somewhere,
though I don't remember in what collection.
--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

In article <jaugn5F947oU1@mid.individual.net>,
ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) wrote:

> In article <r9s53v.4DI@kithrup.com>,
> Dorothy J Heydt <djheydt@kithrup.com> wrote:
> >In article <t2cokf$25v$1@dont-email.me>,
> >Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>On 4/1/2022 6:46 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
> >>> Five Swift Answers to The Problem of Baby-Eating Authors
> >>>
> >>>
> >>https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/five-swift-answers-to-the-problem-of-baby-
> >>eating-authors
> >>>
> >>> So your fave author has been eating babies! How to justify continuing to
> >>> buy their books.
> >>>
> >>> (the bit about Canadian Prime Ministers and baby-eating is historically
> >>> accurate)
> >>
> >>Oh yeah, Robert Heinlein for "Sixth Column".
> >> https://www.amazon.com/Sixth-Column-Robert-Heinlein/dp/1451637705/
> >
> >We should cut Heinlein *some* slack in noting that he wrote the
> >thing from an outline by Campbell, and made some guarded remarks
> >later on (after Campbell was dead, I think) that he'd changed some
> >of the worst parts.
> >
> >I am dead certain, for example, that the Asian-American, whose
> >family had been slaughtered by the PanAsians and was on a campaign
> >of revenge, was not in Campbell's original outline.
> >
> >Not a whole *lot* of slack... I bet if he'd put his mind to it,
> >he could've edited out the additional spectra.
> >
>
> The Campbell original is available. I know I've read it somewhere,
> though I don't remember in what collection.

_The Space Beyond_ (published in 1976), the story in question is "All".

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_.
�-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

On Fri, 1 Apr 2022 23:46:29 -0000 (UTC), jdnicoll@panix.com (James
Nicoll) wrote:

> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/five-swift-answers-to-the-problem-of-baby-eating-authors

Or just ignore the whole kerfuffle and don't justify anything.

When I learned that MZB actually believed the twaddle that I never
bothered to mention or complain about because the very same
pitchforkers now having heart attacks would have dismissed me as a
prude, I just kept on reading around the rot to get the imaginative
stuff as I had always done.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at centurylink dot net

In article <d3av4h5u6pml0j1ukl7ghu3lc9t7squ6lk@4ax.com>,
Joy Beeson <jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
>On Fri, 1 Apr 2022 23:46:29 -0000 (UTC), jdnicoll@panix.com (James
>Nicoll) wrote:
>
>
>>
>https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/five-swift-answers-to-the-problem-of-baby-eating-authors
>
>Or just ignore the whole kerfuffle and don't justify anything.
>
>When I learned that MZB actually believed the twaddle that I never
>bothered to mention or complain about because the very same
>pitchforkers now having heart attacks would have dismissed me as a
>prude, I just kept on reading around the rot to get the imaginative
>stuff as I had always done.
>
Generally these days the issue people have with MZB isn't her woo woo
occult delusion but her sideline of raping and enabling the rape of
children. Which, as it turns out, was a plot point in at least one
Darkover book.
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

On 4/3/2022 3:04 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <t2cokf$25v$1@dont-email.me>,
> Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 4/1/2022 6:46 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
>>> Five Swift Answers to The Problem of Baby-Eating Authors
>>>
>>>
>> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/five-swift-answers-to-the-problem-of-baby-eating-authors
>>>
>>> So your fave author has been eating babies! How to justify continuing to
>>> buy their books.
>>>
>>> (the bit about Canadian Prime Ministers and baby-eating is historically
>>> accurate)
>>
>> Oh yeah, Robert Heinlein for "Sixth Column".
>> https://www.amazon.com/Sixth-Column-Robert-Heinlein/dp/1451637705/
>
> We should cut Heinlein *some* slack in noting that he wrote the
> thing from an outline by Campbell, and made some guarded remarks
> later on (after Campbell was dead, I think) that he'd changed some
> of the worst parts.
>
> I am dead certain, for example, that the Asian-American, whose
> family had been slaughtered by the PanAsians and was on a campaign
> of revenge, was not in Campbell's original outline.
>
> Not a whole *lot* of slack... I bet if he'd put his mind to it,
> he could've edited out the additional spectra.

I am reading Sixth Column again right now. There is an afterward by Tom
Kratman identifying a couple of the six guys as very possibly African
Americans. Kratman also expounded on how the world looked in 1941,
right before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

BTW, Kratman says that Sixth Column was Heinlein's second book, first
published in 1941 in Astounding Science Fiction under the pen name of
Anson MacDonald.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein_bibliography

Lynn

On Friday, April 8, 2022 at 1:11:52 PM UTC-6, Lynn McGuire wrote:

> I am reading Sixth Column again right now. There is an afterward by Tom
> Kratman

That sounds like an unusual lapse of judgment on the part of
Robert A. Heinlein's literary executors.

Just because some of Heinlein's stories may have outraged liberal
sensitivities doesn't mean that he was not on the side of equality.

John Savard

Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> writes:
>On Friday, April 8, 2022 at 1:11:52 PM UTC-6, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>
>> I am reading Sixth Column again right now. There is an afterward by Tom
>> Kratman
>
>That sounds like an unusual lapse of judgment on the part of
>Robert A. Heinlein's literary executors.

Giving Baen the rights, probably poor judgment. It's unlikely the LE had any
say in who wrote the afterword. Fortunately, I still have my
signet edition.

On Fri, 8 Apr 2022 14:11:47 -0500, Lynn McGuire
<lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 4/3/2022 3:04 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> In article <t2cokf$25v$1@dont-email.me>,
>> Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> On 4/1/2022 6:46 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
>>>> Five Swift Answers to The Problem of Baby-Eating Authors
>>>>
>>>>
>>> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/five-swift-answers-to-the-problem-of-baby-eating-authors
>>>>
>>>> So your fave author has been eating babies! How to justify continuing to
>>>> buy their books.
>>>>
>>>> (the bit about Canadian Prime Ministers and baby-eating is historically
>>>> accurate)
>>>
>>> Oh yeah, Robert Heinlein for "Sixth Column".
>>> https://www.amazon.com/Sixth-Column-Robert-Heinlein/dp/1451637705/
>>
>> We should cut Heinlein *some* slack in noting that he wrote the
>> thing from an outline by Campbell, and made some guarded remarks
>> later on (after Campbell was dead, I think) that he'd changed some
>> of the worst parts.
>>
>> I am dead certain, for example, that the Asian-American, whose
>> family had been slaughtered by the PanAsians and was on a campaign
>> of revenge, was not in Campbell's original outline.

Possibly an accurate asssessment by Heinlein of the character of
Asian-Americans. Google "442nd Regimental Combat Team".
>>
>> Not a whole *lot* of slack... I bet if he'd put his mind to it,
>> he could've edited out the additional spectra.
>
>I am reading Sixth Column again right now. There is an afterward by Tom
>Kratman identifying a couple of the six guys as very possibly African
>Americans. Kratman also expounded on how the world looked in 1941,
>right before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
>
>BTW, Kratman says that Sixth Column was Heinlein's second book, first
>published in 1941 in Astounding Science Fiction under the pen name of
>Anson MacDonald.
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein_bibliography
>
>Lynn
>

On Thursday, April 7, 2022 at 11:17:01 PM UTC-4, Joy Beeson wrote:
> On Fri, 1 Apr 2022 23:46:29 -0000 (UTC), jdni...@panix.com (James
> Nicoll) wrote:
>
>
> > https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/five-swift-answers-to-the-problem-of-baby-eating-authors
>
> Or just ignore the whole kerfuffle and don't justify anything.
>
> When I learned that MZB actually believed the twaddle that I never
> bothered to mention or complain about because the very same
> pitchforkers now having heart attacks would have dismissed me as a
> prude, I just kept on reading around the rot to get the imaginative
> stuff as I had always done.

I find that there is a whole spectrum of "baby-eating" authors.
Sometimes SF authors' politics evolve in a way which tells us
something interesting about the society's evolution, e.g. the
Strugatsky brothers moved from "fanatical Stalinism" to liberalism
over the course of the 1950s-1970s.

Other times it's something more mundane like Laumer's stroke,
which, according to one of his friends, caused massive -- and very
unfortunate -- personality changes.

On Fri, 8 Apr 2022 12:16:59 -0000 (UTC), jdnicoll@panix.com (James
Nicoll) wrote:

> Generally these days the issue people have with MZB isn't her woo woo
> occult delusion but her sideline of raping and enabling the rape of
> children. Which, as it turns out, was a plot point in at least one
> Darkover book.

The woo-woo is what I called the imaginative stuff.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at centurylink dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/