Live Long And Prosper, Authors

LIVE LONG AND PROSPER, AUTHORS The most recent copy of Locus was ready for me at my desk this morning, and I’d solely just began thumbing by way of it once I was struck by two ideas. The first was, “Uh oh, I forgot to write a blog post for at present,” and the second was, “Look at all these old science fiction and fantasy authors!” (No offense to Connie Willis, excluded from that category, of course.) It wasn’t the primary time I thought about all of the SF/fantasy authors on the market who appear not only to reside, however proceed to work, into their ninetiesâ€"eighties at least. The People & Publishing section of the October 2009 concern of Locus needs joyful 89th birthday to Ray Bradbury on the lower right-hand corner, and on the upper left-hand nook is a photograph of another of my favorite authors of all time, Frederik Pohl, who can be 89, and was awarded an honorary high school diploma. According to the little news snippet accompanying the photo, Pohl dropped out of high school at the age of 15, which would have been 1935. I’m certain he’s delighted to be able to say he’s lived by way of a part of each Great Depressions. Two of my former co-workers at Wizards of the Coast. Mark Sehestedt and Peter Archer, knew veteran (to place it flippantly) SF author Jack Williamson from their time as a scholar and professor (respectfully) at Eastern New Mexico University. Jack Williamson died in November 2006 on the age of ninety eight. Robert Heinlein was 80 when he died in 1988. Arthur C. Clarke made it to ninety before he passed away in his beloved Sri Lanka in March of 2008. Sure, there were authors who didn’t make it that far. Philip K. Dick was solely 53 when he died in 1982â€"however nonetheless, there simply appears to be one thing about writing science fiction that retains you youngerâ€"at least maintain you alive, anyway. What might it be? Could it's that these men, some scientists before they began writing fiction, had some sort of forward-pondering edge on the common citizen? Do they know the chemistry behind longevity, and like Linus Pauling protect their health with nutritional vitamins? Some of them have been very profitable over many years and many years, so is it as a result of they’re wealthy? But aren’t there richer folks than any of those guys who died lots younger? Money equals healthcare in America, so it might appear to observe that the richer you're the higher healthcare you’re getting, subsequently the longer you liveâ€"however I’m undecided the statistics bear that out. Besides, I’m unsure that Jack Williamson, for instance was significantly wealthy. Could they be in communication with aliens, or people from the longer term who admire and have been inspired by their work, and who occasionally visit them and allow them to spend a couple of minutes of their flying saucers’ rejuvenation chambers? I guess it’s as straightforward to imagine that than, say, that Sarah Palin is qualified to be President of the United States , and folks have advised that story on nationwide television. The author’s life isn’t terribly bodily strenuous. Maybe that’s it. If your job is to take a seat in a secure place tapping away at a typewriter you in all probability do have a leg up on individuals who, say, take away asbestos for a dwelling, or work on Alaskan crab fishing boats. I’m pretty sure no one’s ever drowned whereas writing a novel. I briefly thought that perhaps these guys stick around as a result of they’ve discovered a way to do what they love, every day, and do it for a residing. That they’ve been embraced by a group of intelligent, caring followers who admire their work and sometimes get an opportunity to tell them so. Could it be that doing what you love for a residing makes you reside longer? If your daily work is strictly the exercise you'd plan on doing when you retire, are you much less prone to retire at all? Does doing what you're keen on make you're employed longer, feel vital longer , and so you reside longer? No, that couldn’t be it. Could it? If so, I might just make it previous Philip K. Dick’s fifty three, and having simply turned 45, fifty three doesn’t seem that old in any respect. If I stay as long as Arthur C. Clarke, and for what it’s price, my paternal grandfather, I’m solely midway there. Let’s circle again on this subject in 2054 and I’ll let you know if it was the love of the sport that kept me going, or the aliens’ rejuvenation tanks. Either way, I’ll be a happy ninety-yr-old with lots of tales left to tell. â€"Philip Athans About Philip Athans