SF COMMENTARY 88 January 2015 46th Anniversary Edition 80 pages BRIAN ALDISS JAMES ALLEN DOUG BARBOUR GREG BENFORD LARRY BIGMAN MICHAEL BISHOP RICHARD BLAIR MIKE BOLDEN WILLIAM BREIDING RANDY BYERS NED BROOKS JENNIFER BRYCE JASON BURNETT CY CHAUVIN PEGGYANN CHEVALIER ELAINE COCHRANE MATTHEW DAVIS DITMAR (DICK JENSSEN) JAMES DOIG LEIGH EDMONDS ROBERT ELORDIETA MARK FERSON BRAD FOSTER BRUCE GILLESPIE DAVID GRIGG JEFF HAMILL JOHN HERTZ KIM HUETT STEVE JEFFERY JERRY KAUFMAN DANIEL KING WERNER KOOPMANN FRED LERNER DENNY LIEN JOHN LITCHEN LYNC PATRICK L. MCGUIRE MALCOLM MCHARG WALKER MARTIN GARY MASON ROBIN MITCHELL MURRAY MOORE GERALD MURNANE LLOYD PENNEY ALEX PIERCE MARK PLUMMER DAVID PRINGLE ANDY ROBSON FRANZ ROTTENSTEINER YVONNE ROUSSEAU DARRELL SCHWEITZER PETER SIMPSON STEVE SNEYD MILT STEVENS TIM STONE TOM WHALEN CASEY WOLF RAY WOOD MARTIN MORSE WOOSTER GEORGE ZEBROWSKI Cover: Ditmar (Dick Jenssen): ‘Balloon Reconnaissance’ SF COMMENTARY 88 January 2015 46th Anniversary Issue 80 pages SF COMMENTARY No. 88, January 2015, is edited and published in a limited number of print copies by Bruce Gillespie, 5 Howard Street, Greensborough, VIC 3088, Australia. Phone: 61-3-9435 7786. PRINT EDITION AVAILABLE ONLY TO SUBSCRIBERS, SUBSTANTIAL CONTRIBUTORS, AND PROVIDERS OF PRINTED MAGAZINES OR BOOKS. PREFERRED MEANS OF DISTRIBUTION .PDF FILE FROM EFANZINES.COM: Portrait edition (print equivalent) or Landscape edition (widescreen): http://efanzines.com or from my email address: [email protected]. Front cover: Ditmar (Dick Jenssen): ‘Balloon Reconnaissance’. Artwork: Elaine Cochrane (p. 15); Thanks to Lucy Huntzinger, p. 30, for pointing me to the painting of Schubert and his friends; does anybody know the name of the painting, and the artist?); Brad Foster (p. 31); Grant Gittus (book cover, p. 53). Photographs: Elaine Cochrane (pp. 3, 4, 5); Dick Jenssen (p. 4); Yvonne Rousseau (p. 6); Robin Mitchell (pp. 7, 8, 9); Francis Hamit (p. 11); Steve Jeffery (p. 39); Graham Stone/Tim Stone (p. 57); Gary Mason (p. 69); Ray Wood (p. 73); Tom Whalen (p. 78). 12 MICHAEL BISHOP—PHILIP K. DICK Steve Jeffery, George Zebrowski, William Breiding, 12 Introduction Martin Morse Wooster, and Jerry Kaufman Philip K. Dick, alternate-world SF, and I 45 Ray Bradbury and the pulps Michael Bishop Darrell Schweitzer 15 Philip D. Dick is dead, a lass 46 What makes these books so great? A poem by Michael Bishop Patrick L. McGuire 50 The continuing need for a single malt 17 J. D. ROBB Mark Plummer 17 J. D. Robb: Somehow it still works 53 World radio Patrick L. McGuire Casey Wolf 17 1 J. D. Robb: a very readable writer ... 22 2 J. D. Robb’s future 55 AND NOW THE LETTERS ... 3 I MUST BE TALKING TO MY FRIENDS Jeff Hamill :: Jennifer Bryce :: Tim Stone :: David Grigg :: Andy Robson :: Robert Elordiata 3 Farewell to Polly (1994–2014) Fred Lerner :: Jason Burnett :: Milt Stevens :: Bruce Gillespie (with Elaine Cochrane) Randy Byers :: Peter Simpson :: Mark Ferson 6 Hurry-home-drops: Richard Blair :: Malcolm McHarg :: Yvonne Return to Oakleigh — and 1961 Rousseau :: Lloyd Penney :: James Doig Bruce Gillespie (photos by Robin Mitchell) Franz Rottensteiner :: John Hertz :: Werner 10 ‘Happy birthday, dear Brian’ Koopmann :: Michael Bishop :: Daniel King Murray Moore (and Brian Aldiss) David Pringle :: Peggyann Chevalier :: Gary Mason :: Ned Brooks :: James (‘Jocko’) Allen 30 FIRST, THE FEATURE LETTERS ... Kim Huett :: John Litchen :: Cy Chauvin Ray Wood :: Larry Bigman :: Denny Lien 30 Stories about stories about people Matthew Davis :: Mike Bolden :: Gerald Leigh Edmonds Murnane :: Steve Sneyd :: Walker Martin 33 There’s still room for hard SF Alex Pierce :: LynC :: Murray Moore Greg Benford Tom Whalen 35 Moving among the genres Doug Barbour 78 We also heard from ... 37 Zebrowski, Clute, Russ, and other critics 2 I must be talking to my friends Farewell to Polly (1994–2014) by Bruce Gillespie (with Elaine Cochrane as major contributor) My diary does not record the day in January 1995 when striding across the floor towards me. (‘Was I their John from the car workshop around the corner rang the mummy?’ ‘Would I feed them?’) Two black, one white front door bell at our place at Keele Street, Collingwood. with grey patches, one grey, all very purposeful, but the He said that four kittens had been dumped in the vacant runt of the litter walked oddly. She kept rocking her head block at the rear of our house. Elaine went round to from side to side to make sure she was going in the right claim them. I had been snoozing on the settee in the direction. living room and awoke to find four very small kittens Elaine put the kittens into a cat box and took them Polly the commander of Keele Street, Collingwood, 1998. (Photo: Elaine Cochrane) 3 Baby photos! Polly soon after she first arrived at Keele Street, 1995, with Bruce (l.) and Elaine (r.). Polly (facing window and cat enclosure) and Sophie, late 2004, soon after we moved to Greensborough. (Photo: Dick Jenssen.) 4 Polly at Collingwood: killing her feather (mid 1990s) and posing for the camera (1998). (Photos: Elaine Cochrane.) straight up to our friendly local vet’s. Over the next two climbed trees and the piece of tapa cloth that Elaine had weeks, he checked them over and vaccinated them. He hung in the hall. She did not roam too far from the back estimated that they were about five weeks old, and there- yard, but she defended it several times from intruder fore were born in early December. One of Elaine’s areas cats. She loved to help with the gardening, and would of expertise over the years has been finding homes for often be on mouse watch at the compost bins. One day stray kittens. Judy and Alan Wilson took two, and LynC she gave Elaine a mouse — carefully and deliberately and Clive Newell took another one. We could not give placing the half-dead creature on her foot, then dancing the fourth kitten to anyone else, since she was blind in backwards with every expression of delight as she waited one eye and deaf in one ear. for a show of gratitude, and following and watching We were faced with two problems. Would the runty closely as Elaine returned it to the compost bin. little grey kitten be healthy? And would Sophie, our When TC died in 1996 Polly was distraught, so the vet jealous black cat, try to kill it? Elaine’s solution was to (John Sandford, who is still working in Collingwood) hire a large wire cage and place it in the middle of the gave us a large, young, grey desexed female cat he had kitchen floor. On 6 February 1995, Polly came back from been caring for at his surgery. We brought her home, the vet’s to our place, and she lived in the cage for the called her Violet, and expected no problems. We cer- next week or so. We called her Polly as short for Poly- tainly did not expect that Polly would hate her immedi- phemus, the one-eyed monster in the Odyssey. We might ately and totally, and would deploy every possible just as well have named her after Napoleon, master of technique to try to drive her away! Polly was so implaca- the world. ble that we had to keep them separate — on one occasion Never before or since have we seen a cat performance when we failed to close the door between their parts of like Polly’s. She spent several days in the cage, and sniffed the house Polly went on the attack, and Violet needed noses with the other cats. Sophie did not seem too upset, eight stitches to close the rip along her tail. Poor Violet’s but that could have been camouflage for her true inten- life was pretty miserable until we moved to Greens- tions. When we let Polly out of the cage, she deliberately borough, where the layout of the house and the two-part set out to make friends with each of the other cats. She enclosure meant we could offer her more comfort and snuggled up to ancient, arthriticky TC, who was top cat. security, safe from further attacks. They seemed to fall in love with each other immediately, Surprisingly, given such fierceness, there was very and Polly was the only cat that TC would allow to share little friction when Flicker and Harry moved in with us his electric cat mat. Polly did not need to make friends in 2003. with Oscar. Oscar loved kittens, any kittens. He had Polly and Sophie got along fairly well, but when welcomed Theodore when, as a kitten, he had marched Sophie died in 2006, Polly’s Napoleonic side could be up the passage from the front door and moved in. Polly seen more clearly. She was now the top cat, by reason of never really made friends with Theodore, but Theodore seniority. However, Flicker thought that he was top cat, was too nice to stay grumpy at Polly. The challenge by reason of being bigger, blacker, and (ex)male. This remained: how could Polly make friends with Sophie? relatively friendly rivalry did not cease until Polly died. Polly was playing with a rolled-up piece of paper. Polly Soon after Sophie died we acquired a sweet fluffy rolled the ball of paper towards Sophie. Sophie took it, black kitten we called Archie (and Violet dropped dead and ripped it to shreds. She then pushed it back to Polly, suddenly the next day). The two lads, Flicker and Harry, who ripped up what little was still unshredded. Polly and liked Archie immediately, and they formed a gang of Sophie were sort of friends from then on.