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SF legend Harlan Ellison dead at 84; 'No one quite like him,' says Stephen King

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<p>Award-winning fantasy and speculative fiction writer Harlan Ellison died today at the age of 84.</p><p>Born May 27, 1934 in Cleveland, Ohio, Ellison is considered one of the most prolific science fiction authors during his time, writing 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, essays and articles.</p><p>He wrote scripts for television shows such as The Outer Limits, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and Star Trek, and won a slew of awards including multiple Hugos, Nebulas and Edgars.</p><p>He is famous for writing the Star Trek episode “City on the Edge of Forever,” in which Captain Kirk allows the woman he loves to die in order to correct the timeline. &quot;City on the Edge of Forever&quot; won several awards and is widely acknowledged as the best episode of the entire franchise.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Susan Ellison has asked me to announce the passing of writer Harlan Ellison, in his sleep, earlier today. “For a brief time I was here, and for a brief time, I mattered.”—HE, 1934-2018. Arrangements for a celebration of his life are pending.</p>— Christine Valada (@mcvalada) <a href="https://twitter.com/mcvalada/status/1012406845758062592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2018</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>Ellison was editor and anthologist for two science fiction anthologies, Dangerous Visions (1967) and Again, Dangerous Visions (1972).</p><p>He was hired as a writer for Walt Disney Studios but was fired on the same day after making jokes about making a pornographic animated film featuring Disney cartoons.</p><p>He also served as creative consultant to the 1980s version of The Twilight Zone science fiction TV series and Babylon 5.</p><p>Several writers and artists have spoken out about their admiration for Ellison, including horror writer Stephen King.</p><p>&quot;There was no one quite like him in American letters, and never will be. Angry, funny, eloquent, hugely talented. If there&#x27;s an afterlife, Harlan is already kicking ass and taking down names,&quot; King wrote on Twitter.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Harlan Ellison: There was no one quite like him in American letters, and never will be. Angry, funny, eloquent, hugely talented. If there&#x27;s an afterlife, Harlan is already kicking ass and taking down names.</p>— Stephen King (@StephenKing) <a href="https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/1012429991735414785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2018</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>Author and comic book writer Warren Ellis also reminisced about the time he asked Ellison why he had to pick a fight &quot;over every little thing.&quot;</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">I once asked Harlan Ellison how many books and stories he hadn&#x27;t had time to write because he just had to fuck around and pick a giant fight over every little thing.<br/><br/>He said, &quot;Sure, but you can&#x27;t let the bastards get away with it.&quot;</p>— Wᴀʀʀᴇɴ Eʟʟɪs (@warrenellis) <a href="https://twitter.com/warrenellis/status/1012433738746220544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2018</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>Writer Isaac Asimov, meanwhile, tweeted an excerpt from Dangerous Visions on his first encounter with Ellison at the World Science Fiction Convention.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">&quot;The story of how I came to meet Harlan Ellison.&quot; (3 images)<br/><br/>Rest in Peace <a href="https://t.co/R0xw3L1mWZ">pic.twitter.com/R0xw3L1mWZ</a></p>— Isaac Asimov (@isaacasimov) <a href="https://twitter.com/isaacasimov/status/1012497850348048385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2018</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div>

<p>Award-winning fantasy and speculative fiction writer Harlan Ellison died today at the age of 84.</p>

Award-winning fantasy and speculative fiction writer Harlan Ellison died today at the age of 84.