tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959041293595405983.post4209803978564892241..comments2023-06-16T03:44:44.545-07:00Comments on Strangelove for Science Fiction: Early influencesSF Strangelovehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234179503782637446noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959041293595405983.post-68192968296817827992009-08-28T09:45:32.597-07:002009-08-28T09:45:32.597-07:00Hi Grano:
Yes, the public library was a blessing ...Hi Grano:<br /><br />Yes, the public library was a blessing to me, too. It was the perfect spot to scratch my new science fiction itch. I grew up in a small town (about 20,000 population at the time) and the library was a modest one, housed in a small converted storefront in the tiny commercial district. The science fiction section was probably two or three hundred books, which seemed like a lot at the time. I would check out six books every two weeks, the maximum for children. I worked my way by author: Silverberg, Herbert, Poul Anderson, and Roger Zelazny. Significant early discoveries included Herbert’s The Dragon in the Sea (1956) (aka Under Pressure) and Zelazny’s Lord of Light (1967), both of which are rewarding to reread as an adult.<br /><br />Someone, my brother I think, gave me a copy of Galaxy magazine. I got a subscription and I discovered that there was a science fiction community. Through the book reviews (by Theodore Sturgeon), opinion columns, letters to the editor, and convention listings, it became clear that it was a community that was lively and argumentative. I think it was the sense of community that made me stay (along with, as you say, the infinite possibilities and mind-expanding perspectives).SF Strangelovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16234179503782637446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959041293595405983.post-30977131389022343482009-08-27T14:13:15.682-07:002009-08-27T14:13:15.682-07:00Thank a librarian. Having found a couple Bradbury ...Thank a librarian. Having found a couple Bradbury anthologies and a handful of Heinlein's early works in the juvenile section, I approached a librarian for more and was ushered into the realm of infinite possibilities and mind-expanding perspectives. <br /><br />Weekly sojourns to the library soon mined out their selections from the genre, and in those days the science fiction "section" of a bookstore was generally just a couple shelves way in the back, so I was soon spending most of my allowance on 75¢ mail-order paperbacks, including the abovementioned copy of The Illustrated Man. But it was a librarian who brought me in, and F&SF still comprises more than a third of my reading.<br /><br />What made me stay? Infinite possibilities and mind-expanding perspectives.Grano Salishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13857933850255350976noreply@blogger.com