Damn. I wish No one ever had to write this.
I first met Harlan when I was in junior high school — he came to talk to my English class (I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the teacher, but I later wished I’d known enough to thank him). He spoke bluntly and clearly and inspired us all in different ways. He taught me what a writer’s ‘voice’ was. His was unique.
I ran across him a few times in later years, mostly at conventions, but occasionally at bookstores where he was signing. I remember one time at Comic-Con I went into Golden Hall to hear a panel about ‘modern’ comics and the ‘new wave’ of writers who were upsetting the apple cart. I was a little bit late, so when I got there the lights were down, and found a seat on the aisle. I looked at the next seat, and it was Harlan — the guy who did the “Dangerous Visions” anthologies. If anyone should have been on stage it was him. But he sat and listened and occasionally chuckled and we traded a few snide comments about some of the people on the panel. Then Frank (Dark Knight) Miller was asked a question, and instead of answering it, he picked up his microphone and began to stride the stage, expounding on his brilliance and originality. That would have been funny, but then he mentioned Dangerous Visions and said something nasty about Harlan. I cleared out of his way and watched Harlan glide quietly down the aisle to stand before the stage. Before he was halfway there, almost everyone on stage had spotted him, and were just waiting. Miller finally paused, and Harlan cleared his throat and raised his hand. Miller looked down and saw him, and blanched a bit, but every eye was on him. Harlan quietly and thoroughly took him apart and put him back together.
I saw him last a few years ago at a friend’s birthday. He was in the kitchen, telling stories, and a bunch of us just stood around, watching the master raconteur at his best, and feeling like maybe being in his orbit was enough.
Harlan passed last night, quietly in his sleep. He was 84. There will never be another quite like him. Harlan didn’t drink, and I don’t usually, but tonight...