Comments on: Cyril

By: Pam Croft

Pam Croft — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:49:46 +0000

I surfed here and found you are still with us! AMAZING! I had no idea. I am 47 and have had a collection of my own since the age of 12. My twin and I talk about the stories with our Dad (an Engineer who never really wanted to talk to anyone) and as Thanksgiving is coming I thought of Kornbluth. We agree he was the greatest of all time and I sure hope you do not take offense at that! The stories that you men wrote made me think and helped me become a real weirdo (just like dad); and I thank you for that. Happy birthday!

By: Gary Earl Ross

Gary Earl Ross — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:02:31 +0000

Hi, Fred.

We met at a science fiction teaching conference at Eastern Michigan U back in 1978. I was just beginning my career at the University at Buffalo, and you shook my hand because I had read all of Dhalgren. (And I still have my much read, autographed Man Plus on a nearby shelf.) If you check my web site, you’ll see I’ve published a few things and had some success as a playwright, including an Edgar Award. Today I reread “The Little Black Bag” and realized that it’s been more than 50 years since C.M. Kornbluth’s death. I wonder if the “Bag” copyright has been renewed. I’m resident playwright for an African-American theater company in Buffalo and have an idea for an evening of one-acts, but I’d love to adapt “Little Black Bag,” one of my all time favorite stories, for the stage. Thank you for any information you can provide.

By: OtherMichael

OtherMichael — Mon, 04 May 2009 21:21:47 +0000

Reading what is written — what somebody wrote — puts me into a time-vacuum. I read Kornbluth’s stories in the 1970s and 80s, so _of course_ he must have still been around then, right? It’s not like I was laboring over a curiosity of middle-English, for heaven’s sake.

It’s been more than 50 years since he passed away? Impossible….

By: Joseph T Major

Joseph T Major — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 02:29:18 +0000

Kornbluth’s short stories would make a great anthology series by themselves. Consider how well “The Little Black Bag” did on “Night Gallery” and that was an el cheapo presentation. Imagine, say, “The Luckiest Man in Denv” or “Two Dooms” . . .

By: Scott Hauger

Scott Hauger — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 02:23:14 +0000

Just a note to let you know that I really appreciate and enjoy reading your blog, especially the biographical memoirs of sf authors. I am old enough to have read a couple of your collaborations with Cyril Kornbluth when they first came out, (as well as most all the Heinlein \"juveniles\"}.

My favorites, though are the Gateway novels. How did you come by the underlying concept for them?

By: Elio M. García, Jr.

Elio M. García, Jr. — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:53:34 +0000

I was just starting junior high school (this would place it about 19 years ago now) when I fell in love with science fiction. I devoured the books my school and local libraries had, and of course it slanted towards novels and collections containing the great, classic authors. Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke… and Kornbluth (and, if I may say so, Pohl). Early on I read a biographical clip about Cyril, and it struck me (even at that young age) as a real tragedy that he died so young when he wrote such wonderful stories.

Thank you for sharing your recollections of him.