Gene Wolfe
Despite having lived within easy driving distance of Gene Wolfe’s
In the case of Gene Wolfe, I thought I had him pegged as a literate and gentle guy who just had this strange writing trait of making the nicest character in one of his greatest novels
But I wasn’t aware that he invented other things than storybook characters until I learned that one of his inventions was a critical part in the machine the Pringles people use to make their potato chips. And then the most unexpected insight of all that came when he and I were invited to discuss our military experiences. My own report wasn’t very exciting, but when Gene’s turn came, he spun this scary yarn of the kid he was when the Korean War took him away from aiming to be an engineer at Texas A & M and repackaged him as a teenaged Marine swept from basic training to the south side of a Korean hill whose north side was populated by a large number of Chinese troops whose main mission in life was to kill everybody on the other side.
He’s a treasure, this Gene Wolfe is, and not just an admired writer but a useful asset to the human race.
Dan Reid says:
I freakin’ love, and completely agree with, the last seven words of this post.
May 29, 2012, 9:11 pmAaron says:
Gene Wolfe has been one of my favorite writers for about seven years now. I started writing him about three years ago, and was surprised that he wrote me back. His first letter was brief but very touching. He sent along a copy of Strange Birds signed to me. We have written back and forth several times since and each letter I receive is better than the last. I hope Mr. Wolfe lives to write and correspond for a long time to come. He truly is a treasure.
May 30, 2012, 7:51 amUpcoming4.me says:
The man’s a legend.
May 30, 2012, 9:29 amAlexander Primarchus says:
How strange that you who have met him did not know these things, while I who have not did.
Of all authors that I wish to meet and correspond with, Gene Wolfe is at the top of my list.
Alas, unlike Lucius Shepard, he is not so easy to find contact details for.
What I pity, that I who am Severian in many ways have been unable to do so thus far. But the strange winds of fate turns as they will, and it is not beyond the realms of the possible that one day I shall look him in the eye and say:
“Here I am. You have written of me many times. How do you do?”
May 30, 2012, 2:15 pmBill Goodwin says:
Where Wolfe?
June 1, 2012, 4:10 amGary Phillips says:
There wolfe, there castle.
June 7, 2012, 7:53 amNeil in Chicago says:
The most recent whiplash I’ve gotten from Gene, Gene whose erudition strikes awe even into the group mind of fandom, was a silly throwaway joke in The Wizard Knight. Someone’s getting outfitted with armor, and the guy who paints shields explains that he charges by the figure. Some coats of arms have more, some less. He mentions that the most expensive job he’s ever had was three hearts and three lions.
June 24, 2012, 5:31 pm