Harry Turtledove: One class act

[fjtorres]

From CNET: Headline says it all.
Sci-Fi author reveals series plot for cancer-ridden fan

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57...ag=rtcol;posts

Kinda glad I was already a fan.

[bbqncigars]

A very classy and compassionate move indeed by Mr. Turtledove!

[Belfaborac]

Pretty cool, I have to say. Kudos to Mr. Turtledove, whose writings I enjoy myself.

Good thing he didn't ask for the Harry Potter ebooks to be published, so there was a realistic chance of a happy ending. If I should get seriously ill I might be tempted to ask George R. R. Martin for a similar favour, but I suspect that'd be asking for the moon on a stick.

[ProfCrash]

That is great. We should all be so lucky to have a friend like that.

[Connallmac]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

That is great. We should all be so lucky to have a friend like that.

Amen to that. Well done Kivakid, well done indeed!

It's nice to know that one of my favorite authors is also a pretty good guy. I guess perhaps I should pop over to Amazon and pick up a few of his books in Kindle format that I had been holding off on!

[xg4bx]

this guy might post it on pirate sites before he dies!!!!!

i'm being flippant but i'm sure those were the exact words of his publisher when he told them of his plans.

good for both men involved, thats very cool of mr. turtledove.

[Apache]

I had tears in my eyes after reading the article. It is nice to see some one who cares about people.
Apache

[RainingLemur]

I came across this on Fark the other day... Could have sworn it was a bit dusty at my desk...

[ucfgrad93]

I think I'll purchase something from Turtledove today as my way of saying thanks.

Edit: Bought this...

[frahse]

First I will say I am not addressing any author in particular and especially not Harry or George.

Should an author be a public person beyond publishing their books?

Should an author give advance drafts to the dying and in fact do so very publicly?
Should an author take ill fans to dinner, to a dance, to gala author events? (Yes there are a few. Conventions, dinners, award functions and the like.)

I say that an author can do those things if they wish, but sometimes an author's personality is such that doing those things may not only be difficult, but in fact may harm their capacity for work and in the end be detrimental.

[Pinecone]

Originally Posted by ucfgrad93

I think I'll purchase something from Turtledove today as my way of saying thanks.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

Pretty cool, I have to say. Kudos to Mr. Turtledove, whose writings I enjoy myself.

Good thing he didn't ask for the Harry Potter ebooks to be published, so there was a realistic chance of a happy ending. If I should get seriously ill I might be tempted to ask George R. R. Martin for a similar favour, but I suspect that'd be asking for the moon on a stick.

Ms Rowling did something similar for a terminally-ill girl in the UK, I remember. She visited her in hospital and told her the story of the last Harry Potter book (this was before it was published, obviously).

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by frahse

Should an author be a public person beyond publishing their books?

Should an author give advance drafts to the dying and in fact do so very publicly?
Should an author take ill fans to dinner, to a dance, to gala author events? (Yes there are a few. Conventions, dinners, award functions and the like.)

I say that an author can do those things if they wish, but sometimes an author's personality is such that doing those things may not only be difficult, but in fact may harm their capacity for work and in the end be detrimental.

Unless they're writing under a pseudonym, successful writers are in fact public personalities. It comes with success. The bigger the success, the bigger the issue; just ask King or Rowling. Some come to mind that *exploit* their celebrity (Gore vidal for one) while others strive for annonymity amid their success because they think the celebrity is deterimental. Depends on the person and their situation.

Publicity value? Well, it's not as if they held a press conference. This sorta filtered out. Even CNET got it from another site who got it...
Acts like this do get publicized so, as long as it is incidental...
(shrug)

The fact is a *lot* of acts of kindness like this happen every day that don't filter out, even when they involve celebrities or public figures. There's the various "Make a wish"-type foundations, for starters. Not every celebrity holds a gala to announce they're doing a good deed. Most just quietly do it and we never hear about it. A few we do. Which makes them notable.

In the SF/Fantasy field there is the case of "Jenny Elf", a drunk-driver victim that Piers Anthony and Richard&Wendy Pini engaged with and helped during her recovery.
http://www.jimloy.com/books/jenny.htm
(Not everybody seems to think publishing the letters, much later, was a good idea. Without knowing where the revenue from the volume ended up I can't judge, myself.)

Authors are people and some are good people.
A reminder now and then can't hurt, can it?

[calibrated]

Mr. Turtledove is one of my favorite authors, so much so that I automatically pre-order everything he publishes. It's good to know that he's a real mensch as well.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by calibrated

Mr. Turtledove is one of my favorite authors, so much so that I automatically pre-order everything he publishes. It's good to know that he's a real mensch as well.

Same here. I've bought every book in hardcover at its release that he has written that was published in hardcover and continue to do so. This act of kindness makes me glad that I preorder his books and support him.