Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe
Fantastic! I do so envy you! I would have loved to have met him. The closest I ever came was when I went to hear him at a speech he gave in my area. He was every bit as engaging in his talk as he was in his works. I considered asking him a question during the Q & A afterward, but -- as can well be imagined -- the line for the microphone was ridiculously long.
He was certainly one of the greats, in more ways than one.
|
The was a friendly and approachable fellow, who frequently attended SF conventions if they were convenient for him, and liked hanging out with the fans.
At one, I was there with my girlfriend of the time. Isaac liked to play lady's man and flirt with women (though everyone knew he was doing it in fun and was harmless.) He started coming on to my girlfriend, then belatedly realized she was there with me, and promptly backed off, claiming he was "too old for that". "Too old for what, Isaac?", I asked. "Oh, anything!" he replied. "Like writing
science fiction?" I riposted.
At that point, Isaac had not written new SF in several years, and was turning out only non-fiction projects. Not long after, a new SF novel by Asimov was released. (If memory serves, _The Gods Themselves_.)
I've never quite been comfortable with the idea that I
caused Isaac to return to SF after an absence, but I'd like to think I helped...
______
Dennis