This is another of those musings that has been germinating in the back of my cerebrum since before I created this section of my homepage. After seeing all the good stuff that was out there, how could I not write it?

This essay is for those people, both big and small, who have championed the cause of Art and progress, and fought against the legions of stupidity and ignorance. People whose gumption, intellect and largesse know no bounds. People like Andrew Carroll, Executive Director of the American Poetry & Literacy Project. In honor of Nation Poetry Month, which was this past April, drove a Ryder truck from New York to San Francisco handing out 100,000 free books of poetry in large ciites and small towns along the way. He stopped in places of special literary significance, such as the hometowns of some famous writers, and handed out books of Shakespeare on the Bard's birthday. You can check out the website at http://www.poets.org/apl/aplseed.htm. Thanks, Andrew Carroll, for getting these great works into the hands of the average joe, who might not read them otherwise.

Thanks should also go to Harlan Ellison, who just this past Saturday, for the 28th time in his career, wrote an original short story on his manual typewriter in the window of Dangerous Visions bookstore in Sherman Oaks, California before a live audience of curious onlookers and the Sci-Fi Channel, who taped it for their upcoming Masters of Fantasy special on the author. To add another layer of difficulty, and to show that Mr. Ellison hadn't figured out the story in his head beforehand, The X-Files Chris Carter was on hand with a sealed envelope containing an idea that he thought up. Ellison stated he does this for two reasons: Because no one gets to see a writer at work, and because he can, and no one else can! The story is displayed page by page in the window. Now, I ask you, Gentle Reader. If that isn't the very pinnacle of cool, what is?

The story, which lept unbidden and fully-formed from Ellison's brain like the Greek gods from the brow of Zeus is titled Objects of Desire in the Mirror are Closer than they Appear. It was based on Chris' suggestion: The 102 year-old pregnant corpse. Now, who else but Ellison could craft a story, much less a good one, from something like that? Ellison has frequently championed the cause of the writer, free speech and anything else that gets his goat. For that, we owe him our undying gratitude.