“Suppose you meet a man” Asimov, In Joy Still Felt, 235.
“You’ll regret all the years” This exchange is compiled from Asimov, Opus 100, xiv, and Asimov, In Joy Still Felt, 221.
a toy typewriter Asimov to RAH, August 25, 1956.
“They just sound too much like you” Asimov, In Joy Still Felt, 362.
psychiatrists and neurologists Asimov, I. Asimov, 175.
“Suppose you had to choose” Asimov, In Joy Still Felt, 221.
a celebrity in the mainstream Asimov was even mentioned briefly in Saul Bellow’s 1964 novel Herzog, which treated him as a representative of the entire genre: “Was it mystery novels (Josephine Tey), or science fiction (Isaac Asimov)?”
“Say, Asimov” Asimov, In Joy Still Felt, 413.
“God, Asimov” White, Isaac Asimov, 151.
“We would, naturally, furnish some suitable posteriors” Earl Kemp to Asimov, December 11, 1961, reprinted in Stephanie Zvan, “We Don’t Do That Anymore,” The Orbit, September 9, 2012, https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/2012/09/09/we-dont-do-that-anymore (accessed December 2017).
“Of course, I could be persuaded” Ibid.; Asimov to Earl Kemp, December 14, 1961.
“the man with a hundred hands” Judith Merril, signed footnote in Asimov, In Memory Yet Green, 653n.
“The question then is not whether or not a girl should be touched” Asimov, The Sensuous Dirty Old Man, 108.
“Whenever we walked up the stairs” Segaloff, A Lit Fuse, 181.
“hugging all the young ladies” Asimov, In Memory Yet Green, 678.
“All you want to do is kiss” Asimov, In Joy Still Felt, 253.
the women found excuses to leave the building Gordon Van Gelder, e-mail to author, December 6, 2017. The source for this anecdote was the late Ruth Cavin, a former editor for Walker & Company.
Cele Goldsmith Davin, Partners in Wonder, 4.
“harmless” Asimov, In Memory Yet Green, 678.
“I kiss each young woman” Asimov, In Joy Still Felt, 175.
“Asimov . . . instead of shaking my date’s hand” Edward L. Ferman, interviewed in Platt, Dream Makers Volume II, 246.
“It’s like the old saying” Frederik Pohl, “Our continued reminiscences of Isaac Asimov,” November 10, 2010, http://www.thewaythefutureblogs.com/2010/11/isaac-asimov-part-6 (accessed December 2017).
“unbearable convention manners” Asimov to Mildred Clingerman, September 5, 1956.
“Isaac says John made them up” Asimov, In Joy Still Felt, 304.
“I would like to thank Mr. John W. Campbell, Jr.” Asimov to JWC, September 10, 1966.
investigated by the FBI Asimov’s FBI file, which was released through the Freedom of Information Act, can be viewed at https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/fbi-file-on-isaac-asimov-8300 (accessed December 2017).
a flying saucer Asimov, In Joy Still Felt, 397.
“He nearly had a heart attack” Dave Itzkoff, “Trying to Meet the Neighbors,” New York Times, March 11, 2007.
Roman Polanski “At one of the embassy parties, Roman Polanski found Heinlein and introduced him to his wife, the stunningly beautiful Sharon Tate. She had been filming in Europe but had taken a break to join her husband at the festival. Ginny was off, circulating, as she usually did.” Patterson, The Man Who Learned Better, 301. Patterson’s source was evidently Virginia Heinlein, but other sources indicate that Tate had flown to Europe on March 24, 1969, and no record exists of any such visit to Rio. Bugliosi, Helter Skelter, 281–82.
“the greatest spiritual experience I’ve undergone in my life” Patterson, The Man Who Learned Better, 307.
“This is the greatest event” Ibid., 309.
a television panel moderated by Rod Serling Video of the panel can be found online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFkqGDEAi_4 (accessed December 2017).
Analog sent a press representative The reporter was Russell Seitz, a graduate student at MIT. JWC, In Times to Come, Analog, December 1969, 155.
Campbell attended his funeral Lester del Rey, in Locus, July 12, 1971, 4.
“the greatest show ever staged” JWC, “7/20/69,” Analog, November 1969, 4.
“Annette or Nanette or something” Patterson, The Man Who Learned Better, 313. Patterson identifies the writer as Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, but a source within the Manson Family states: “Gypsy [Catherine Share], who also used another alias, Manon Minette, spent her time writing letters to Robert Heinlein to see if he would help bail us out. . . . He wrote her back a nice letter admitting he had done some pranks in his youth, but unlike the character in his book Stranger in a Strange Land, he was unable to offer any other type of legal or financial support. He was, however, very sympathetic.” Lake and Herman, Member of the Family, 336.
“Honey, this is worse” Patterson, The Man Who Learned Better, 313.
“In the psychotic mind” “A Martian Model,” Time, January 19, 1970, 44–45.
Manson subsequently denied J. Neil Schulman, “Manson and Heinlein,” letter to the Los Angeles Times, January 20, 1991. A copy of Stranger in a Strange Land was found at Barker Ranch in Death Valley National Park, where Manson was arrested in October 1969. Gifford, Robert A. Heinlein: A Reader’s Companion, 247n.
letters from members of the Manson Family “Some weeks ago, a fan letter came in from the jail in Independence, California. In a burst of generosity, Robert tried to do something about this girl who’d written him. It turned out that she was one of the Manson family. So if we’re knifed in our beds like Sharon Tate, it’s because of three letters from members of the family.” Virginia Heinlein to Lurton Blassingame, January 7, 1970, quoted in RAH, Grumbles from the Grave, 240–41.
“the new mental health cult” Bugliosi, Helter Skelter, 200.
“A cell partner turned me on to Scientology” Manson, Manson in His Own Words, 70.
“What do you do after ‘clear?’ ” Bugliosi, Helter Skelter, 318.
“That girl is insane” Ibid., 291.
the Aum Shinrikyo cult “In an interview, [Hideo] Murai would state matter-of-factly that Aum was using the Foundation series as the blueprint for the cult’s long-term plans.” David E. Kaplan and Andrew Marshall, “The Cult at the End of the World,” Wired, July 1, 1996.
“There’s somebody on the moon today” Guinn, Manson, 229–30.
CHAPTER 15: TWILIGHT (1960–1971)
“For each human soul” JWC, “On the Nature of Angels,” Analog, September 1971, 160.
“I’ve seen some pictures of a gadget” JWC, “The Ultrafeeble Interactions,” ASF, December 1959, 160.
“a contraption of rotating eccentric weights” Ibid.
“I believe the true space drive” JWC, “The Space-Drive Problem, ASF, June 1960, 100.
who met Dean at the editor’s house Asimov, In Joy Still Felt, 196.
John R. Pierce of Bell Labs Harrison, Harry Harrison! Harry Harrison!, 264.
the roboticist Marvin Minsky Knight, In Search of Wonder, 50.
the government had conducted a lynching JWC, “Scientific Lynch Law,” Analog, October 1961, 4–5, 176–78.
“Now, Sprague!” De Camp, Time and Chance, 222.
the new principles of physics Dr. William O. Davis, “The Fourth Law of Motion,” Analog, May 1962, 83–104.
dowsing JWC came to believe that dowsing was a better introduction to psionics than the Hieronymus Machine, since it was easier to demonstrate. The author Poul Anderson was impressed by how reliably a homemade dowsing rod could find an underground water pipe—although his daughter noted that there was a visible depression in the grass. Author interview with Astrid Bear, August 19, 2016.
astrology JWC ran weather forecasts by the astrologer Joseph F. Goodavage, who had correctly predicted that Kennedy would die in office: “It is coincidental that each American president in office at the time of these conjunctions [of Jupiter and Saturn in an earth sign] either died or was assassinated before leaving the presidency. . . . John F. Kennedy w
as elected in 1960 at the time of a Jupiter and Saturn conjunction in Capricorn.” Joseph F. Goodavage, “The First Science,” Analog, September 1962, 109–10. The first of his astrological weather forecasts appeared in Analog in October 1962.
his discoveries tended to stay within Analog Damon Knight thought that this was a conscious strategy: “He deliberately cultivated technically oriented writers with marginal writing skills. . . . Campbell was building a new stable he knew he could keep.” Quoted in Westfahl, The Mechanics of Wonder, 285–86.
“Fred, you did real good” Pohl, The Way the Future Was, 91.
“[Campbell] considered my writing” Dick, The Minority Report, 379.
Dick sold just one story to Campbell “Impostor,” ASF, June 1953, 58–70. Dick said that JWC asked him to revise it repeatedly, adding that he would “rather write several first-draft stories for one cent a word than spend time revising a single story for Campbell, despite the higher pay.” Davin, Partners in Wonder, 147.
“He liked his ideas better than mine” Author interview with Larry Niven, August 20, 2016.
“Sprague de Camp can’t make the magazine” JWC to Gotthard Gunther, July 29, 1957.
“a book-learning follower” JWC to William R. Burkett, Jr., July 1, 1968. JWC refers to Asimov only as “a professor of chemistry,” but his identity is clear from context.
“The Great Old Authors” JWC, in Rogers, A Requiem for Astounding, xxi.
“rejected discussion of his ideas” JWC to “Spring,” May 30, 1957.
“He’s scared blue-with-chartreuse-spots” JWC to E. E. Smith, April 11, 1959.
“[Heinlein is] much more concerned” JWC to Col. F. W. Ott, February 23, 1967.
“as an effort to confine his artistic creativity” Ibid.
“ten pages of his arrogant insults” RAH, Grumbles from the Grave, 152.
“really bitter” arguments Theodore Sturgeon, at the panel “The Man John W. Campbell,” Conclave III, Romulus, MI, November 4, 1978. Recording courtesy of the SFOHA Archives.
“invalidated” himself as an editor Robert Silverberg, in Solstein and Moosnick, JWC’s Golden Age of Science Fiction, 26.
“I can’t speak for Isaac or Ted” Robert Silverberg, e-mail exchange with author, September 20–21, 2016.
“adolescent demigod” JWC to Tom Godwin, September 19, 1953.
“Congratulations!” JWC to Frank Herbert, June 3, 1963.
“Sorry to see her go” JWC to Frank Herbert, January 22, 1964.
ideas for sequels JWC to Frank Herbert, March 25, 1964.
“Paul was a damn fool” JWC to Frank Herbert, summer 1968, quoted in Herbert, The Road to Dune, 293.
“In this one, it’s Paul” JWC to Lurton Blassingame, October 15, 1968.
“slightly open-mouthed adoration” RAH to JWC, January 4, 1942.
“somewhat of a lesbian” JWC to Eric Frank Russell, May 9, 1958.
he was unaffected by the change in ownership Apart from the new title, the most visible effect on the magazine was a brief experiment with a larger format, which was published from March 1963 to March 1965.
he employed the company to get his ideas out JWC to Ronald E. Graham, September 8, 1969, reprinted in Bangsund, JWC: An Australian Tribute, 86.
“carefully expurgated to suit the most prudish” JWC to John W. Campbell, Sr., May 15, 1953.
“And since when does the Condé Nast Publications, Incorporated” Bova, “John Campbell and the Modern SF Idiom.”
Alan Dean Foster Author interview with Alan Dean Foster, August 29, 2016.
Vietnam wasn’t ready for democracy JWC, “Keeperism,” Analog, July 1965, 5–6, 159–62.
a statement in support of American intervention In an advertisement that appeared in the June 1968 issue of Galaxy, the signatories in favor of the United States remaining in Vietnam included Heinlein, de Camp, Williamson, and dozens of others. A statement opposing the war was signed by an even greater number, including Asimov, Bradbury, del Rey, and Gene Roddenberry.
Gregory Benford Speech at Campbell Conference Awards banquet, MidAmeriCon II, Kansas City, Missouri, August 18, 2016.
Campbell had written dismissively of tachyons “Most scientists aren’t up on [tachyons] either, and a large number seem to feel there’s nothing to be up on!” JWC, Brass Tacks, Analog, June 1968, 167.
“a bit too esoteric” JWC to Gregory Benford, March 5, 1970.
“something for nothing” JWC, “Impossible Problem,” Analog, November 1967, 178.
“The problem with this country” Gregory Benford, at the panel “The World of Tomorrow is Today,” MidAmeriCon II, Kansas City, Missouri, August 20, 2016.
“There is such a thing as a nigger” JWC to Reese Danley Kilgo, August 31, 1966.
“All human beings are not equal” JWC to Poul Anderson, February 14, 1956.
“If you deny the existence of racial differences” JWC to Asimov, December 2, 1955.
“The result is that the old question” JWC to Asimov, December 21, 1955.
“Essentially, I am forced to answer” JWC to Asimov, January 20, 1956.
“I think [Campbell] saw himself” Asimov to Tom Cole, June 13, 1989, reprinted in Tom Cole, “Postcard That Isaac Asimov Sent to Me,” http://www.tomhascallcole.com/asimovpostcardtome.html (accessed December 2017).
“Any more and the friendship will be destroyed” Asimov, Asimov on Science Fiction, 199.
And their differences The argument erupted again in a series of letters that began in late 1961. In a note in his archives, Asimov stated that they corresponded less frequently toward the end of JWC’s life because of their disagreement over social issues. Isaac Asimov Collection, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University, Box 139.
“a high-order civilization” JWC to Asimov, October 12, 1957.
“a new heresy” Anderson, All One Universe, 70.
“Slavery is a useful educational system” JWC to RAH, April 5, 1957.
“interesting letter” RAH to JWC, April 18, 1957.
“Slavery is a system” JWC, “Unimaginable Reasons,” ASF, July 1960, 176.
“Gentlemen, you can’t reduce everything” Harrison, Harry Harrison! Harry Harrison!, 265.
unsympathetic to calls for social justice “Sure, it’s mighty easy for a brilliant Negro to feel that all his troubles are race prejudice. Never having been a brilliant Caucasian, he can’t possibly have the experience that the brilliant white is just as roundly rejected, and just as thoroughly frustrated.” JWC, “Evolution Without Mutations,” ASF, June 1957, 162. On May 22, 1957, JWC wrote to RAH: “Ike Asimov had suffered for a good many years under the pressure of antisemitism . . . until he discovered it was anti-intellectualism he was suffering from!”
an unfair traffic ticket JWC, “It Ain’t My Job,” Analog, January 1962, 4–5, 173–78.
“The police have as their function” JWC, “Breakthrough in Psychology,” Analog, December 1965, 159–60.
“Think about it a bit” JWC to Ron Stoloff, May 1, 1969.
“If Negro authors are extremely few” Ibid.
“minimizing race problems” JWC to Elinore Wackernagel, July 29, 1952.
“The guy can write” JWC to Henry Morrison, September 29, 1965 and October 17, 1966.
who had briefly met Campbell Samuel R. Delany, e-mail to author, January 12, 2018.
“Campbell . . . didn’t feel his readership” Delany, “Racism and Science Fiction.” At the following year’s Nebulas, another win by Delany prompted Asimov to venture an awkward joke: “You know, Chip, we only voted you those awards because you’re Negro.”
“a black main character” Two apparent exceptions were the serials “Black Man’s Burden” and “Border, Breed Nor Birth” by Mack Reynolds, which ran their first installments in the December 1961 and July 1962 issues of Analog. Reynolds recalled that the stories, about a group of black activists in North Africa, “were written at a suggestion of John Campbell’s and whole chunks of them were based on his i
deas.” Most of the characters, regardless of race, sounded just like JWC. Mack Reynolds, introduction to “Black Sheep Astray,” in Harrison, Astounding, 202.
Joe Haldeman Author interview with Joe Haldeman, August 20, 2016.
“The aboriginal race of Australia” JWC, “No Other Race,” ASF, May 1939, 50.
“And Ike, my friend” JWC to Asimov, November 13, 1958.
homosexuality was a sign of cultural decline JWC, “Situation Normal: Explosive,” ASF, November 1957, 158.
“My God!” JWC to RAH, March 9, 1950.
When it came to women The author Leslie F. Stone claimed that JWC said to her in 1938, “I do not believe that women are capable of writing science fiction—nor do I approve of it!” Even if he held this opinion at the time, it was soon contradicted by experience. Davin, Partners in Wonder, 144–45.
“girlish special privileges” JWC to Jack Wodham, June 28, 1971.
“Are you sure, dear?” JWC to Poul Anderson, March 28, 1953.
“No woman has ever attained” JWC to Asimov, January 20, 1954.
Pauline Ashwell JWC loved Ashwell’s first story, “Unwillingly to School,” but was discouraged by its lukewarm reception: “It didn’t go over so hot—our readers appear to be less than enthusiastic about the peculiarities of teenage girl’s thinking.” JWC to RAH, March 25, 1962.
Campbell admired Islam JWC to Raymond F. Jones, March 17, 1954.
“He never, not once” Asimov, The Early Asimov, 203.
“a fairly decent little Jew-boy” JWC to Robert Swisher, March 7, 1937.
“You ever hear of Isaac Asimov?” Robert Silverberg, e-mail exchange with author, September 20, 2016.
“Phil, I want you to know something” Philip Klass, in Solstein and Moosnick, JWC’s Golden Age of Science Fiction, 29–30.
to complain about the excess of psionics Harlan Ellison to JWC, April 15, 1958.
he had a “shocker” JWC to Harlan Ellison, December 6, 1965.
their differences were more temperamental Author interview with Ben Bova, September 15, 2016.
the editor’s submissive circle of writers Harlan Ellison, Dangerous Visions, 512.
“John W. Campbell, Jr., who used to edit a magazine” Ibid., xxi.
“destructive, rather than constructive” JWC to Perry Chapdelaine, June 30, 1969.
Astounding Page 50