6 Degrees of Seperation
Quoth The Raven
S. G. Lacey
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QUOTE: “If you wish to forget something on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered.”
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QUEST: Tonight is another rainy fall evening in the Mid-Atlantic. The weather seems to be perpetually cold and soggy this time of year. That’s why most folks have sought the sanctuary provided by the multitude of local taverns which pervade downtown Baltimore.
The glowing fireplace and strong alcohol offer warming from both the outside and the inside respectively. However, some customers have less self-control than others. That’s how one particular patron of interest ends up passed out on a soggy side street, shivering and incapacitated.
Fortunately, this individual, a living legend in the Baltimore area, has plenty of friends to take care of him. Spotted face down in the gutter, through a series of urgently delivered telegrams, the injured man’s best friend Snodgrass is summoned to his aid. It’s amazing how prominent authors gravitate towards acquaintances with interesting names.
The facility where this inebriated bloke ends up is Ryan’s Tavern, a bustling bar. This location, also known as Gunner’s Hall during election season, has been recently turned into a pop-up polling site for the city’s 4th Ward.
Today’s date, October 3rd, 1949, is an important one for the residents of Baltimore. It’s Election Day, a chance for the town’s inhabitants to execute their civic duty. While many folks fail to vote, others take their obligation very seriously.
This commitment is not always by choice, but instead forced, through a coordinated criminal effort known as cooping. This form of voting fraud is commonly executed by local gangs, who kidnap victims, then force them to place ballots on the targeted measures multiple times at multiple precincts.
The pour souls who are roped into such schemes get dressed up in costumes to avoid detection, then are rewarded with booze for executing their illegal task. This practice explains both the clothing and condition of the disheveled character passed out in the alley.
When Snodgrass arrives, he finds his usually prim and proper friend in a very sad state. The gentleman is wearing very shabby clothes, heavily worn shoes, and an old straw hat. None of these attire choices personify his typical presentation.
These two men have not seen each other in a while. In fact, Snodgrass is very surprised to find his friend in Baltimore, since he departed for Richmond a week ago to visit family, and is supposed to be his way to Philly for an editing job. Through a disjointed conversation, the reason for returning to town cannot be ascertained, but it is determined that the bloke’s suitcase was left at Swan Hotel back in Richmond. Maybe that explains the odd choice of attire.
The mental state of this unique character is constantly in flux. This evening’s sad state is just another in a long series of bodily transgressions. Still healing up from a cholera outbreak which occurred over the summer, a bout of depression, a recurring occurrence throughout adult life, has set in over the last month. Having almost committed suicide via a laudanum overdose just a year ago, constant monitoring is needed.
Still, there are reasons to be hopeful. This wanderlust man is currently engaged, scheduled to be married to a wealthy woman, finally reuniting with his childhood sweetheart, before year’s end. Such a union will finally provide financial stability to the writer, who, while very popular, is still barely able to earn a living wage.
Finding his friend drunk is another odd revelation. This individual rarely imbibes in alcohol, and is part of the burgeoning Temperance Movement throughout America. As such, it doesn’t take more than a drink or two to go off the rails. However, the odd mannerisms and slow brain function Snodgrass observes in his usually sharp and witty colleague suggests there’s more going on than just intoxication.
Snodgrass soon realized this degenerate requires actual medical attention. Doctor Moran is summoned, then takes his new patient to the local Washington College Hospital, where he is cared for. Unfortunately, due to frequent fits of delirium and vivid hallucinations, his charge is never able to become functional enough to explain what happened that fateful election evening.
Over the next few days, this famed individual barely regains consciousness, and dies unceremoniously in his hospital bed on October 7th, 1849, at just 40 years old. Like many of his cryptic and disconcerting poems, the exact details leading to this author’s plight will never be known.
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QUIRK: This individual was one of the first American writers to earn his keep based purely on literary toils. Granted, a suitable wage is a subjective term, and incoming income was by no means consistent over the years. Surprisingly, one of the main challenges which hindered monetization at the time were inconsistent international copyright laws, with resulted in many of his more famous works being illegally published in the U.K., without any remuneration to the author.
There’s documentation of this professional penning essentially every form of publication which paid during his career, from newspapers, to poems, to journals, to novels, even stooping down to menial reviews of literary counterparts at times. The prior relevant quote is pulled from this writer’s random reflections, which he complied throughout the 1840’s, a published collection of feedback amusingly titled “Marginalia”, after the process of physically annotating a book along the sides of the page.
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QUASI: Going on almost two centuries later, there’s still an incredible amount of mystery surrounding this famous personality’s death. Considering the historical significance of this American icon, especially in the Mid-Atlantic region, all manner of committed research has been put toward this important investigative task. Theories run the gamut: suicide, a bout of alcoholism, mugging, poisoning in any conceivable form, from carbon monoxide to heavy metals, suicide, and even rabies.
Living primarily in Baltimore during the first half of the 19th century, amongst the rats, robbers, and renegades, all these options seem plausible. Much like the stories he wrote, confusion, corruption, and complexity abound, until the bitter end of reality is revealed. The storyline previously outlined, while seemingly implausible, is actually one of the leading candidates, in an era when voter fraud was prevalent in all means and manner.
QUEUE: Born in Boston, MA, this infant was abandoned by his father, David Poe, and had his mother pass away, all in the first few years of life, resulting in no first-hand memory of his birth parents, who were both actors by trade. The baby was taken in by the family of John Allan, a successful purveyor from Richmond, VA, which yielded a privileged childhood, including a length stint of schooling in the United Kingdom.
However, household discipline was draconianly strict, eventually leading to inevitable estrangement between conflicted rogue youth and stern de facto parents. Thus, as a teenager, the two acquired surnames were combined amalgamated moniker, a three-word format, often using single letter abbreviations, which has become increasingly common amongst modern authors.
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QUILL: “Tell-Tale Heart” (1843), “The Raven” (1845), The Cask of Amontillado” (1846), “Anabelle Lee” (1849).
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QUANT: Edgar Allan Poe
QUOTE: “There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.”
QUEST: The boat sways unsteadily on the choppy seas, despite the large size of this vessel. It’s not just the roiling waves providing instability, but also the sheets of ice which perpetually jog the hull. The ocean landscape off the coast of Spitzbergen, Greenland is quite rugged.
The individual of interest on this ship has reason to celebrate. Today, May 22nd, is his 21st birthday. This is not where the 3rd year doctoral student thought he would end up on such an occasion. But this is a unique adventure that proved impossible to turn down.
The fortuitous post came about quickly, exchanging places with a university colleague who originally secured the berth, but needed to back out last minute. The role is menial enough, acting as the ship’s surgeon for a group of tough and independent sailors.
As it turns out, this newbie’s main role is acting as a sounding board for the reclusive Captain Gray, an appropriate moniker based on this leader’s gloomy personality, then communicating his commands to the oft-combative crew. Not skills typically learned in medical school. But there isn’t much in the way of actual healing work to do onboard.
This whaling ship, dubbed Hope, departed from the port at Peterhead in the spring of 1880. The craft has 3 masts of voluminous sails, supplemented by a powerful steam engine providing rotating propellor thrust. As a result, it only takes 4 days to reach the Arctic ice sheet.
1880 is the very tail end of the North Atlantic whaling boom, for both supply and demand reasons. Most of these waters are fished out, with Greenland Right whales difficult to find, as only about 300 such animals remain in this vast expanse of water and ice. The Hope is part of the last group of vessels which set out from England in this dying industry.
With the whaling season spanning from March to September, this berth is a half year commitment to travel the tumultuous seas. Humpback and Fin whales are more common in the region, but less desirable financially. Whalebone is the most prized, highest value, item yielded from these searches.
The boat has a crew of 50 sailors, roughly half Scottish and half Shetlanders. This volatile mix leads to lots of rum drinking and raucous debauchery on the boat. The fiery tempers of the Scotts, especially when partaking, definitely contribute to the chaos. It’s a perfect way for a budding lad to be incorporated into the harshness of the real world.
The aspiring doctor befriends the ship’s steward, who becomes his sparring partner for boxing, which represent the primary mode of exercise on this confined craft. This unique character also turns out to be an excellent singer, thereby providing entertainment on many an evening.
Amusingly, the band of misfits hired to execute ancillary duties on the boat end up joining the whaling efforts. The collective decides to man the 8th dingy during hunts, a rowboat traditional reserved as a back-up offering in case of catastrophe at sea. This ragtag group of 6, none of whom have ever been actual sailors, holds their own in combat.
At this specific late May time in the journey, the operation is targeting large male seals around the 77th North latitude. These animals are valued for both their oil and fur. On this lucky day, the protagonist is fortunate to stay out of the ocean, a chilly tumble incurred several times during his initial days onboard.
These aquatic killing sessions offer up a complex interplay between brutally murdering innocent animals, and the need to supply rich customers in the cities. Such juxtaposition between the natural and manmade world is a frequent topic of contemplation for the young medic.
While no real obligations, this 7-month isolation on the seas turns out to be quite formative from a personally development standpoint. While fairly boring intellectually, especially when compared to the rigors of university in Edinburgh, the cold air proves very refreshing physically.
Months of pensive observation, encompassing both the surroundings and the people, are influential in shaping the traits of a main character which this future author conceives at a young age, then turns into the primary focus of literary pursuits later in his career.
Perpetual daylight can play tricks on the mind, and offers up a lot of free time. Onboard writing documentation at this time is more journalistic, but soon transitions to fictional pursuits upon return to land.
This young lad is offered a sailing birth by the gruff and grumpy captain on the next journey, starting the following spring, but decides not to get roped into this grueling line of work as a lifelong endeavor. This decision proves fortuitous, as succumbing to boredom after a few years in a failed fledgling medical practice, the good doctor pursues his writing vocation with earnest. To the benefit of millions of London magazine readers.
QUIRK: It seems like many in the entertainment industry, including writers, have random names. Many are composed of 3 full words, while others utilize multiple initials. This person is no different, having a trio of 2 syllable monikers, with the knightly “Sir” prefix added on later in his career. Interestingly, to this day, there’s confusion as to whether the middle offering is part of the surname, despite this writer never using a hyphen to identify himself.
QUASI: As a teenager, this individual completely rejected all religious principles. An understandable decision, considering the challenging circumstances of his upbringing. Born to Irish Catholic parents in Edinburgh, Scotland, his father, an alcoholic, was in and out of the lad’s life. The child was forced to live with a family friend from ages 5 to 8, due to the rough conditions at home.
A few years of continued preaching during high school experience in Austria fully cemented a denunciation of Catholicism. This commitment to atheism aligned well with the student’s choice to pursue the medical profession, were he focused on botany. Challenged childhood circumstances, heavy drug usage, and rejection of formalized religion, are all commonalities amongst many great writers throughout history.
QUEUE: The macabre mystery stories which Poe’s popularized were an inspiration for this author’s most famous creation, Sherlock Holmes. Thus, the genre of compelling detective fiction, originally published in The Strand magazine, was born.
The quote above was uttered by this lead character savant, while interacting with an incredibly slow member of law enforcement, in “The Boscombe Valley Mystery”, one of 56 unique short stories penned by this author. This model of an investigative plot, with an opposing pair of highly-intelligent and dim-witted protagonists, seeking out all manner of criminal entities, with all manner of crazy techniques, continues to pervade fiction literature to this day.
QUILL: “The Speckled Band (1892), “The Hound of the Baskervilles” (1902), “The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans” (1908), “The Lost World” (1912).
QUANT: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
QUOTE: “History is a race between education and catastrophe.”
QUEST: This house represents the epitome of suburbia. The small town of Woking, in Surrey, in the South of England, is a quaint and quiet hamlet. The individual renting this particular unit, like many others residing here, made the move from the bustling activity of London to escape the increasingly invasive crowds and pollution. Not to mention the unmanageable rents of the big city.
This necessary move occurs at the beginning of 1895. In what has been an eventful 5 years for the fledgling adult. No wonder he’s seeking a reclusive refuge.
Upon graduating from university in 1890, with a Bachelor of Science focusing on zoology, this scientist is excited to enter the working world. It just isn’t excited to admit him. Struggling to find employment, a lowly post at the local college turns out to be the best, or only, available option.
Toiling as a low-level professor is not the most lucrative pursuit. As such, this teacher is forced to move in with his aunt to save funds. Which is fortuitous, as he courts and marries her daughter, Isabel, in 1891. This relationship does not last long, or go well.
Here in Woking, now in the summer of 1895, the wannabee playboy is living with his new girlfriend, Jane, who used to be one of his students. Their wedding planning is progressing quickly, with the big day scheduled for October. This is not the first, or last, subordinate he’ll have romantic relations with. Hence the recent divorce. That’s what happens when you marry your cousin.
This pattern of affairs and womanizing will haunt this individual for the entirety of his life, shaping many of his social activities and family interactions. Numerous children are fathered out of wedlock, with which their father maintains varying levels of communication, depending on what is convenient for him.
The most important routine for the aspiring reformist in this hamlet turns out to be morning bike rides. These allow detailed observation of the surroundings, reconnaissance which soaks deeply into the operator’s brain.
Traversing the numerous bridges. Visit adjacent settlements. Mapping the network of rail lines. Exploring key geographic elements. Interacting with commoners. All driving towards the goal of becoming acquainted to this new rural environ.
This cozy metropolis turns out becoming the muse location for one of this author’s most famous science fiction works, in which much of the pseudo-imaginary town’s key elements are destroyed. Apparently, juxtaposing Victorian suburbia with an alien invasion results in some compelling fiction.
The 18-month stretch living in Woking is one of the most productive of this writer’s entire career, despite the tumult associated with both family and work. Often, times of attrition are when prominent artists hit their stride, using their craft as a means of escaping the stresses of the real world.
QUIRK: Dubbed the “Father of Science Fiction”, this prolific writer in both the imagined and documentary realms executed over 50 novels, along with dozens of short stories. His general style combined commonplace daily activities with unique technology advancements. Seemingly prophetic, his ideas covered all manner of future inventions including airplanes, nuclear weapons, biological engineering, and space travel.
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QUASI: Like Edgar Allan Poe, this author participated in lots of journalism pursuits, especially later in life. The quote above is part of “The Outline of History”, a series of bi-weekly, non-fiction, illustrated, short stories. Published in 1919, this offering was tied to the older and wiser writer’s give-back, educational, phase. His eclectic life activities taught him that formal schooling is no substitute for real experiences. This author also acknowledged the influence of Poe on the entire literature profession in an 1894 "Popularizing Science" article.
QUEUE: Both Arthur Conan Doyle and this British gentleman wrote during the same era, with a distinct content focus on the capital of their homeland. At the turn on the 20th century, for a few years, both practitioners were publishing content in The Strand at the same time. While Doyle lived most of his life in downtown London, and centered his detective series in this major metropolis, this individual was more adventurous from both a personal and penned standpoint. During his very productive time living in the Woking countryside, this prolific writer purportedly completed The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, and The Island of Doctor Moreau, a trio of his more famous works.
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QUILL: “The Time Machine” (1895), “The Island of Doctor Moreau” (1896), “The Invisible Man” (1897), “The War in the Air” (1907).
QUANT: H. G. Wells
QUOTE: “If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday.”
QUEST: The scenery here is majestic. The accommodations, not so much. This house in Kuling, located in a remote part of rural China, is constructed of local stones, scrounged from bordering fields, connected by homemade mortar, using sand sifted from the loose soil during site excavation.
The tiny villa, under 150 square meters, is on a meager plot, under 2,000 meters. That’s all the poor family who inhabits the abode can afford. However, this structure isn’t completely devoid of comforts. A red clay roof, with is more waterproof than most in the area. The open porch, which is glorious in the summertime, from both a sunlight and space standpoint. This is a home, however small and simple it may be.
Welcome to a household whose life is generally tough and subsistence based, living in shacks and eating menial sustenance. Financial limitations clearly don’t hinder procreation.
The daughter of note is born to Presbyterian missionaries, with most of this child’s upbringing spent in China. Her parent’s first traveled to China after marriage in 1880, and live here until death in the 1930’s. This specific child, born in West Virginia in 1892, is transported back to Asia just months after entering the world.
As if growing up in a foreign land isn’t stressful enough, several ancestral disasters strike while growing up in China.
The good news is that this young girl has lots of siblings to hang out with. The bad news is that these babies seem to disappear as quickly as they are brought into the world. Theoretically, this lass is the 5th of 7 children.
In reality, with 3 older siblings dying as infants before she’s born, and her baby brother passing at the turn of the century, when the child is just 7, the functional family turns out to be much smaller. It’s a revolving door of birth and death, a cycle typically of religious folks growing up in a farming community. These losses do help spur imagination, with lost siblings becoming alive through memories and role-playing, as she grows up in the harsh reality of a remote environ.
Most of the formative years are spent in the suburbs of Nanjing, a bustling metropolis relative to the summer sanctuary in Kuling, starting from 4 years of age. She’s able to roam freely across both the crowded city and connected country, encountering all manner of interesting sights, sounds, and circumstances.
Unlike most children, this girl finds her calling early. In the form of addictive reading, devouring every book she can find, in multiple languages. The writing bug quickly follows, as soon as this savant is able to coherently put pen to paper.
Considering the unique physical surroundings and diversity of social interactions, there’s no shortage of material for such artistic pursuits.
The separation between experienced worlds during her upbringing turns out to be significant. One segment, revolving around her Presbyterian parents and their international colleagues, represents a small, simple, and proper life. In contrast, connections with Chinese locals, an inevitable occurrence for an inquisitive youngster, is ever-growing, complex, and decidedly dirty.
There’s essentially no overlap between these two social circles, aside from this lone individual. This disparate perspective helps turn an innocent girl into a dynamic woman.
The geopolitical challenges of this era definitely don’t help promote comingling. The Boxer Revolution at the onset of the 20th century creates a rift between Western and Eastern powers. As a result, there’s an ongoing deterioration of America and China relations, the two parties which this young child is constantly oscillating between as she learns and grows.
Even this dedicated family is forced to flee for the safety of Shanghai during these tumultuous times. Only their father’s commitment to the missionary work which he considers his life’s work and calling keeps them from retreating to the safety of their North American homeland. Despite his diligent efforts, Father Absalom continually struggles to convert the skeptical Asian locals.
Importantly, his most productive daughter, like all his siblings, is raised to be fully bilingual, speaking English with mom at home, conversational Chinese with playmates, and classic Mandarin during formal schooling. Utilizing the absorbent sponge which is a child’s malleable brain, her first language quickly becomes common Chinese.
It will be years before this adolescent returns to the United States, attending a women’s college in Lynchburg, Virginia, starting in 1911. Understandably, she has a significantly broader set of life experiences than her cloistered collegiate classmates.
This deep knowledge of Chinese culture, learned not from skewed Western textbooks, but through on the ground experience in the Far East, provides this author with a very unique cultural perspective. And serves as the foundation for her groundbreaking best seller, which sparks her lifelong writing career.
QUIRK: Stints in foreign countries as a child is a common theme amongst writers. This individual takes that sentiment to the extreme, both in terms of distance from home and duration of stay. It’s not surprising that such life experiences shaped the written works she produced throughout her literary tenure. Up until 1934, when she moved back to the United States for good, the majority of the first half of her life was spent in China.
QUASI: Both Edgar Allan Poe and this teenager attended college in the state of Virginia, albeit at decidedly different institutions, almost a century apart. Their educational experiences were also quite divergent. While Poe dropped out of the University of Virginia after just a year, this young lady graduated with honors from Randolph-Macon Women’s College in Lynchburg. Though it took Poe many more years to find his important calling, enlisting in the U.S. Army, then failing out of West Point, after completing secondary studies, this woman quickly returned to the lands of rural China which represented her adopted homeland. The shared quote above highlights how important this researcher feels understanding global cultural history is.
QUEUE: While H. G. Wells got skunked in 4 nominates for the Nobel Prize, this author won the award on her first try in 1938, at age 46. The committee cited how her published works encouraged “human sympathy” and broke down “racial boundaries”. These humanitarian sentiments are closely tied to her life spent as an advocate for women’s rights in an era when such leanings were not commonplace.
Also, like Wells, her 20’s were a tumultuous time during which marriage and divorced occurred over a very short time period; in this woman’s case these two seminal events happened on the same day, June 11th of 1935. While her original marriage was predictably to a young Presbyterian missionary she met in China, this second nuptial involved Robert. J. Walsh, a publisher who reinforced his new wife’s continued literary efforts. Tumult at home is a commonality amongst many elite authors, thereby demonstrating the perpetual stressfulness of being a writer, and the individual, sometimes selfish, commitment required.
QUILL: “East Wind: West Wind” (1930), “The Good Earth” (1931), “The Mother” (1934), “Imperial Woman” (1956)
QUANT: Pearl S. Buck
QUOTE: “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”
QUEST: The date is August 19th, 1947. The seas are incredibly rough and choppy. This is supposed to be a simple aquatic crossing between Jura and Scarba, off the western coast of Scotland. Apparently, the Corryvreckan whirlpool of oceanic lore is a real phenomenon.
The scenario starts innocently enough, a capable man planning to show a pair of young boys the utter beauty of the British Isle highlands landscape. This experience has always been a dream, an occurrence not part of his own youth. Being sandwiched between a pair of sisters 5 year apart on each side, such masculine jaunts never materialized.
However, heading back from an afternoon picnic on Scarba, a small island of rugged quartz, with his nephew, Henry, and young adopted son, Richard, who recently turned 3 years old, one father’s world nearly comes crashing down.
Fighting across the turbulent straight with a vessel that’s borderline seaworthy on a calm day, the dangers of the situation crystalize. A relentless eddy pushes the boat towards the rocky shores, despite the best efforts of its novice captain. The notoriously harsh coastline and variable seabed depths come to fruition as the propeller of the motor, along with the portion of the drive shaft extending into the water, are cleaved off.
Rowing to safety is the only option, but there’s no way one adult with two oars can overcome the powerful eddies. A rouge wave causes the dingy to capsize, and the trio, only one of whom can swim, is thrown into the seething, choppy liquid.
As the disheveled man drags a pair of soaked children across the moss-covered beach of black sand to safety, he contemplates what his cruel life has become.
The middle of the 1940’s are truly tumultuous times in history. Especially for those occupying the Europe continent, many of whom are going through hell and back. Thus, it’s not surprising that new perspectives and philosophies on society are bred out of this unique era.
War and death have been a constant in this individual’s existence. Getting shot through the neck in the Spanish Civil War, results in a weak and high-pitched voice for the remainder of life. Providing another excuse to maintain a reserved demeanor and reclusive lifestyle.
This particular gentleman is having an especially rough go of it recently. Granted, risk mitigation is not one of his specialties. Serving as a journalist throughout the conflict which engulfs the entirety of Europe for the first half of the 1940’s, he gets as close to the action as possible, despite being unfit for military duty due to previously sustained injuries.
This ambition ends poorly, as it often does for addicts. In March 1945, his wife unexpectedly dies during hysterectomy surgery, while his husband is away. Not being present turns out to be a recurring theme throughout this holy union.
Feeling the turmoil of the 2nd World War is finally winding down, and seeking redemption for the loss of his spouse, a toddler is adopted in the summer of 1945. The same infant who nearly just drown in the rugged cape.
Relocation to the remote island of Jura is motivated by escape, not from the bustle of London as is typical for this era, but instead to put emotional trauma in the rearview mirror. Several recent deaths in the family, and a few failed courting attempts after his wife’s death, cement these circumstances. The move up north culminates in May 1946.
The abandoned farmhouse on the north end of the island is primitive and remote, elements which this increasingly withdrawn character enjoys. Granted, the isolated location means there’s not much in the way of amenities.
The entirety of Jura is perpetually damp and cold, especially in the winter months. Which results in numerous hours spent soaking in the most important element of the house’s only bathroom, a cast iron tub with claw feet. Such pensive contemplation is how formative novels get written.
Jura Island’s locale is too remote to procure a typist. As such, the alone author is forced to type the new novel in the dark bedroom on his own. With liberal aid from an array of drugs including cigarettes, tea, and gin. A slave to these vices, the entire sanctuary inevitably reeks of smoke and tannins.
In this case, the miserable conditions of the retreat match the miserable characters in the conceived story. It’s not surprising this degenerate’s health deteriorates significantly over this time period. This cloistered commitment conceivable costs the man his life.
Sometimes, success as a writer can spur additional inspiration. For others, the pressure of fame becomes overwhelming. This author experiences both these sensations, in an oscillating mental battle, after his initial book is received by the United Kingdom, and eventually global readers, with rave reviews in August 1945.
What to do for a compelling encore?
This is our adventurer’s second long stretch at this remote cabin, in the unforgiving northern lands. The chill and stress incurred in the water this fateful day will result in tuberculosis, forcing a Glasgow hospital stint for the first half of 1948. Just another setback in the recent run of tragedy.
There’s nothing more useful than attrition to facilitate a dystopian novel about government authoritarianism. 3 separate stints at the undeveloped farmhouse in Jura, Scotland over a stretch of 4 years, is necessary to complete the seminal work.
The challenging process consumes the author, literally. Leaving Jura in January 1949, in very bad health, this prophet dies in a mental institution a year later, at just 47.
QUIRK: Political dissention has been a commonality of writers throughout history. Especially in the pre-internet era, newspaper articles and published books were the key way to communicate important messages to a broad swath of citizens. This author took his moral obligation to the extreme, penning a pair of dystopian novels on governmental policy overreach which are still mandatory reading in many high schools worldwide to this day. The listed quote, while not explicitly tied to the seminal “1984” work, definitely reflects the sentiment of this dramatist with regards to the fleeting nature of history, especially in an oppressed society.
QUASI: Amusingly, this individual was born as Eric Arthur Blair, a moniker which has no connection to his famous pen name. Ironically, this is one of the few characters who was fortuitously blessed with a desirable writer’s trio, but instead selected a common two-word identifier for his published works instead. For a person who feared failure, despised authority, and sought anonymity, this chosen transition is not surprising.
Edgar Allan Poe was central figure of the Romanticism movement in American literature, espousing ideals of individualism, emotional expression, and suspicion of science. All sentiments which ring true in this author’s seminal works. Definitely heady material to perpetually contemplate. It’s no wonder depression is common amongst many professional writers. Often the imaginary world provides stimulating freedom from the harshness of reality.
Both E. A. P. and E. A. B. provided most of their insight after premature deaths in their mid-40’s, departing the world well ahead of their allotted time. Fortunately, both innovator’s legacies live on, in the form of the words they put on the page.
QUEUE: Though not as remote or relentless an explorer as Pearl S. Buck, this baby was born on a plantation in India to wealthy parents. While he only spent his first, unmemorable, year of life there before returning to London, this was simply the initial of many stints around the world. Most of these global adventures revolved around military proceedings, from a fledgling policeman in Burma starting in 1924, to soldiering throughout civil war tattered Spain in the back half of the 1930’s, to journalistic jaunts across Europe starting in 1941 and continuing throughout WWII. Like Mrs. Buck, this author’s best works were shaped by life experiences in foreign lands.
QUILL: “The Road to Wigan Pier” (1936), “Homage to Catalonia” (1938), “Animal Farm” (1946), “1984” (1949)
QUANT: George Orwell
QUOTE: “If all human beings understood history, they might cease making the same stupid mistakes over and over.”
QUEST: Older and wiser is often a misnomer. Which is decidedly not in the case for this individual. It helps when one starts out young and prophetic, blessed with an eidetic memory, that allows vivid recall of complex images.
This elder stateman always gets sentimental around the holidays. Not knowing the exact actual birth date as the 1920 calendar year is ushered in, due to a complex infancy in Pertovichi, Russia, as a boy he chooses January 2nd. The logic is simple, getting extra presents after the Christmas holiday, plus the perpetual reference point for counting as the commonly accepted calendar rolls over.
Good strategy, since this author ends up with a lot of experiences, and books, to keep track of. Now at 60 years old, quality of life and technology usage for humanity has changed a lot. Many such advances are predicted by this prophet, with a few of the more ambitious provocations potentially still to materialize.
Simply looking around the well-adorned office on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, NY, much about this individual’s own lifecycle trajectory can be perceived. The amassed items are a product of someone enjoying a journey well lived, with increasing financial resources over time.
Not lacking self-confidence, many of the objects in the room are secured trophies, as opposed to sentimental treasures. On one prominent shelf sits an ornate mounted placard denoting Vice President of the International Mensa Club, with numerous medals from various individual intellectual challenges dangling adjacent. All earned fair and square.
Most notable throughout the room are the menagerie of movie posters which adorn the walls. Mystery, opera, sci-fi, comics, and westerns. All genres are represented in various form. The decorator clearly has diversity in taste. Impressively, many framed prints represent film adaptations of unique works penned by this innovator. Not a bad way to get inspired for future efforts, while basking in past successes.
The baubles in this room are not all self-deprecating. But they are all self-selected. When one gains this level of popularity, one needs to curate an efficient work space, to promote productivity and facilitate time management.
To that end, there’s a huge stack of letters from fans sitting on the corner of the expansive wooden desk. As time allows, every single one of these queries, provide they are thoughtful and savvy, as opposed to hateful and malicious, are going to be replied to with a handwritten note. As a means of giving back to the community. Plus instilling a little wisdom and sarcasm to the younger, more naïve, groupies.
As with the collection of curiosities in the embellished study, this own individual’s image is uniquely curated. Average height, with a sturdy build, there’s a singular feature which personifies this character’s entire persona for nearly the entirety of adult life.
An incredibly bold pair of bushy sideburns, which have now made the full transition from their original black shade to the current stark white hue. Impressively, if anything, this facial growth has gotten more prolific over the years.
For a practitioner who puts so much thought into the future, it’s amusing how little he embraces modern transport. Rarely flying, even as this operation becomes quite safe during his affluent, late adult, phase. Never learning to ride a bike, despite living much of his formative years in bustling cities.
Cluttered studies similar to this decorated New York City pad are used by this author throughout his career. Known for prolific writing output, across a wide range of topics, it’s not surprising specific, seemingly sporadic, protocols are followed to spur on the creative process.
As with most self-centered individuals, this author enjoys writing about himself. The 2nd portion of his autobiography, which is getting the finishing touches this month, brings the self-aggrandizing document up to an impressive 650k words.
That’s pretty fruitful for just a few years, especially for an aging gentleman. There’s no shortage of reference material, as this dedicated technician keeps daily activity diaries documenting even the most mundane events, and extensive draft notes with edits throughout his writing career.
An ode to his scientific and logical mind, this documentary work describes the author’s life in chronological order. The 1st book captures the early trajectory, primarily spent in academia at Boston College, leading up to his vocation as a professional author in 1954. The 2nd offering, that is currently being completed, covers the past 25 years of writing prowess, providing details on the inspiration of various influential pieces, information which is not currently known by the general public.
This autobiography project has come about due to boredom upon completion of another trilogy. An anthology set, encompassing his entire extensive portfolio of science fiction works. As the innovator known for coining the 3 rules of “robotics”, a term he created, which is now common lexicon, there’s a lot of material to compile and collate. Hopefully when this biographical task is done, creative efforts can return back to the imaginary domain of space and time which he loves so much.
The final chapter on life is still to be written, both metaphorically, and physically. This savant will live another decade, just long enough to capture the last 3rd of his experiential learnings. He’s even able to return to the sci-fi novels for which he’s most well-known, after a lengthy run of non-fiction, educational, textbook-based, works in later years.
Timing works out just about right, with his wife Jane penning the epilogue, and publishing the culminating tome of the length biography posthumously in 1994. For this ardent atheist, who was constantly postulating about the vast expanse of time and space, this seems like a fitting way to pass on.
QUIRK: Diversity of life skills and learned knowledge is a valuable tool for promoting unique literary creations. A multitude of lived experiences results in an expansive and active mind, offering up infinite inspiration, and providing the potential for prolific output.
In the case of this individual, whose last name translates to “winter rye” in his native Russian Cyrillic alphabet, the wealth of mental material absorbed and regurgitated during a lengthy career resulted in over 500 books. The imaginary works this savant is known for become even more compelling when tied to the numerous non-fiction treaties drafted on many of the hard sciences: chemistry, astronomy, mathematics, and history. An even more compelling commitment to the penmanship profession are the nearly 100k individually written letters and postcards he drafted, to all manner of fans and followers.
QUASI: Adoption apparently isn’t always a detriment. Both young Poe and this child, each battling numerous attritions, turned out fairly well, albeit haunted by convoluted thoughts throughout their life. Granted, a battered and beleaguered city in a divided and unstable Russia just after the Great War is a far cry from the bustling East Coast of the still fledgling nation of America at the turn of the 19th century.
Entering the United States in 1923, at just 3 years of age, the imported child earned American citizenship at 8. Raised in an Orthodox Jewish household, where both Yiddish and English were spoken interchangeably, this kid proved to be incredibly smart, tutoring his younger siblings from an early age. His adopted family ran a chain of candy stores in Brooklyn, NY, which also sold a menagerie of newspapers and magazines that spurred the boy’s interest in writing. Plus, one of the best libraries in the big city was just a short walk away.
A profound wit and photographic memory, along with a tendency towards educational mentorship, personified his entire career, from an early post as a biochemistry professor at Boston University, to a run of public speaking on various scientific topics later in life.
QUEUE: Combined with Mr. Orwell, this duo are true pioneers of dystopian fiction. While this mind-manipulating genre has become increasingly commonplace, in text, audio, and video format, such demoralizing literary focus back in the day required true commitment to the macabre. This author’s own life story took an odd turn at the end, dying of AIDS in 1992. The HIV pathogen was contracted from contaminated needles during triple bypass heart surgery in 1983, and his wife didn’t reveal this cause of death to the general public until 2000. A fitting end for a mysterious character, who enjoyed mixing scientific principles with exaggerated plotlines.
QUILL: “Foundation” (1942), “I, Robot” (1950), “The Gods Themselves” (1972), “In Memory Yet Green” (1979)
QUANT: Isaac Asimov
QUOTE: “We read books to find out who we are.”
QUEST: The air is palpable with anticipation. The crowd is not immense, like a major rivalry college football game, awaiting the key play which will determine the outcome. However, the individuals in attendance, primarily females, are highly engaged, focused intently on the speaker at the podium.
Mills College, in Oakland, CA, is the first women’s college located west of the Rocky Mountains. This is a small establishment, with the current 1983 graduating class under 100 students. This tiny contingent doesn’t make the ongoing commencement speech being given on this May afternoon any less influential.
The orator is an influential science fiction author, one of the few members of the fairer sex who has made a living in the decidedly male dominated literary genre. Thus, it’s no accident that this sophisticated lady has chosen this discrete collection of estrogen power to unleash her powerful provocation upon the world.
The speech, amusingly dubbed the “Left-Handed Commencement Address” runs the gamut in terms of formerly taboo societal topics: feminism, parenting goals, life challenges, gender roles, rule following, loss, wage equality, and global equity. This carefully crafted and descriptive delivery is meant to resonate well beyond the graduates, along with their friends and family gathered on the lawn to listen in person, to humanity as a whole.
Timing of this dialogue is fortuitous, with the significant changes of the 70’s feminist movement in place, but inequality still lingering throughout society. Those cockroaches of discrimination are meant to be exposed and expunged by the powerful orator commanding the microphone.
When not penning influential speeches, at this point in her career, this author is focusing on producing a range of content for younger readers. A multitude of children’s picture books, a foray into structured poetry, and a series of adolescent fantasy novels. All these endeavors provide a platform for conveying certain social topics deemed important to the next generation before their opinions are fully calcified and unwavering.
Having already nearly every conceivable award for her sci-fi novel writing prowess in the past, including multiple prized Locus, Hugo, and Nebula accolades, this new life pursuit seems worthy of her remaining time on this earth. With 3 children of her own, the last recently launched from the nest, it’s time for a broader application of parental principles to the general public.
With her mother moonlighting as an author, this penchant for reading and writing is cultivated at a very young age. The approach taken for drafting this short commencement speech is the same used by this artist to create much more complex novels. The curated drafting process is very meta and recursive, carefully analyzing what words fall on the page, and how they will be interpreted, not just individually, but as a cohesive narrative.
This female has a different perspective on science fiction than many of her predecessors, and contemporaries. As evidenced in the speech, she considers introspection the key to success of humanity; the need to observe and learn from past experiences. Such ideology aligns well with her Taoist religious principles, which balance good and evil.
Additionally, she operates under the premise that this innovative, futuristic genre is not predictive, but instead simply a thought experiment by the author. As such, a practitioner of this style should be judged, not by likelihood of their plot to play out in the future, but instead by how rivetingly captivated the reader becomes by the whimsical world which has been created.
This difference in psychology doesn’t stop her from praising about, and drawing on, the works of key fantasy writing innovators who came before her. After finishing up her spirited deliver to the youthful graduates, and accepting the appreciative cheers of the crowd, she curls up in a chair backstage, happy to sink off into the imagined worlds which capture many inquisitive minds.
Books are definitely a fine medium for teaching. But public speaking, specifically preaching to a large audience, is a new experience. Having grown up in Berkley, CA, this commencement engagement, taken on whimsically as a convenient chance to return to the land of her childhood roots, turns into a lifestyle turning point. Based on the spirited response at Mills College, oration becomes a valuable communication avenue which the author utilizes frequently in the last third of her productive career.
QUIRK: It’s easiest to write about a subject one is passionate about. That is definitely the case for this individual. An incredibly prolific writer, with over 20 novels and 100 short stories, there are several common throughlines. Female power. Political influence. Gender fluidity. Racial equity. Indigenous peoples. These same topics are all now at the forefront of current societal dialogue.
This substantial output is rendered even more impressive by the fact that this woman didn’t find her calling, and start a formal publishing career, until the age of 30. Fortunately, the marvels of modern medicine allowed nearly 6 productive decades of penmanship before this inspirational elder statewoman passed on.
QUASI: It’s nice to know that turning into a savant doesn’t require success in formal education. Like Edgar Allan Poe, this scholar struggled in university, starting a doctoral program, but quickly dropping out. Often the pressures of successful parents, a psychologist and an anthropologist in this case, can be a difficult act to follow. Fortunately, the decision to eschew continued structured learned, get married relatively young, and pursue more emotional passions, yielded one of the most influential female science fiction writers of the modern era.
As it turns out, in many respects, a brain which is too scattered to focus on a single subject is a prerequisite for profound writing. However, there’s no doubt, based on the quality and quantity of career output, this classy lady found her sophisticated calling. The introspection provided by the quote from her “The Language of the Night” story compellation is quite profound in this complex modern era.
QUEUE: Isaac Asimov was a womanizer, a mentality which made him skeptical of female protagonists in sci-fi novels. This author was the complete antithesis, frequently incorporating complex gender roles and productive lady leads into her stories. In addition, as she matured and gained confidence, she drummed up public outcry against female oppression in all forms.
The obvious juxtaposition of these two dynamos can be summarized by comparing the content of her Mills College commencement speech to a conference talk given by Asimov, a notorious ass grabber, titled “The Positive Power of Posterior Pinching”. Apparently, it’s important for productive performers to know their target audience.
QUILL: The Wizard of Earthsea (1968), The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), The Dispossessed (1974), Dancing at the Edge of the World (1989).
QUANT: Ursula K. Le Guin
QUOTE: “If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree.”
QUEST: The set of the studio is bustling. Taking a panoramic scan of the area reveals all manner of interesting activities. Make-up is applied to actors, most adorned in medical garb. An impressive lunch spread featuring healthy options is laid out. Various pieces of machinery, some real and some fake, are maneuvered into place.
Towering above this action, both physically and metaphorically, is a singular individual. An apparition which is impossible to miss in the crowd, standing 6’-9” inches tall. Such prominence is a benefit on film sets from an authoritarian standpoint. While this participant is not leading any of the proceedings, his insight is inevitably sought for any decision of significance.
Having passed the 6-foot mark at age 13, an overbearing physique has always been something to cope with. Unfortunately, not selecting athletics as his chosen profession, abnormal height perpetually hounds this character.
When you’re primarily responsible for the best-selling book, movie, and TV show of the year, it’s hard to stay under the radar. Especially since this feat has now been achieved during both the 1995 and 1996 calendar cycles. There’s not much higher this towering savant can go.
The product currently being filmed is a primetime television drama. This same set, in various configurations, has been used for the past few years that the compelling show has been running. All the key elements of an actual hospital are present, though most objects are plastic props as opposed functional equipment.
While this studio’s location is in the back lot of the Warner Bros sprawling complex in Burbank, CA, the simulated setting necessitates a substantial amount of stock footage depicting the Chicago skyline. Loosely based on the actual emergency room at Cook County Hospital, many of the plot lines are centered around local themes tied to this Midwestern metropolis at the southern end of Lake Michigan.
The premise of the show is tied to the writer’s own experiences as a student at Harvard Medical School. Impressively, though the script was written way back in 1974, the pilot episode and subsequent developments remain essentially unchanged from the original conception 20 years later, aside from a few mandatory character diversity adjustments.
The successful launch of this offering relies on its inventor, now serving the broad role of executive producer, teaming up with Steven Spielberg on an island jungle movie set a few years back. This budding relationship between a pair of mass media titans continues to pay dividends across the broad entertainment landscape.
Currently, in the summer of 1996, this medical drama is just starting to hit its stride in terms of national viewership. By the end of an impressive run, still a decade off in the future, over 300 episodes are executed, becoming the 2nd most popular television show ever in this category. An impressive feat on its own, without even considering the lengthy list of fiction novel works which make this man a household name.
There’s a fine line between diligently toiling and being overworked. A person can only juggle so many disparate thoughts in their mind at once. This researcher, orator, screenwriter, and theorist seems to have an incredible knack for multitasking. During this late 1990’s peak of career output, he sleeps less than 4 hours per night. Later in life, this religious deist turns to meditation as a means of stabilizing his perpetually churning brain. However, a relentless workaholic nature ends up shortening his lifespan significantly.
There’s another element of personal life which is hindered by an imbalanced, toiling schedule. In this regard, this husband is a posterchild of what not to do. At this stage in 1996, he’s halfway through his 4th marriage. There will be one more round of nuptials, with another lovely lady in the future.
Numerous surprising ironies exist regarding this individual. While immense in both size and intellect, he’s very soft spoken and modest. Despite being thrust into the highest echelon on the entertainment landscape, he generally enjoys a shy and private existence.
This author’s writing style is often described as a modern, technological-infused, version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s sleuthing works. In a college English class, he passed off a George Orwell essay as his own, to root out a corrupt professor. Plus, he earned a pair of literature awards named after Edgar Allan Poe during his illustrious career. There’s no doubt great authors across time are inexorably linked.
Thick glasses, bushy mustaches, and big hair are often aesthetic commonalties amongst writers. Which makes sense for a vocation where money is made by putting thoughts on a page, as opposed to looks on a lens. Here again, this professional is an anomaly. Though he frequently wears expensive glasses, this gentleman is deemed one of the 50 most beautiful folks worldwide by People Magazine in 1992.
Just another line item on his absurd resume, which includes over 200 million book copies sold, and 13 different stories converted to feature length films.
QUIRK: There seems to be two types of writers, those who struggle with formal education, and those who complete extensive secondary schooling. This individual falls decidedly into the latter camp. However, after college, the young lad eschewed his reliably lucrative life trajectory as a doctor for the much more challenging occupation of writing. Fortunately for the numerous fans who appreciate his works, this student never felt comfortable in the medical field. In fortuitous timing, development of the internet and subsequent widespread distribution of digital media, in both text and video format, made this bold decision possible, and ultimately much more lucrative than being a common surgeon.
QUASI: It’s amazing how similar this author’s life experiences are to Edgar Allan Poe, when the basic societal advances which occurred over the past few centuries in America are accounted for. Both had numerous wives, some of Poe’s fledgling, discrete, and undocumented, while this man’s private activities, often mingling with younger women, were perpetually thrust into the public spotlight.
Each wrote under a pen name at the beginning of their careers; Henri Le Rennet and John Lange equally motivated by maintaining anonymity and discretely honing the craft. Also, both individuals died younger than the average male life expectancy for their era, leaving lots of literary capacity left untapped. Fittingly, this amazing author won the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1969 & 1980, a testament to both his tenacity, and the tenants which Mr. Poe instilled in American literature.
QUEUE: Like Ursula K. Le Guin, this writer, despite primarily executing works of fiction, prided himself on meticulous research of underlying principles. These same tenants of commitment and dedication are evident in this odd duo’s political and social activism efforts. Granted, they chose to fighting for decidedly different causes. Each took on incredibly polarizing topics, Le Guin focused on feminism empowerment, while the male crusader questioned climate change science. This individual, as a result of definitely unwanted popularity, ended up with more societal impact, monetary resources, and thus public scrutiny, than any writer before or since.
Many of this author’s fictional works focus on technology gone wrong, providing a cautionary tale to readers about the risks of unfettered human progress. While well research, the plain writing style makes these novels very digestible to the average reader. However, the simplified approach has spurred heated discussion regarding the different between science fiction and science fact, which in reality are both curated scenarios. This type of misinformation has become even more pervasive and confusing in modern times, with the advent of rampant, rarely audited, information dissemination over social media.
It’s an exciting landscape for the next generation of aspiring young writers looking to join this upper echelon of famous authors. As has always been the case, a strong understanding of history, and a diligent research process, are key foundational elements for composing a compelling written piece, especially in the sci-fi realm. Sometimes the best way to find inspiration in any artistic pursuit is to absorb the works of prior masters.
QUILL: “The Andromeda Strain” (1969), “Congo” (1980), “Jurassic Park” (1990), “State Of Fear” (2004).
QUANT: Michael Crichton
