Re: ~ Arthur C. Clarke, Science Fiction Author and Gay Man, Dies ~

"Will in New Haven" <bill.reich@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in 
message 
news:edccdd3f-8d47-4744-8a29-451703b7cbf8@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Mar 19, 1:22 pm, "Frank R.A.J. Maloney" <fr...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Will in New Haven wrote:
> > That's all right. Anyone who thinks Sir Arthur is "Likely the 
> > present-
> > day world's most famous science fiction author," is probably 
> > going to
> > get everything else wrong too. Even narrowing the definition of
> > "science fiction author" so that it doesn't include Rowling won't 
> > do
> > it.
> -
> Of course we would exclude Rowling since the Harry Potter series is
> fantasy, *not* science fiction.
> -
> So who do you think is the world's most famous science author?

Asimov gets more than twice as many Google hits. In SF circles, 
rather
than the public consiciousness, Sir Arthur probably does a bit better
versus Isaac but he still isn't as famous, to the extent that can be
measured.

        I think it is likely the reserve.  That Asimov does better in 
SF fandom, while Clarke does better with the general public.  In 
particular, because of the movie 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.

Understand, I like Clarke's work much better but "most
famous" is not the same as "I like." While I don't think the data
establishes Asimov as the most famous science fiction author, it
establishes him as more famous than Sir Arthur, which refutes the 
clam
that Clarke is the most famous.

        I said *"likely"*.  I said *"present-day"*  Asimov died in 
1992.

In current SF circles, it is likely
that some living and producing SF author is more famous than either.

        Clarke until Wednesday, March 19, 2008, was "living and 
producing".  Asimov wasn't.

A case for a definition of SF that excludes fantsasy can be made,

        Duh.

and I
generally lean that way myself,  but an inclusive definition has been
used for things like awards, etc, for some years.
=====

        Wow. You mean there is no such thing as the World Fantasy 
Award?

        By the way, do you know of the Clarke-Asimov Treaty (also 
known as the "Asimov-Clarke Treaty"?
        "The Asimov-Clarke Treaty of Park Avenue, put together as 
Asimov and Clarke were traveling down Park Avenue in New York while 
sharing a cab ride, stated that Asimov was required to insist that 
Arthur C. Clarke was the best science fiction writer in the world 
(reserving second best for himself), while Clarke was required to 
insist that Isaac Asimov was the best science writer in the world 
(reserving second best for himself). Thus the dedication in Clarke's 
book Re****t on Planet Three reads "'In accordance with the terms of 
the Clarke-Asimov treaty, the second-best science writer dedicates 
this book to the second-best science-fiction writer'."

        I personally preferred Asimov's writings to Clarke's.  The 
first *real* science fiction novel I read was I, ROBOT.  I was lucky 
enough to get Asimov to sign a copy for me a few years before he 
died.

       WHY do you think I used the phrase "LIKELY the PRESENT-DAY 
world's most famous science fiction author..."?  Hmm?

        It was to *avoid* such discussions as *this*!

        Gees.

                -- Franklin Hummel in Boston, Massachusetts

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