Perhaps the novel that touched me most deeply, and will
forever remain most important to me, is Dune by Frank Herbert. His son Brian wrote a biography, Dreamer of
Dune, which covered numerous aspects of Frank’s life, and shone a light on Brian’s
difficult relationship with his father.
While Frank Herbert might have been conflicted in other areas of his
life, his love of nature really comes through in Brian’s narrative.
At the World Fantasy Convention held in San Diego a few
years ago, I kept on spotting author Greg Bear.
Unlike most of the big name authors, who rarely appeared except when
they spoke in panel discussions, Bear mixed with the crowd, attended panels,
frequented the con suite, and spoke freely with everyone. As I always wish to speak with authors about
their work, I tried to remember those stories of his I had read. But it had been several years since I had
read one, and I simply couldn’t think up an interesting question.
On the last day, we attended a final panel discussion in
which three artists participated. Who
should sit in front of me but Greg and Astrid Bear! Now Astrid is the daughter of Poul Anderson,
and I read quite a few of her father’s novels in my teens. Suddenly I remembered that Poul Anderson,
Jack Vance, and Frank Herbert had been close friends, and had even built a
houseboat together. Suddenly, I had my
question to ask.
After the discussion, I asked Greg and Astrid about Frank
Herbert. At first they deferred, saying
they really didn’t know him well. But
they must have seen that the question mattered to me, and both strained to give
me what they could: their general impressions of the man. While I didn’t learn anything radically new
about Frank Herbert, I really appreciated that they took the time to expound
upon the little they had to offer.
After a few minutes, Astrid excused herself to talk with
some friends, and I felt that I should ask Greg something about his own
work. I asked him why he tackled the mix
of stories he did, sometimes stories wholly his own, other times ones set in
worlds created by others. He answered
that question satisfactorily, but his manner changed, and I could tell that he
had grown uncomfortable, so I thanked him for his time, and moved to
leave. After my wife and I
had gathered our things and reached the aisle, who should stop me but Greg
Bear, who spoke for several more minutes about Frank Herbert’s approach to
writing, and about how important Dune had been to him as a young man.
After the convention, I connected with his website, and sent
him an email, saying he didn’t need to respond, but just thanking him again for
his kindness in discussing Frank Herbert with me. The following day I found a response in my
email: “Happy to reminisce, David! Frank
had a huge impact on me as well!”
How can I go on from that?
What more remains to be said about this very talented, very successful
author? When you meet someone of his
caliber, who prefers to talk about others rather than himself, who prefers to
mix with readers and aspiring writers to hanging out in the bar or the green
room with editors and fellow writers, who is so open and kind and giving…
Words fail me.
I can tell you that I’ve read (or reread) several of his
books since then. And while I admire him
for what he has written, I admire him even more for who he is.
Dragon Dave
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