Frank Herbert & John W Campbell in Great Sand Dunes National Park

One moment you drive through scenic Colorado. The next, sand dunes transform the land. 

It's a curious thing, to gaze upon these dunes, and realize that in full sun the temperature can rise to 130 degrees. It calls to mind the devastation that can creep so readily into our world through neglect, or a misappropriation of our resources. For Science Fiction fans, it calls to mind the world of Arrakis, a desert planet at the heart of Frank Herbert's novel Dune.

Dune took Frank Herbert years to write. Inspiration came from an area of expanding sand dunes that a community in Oregon had fought to control. Ideas and guidance also came from editors and fellow writers in the Science Fiction community. Kevin J. Anderson, and Frank Herbert's son Brian, while preserving and expanding the Dune universe, published a short novel called Duneworld, based on Frank Herbert's original story outline. It is a vastly different story, lacking many of the elements that made Dune extraordinary, such as the entire Bene Gesserit order, and the depth of the evil Harkonnen family. This is the story that Frank Herbert might have written, if not for the assistance of his fellow writers, and the guidance of editor John W. Campbell.
 

It was interesting to sit and sketch here, while contemplating this awesome expanse of desert, as well as Frank Herbert's monumental novel. Kevin J. Anderson, a guardian of Frank Herbert's legacy, has hiked here. As an author who dictates his first draft based on an outline while he hikes, he found inspiration and beauty here. While my drawing did service to the sand dunes, my wife's watercolor truly captured the beauty and diversity of the national park.

In Dune, the spice mined on Arrakis helped humanity progress. So every aspect of human community and endeavor must constantly refine itself, and find new ways to meet the demands of a changing world. Sadly, the Science Fiction community has recently chosen to move into the future by attacking the legacy of patriarchs like John W. Campbell because his opinions and beliefs no longer equivocate with theirs. Because a man who died fifty years ago, and whose paradigm of life was formed a century ago, thought and saw the world differently than they currently do, the Science Fiction community has stripped his name from a prestigious award, as well as an annual conference.

So much for honoring a lifetime of contributions to the field, and the countless novels he elevated, like Dune, into extraordinary works of art.

It is easy to destroy, and hard to build. The dunes at Great Sand Dunes National Park teach us that. After two hours sketching in the sun, I found myself wiped out, even though I had sheltered  from the sun, and thought I had drunk enough water. The experience taught me respect for this awesome place, as I have always respected Frank Herbert's novel Dune, and the literary achievements of Kevin J. Anderson. After reading Duneworld in Kevin and Brian's book The Road To Dune, I also respect the magnitude of John W. Campbell contributions to the field, even if the strongest voices in contemporary Science Fiction do not.

Dragon Dave