Pohl and Vinge

Vernor Vinge

Greetings from the highway in upstate New York, where I am presently on my way back to Canada. Ahhh, the wonders of “mobile blogging” from my pda.

Time in New York always fills me with inspiration and a renewed appreciation for the female form. (The city is a veritable babe fest). Here’s a little tale from my trip:

I was walking along Long Beach last night when I noticed a purse sitting alone on a park bench. Any number of people walked past it and ignored it, but it fell to the Canadian tourist to flag down a passing police car (police seemingly infest the beach) and point out the purse.

It turns out that I had flagged the freakin’ bomb squad! They approached the purse like it was a dirty nuke, circling it for 5 minutes before poking at it with a stick. All quite fascinating. I can’t help but wonder if they’re wondering if *I* put it there.

I’m currently reading a very enjoyable book by Frederick Pohl called “The Boy Who Would Live Forever.” It occurs to me that Pohl is one of the legendary science fiction writers that the mainstream has never heard of. Vernor Vinge is another. In fact, I would argue that Pohl and Vinge are two of the most visionary writers of my lifetime.

Pohl’s groundbreaking book was “Gateway”, whose innovation was to tell a gripping tale of aliens, desperation, dystopia and space exploration –through the lens of an ongoing psychoanalysis. The book I’m reading now is one of several excellent sequels to “Gateway”.

Okay, typing in a moving car is making me sick. Over and out.