Theodore Sturgeon

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Celebrating Theodore Sturgeon's centenary - so should we all
By=C2=A0SCOTT BRADFIELDAUG 02, 2018=C2=A0|=C2=A02:30 PM=C2=A0=C2=A0Theodore=
 Sturgeon, who coined Spock's "live long and prosper," wrote science fictio=
n novels and was a wildly gifted and prolific short story writer. (Stephen =
Bard)=C2=A0I=E2=80=99ve always been a bit confused by these various centena=
ry and multi-centenary celebrations that punctuate our discussions of liter=
ature, such as Thoreau=E2=80=99s recent 200th birthday (2017), or the cente=
nary of James Joyce=E2=80=99s =E2=80=9CPortrait of the Artist as a Young Ma=
n=E2=80=9D (first published in 1917), or even the=C2=A0fourth=C2=A0centenar=
y of the death of Cervantes (d. 1616), etc. (By the way, celebrating the an=
niversary of someone=E2=80=99s death strikes me as pretty grisly.) But whil=
e some writers seem to continually receive such posthumous honors, others s=
uffer unfairly in silence. No cake, no candles, no old friends leaping out =
of closets, no nothing. And this year, that seems to be the case for one of=
 America=E2=80=99s greatest and most original short story writers, Theodore=
 Sturgeon, who was born on Feb. 26, 1918. From what I can tell, nobody has =
yet to pitch in and even buy him a decent card.Go ahead, google it. No arti=
cles or remembrances have appeared in significant literary or cultural maga=
zines; no centennial editions of his work have been released in nice, shiny=
, uniform editions; and no academic or public conferences have been schedul=
ed to discuss his current reputation =E2=80=94 apparently not even at the U=
niversity of Kansas, where Sturgeon=E2=80=99s papers are stored, and the St=
urgeon Award for best short story is annually announced.inRead=C2=A0invente=
d by TeadsADVERTISEMENTThis simply isn=E2=80=99t right.Book jacket for Theo=
dore Sturgeon's "More Than Human" 1953 with art by Richard M. Powers publis=
hed by Farrar, Straus, and Young, with Ballantine Books. (Courtesy of KU Li=
braries)=C2=A0Even if you think you=E2=80=99ve never heard of Theodore Stur=
geon, you probably know more about him than you know you know. For example,=
 you=E2=80=99ve almost certainly heard of Kilgore Trout, the hack sci-fi wr=
iter featured in such Vonnegut novels as =E2=80=9CSlaughterhouse-Five=E2=80=
=9D or =E2=80=9CGod Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. =E2=80=9C (Kil-gore/Theo-dore=
.=C2=A0Trout/Sturgeon. Get it? Vonnegut was a friend and great admirer of S=
turgeon.)If you went to high school in the =E2=80=9960s or =E2=80=9970s whe=
n they could still be found on the curriculum, maybe you read one of Sturge=
on=E2=80=99s novels =E2=80=94 such as =E2=80=9CVenus Plus X,=E2=80=9D a pre=
scient utopian journey through an androgynous future society, or =E2=80=9CM=
ore Than Human,=E2=80=9D about a group of mutant children who are stronger =
together than the sum of their parts.Even if you=E2=80=99ve been living in =
quarantine all your life to protect your brain from knowing anything about =
the myriad =E2=80=9CStar Trek=E2=80=9D incarnations, you almost=C2=A0certai=
nly=C2=A0know =E2=80=9CLive long and prosper,=E2=80=9D Spock=E2=80=99s salu=
tation, if not his seven-year violence-inducing compulsion to get laid. The=
se ideas first appeared in Sturgeon=E2=80=99s script =E2=80=9CAmok Time,=E2=
=80=9D and the franchise has been riding high on them ever since.But despit=
e a few strong novels and television scripts, Sturgeon was primarily a writ=
er of great, unforgettable and always brilliantly constructed short stories=
 =E2=80=94 and this is almost certainly why he isn=E2=80=99t as well known =
today as he should be =E2=80=94 short story writers just don=E2=80=99t get =
no respect.Unlike other genre writers =E2=80=94 such as Ray Bradbury or Isa=
ac Asimov =E2=80=94 Sturgeon never transcended the sci-fi genre by publishi=
ng=C2=A0outside=C2=A0of it; he transcended it from the=C2=A0inside, beginni=
ng in the =E2=80=9930s as one of John W. Campbell=E2=80=99s most dependable=
 writers for =E2=80=9CUnknown=E2=80=9D and =E2=80=9CAstounding,=E2=80=9D an=
d spending the rest of his 50-year-plus career publishing mostly in =E2=80=
=9Cdigest=E2=80=9D sf magazines, with their very unliterary, garish color c=
over illustrations of multi-limbed alien emissaries and tautly clad space-w=
omen =E2=80=94 magazines such as Planet Stories, Startling Stories, If, Gal=
axy and the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.Like poor Kilgore Trout, =
Sturgeon often saw his best work emblazoned with awful titles conjured up b=
y hasty editors =E2=80=94 titles such as =E2=80=9CThe Incubi of Parallel X=
=E2=80=9D (which Sturgeon called =E2=80=9Cthe most horrible title to appear=
 over my byline=E2=80=9D) or =E2=80=9CThe Cosmic Rape=E2=80=9D or even the =
mega-awful =E2=80=9CThe Synthetic Man,=E2=80=9D that cruel paperback retitl=
ing of Sturgeon=E2=80=99s greatest and most intricate novel, =E2=80=9CThe D=
reaming Jewels.=E2=80=9D At first glance, a typical Sturgeon collection mig=
ht=C2=A0look=C2=A0from afar as awful as something by Kilgore Trout. But onc=
e you read the first page, you knew you were in the hands of someone who ne=
ver wrote a bad sentence. If you ever find time to start collecting the mas=
sive and lovingly assembled 13-volume =E2=80=9CThe Complete Stories of Theo=
dore Sturgeon,=E2=80=9D edited by Paul Williams and published by North Atla=
ntic Books, you=E2=80=99ll soon realize that Sturgeon wrote an abnormally l=
arge number of great stories =E2=80=94 and great sentences.Sturgeon's "The =
Dreaming Jewels" (pictured, U.K. edition) was retitled "The Synthetic Man" =
in American paperback. (Book jacket for Theodore Sturgeon's "The Dreaming J=
ewels." London: Nova Publications, Ltd, 1955. Courtesy of Kansas University=
 Libraries)=C2=A0While mediocre writers are often applauded for that so-cal=
led =E2=80=9Ctwist in the tail=E2=80=9D at the=C2=A0ends=C2=A0of their stor=
ies, Sturgeon=E2=80=99s greatest talent lay in his ability to compose openi=
ng lines that surprised and delighted you from the very start; then, once h=
ooked, you were drawn along, one perfect sentence and narrative shift after=
 another, until he landed you on the beach of an ending you didn=E2=80=99t =
even know you were expecting until you got there.Take, for example, the ope=
ning of his brilliant (and often poorly imitated) 1941 novelette, =E2=80=9C=
Microcosmic God=E2=80=9D: =E2=80=9CHere is a story about a man who had too =
much power, and a man who took too much, but don=E2=80=99t worry; I=E2=80=
=99m not going political on you. The man who had the power was named James =
Kidder, and the other was his banker.=E2=80=9DOr this, from the aforementio=
ned =E2=80=9CThe Dreaming Jewels=E2=80=9D (1950): =E2=80=9CThey caught the =
kid doing something disgusting under the bleachers at the high-school stadi=
um, and he was sent home from the grammar school across the street.=E2=80=
=9DOr even this, from his haunting and beautiful story, =E2=80=9CThe Man Wh=
o Lost the Sea=E2=80=9D (1959): =E2=80=9CSay you=E2=80=99re a kid, and one =
dark night you=E2=80=99re running along the cold sand with this helicopter =
in your hand, saying very fast witchy-witchy-witchy.=E2=80=9DEvery opening =
plops you down bang in the middle of a story that is already happening and =
in the life of a character it is already happening to. And while many of hi=
s stories were collected in =E2=80=9Chorror=E2=80=9D or =E2=80=9Csuspense=
=E2=80=9D anthologies, they are rarely shocking or violent or grotesque. In=
stead, they begin by introducing you to a slightly strange world and a slig=
htly strange character who lives there; then, before the story is over, you=
 both feel at home in the world and compassion for the character who now li=
ves there with you.The greatness of Sturgeon=E2=80=99s stories reside in th=
eir almost inflexible, relentless unfolding of strangely logical events and=
 relationships; each sentence is as beautiful and convincing as the last; a=
nd the science-fictional inventions never rely on tricks or=C2=A0deus ex ma=
chinas=C2=A0to reach a satisfying resolution; instead, a Sturgeon story alw=
ays resolves itself at the level of the all-too-human.In =E2=80=9CA Saucer =
of Loneliness,=E2=80=9D for example, those spinning silver discs in the nig=
ht sky aren=E2=80=99t actually invading aliens from outer space, but simply=
 errant, message-in-a-bottle-like expressions of=C2=A0someone=E2=80=99s imp=
ossibly distant desire to communicate =E2=80=A6 with=C2=A0someone. In =E2=
=80=9CExtrapolation,=E2=80=9D the super-genius inventor, Wolf Reger, only p=
retends to betray the Earth in order to save it =E2=80=94 but not by affirm=
ing his belief in the human race (like many of Sturgeon=E2=80=99s genius-pr=
otagonists, Reger loathes people) but because he can=E2=80=99t imagine any =
future without his wife in it. And in =E2=80=9CBright Segment=E2=80=9D =E2=
=80=94 for my money, one of the few great American stories worth preserving=
 in a spaceship after our stupid planet blows itself to bits =E2=80=94 a lo=
nely, autistic man finds a woman lying on the street sliced up with a razor=
; he then carries her home and puts her back together with common, everyday=
 objects =E2=80=94 sponges, needles, pliers, tweezers, needles and thread, =
adhesive tape and an alcohol torch. =E2=80=9CI fix everything,=E2=80=9D the=
 man repeats, over and over; it=E2=80=99s the only way he can find sanity i=
n a world without much sanity in it already. Until, like many Sturgeon char=
acters, he eventually learns that fixing people (rather than things) isn=E2=
=80=99t a purely mechanical business.Science-fiction writer Theodore Sturge=
on circa 1960. (David Gerrold)=C2=A0There aren=E2=80=99t many writers whose=
 stories have given me more pleasure, and on more readings, than the storie=
s of Theodore Sturgeon. Richard Yates, William Trevor, Joyce Carol Oates an=
d Thomas M. Disch come to mind. F. Scott Fitzgerald and Anton Chekhov. But =
the strange beauty of Sturgeon=E2=80=99s stories has something to do with t=
he weird incongruity they share with their own generic intentions; the tech=
nophilic logic of his plots never quite jives with Sturgeon=E2=80=99s compa=
ssion for his most fallible, messy and illogical characters.On the one hand=
, Sturgeon knew how to build all the machinery his genre editors and reader=
s wanted =E2=80=94 spaceships, future societies, conceptual puzzles =E2=80=
=94 which is probably why many of his fans were so-called =E2=80=9Chard=E2=
=80=9D sf writers, such as John W. Campbell, Arthur C. Clarke or even Rober=
t A. Heinlein. But Sturgeon=E2=80=99s sense of the universe was never Manic=
haean, and its problems couldn=E2=80=99t be repaired with a screwdriver. Hu=
manity=E2=80=99s biggest enemy, Sturgeon=E2=80=99s stories repeatedly confi=
rmed, was humanity itself, and it=E2=80=99s hard to imagine any other sf wr=
iter in the =E2=80=9940s writing a novelette as powerful and surprising as =
=E2=80=9CThunder and Roses=E2=80=9D (1947), which imagines what a nuclear w=
ar between superpowers might look like and concludes, OK, so=C2=A0they=C2=
=A0slaughtered=C2=A0us=C2=A0first =E2=80=94=C2=A0now=C2=A0what do we do? Fo=
r Sturgeon, there was only one logical answer: nothing. Just stop the killi=
ng. Go to bed. And don=E2=80=99t wake me in the morning.In the late =E2=80=
=9970s and early =E2=80=9980s, I was lucky enough to find myself living nex=
t door to Ted in a pleasant, Bukowskian, Spanish-style courtyard apartment =
building on North Vendome Street in Silver Lake (imagine the one in Lynch=
=E2=80=99s =E2=80=9CMulholland Drive,=E2=80=9D but after a five-year sandst=
orm).Ted was often mysteriously arriving and departing in the middle of the=
 night in the company of his seventh wife, Jayne, while driving a battered =
blueish Volkswagen Beetle. Ted=E2=80=99s=C2=A0pied a terre=C2=A0was more li=
ke=C2=A0half=C2=A0of a=C2=A0pied a terre, a tiny studio carved in the reces=
ses beneath our building like one of those =E2=80=9960s-era bomb shelters. =
As I recall, you couldn=E2=80=99t quite stand upright in it without banging=
 your head on the ceiling; and the front door was this roundish little hobb=
it door that required you to stoop over to enter. According to legend, the =
first time Ted stepped into the apartment, he shouted into the courtyard, =
=E2=80=9CFor the love of God, Montressor!=E2=80=9D straight out of Edgar Al=
lan Poe.It was almost like living next door to my own imagination about how=
 the world=C2=A0shouldoperate, where great writers wandered around swapping=
 tools and borrowing and returning instant coffee =E2=80=94 and although I =
never knew Ted very well, it was always nice to know he was around and thin=
king the same thoughts that had led him to invent so many wonderful stories=
 over many productive decades. If Ted had lived longer =E2=80=94 and not su=
ccumbed to the lung fibrosis that killed him in 1985 =E2=80=94 I=E2=80=99m =
sure he would have written many more of those great stories. And we would a=
ll still be reading them.There are=C2=A0multitudinous=C2=A0reasons why Stur=
geon deserves to be better remembered than he already is, and we would prob=
ably require several conferences just to=C2=A0begin=C2=A0discussing them. F=
or starters, there are all the writers he influenced =E2=80=94 from Ray Bra=
dbury and Harlan Ellison and Peter S. Beagle to Michael Chabon and Jonathan=
 Lethem and Katherine Dunn. And there are the stories themselves: Every tim=
e you read or even reread one, it feels like something you have never read =
before.The essence of almost every Sturgeon story is about what it means to=
 be human =E2=80=94 and what happens when people stop being as human as the=
y should be. His most dangerous characters (Monetre in =E2=80=9CThe Dreamin=
g Jewels=E2=80=9D or Rita, the virgin witch, in =E2=80=9CThe Silken-Swift=
=E2=80=9D) are always those who isolate themselves from others; and the onl=
y salvation his characters ever achieve is to touch someone who wants to to=
uch them back, regardless of gender, species or planet of natural origin. U=
nsurprisingly, Sturgeon wrote as convincingly of androgynous love (in =E2=
=80=9CVenus Plus X=E2=80=9D) and homosexual love (in =E2=80=9CThe World Wel=
l Lost=E2=80=9D) as he did about the love of =E2=80=9Cmen=E2=80=9D and =E2=
=80=9Cwomen=E2=80=9D for each other (always imperfect concepts for Sturgeon=
). And many of his best titles (the ones that weren=E2=80=99t destroyed by =
hack editors) attest to Sturgeon=E2=80=99s fascination with affection in al=
l its animal forms: =E2=80=9CThe Touch of Your Hand,=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CBian=
ca=E2=80=99s Hands,=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CUnite and Conquer,=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9C=
When You Care, When You Love,=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CMake Room for Me,=E2=80=9D =
=E2=80=9CA Way Home=E2=80=9D and even =E2=80=9CA Touch of Strange.=E2=80=9D=
 In Sturgeon=E2=80=99s universe, physical and emotional love are as irresis=
tible as warp engines and fission reactors. You just need to remember to ca=
ll them in the morning.Book jacket for Theodore Sturgeon's "Venus Plus X." =
Published by Pyramid Books, 1960 with art by Victor Kalin. (Courtesy of KU =
Libraries)=C2=A0In many ways, Sturgeon was the victim of his own multifario=
us talent. He was an accomplished guitarist; from a young age, he performed=
 acrobatics and planned to join a circus before contracting rheumatic fever=
; he composed songs and sang them; and according to his lifelong friend Rob=
ert Heinlein, he could perform vocal impersonations of just about anything =
you threw at him =E2=80=94 traffic, trains, birds or even something as weir=
dly specific as =E2=80=9Ca buzzsaw powered by a two-cycle engine cranked by=
 a line.=E2=80=9D While he was a deeply loved man and a widely admired arti=
st, he lived a vigorously aimless life that took him through several failed=
 marriages and several peripatetic final years traveling among lectures, te=
aching gigs and temporary homes in Los Angeles, Hawaii, San Diego and Sprin=
gfield, Ore.Sturgeon flitted about inconspicuously as the winds guided him.=
 Whenever he paused for a moment to pop his head into the room, he left his=
 mark on everyone he found there. Nothing was the same after he left.So OK,=
 the Sturgeon centenary is still here for a few more months, but we almost =
missed it. Which means we need to get up bright and early for the next one,=
 and here=E2=80=99s my plan. Get your party hats organized, your crepe pape=
r and tinsel. Wrap those presents and bake those cakes. Then we=E2=80=99ll =
meet back here in 99.5 years and make sure we start the Sturgeon bicentenar=
y off right. Is that a deal?I=E2=80=99ll try to get here first and turn on =
all the lights.Bradfield is the author of a dozen books, including, mos
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<html><head></head><body><div style=3D"color:#000; background-color:#fff; f=
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;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40629">Celebrating Theodore Sturge=
on's centenary - so should we all</h1></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: borde=
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s: center; display: flex; flex-direction: row;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_153=
3596992458_40635"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; line-height: normal=
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7">By&nbsp;<span style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; text-transform: uppercase=
;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40638">SCOTT BRADFIELD</span></spa=
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er-box; line-height: normal;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40640">=
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pacing: 1px; text-transform: uppercase;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992=
458_40641">AUG 02, 2018&nbsp;</span><span style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; =
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tial; border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; min-height: 40px; background-image:=
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d-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initi=
al; background-clip: initial; width: 40px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596=
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o; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; width: 32px; background: 0px 0px; b=
order-radius: unset; min-height: 32px; color: rgb(255, 104, 89);" id=3D"yui=
_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40648"></span></button>&nbsp;<a href=3D"mailto=
:?subject=3DCelebrating%20Theodore%20Sturgeon%27s%20centenary%20-%20so%20sh=
ould%20we%20all&amp;body=3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.latimes.com%2Fbooks%2Fla-ca-jc-=
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story via email" data-arctrack=3D"socialShareEmail" data-referrer=3D"" rel=
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t;Benton Bold&quot;; line-height: 40px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16p=
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_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40649"><span style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; di=
splay: inline-block; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian:=
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ckground: 0px 0px; border-radius: unset; min-height: 32px; color: rgb(255, =
104, 89);" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40650"></span></a></span><=
/div></div></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-=
flow: row wrap; margin-right: 0;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_406=
51"></div></header><section style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; width: 800px; =
padding-right: 12px; grid-area: 2 / 1 / span 1 / span 4; color: rgb(51, 51,=
 51); font-family: &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif=
; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(241, 241, 241);" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_=
ym19_1_1533596992458_40652"><div data-pb-name=3D"Lead Art" data-pb-curated=
=3D"curated" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;" id=3D"yui_3=
_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40653"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; bac=
kground-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_4=
0654"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; li=
ne-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px;" id=
=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40655"><figure style=3D"box-sizing: bor=
der-box; margin: 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40656"><div st=
yle=3D"box-sizing: border-box; width: 740px; flex-shrink: 0; object-fit: co=
ver; min-height: 415.984px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40657"><=
img alt=3D"Celebrating Theodore Sturgeon's centenary - so should we all" sr=
c=3D"http://www.latimes.com/resizer/BXTpOlNN7FIQJITsfqsS0z7JIEc=3D/1400x0/w=
ww.trbimg.com/img-5b63718c/turbine/la-1533243784-jewu31hj3z-snap-image" sty=
le=3D"box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; border-style: initial; ver=
tical-align: middle; width: 740px; flex-shrink: 0; object-fit: cover; min-h=
eight: 415.984px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40658" data-id=3D"=
9953dbf2-dde4-309b-e44e-8443738e7a6b"></div><figcaption style=3D"box-sizing=
: border-box; display: flex; font-family: Benton; line-height: 16px; color:=
 rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12px; flex-direction: row; justify-content: sp=
ace-between; margin-top: 8px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40659"=
><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_15335969924=
58_40660">Theodore Sturgeon, who coined Spock's "live long and prosper," wr=
ote science fiction novels and was a wildly gifted and prolific short story=
 writer. (Stephen Bard)</div><span style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; flex-sh=
rink: 0;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40661"><button aria-label=
=3D"share on twitter" name=3D"twitter" role=3D"button" data-arctrack=3D"soc=
ialShareTwtr" data-referrer=3D"" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noopener noreferr=
er" style=3D"margin: 0px; overflow: visible; text-transform: uppercase; cur=
sor: pointer; font-size: 16px; line-height: 40px; font-family: &quot;Benton=
 Bold&quot;; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-width: initial; border-style: none=
; border-color: initial; border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; min-height: 40px=
; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size:=
 initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; backg=
round-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; width: 40px;" id=3D"yui_3_=
16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40662"><span style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; dis=
play: inline-block; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: =
normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 32px; font-family: FontAwesome; =
text-rendering: auto; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; width: 32px; bac=
kground: 0px 0px; border-radius: unset; min-height: 32px; color: rgb(255, 1=
04, 89);" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40663"></span></button>&nbs=
p;<button name=3D"facebook" aria-label=3D"share on facebook" data-arctrack=
=3D"socialShareFb" data-referrer=3D"" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noopener nor=
eferrer" style=3D"margin: 0px; overflow: visible; text-transform: uppercase=
; cursor: pointer; font-size: 16px; line-height: 40px; font-family: &quot;B=
enton Bold&quot;; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-width: initial; border-style:=
 none; border-color: initial; border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; min-height:=
 40px; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-=
size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; =
background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; width: 40px;" id=3D"y=
ui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40664"><span style=3D"box-sizing: border-box=
; display: inline-block; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-as=
ian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 32px; font-family: FontAwes=
ome; text-rendering: auto; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; width: 32px=
; background: 0px 0px; border-radius: unset; min-height: 32px; color: rgb(2=
55, 104, 89);" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40665"></span></button=
></span></figcaption></figure></div></div></div><div data-pb-name=3D"Articl=
e Body (Elements)" data-pb-curated=3D"curated" style=3D"box-sizing: border-=
box; margin-top: 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40666"><div st=
yle=3D"box-sizing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40667=
"></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; padding: 0p=
x; margin: 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40668"><div data-typ=
e=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255,=
 255); line-height: 19px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40669"><di=
v style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height=
: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=
=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40670"><div data-page=3D"1" style=3D"bo=
x-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_153359699=
2458_40671">I=E2=80=99ve always been a bit confused by these various centen=
ary and multi-centenary celebrations that punctuate our discussions of lite=
rature, such as Thoreau=E2=80=99s recent 200th birthday (2017), or the cent=
enary of James Joyce=E2=80=99s =E2=80=9CPortrait of the Artist as a Young M=
an=E2=80=9D (first published in 1917), or even the&nbsp;<em style=3D"box-si=
zing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40672">fourth</em>=
&nbsp;centenary of the death of Cervantes (d. 1616), etc. (By the way, cele=
brating the anniversary of someone=E2=80=99s death strikes me as pretty gri=
sly.) But while some writers seem to continually receive such posthumous ho=
nors, others suffer unfairly in silence. No cake, no candles, no old friend=
s leaping out of closets, no nothing. And this year, that seems to be the c=
ase for one of America=E2=80=99s greatest and most original short story wri=
ters, Theodore Sturgeon, who was born on Feb. 26, 1918. From what I can tel=
l, nobody has yet to pitch in and even buy him a decent card.</div></div></=
div><div data-type=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; background-col=
or: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596=
992458_40673"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, s=
erif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24p=
x 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40674"><div style=3D"box=
-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin-bottom: 40px;" id=3D"yui_3_1=
6_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40675">Go ahead, google it. No articles or remembr=
ances have appeared in significant literary or cultural magazines; no cente=
nnial editions of his work have been released in nice, shiny, uniform editi=
ons; and no academic or public conferences have been scheduled to discuss h=
is current reputation =E2=80=94 apparently not even at the University of Ka=
nsas, where Sturgeon=E2=80=99s papers are stored, and the Sturgeon Award fo=
r best short story is annually announced.</div></div><iframe style=3D"box-s=
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ca, Arial, sans-serif !important; font-size: 9px !important; color: rgb(170=
, 170, 170) !important; text-align: right !important; padding: 1px 4px 1px =
0px !important; min-height: 26px !important; line-height: 26px !important; =
letter-spacing: 0.3px !important;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40=
680"><a href=3D"http://inread-experience.teads.tv/" rel=3D"nofollow" target=
=3D"_blank" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; line-height: =
18px; background-image: none !important; text-decoration-line: none !import=
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rtant; color: rgb(121, 187, 233) !important;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_15335=
96992458_40682">inRead</span>&nbsp;invented by Teads</a></div><div style=3D=
"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px !important;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_y=
m19_1_1533596992458_40683"><iframe scrolling=3D"no" frameborder=3D"0" style=
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nsform: uppercase !important; min-height: 21px !important; letter-spacing: =
0.3px !important;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40685">ADVERTISEME=
NT</div></div></div><div data-type=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box=
; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_=
0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40686"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-fa=
mily: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18=
px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40687"><=
div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_y=
m19_1_1533596992458_40688">This simply isn=E2=80=99t right.</div></div></di=
v><div data-type=3D"image" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; background-colo=
r: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px; border-top-width: 24px;" id=3D"yu=
i_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40689"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; =
font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-s=
ize: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_4=
0690"><figure style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16=
_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40691"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; width:=
 740px; flex-shrink: 0; object-fit: cover; min-height: 1249.53px;" id=3D"yu=
i_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40692"><img alt=3D"Book jacket for Theodore S=
turgeon's &quot;More Than Human&quot; 1953 with art by Richard M. Powers pu=
blished by Farrar, Straus, and Young, with Ballantine Books." src=3D"http:/=
/www.latimes.com/resizer/dhhx5UlNNAWVqWDr1oX1_tauKls=3D/1400x0/www.trbimg.c=
om/img-5b63777b/turbine/la-1533245302-s95h37h77b-snap-image" style=3D"box-s=
izing: border-box; border-width: 0px; border-style: initial; vertical-align=
: middle; width: 740px; flex-shrink: 0; object-fit: cover; min-height: 1249=
.53px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40693" data-id=3D"bdfd4dd2-6b=
46-fa2b-d916-f12424cfcbef"></div><figcaption style=3D"box-sizing: border-bo=
x; display: flex; font-family: Benton; line-height: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51=
, 51); font-size: 12px; flex-direction: row; justify-content: space-between=
; margin-top: 8px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40694"><div style=
=3D"box-sizing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40695">B=
ook jacket for Theodore Sturgeon's "More Than Human" 1953 with art by Richa=
rd M. Powers published by Farrar, Straus, and Young, with Ballantine Books.=
 (Courtesy of KU Libraries)</div><span style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; fle=
x-shrink: 0;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40696"><button aria-lab=
el=3D"share on twitter" name=3D"twitter" role=3D"button" data-arctrack=3D"s=
ocialShareTwtr" data-referrer=3D"" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noopener norefe=
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ursor: pointer; font-size: 16px; line-height: 40px; font-family: &quot;Bent=
on Bold&quot;; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-width: initial; border-style: no=
ne; border-color: initial; border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; min-height: 40=
px; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-siz=
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kground-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; width: 40px;" id=3D"yui_=
3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40697"><span style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; d=
isplay: inline-block; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian=
: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 32px; font-family: FontAwesome=
; text-rendering: auto; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; width: 32px; b=
ackground: 0px 0px; border-radius: unset; min-height: 32px; color: rgb(255,=
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bsp;<button name=3D"facebook" aria-label=3D"share on facebook" data-arctrac=
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Benton Bold&quot;; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-width: initial; border-style=
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x; display: inline-block; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-a=
sian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 32px; font-family: FontAwe=
some; text-rendering: auto; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; width: 32p=
x; background: 0px 0px; border-radius: unset; min-height: 32px; color: rgb(=
255, 104, 89);" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40700"></span></butto=
n></span></figcaption></figure></div></div><div data-type=3D"text" style=3D=
"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height:=
 19px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40701"><div style=3D"box-sizi=
ng: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(=
0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1=
_1533596992458_40702"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26=
px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40703">Even if you think you=E2=
=80=99ve never heard of Theodore Sturgeon, you probably know more about him=
 than you know you know. For example, you=E2=80=99ve almost certainly heard=
 of Kilgore Trout, the hack sci-fi writer featured in such Vonnegut novels =
as =E2=80=9CSlaughterhouse-Five=E2=80=9D or =E2=80=9CGod Bless You, Mr. Ros=
ewater. =E2=80=9C (<em style=3D"box-sizing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_y=
m19_1_1533596992458_40704">Kil-gore</em>/Theo-dore.&nbsp;<em style=3D"box-s=
izing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40705">Trout</em>=
/Sturgeon. Get it? Vonnegut was a friend and great admirer of Sturgeon.)</d=
iv><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; min-height: 40px;=
" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40706"><span style=3D"box-sizing: b=
order-box; display: flex; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-a=
sian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 27px; line-height: 1; font-f=
amily: FontAwesome; text-rendering: auto; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialias=
ed; flex-direction: row-reverse; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); left: 12px; pos=
ition: relative; top: 7px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40707"></=
span></div></div></div><div data-inline-ad-count=3D"2" style=3D"box-sizing:=
 border-box; margin: 16px 0px 22px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_=
40708"><span style=3D"box-sizing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533=
596992458_40709"><div data-pb-name=3D"Nativo Ad" data-pb-curated=3D"curated=
" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; text-align: center; margin-top: 0px;" id=
=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40710"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border=
-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40711"><div data-nativo-id-des=
ktop=3D"1070239" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_=
1533596992458_40712"></div></div></div></span></div><div data-type=3D"text"=
 style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); lin=
e-height: 19px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40713"><div style=3D=
"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; co=
lor: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16=
_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40714"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; line-h=
eight: 26px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40715">If you went to h=
igh school in the =E2=80=9960s or =E2=80=9970s when they could still be fou=
nd on the curriculum, maybe you read one of Sturgeon=E2=80=99s novels =E2=
=80=94 such as =E2=80=9CVenus Plus X,=E2=80=9D a prescient utopian journey =
through an androgynous future society, or =E2=80=9CMore Than Human,=E2=80=
=9D about a group of mutant children who are stronger together than the sum=
 of their parts.</div></div></div><div data-type=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizi=
ng: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" i=
d=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40716"><div style=3D"box-sizing: borde=
r-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);=
 font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_15335969=
92458_40717"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;" id=
=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40718">Even if you=E2=80=99ve been livi=
ng in quarantine all your life to protect your brain from knowing anything =
about the myriad =E2=80=9CStar Trek=E2=80=9D incarnations, you almost&nbsp;=
<em style=3D"box-sizing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458=
_40719">certainly</em>&nbsp;know =E2=80=9CLive long and prosper,=E2=80=9D S=
pock=E2=80=99s salutation, if not his seven-year violence-inducing compulsi=
on to get laid. These ideas first appeared in Sturgeon=E2=80=99s script =E2=
=80=9CAmok Time,=E2=80=9D and the franchise has been riding high on them ev=
er since.</div></div></div><div data-type=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizing: bor=
der-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" id=3D"yu=
i_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40720"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; =
font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-s=
ize: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_4=
0721"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;" id=3D"yui_3=
_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40722">But despite a few strong novels and telev=
ision scripts, Sturgeon was primarily a writer of great, unforgettable and =
always brilliantly constructed short stories =E2=80=94 and this is almost c=
ertainly why he isn=E2=80=99t as well known today as he should be =E2=80=94=
 short story writers just don=E2=80=99t get no respect.</div></div></div><d=
iv data-type=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rg=
b(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458=
_40723"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; =
line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px=
 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40724"><div style=3D"box-sizin=
g: border-box; line-height: 26px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40=
725">Unlike other genre writers =E2=80=94 such as Ray Bradbury or Isaac Asi=
mov =E2=80=94 Sturgeon never transcended the sci-fi genre by publishing&nbs=
p;<em style=3D"box-sizing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_15335969924=
58_40726">outside</em>&nbsp;of it; he transcended it from the&nbsp;<em styl=
e=3D"box-sizing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40727">=
inside</em>, beginning in the =E2=80=9930s as one of John W. Campbell=E2=80=
=99s most dependable writers for =E2=80=9CUnknown=E2=80=9D and =E2=80=9CAst=
ounding,=E2=80=9D and spending the rest of his 50-year-plus career publishi=
ng mostly in =E2=80=9Cdigest=E2=80=9D sf magazines, with their very unliter=
ary, garish color cover illustrations of multi-limbed alien emissaries and =
tautly clad space-women =E2=80=94 magazines such as Planet Stories, Startli=
ng Stories, If, Galaxy and the Magazine of Fantasy &amp; Science Fiction.</=
div></div></div><div data-type=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; ba=
ckground-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym=
19_1_1533596992458_40728"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-family=
: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; =
padding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40729"><div =
style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_=
1_1533596992458_40730">Like poor Kilgore Trout, Sturgeon often saw his best=
 work emblazoned with awful titles conjured up by hasty editors =E2=80=94 t=
itles such as =E2=80=9CThe Incubi of Parallel X=E2=80=9D (which Sturgeon ca=
lled =E2=80=9Cthe most horrible title to appear over my byline=E2=80=9D) or=
 =E2=80=9CThe Cosmic Rape=E2=80=9D or even the mega-awful =E2=80=9CThe Synt=
hetic Man,=E2=80=9D that cruel paperback retitling of Sturgeon=E2=80=99s gr=
eatest and most intricate novel, =E2=80=9CThe Dreaming Jewels.=E2=80=9D At =
first glance, a typical Sturgeon collection might&nbsp;<em style=3D"box-siz=
ing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40731">look</em>&nb=
sp;from afar as awful as something by Kilgore Trout. But once you read the =
first page, you knew you were in the hands of someone who never wrote a bad=
 sentence. If you ever find time to start collecting the massive and loving=
ly assembled 13-volume =E2=80=9CThe Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon,=
=E2=80=9D edited by Paul Williams and published by North Atlantic Books, yo=
u=E2=80=99ll soon realize that Sturgeon wrote an abnormally large number of=
 great stories =E2=80=94 and great sentences.</div></div></div><div data-ty=
pe=3D"image" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 25=
5, 255); line-height: 19px; border-top-width: 24px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_=
1_1533596992458_40732"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: G=
eorgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; pad=
ding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40733"><figure =
style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533=
596992458_40734"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; width: 740px; flex-s=
hrink: 0; object-fit: cover; min-height: 416.5px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_=
1533596992458_40735"><img alt=3D"Sturgeon's &quot;The Dreaming Jewels&quot;=
 (pictured, U.K. edition) was retitled &quot;The Synthetic Man&quot; in Ame=
rican paperback." src=3D"http://www.latimes.com/resizer/S7r0g5Abf4EySkoZBMb=
u16e8Sn8=3D/1400x0/www.trbimg.com/img-5b637497/turbine/la-1533244558-6vqsoc=
cjgk-snap-image" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; border=
-style: initial; vertical-align: middle; width: 740px; flex-shrink: 0; obje=
ct-fit: cover; min-height: 416.5px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_=
40736" data-id=3D"4076656b-651b-d10e-55b0-9f818f28c22d"></div><figcaption s=
tyle=3D"box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; font-family: Benton; line-he=
ight: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12px; flex-direction: row; j=
ustify-content: space-between; margin-top: 8px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_15=
33596992458_40737"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_=
ym19_1_1533596992458_40738">Sturgeon's "The Dreaming Jewels" (pictured, U.K=
. edition) was retitled "The Synthetic Man" in American paperback. (Book ja=
cket for Theodore Sturgeon's "The Dreaming Jewels." London: Nova Publicatio=
ns, Ltd, 1955. Courtesy of Kansas University Libraries)</div><span style=3D=
"box-sizing: border-box; flex-shrink: 0;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_153359699=
2458_40739"><button aria-label=3D"share on twitter" name=3D"twitter" role=
=3D"button" data-arctrack=3D"socialShareTwtr" data-referrer=3D"" target=3D"=
_blank" rel=3D"noopener noreferrer" style=3D"margin: 0px; overflow: visible=
; text-transform: uppercase; cursor: pointer; font-size: 16px; line-height:=
 40px; font-family: &quot;Benton Bold&quot;; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-wi=
dth: initial; border-style: none; border-color: initial; border-radius: 0px=
; padding: 0px; min-height: 40px; background-image: initial; background-pos=
ition: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; backg=
round-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: ini=
tial; width: 40px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40740"><span styl=
e=3D"box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-variant-numeric: n=
ormal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: =
32px; font-family: FontAwesome; text-rendering: auto; -webkit-font-smoothin=
g: antialiased; width: 32px; background: 0px 0px; border-radius: unset; min=
-height: 32px; color: rgb(255, 104, 89);" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_153359699=
2458_40741"></span></button>&nbsp;<button name=3D"facebook" aria-label=3D"s=
hare on facebook" data-arctrack=3D"socialShareFb" data-referrer=3D"" target=
=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noopener noreferrer" style=3D"margin: 0px; overflow: vis=
ible; text-transform: uppercase; cursor: pointer; font-size: 16px; line-hei=
ght: 40px; font-family: &quot;Benton Bold&quot;; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); borde=
r-width: initial; border-style: none; border-color: initial; border-radius:=
 0px; padding: 0px; min-height: 40px; background-image: initial; background=
-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; b=
ackground-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip:=
 initial; width: 40px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40742"><span =
style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-variant-numeri=
c: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-heig=
ht: 32px; font-family: FontAwesome; text-rendering: auto; -webkit-font-smoo=
thing: antialiased; width: 32px; background: 0px 0px; border-radius: unset;=
 min-height: 32px; color: rgb(255, 104, 89);" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_15335=
96992458_40743"></span></button></span></figcaption></figure></div></div><d=
iv data-type=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rg=
b(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458=
_40744"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; =
line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px=
 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40745"><div style=3D"box-sizin=
g: border-box; line-height: 26px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40=
746">While mediocre writers are often applauded for that so-called =E2=80=
=9Ctwist in the tail=E2=80=9D at the&nbsp;<em style=3D"box-sizing: border-b=
ox;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40747">ends</em>&nbsp;of their s=
tories, Sturgeon=E2=80=99s greatest talent lay in his ability to compose op=
ening lines that surprised and delighted you from the very start; then, onc=
e hooked, you were drawn along, one perfect sentence and narrative shift af=
ter another, until he landed you on the beach of an ending you didn=E2=80=
=99t even know you were expecting until you got there.</div></div></div><di=
v data-type=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb=
(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_=
40748"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; l=
ine-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px =
0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40749"><div style=3D"box-sizing=
: border-box; line-height: 26px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_407=
50">Take, for example, the opening of his brilliant (and often poorly imita=
ted) 1941 novelette, =E2=80=9CMicrocosmic God=E2=80=9D: =E2=80=9CHere is a =
story about a man who had too much power, and a man who took too much, but =
don=E2=80=99t worry; I=E2=80=99m not going political on you. The man who ha=
d the power was named James Kidder, and the other was his banker.=E2=80=9D<=
/div></div></div><div data-type=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; b=
ackground-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_y=
m19_1_1533596992458_40751"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-famil=
y: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px;=
 padding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40752"><div=
 style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19=
_1_1533596992458_40753">Or this, from the aforementioned =E2=80=9CThe Dream=
ing Jewels=E2=80=9D (1950): =E2=80=9CThey caught the kid doing something di=
sgusting under the bleachers at the high-school stadium, and he was sent ho=
me from the grammar school across the street.=E2=80=9D</div></div></div><di=
v data-type=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb=
(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_=
40754"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; l=
ine-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px =
0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40755"><div style=3D"box-sizing=
: border-box; line-height: 26px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_407=
56">Or even this, from his haunting and beautiful story, =E2=80=9CThe Man W=
ho Lost the Sea=E2=80=9D (1959): =E2=80=9CSay you=E2=80=99re a kid, and one=
 dark night you=E2=80=99re running along the cold sand with this helicopter=
 in your hand, saying very fast witchy-witchy-witchy.=E2=80=9D</div></div><=
/div><div data-type=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; background-co=
lor: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_153359=
6992458_40757"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, =
serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24=
px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40758"><div style=3D"bo=
x-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_153359699=
2458_40759">Every opening plops you down bang in the middle of a story that=
 is already happening and in the life of a character it is already happenin=
g to. And while many of his stories were collected in =E2=80=9Chorror=E2=80=
=9D or =E2=80=9Csuspense=E2=80=9D anthologies, they are rarely shocking or =
violent or grotesque. Instead, they begin by introducing you to a slightly =
strange world and a slightly strange character who lives there; then, befor=
e the story is over, you both feel at home in the world and compassion for =
the character who now lives there with you.</div></div></div><div data-type=
=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, =
255); line-height: 19px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40760"><div=
 style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height:=
 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D=
"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40761"><div data-page=3D"2" style=3D"box-s=
izing: border-box; line-height: 26px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_153359699245=
8_40762">The greatness of Sturgeon=E2=80=99s stories reside in their almost=
 inflexible, relentless unfolding of strangely logical events and relations=
hips; each sentence is as beautiful and convincing as the last; and the sci=
ence-fictional inventions never rely on tricks or&nbsp;<em style=3D"box-siz=
ing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40763">deus ex mach=
inas</em>&nbsp;to reach a satisfying resolution; instead, a Sturgeon story =
always resolves itself at the level of the all-too-human.</div></div></div>=
<div data-type=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: =
rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_15335969924=
58_40764"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif=
; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24=
px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40765"><div style=3D"box-siz=
ing: border-box; line-height: 26px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_=
40766">In =E2=80=9CA Saucer of Loneliness,=E2=80=9D for example, those spin=
ning silver discs in the night sky aren=E2=80=99t actually invading aliens =
from outer space, but simply errant, message-in-a-bottle-like expressions o=
f&nbsp;<em style=3D"box-sizing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_153359=
6992458_40767">someone</em>=E2=80=99s impossibly distant desire to communic=
ate =E2=80=A6 with&nbsp;<em style=3D"box-sizing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_1=
6_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40768">someone</em>. In =E2=80=9CExtrapolation,=E2=
=80=9D the super-genius inventor, Wolf Reger, only pretends to betray the E=
arth in order to save it =E2=80=94 but not by affirming his belief in the h=
uman race (like many of Sturgeon=E2=80=99s genius-protagonists, Reger loath=
es people) but because he can=E2=80=99t imagine any future without his wife=
 in it. And in =E2=80=9CBright Segment=E2=80=9D =E2=80=94 for my money, one=
 of the few great American stories worth preserving in a spaceship after ou=
r stupid planet blows itself to bits =E2=80=94 a lonely, autistic man finds=
 a woman lying on the street sliced up with a razor; he then carries her ho=
me and puts her back together with common, everyday objects =E2=80=94 spong=
es, needles, pliers, tweezers, needles and thread, adhesive tape and an alc=
ohol torch. =E2=80=9CI fix everything,=E2=80=9D the man repeats, over and o=
ver; it=E2=80=99s the only way he can find sanity in a world without much s=
anity in it already. Until, like many Sturgeon characters, he eventually le=
arns that fixing people (rather than things) isn=E2=80=99t a purely mechani=
cal business.</div></div></div><div data-type=3D"image" style=3D"box-sizing=
: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" id=
=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40769"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border=
-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); =
font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_153359699=
2458_40770"><figure style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;" id=3D"yu=
i_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40771"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; =
width: 740px; flex-shrink: 0; object-fit: cover; min-height: 954.594px;" id=
=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40772"><img alt=3D"Science-fiction writ=
er Theodore Sturgeon circa 1960." src=3D"http://www.latimes.com/resizer/Ziz=
IkmnNxegfeIHU23k9qsnN1Z0=3D/1400x0/www.trbimg.com/img-5b64e672/turbine/la-1=
533339245-b45316nwjn-snap-image" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; border-wi=
dth: 0px; border-style: initial; vertical-align: middle; width: 740px; flex=
-shrink: 0; object-fit: cover; min-height: 954.594px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym1=
9_1_1533596992458_40773" data-id=3D"72382a39-7c24-89dc-1682-84ee397df159"><=
/div><figcaption style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; font-famil=
y: Benton; line-height: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12px; flex=
-direction: row; justify-content: space-between; margin-top: 8px;" id=3D"yu=
i_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40774"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box;"=
 id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40775">Science-fiction writer Theodo=
re Sturgeon circa 1960. (David Gerrold)</div><span style=3D"box-sizing: bor=
der-box; flex-shrink: 0;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40776"><but=
ton aria-label=3D"share on twitter" name=3D"twitter" role=3D"button" data-a=
rctrack=3D"socialShareTwtr" data-referrer=3D"" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noo=
pener noreferrer" style=3D"margin: 0px; overflow: visible; text-transform: =
uppercase; cursor: pointer; font-size: 16px; line-height: 40px; font-family=
: &quot;Benton Bold&quot;; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-width: initial; bord=
er-style: none; border-color: initial; border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; mi=
n-height: 40px; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; ba=
ckground-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: =
initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; width: 40px;=
" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40777"><span style=3D"box-sizing: b=
order-box; display: inline-block; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-varian=
t-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 32px; font-family:=
 FontAwesome; text-rendering: auto; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; wi=
dth: 32px; background: 0px 0px; border-radius: unset; min-height: 32px; col=
or: rgb(255, 104, 89);" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40778"></span=
></button>&nbsp;<button name=3D"facebook" aria-label=3D"share on facebook" =
data-arctrack=3D"socialShareFb" data-referrer=3D"" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D=
"noopener noreferrer" style=3D"margin: 0px; overflow: visible; text-transfo=
rm: uppercase; cursor: pointer; font-size: 16px; line-height: 40px; font-fa=
mily: &quot;Benton Bold&quot;; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-width: initial; =
border-style: none; border-color: initial; border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px=
; min-height: 40px; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px=
; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachme=
nt: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; width: 4=
0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40779"><span style=3D"box-sizin=
g: border-box; display: inline-block; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-va=
riant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 32px; font-fam=
ily: FontAwesome; text-rendering: auto; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased=
; width: 32px; background: 0px 0px; border-radius: unset; min-height: 32px;=
 color: rgb(255, 104, 89);" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40780"></=
span></button></span></figcaption></figure></div></div><div data-type=3D"te=
xt" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); =
line-height: 19px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40781"><div style=
=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px;=
 color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3=
_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40782"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; lin=
e-height: 26px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40783">There aren=E2=
=80=99t many writers whose stories have given me more pleasure, and on more=
 readings, than the stories of Theodore Sturgeon. Richard Yates, William Tr=
evor, Joyce Carol Oates and Thomas M. Disch come to mind. F. Scott Fitzgera=
ld and Anton Chekhov. But the strange beauty of Sturgeon=E2=80=99s stories =
has something to do with the weird incongruity they share with their own ge=
neric intentions; the technophilic logic of his plots never quite jives wit=
h Sturgeon=E2=80=99s compassion for his most fallible, messy and illogical =
characters.</div></div></div><div data-type=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizing: b=
order-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" id=3D"=
yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40784"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box=
; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font=
-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458=
_40785"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;" id=3D"yui=
_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40786">On the one hand, Sturgeon knew how to b=
uild all the machinery his genre editors and readers wanted =E2=80=94 space=
ships, future societies, conceptual puzzles =E2=80=94 which is probably why=
 many of his fans were so-called =E2=80=9Chard=E2=80=9D sf writers, such as=
 John W. Campbell, Arthur C. Clarke or even Robert A. Heinlein. But Sturgeo=
n=E2=80=99s sense of the universe was never Manichaean, and its problems co=
uldn=E2=80=99t be repaired with a screwdriver. Humanity=E2=80=99s biggest e=
nemy, Sturgeon=E2=80=99s stories repeatedly confirmed, was humanity itself,=
 and it=E2=80=99s hard to imagine any other sf writer in the =E2=80=9940s w=
riting a novelette as powerful and surprising as =E2=80=9CThunder and Roses=
=E2=80=9D (1947), which imagines what a nuclear war between superpowers mig=
ht look like and concludes, OK, so&nbsp;<em style=3D"box-sizing: border-box=
;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40787">they</em>&nbsp;slaughtered&=
nbsp;<em style=3D"box-sizing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_15335969=
92458_40788">us</em>&nbsp;first =E2=80=94&nbsp;<em style=3D"box-sizing: bor=
der-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40789">now</em>&nbsp;what d=
o we do? For Sturgeon, there was only one logical answer: nothing. Just sto=
p the killing. Go to bed. And don=E2=80=99t wake me in the morning.</div></=
div></div><div data-type=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; backgrou=
nd-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1=
533596992458_40790"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Geor=
gia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; paddin=
g: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40791"><div style=
=3D"box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_153=
3596992458_40792">In the late =E2=80=9970s and early =E2=80=9980s, I was lu=
cky enough to find myself living next door to Ted in a pleasant, Bukowskian=
, Spanish-style courtyard apartment building on North Vendome Street in Sil=
ver Lake (imagine the one in Lynch=E2=80=99s =E2=80=9CMulholland Drive,=E2=
=80=9D but after a five-year sandstorm).</div></div></div><div data-type=3D=
"text" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255=
); line-height: 19px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40793"><div st=
yle=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26=
px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yu=
i_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40794"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; =
line-height: 26px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40795">Ted was of=
ten mysteriously arriving and departing in the middle of the night in the c=
ompany of his seventh wife, Jayne, while driving a battered blueish Volkswa=
gen Beetle. Ted=E2=80=99s&nbsp;<em style=3D"box-sizing: border-box;" id=3D"=
yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40796">pied a terre</em>&nbsp;was more like=
&nbsp;<em style=3D"box-sizing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596=
992458_40797">half&nbsp;</em>of a&nbsp;<em style=3D"box-sizing: border-box;=
" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40798">pied a terre</em>, a tiny st=
udio carved in the recesses beneath our building like one of those =E2=80=
=9960s-era bomb shelters. As I recall, you couldn=E2=80=99t quite stand upr=
ight in it without banging your head on the ceiling; and the front door was=
 this roundish little hobbit door that required you to stoop over to enter.=
 According to legend, the first time Ted stepped into the apartment, he sho=
uted into the courtyard, =E2=80=9CFor the love of God, Montressor!=E2=80=9D=
 straight out of Edgar Allan Poe.</div></div></div><div data-type=3D"text" =
style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line=
-height: 19px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40799"><div style=3D"=
box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; col=
or: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_=
0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40800"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; line-he=
ight: 26px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40801">It was almost lik=
e living next door to my own imagination about how the world&nbsp;<em style=
=3D"box-sizing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40802">s=
hould</em>operate, where great writers wandered around swapping tools and b=
orrowing and returning instant coffee =E2=80=94 and although I never knew T=
ed very well, it was always nice to know he was around and thinking the sam=
e thoughts that had led him to invent so many wonderful stories over many p=
roductive decades. If Ted had lived longer =E2=80=94 and not succumbed to t=
he lung fibrosis that killed him in 1985 =E2=80=94 I=E2=80=99m sure he woul=
d have written many more of those great stories. And we would all still be =
reading them.</div></div></div><div data-type=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizing:=
 border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" id=
=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40803"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border=
-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); =
font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_153359699=
2458_40804"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;" id=3D=
"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40805">There are&nbsp;<em style=3D"box-siz=
ing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40806">multitudinou=
s</em>&nbsp;reasons why Sturgeon deserves to be better remembered than he a=
lready is, and we would probably require several conferences just to&nbsp;<=
em style=3D"box-sizing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_=
40807">begin</em>&nbsp;discussing them. For starters, there are all the wri=
ters he influenced =E2=80=94 from Ray Bradbury and Harlan Ellison and Peter=
 S. Beagle to Michael Chabon and Jonathan Lethem and Katherine Dunn. And th=
ere are the stories themselves: Every time you read or even reread one, it =
feels like something you have never read before.</div></div></div><div data=
-type=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, =
255, 255); line-height: 19px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40808"=
><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-he=
ight: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;" =
id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40809"><div style=3D"box-sizing: bord=
er-box; line-height: 26px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40810">Th=
e essence of almost every Sturgeon story is about what it means to be human=
 =E2=80=94 and what happens when people stop being as human as they should =
be. His most dangerous characters (Monetre in =E2=80=9CThe Dreaming Jewels=
=E2=80=9D or Rita, the virgin witch, in =E2=80=9CThe Silken-Swift=E2=80=9D)=
 are always those who isolate themselves from others; and the only salvatio=
n his characters ever achieve is to touch someone who wants to touch them b=
ack, regardless of gender, species or planet of natural origin. Unsurprisin=
gly, Sturgeon wrote as convincingly of androgynous love (in =E2=80=9CVenus =
Plus X=E2=80=9D) and homosexual love (in =E2=80=9CThe World Well Lost=E2=80=
=9D) as he did about the love of =E2=80=9Cmen=E2=80=9D and =E2=80=9Cwomen=
=E2=80=9D for each other (always imperfect concepts for Sturgeon). And many=
 of his best titles (the ones that weren=E2=80=99t destroyed by hack editor=
s) attest to Sturgeon=E2=80=99s fascination with affection in all its anima=
l forms: =E2=80=9CThe Touch of Your Hand,=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CBianca=E2=80=99=
s Hands,=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CUnite and Conquer,=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CWhen You Ca=
re, When You Love,=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CMake Room for Me,=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CA =
Way Home=E2=80=9D and even =E2=80=9CA Touch of Strange.=E2=80=9D In Sturgeo=
n=E2=80=99s universe, physical and emotional love are as irresistible as wa=
rp engines and fission reactors. You just need to remember to call them in =
the morning.</div></div></div><div data-type=3D"image" style=3D"box-sizing:=
 border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px; borde=
r-top-width: 24px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40811"><div style=
=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px;=
 color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3=
_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40812"><figure style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; =
margin: 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40813"><div style=3D"bo=
x-sizing: border-box; width: 740px; flex-shrink: 0; object-fit: cover; min-=
height: 1211.48px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40814"><img alt=
=3D"Book jacket for Theodore Sturgeon's &quot;Venus Plus X.&quot; Published=
 by Pyramid Books, 1960 with art by Victor Kalin." src=3D"http://www.latime=
s.com/resizer/NUkKk0Zoiz6Iq1aZoPWvGSg5doQ=3D/1400x0/www.trbimg.com/img-5b63=
786a/turbine/la-1533245541-shmkgluk76-snap-image" style=3D"box-sizing: bord=
er-box; border-width: 0px; border-style: initial; vertical-align: middle; w=
idth: 740px; flex-shrink: 0; object-fit: cover; min-height: 1211.48px;" id=
=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40815" data-id=3D"9def7648-6fe5-0ec7-5d=
c0-852bcc134490"></div><figcaption style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; display=
: flex; font-family: Benton; line-height: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); fon=
t-size: 12px; flex-direction: row; justify-content: space-between; margin-t=
op: 8px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40816"><div style=3D"box-si=
zing: border-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40817">Book jacket=
 for Theodore Sturgeon's "Venus Plus X." Published by Pyramid Books, 1960 w=
ith art by Victor Kalin. (Courtesy of KU Libraries)</div><span style=3D"box=
-sizing: border-box; flex-shrink: 0;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458=
_40818"><button aria-label=3D"share on twitter" name=3D"twitter" role=3D"bu=
tton" data-arctrack=3D"socialShareTwtr" data-referrer=3D"" target=3D"_blank=
" rel=3D"noopener noreferrer" style=3D"margin: 0px; overflow: visible; text=
-transform: uppercase; cursor: pointer; font-size: 16px; line-height: 40px;=
 font-family: &quot;Benton Bold&quot;; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-width: i=
nitial; border-style: none; border-color: initial; border-radius: 0px; padd=
ing: 0px; min-height: 40px; background-image: initial; background-position:=
 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-=
attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; =
width: 40px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40819"><span style=3D"b=
ox-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-variant-numeric: normal;=
 font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 32px; =
font-family: FontAwesome; text-rendering: auto; -webkit-font-smoothing: ant=
ialiased; width: 32px; background: 0px 0px; border-radius: unset; min-heigh=
t: 32px; color: rgb(255, 104, 89);" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_4=
0820"></span></button>&nbsp;<button name=3D"facebook" aria-label=3D"share o=
n facebook" data-arctrack=3D"socialShareFb" data-referrer=3D"" target=3D"_b=
lank" rel=3D"noopener noreferrer" style=3D"margin: 0px; overflow: visible; =
text-transform: uppercase; cursor: pointer; font-size: 16px; line-height: 4=
0px; font-family: &quot;Benton Bold&quot;; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-widt=
h: initial; border-style: none; border-color: initial; border-radius: 0px; =
padding: 0px; min-height: 40px; background-image: initial; background-posit=
ion: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; backgro=
und-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initi=
al; width: 40px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40821"><span style=
=3D"box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-variant-numeric: no=
rmal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 3=
2px; font-family: FontAwesome; text-rendering: auto; -webkit-font-smoothing=
: antialiased; width: 32px; background: 0px 0px; border-radius: unset; min-=
height: 32px; color: rgb(255, 104, 89);" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992=
458_40822"></span></button></span></figcaption></figure></div></div><div da=
ta-type=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255=
, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_4082=
3"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-=
height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;=
" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40824"><div data-page=3D"3" style=
=3D"box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_153=
3596992458_40825">In many ways, Sturgeon was the victim of his own multifar=
ious talent. He was an accomplished guitarist; from a young age, he perform=
ed acrobatics and planned to join a circus before contracting rheumatic fev=
er; he composed songs and sang them; and according to his lifelong friend R=
obert Heinlein, he could perform vocal impersonations of just about anythin=
g you threw at him =E2=80=94 traffic, trains, birds or even something as we=
irdly specific as =E2=80=9Ca buzzsaw powered by a two-cycle engine cranked =
by a line.=E2=80=9D While he was a deeply loved man and a widely admired ar=
tist, he lived a vigorously aimless life that took him through several fail=
ed marriages and several peripatetic final years traveling among lectures, =
teaching gigs and temporary homes in Los Angeles, Hawaii, San Diego and Spr=
ingfield, Ore.</div></div></div><div data-type=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizing=
: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" id=
=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40826"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border=
-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); =
font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_153359699=
2458_40827"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;" id=3D=
"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40828">Sturgeon flitted about inconspicuou=
sly as the winds guided him. Whenever he paused for a moment to pop his hea=
d into the room, he left his mark on everyone he found there. Nothing was t=
he same after he left.</div></div></div><div data-type=3D"text" style=3D"bo=
x-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19=
px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40829"><div style=3D"box-sizing:=
 border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, =
0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_15=
33596992458_40830"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;=
" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40831">So OK, the Sturgeon centenar=
y is still here for a few more months, but we almost missed it. Which means=
 we need to get up bright and early for the next one, and here=E2=80=99s my=
 plan. Get your party hats organized, your crepe paper and tinsel. Wrap tho=
se presents and bake those cakes. Then we=E2=80=99ll meet back here in 99.5=
 years and make sure we start the Sturgeon bicentenary off right. Is that a=
 deal?</div></div></div><div data-type=3D"text" style=3D"box-sizing: border=
-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" id=3D"yui_3=
_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40832"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; fon=
t-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size=
: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_4083=
3"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;" id=3D"yui_3_16=
_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40834">I=E2=80=99ll try to get here first and turn =
on all the lights.</div></div></div><div data-type=3D"text" style=3D"box-si=
zing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-width: 4px; =
border-bottom-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 19px;"=
 id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40835"><div style=3D"box-sizing: bor=
der-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0=
); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_4=
0836"><div style=3D"box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;" dir=3D"ltr"=
 id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40837"><em style=3D"box-sizing: bord=
er-box;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1533596992458_40838">Bradfield is the auth=
or of a dozen books, including, mos</em></div></div></div></div></div></sec=
tion></div></body></html>
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