Comments on: Clarke, slander, and gross epistemological errors

By: Ian

Ian — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:09:42 +0000

Will, I misinterpreted you, I’m sorry. To me, seeing an interview means witnessing it in some form (I presumed video), whereas if it’s in print, I would think of that as reading the interview.

There was, in fact, no lawsuit, as at least one of the links makes clear. When asked why he didn’t sue, Clarke responds “Time and money. It would have cost a fortune and dragged on for years. These things always do. I’d have won, then they’d have appealed. It would still be going on now. I’m an old man. It wasn’t worth it. My conscience is clear.”

In any event, what I wrote here was not directed at you, per se, but at how people often accept rumor or suspect reports as fact without examining them properly. If the charge had simply been that he was homosexual, accepting as fitting in with other facts about his life would be understandable. But to say he was a pedophile is a whole different thing.

A charge of pedophilia is, to me, one of the most repugnant possible. In such a case, a single article in a single newspaper, even if it weren’t a notorious London tabloid, is insufficient to support such a heinous charge.

By: Will Duquette

Will Duquette — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:38:20 +0000

Ian, I never claimed to have seen a video interview; I said I’d seen an interview. It was, in fact, a print interview I saw on-line. From what you’ve posted, it was most almost certainly the interview you quote above; and until you mentioned it I hadn’t seen anything about the lawsuit or its outcome.

Frankly, I’d much rather think better of Clarke than worse; and if he denied it and was vindicated, very well then.

By: Club Troppo » Missing Link Daily

Club Troppo » Missing Link Daily — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:52:30 +0000

[...] effort here at Troppo is as good as any of them, while Ian Hamet addresses and dismisses old allegations of pedophilia against the dead sci-fi icon. I’m more interested in what goes on his tombstone. Spike [...]

By: Herself

Herself — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:10:10 +0000

Oh, I think one of the books you left me is 2001: A Space Odyssey. I’ll check later.

(Thanks, it’s an old pic taken just before my graduation ceremony. This one’s nicer. :p)

By: Ian

Ian — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:38:04 +0000

I’m actually really mixed on Clarke as a writer. He did some things really, really well, and other things (like good characters) rather poorly. But on the basis of a few of his books, I think he’ll always be remembered.

You do know who he was, in a sense — he wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey, and I think just about everyone knows that, or at least knows of it.

Others of his works that will remain influential include The Fountains of Paradise, Rendezvous with Rama, Childhood’s End, and the short story “The Nine Billion Names Of God”, which has one of the most chilling closing lines ever.

(BTW, nice pic! )

By: Herself

Herself — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:23:45 +0000

I don’t know who he is, but even if he was a pedophile, his immorality wouldn’t have hindered him from producing great SF novels, and it wouldn’t stop you from reading his works either, right? Although I can imagine how disappointing it would be if you found out that an author you like did one of your most hated things in the world.