Ironic SHakespeare quote. Antony was being ironic and insincere when he
said that. I'm trying to be sincere; but since newcomers have been asking
"who is David Brin anyway?" I'll give you a little essay I just
wrote. Well, if you wnt to know Brin just go to your local SF
bookstore. There you will find Brin the writer. Brin the man was once part
of our list; but speaking that way of him can only bring trouble; we, and
he, found out the hard way. And for the most part, Brin the writer is the
only one appropriate for discussing on the list.
But...
This is what I know, and maybe it is too much. Let any discussion that
follows focus not on David Brin the man, but on his works, his writing,
which may outlive him. Some of us do know him personally; some of us
thought we had gotten to know him but E-mail is dangerous for that., You
know who you are. You can make a friend in E-mail or an enemy, just as
quick...
Who is Brin?
He is the author of the Uplift series, including some of the best and most
moving of sf tales; it deservedly won two Hugos. He inspired us to create
this list. And until about three months ago when an unfortunate flamewar
drove him away for now, he even particpated in his own list, quite
actively. Later, when he complained to other Pros about how a few bad eggs
online had wronged him, they saidl "They were polite for THREE YEARS?
That's a record!" We followd (hopefully perhaps still follow) his motto of
IAAMOAC "I am a member of a Civilization."
I cannot speak FOR David Brin but I will not speak ill of him; I believe
he has much wisdom (although no one person alone can carry such wisdom
unflawed and he knows that.) Some of his political ideas sound to me more
sensible than any I have heard anywhere; a sane position on gun
control; another on environmentalism (The afterword to Uplift War is the
best statement of it, I think); and I do not agree with everything he
says, but I admire his overall appraoch to politics. Arch-pragmatism may
have a better hope of saving the world than nay other so called "ism", if
you ask me.
He is gentle and very polite in public (but no saint; no one is) _
sometimes I think he is the Anti-Harlan because he does not want to behave
like Harlan Ellision! (not sure whether that's ood or bad. Harlan is
very honest in his way IMO.) Brin seems to pride himself on his self
control. In fact, going aruond CALLING him a rotten SOB would be about the
only thing that would turn him into one, I suspect. Self fulfillnig
prophecy? He's only human,. the descendant of an ape. So are we all.
I am a great fan o the Uplift books, and I thnk EARTH is cool not for the
plot but for the many clever ideas spread throughout it. Some day, someone
may pull it off aa shelf, open it at random and say "Let's try that!" It
is green, but not fanatical green - the baddie is an extremist
environmentalist who wants humans to die to save the animals. There are
real people like that. FOUNDATION's TRIUMPH is - well, if you thought
Asimov was getting creepy wit hthe Gaia thing and the robot conspiracy it
finishes with what I think is the perfect riposte! The ending moved me to
tears.
If this sounds too much like a funeral oration or something I am sorry; my
own acquaintance with Brin-the-man is past tense, to the sorrow of us
both. Too late did I understand how I had wronged him, how he had felt
betrayed. I had confided much in him in private E-mail; one night (after I
had kept up an exchange for far too long and he begged me to back off) his
patience snapped, because I forwarded something I never intended to get
back to him, but it did and it was hurtful. We are no longer on speaking
terms, and I have the strong impression he is not quick to forgive. I
offended him once in a foolish moment and he forgave me then and there -
until in a bad mood he brought it up again; only then did I know the depth
of my offense. He has been very kind to me and I repaid that kindness with
what he saw as treachery; now I cannot apologize. Perhaps one day I can
atone. Still, if he were not capable of taking offesne I do not believe he
would be the writer he is. Brin-the-man has, I think, both the mind of a
scientist and the soul of a poet. There is great beauty in his work;
Brin-the-writer can put both together, masterfully. Such people are deeply
sensitive - that is where creativity comes from. I had bared much of my
own sensitive soul to him and for awhile he admired me, wanted to be a
friend, forgave; all the greater was his hurt, then, when I provked him
beyond reason. (Perhaps I should read the same sociobiology texts, eg THE
MORAL ANIMAL, that influenced him so I'd be an expert on human psychology
too! Especially the psychology of females!) but then I am one. Sort
of. Not the perfect lady, alas....
I hae been lurking on this list altho recently I made a few posts. I did
not un-subscribe, but of course if I am on Doctor Brin's Shit-List of Evil
Manipulative Bitches and their Victims, or whatever, he may never rejoin
if he knows I post. All I will say is: if I have made an enemy of him I
take no pride in it. There are some (mostly radical feminist) who
positively revel in getting him to think they're Out to Get Him! I'm not
one of those. And he is a wonderful man, loving husband and father of
three, and a wonderful writer. God bless him and his.
Kristin Ruhle
