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Fantasy Digest, v. 1, issue 6, August-September 1939
18
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18- FANTASY DIGEST A VISIT WITH DOC SMITH" by Erie Korshak Can you picture Mark Reinsberg and myself, two Chicago fans, trying to hitch-hike to a city 300 miles from Chicago? Well, that is exactly what happened one day, several weeks ago. After a 10 1/2 hour trip, braving the dangers of the open road, we found ourselves at our destination...Jackson, Michigan. After a short search, we were rewarded by the sight of Dr. Smith's residence. Upon ringing, the doorbell, we were informed that Dr. Smith had retired for the night. After telling Mrs. Smith that we were-science fiction fans from Chicago, we were ushered right in. And then the moment of moments. Down the stairs he came,... the one and only ...E.E. Smith! We spent that Saturday night talking until 4:00 in the morning. What did we talk about? Why, about Merritt and his hidden philosophy in the "Ship of Ishtar",,. ..about Burroughs and his style of writing, about Jack Williamson and his never endingly interesting stories...... about Weinbaum arid Seabury. Quinn, and C, L. Moore and...of Smith. We discussed Doc's (Doc is his name to you) stories from the Skylarks on through. He discussed their science and Doc always seemed to be right. And then came the real treat, of the evening. We had come to see Doc to get his promise .to attend the 1940 World Science Fiction Convention that is to be held in Chicago. Said Doc Smith: "I definitely will be there.." Think of it..Doc Smith will be at the convention........ And that grand evening was topped off by Doc presenting us with a bunch of old, rare fan magazines that he found laying on his desk. About Doc Smith..He Is a kindly man. Something over 50.,..Has graying hair, and mild blue eyes... .Above all he is very natural.,,,His favorite position being with his feet popped up on a desk. We.hit the hay at 4:00 that night and.awoke early. (Quickly dressing, we rushed down to a real breakfast—-the kind you get only at home. When it comes to favorite chefs, I nominate Mrs. Smith to a top position. We began the day by reading Doc's newest story, "Grey Lensman". Both Mark and I are fast readers, So it took us only 8 hours to read the 110,000 words (10,000 were cut out in the story when accepted for Astounding. We read this additional 10,000 words.) Needless to say "Grey Lensman" is beyond a doubt, Doc's greatest story,. A story that is one of the top ten stf stories of all time. This story continues where "Galactic Patrol" left off. It continues tho adventures of Kimball Kinneson, the Grey Lensman, as he tracks down Boskone. No, Helmuth is not Boskone. Boskone is a greater thing then Helmuth. But 'nuf said. In "Grey Lensman" there are some swell space battles and, above all, there is real characterization. Our hero is human and makes mistakes---plenty of them. The reason that Doc Smith did not like---and shelved Seaton was because he was, as Doc says, 'Seaton was a super, super boy scout'. After reading that swell yarn, we were the happiest fellows in the world. Doc told us that he was starting on a new story and was thinking seriously of shelving Kinneson. When we discussed his short story "Robot Nemesis", Doc said "l will never write a short story again*. And here is the reason why,..Doc told us that "R.N. was horribly slashed. He showed us places where whole paragraphs were slashed away. Can we blame this great writer??? No is the only answer when a real piece of writing is handled in the fashion that Thrilling Wonder Stories handled "Robot Nemesis"... More never-to-be-forgotten hours wore spent that day at Doc's rifle range in the basement. Doc is a professional marksman and conseq-
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18- FANTASY DIGEST A VISIT WITH DOC SMITH" by Erie Korshak Can you picture Mark Reinsberg and myself, two Chicago fans, trying to hitch-hike to a city 300 miles from Chicago? Well, that is exactly what happened one day, several weeks ago. After a 10 1/2 hour trip, braving the dangers of the open road, we found ourselves at our destination...Jackson, Michigan. After a short search, we were rewarded by the sight of Dr. Smith's residence. Upon ringing, the doorbell, we were informed that Dr. Smith had retired for the night. After telling Mrs. Smith that we were-science fiction fans from Chicago, we were ushered right in. And then the moment of moments. Down the stairs he came,... the one and only ...E.E. Smith! We spent that Saturday night talking until 4:00 in the morning. What did we talk about? Why, about Merritt and his hidden philosophy in the "Ship of Ishtar",,. ..about Burroughs and his style of writing, about Jack Williamson and his never endingly interesting stories...... about Weinbaum arid Seabury. Quinn, and C, L. Moore and...of Smith. We discussed Doc's (Doc is his name to you) stories from the Skylarks on through. He discussed their science and Doc always seemed to be right. And then came the real treat, of the evening. We had come to see Doc to get his promise .to attend the 1940 World Science Fiction Convention that is to be held in Chicago. Said Doc Smith: "I definitely will be there.." Think of it..Doc Smith will be at the convention........ And that grand evening was topped off by Doc presenting us with a bunch of old, rare fan magazines that he found laying on his desk. About Doc Smith..He Is a kindly man. Something over 50.,..Has graying hair, and mild blue eyes... .Above all he is very natural.,,,His favorite position being with his feet popped up on a desk. We.hit the hay at 4:00 that night and.awoke early. (Quickly dressing, we rushed down to a real breakfast—-the kind you get only at home. When it comes to favorite chefs, I nominate Mrs. Smith to a top position. We began the day by reading Doc's newest story, "Grey Lensman". Both Mark and I are fast readers, So it took us only 8 hours to read the 110,000 words (10,000 were cut out in the story when accepted for Astounding. We read this additional 10,000 words.) Needless to say "Grey Lensman" is beyond a doubt, Doc's greatest story,. A story that is one of the top ten stf stories of all time. This story continues where "Galactic Patrol" left off. It continues tho adventures of Kimball Kinneson, the Grey Lensman, as he tracks down Boskone. No, Helmuth is not Boskone. Boskone is a greater thing then Helmuth. But 'nuf said. In "Grey Lensman" there are some swell space battles and, above all, there is real characterization. Our hero is human and makes mistakes---plenty of them. The reason that Doc Smith did not like---and shelved Seaton was because he was, as Doc says, 'Seaton was a super, super boy scout'. After reading that swell yarn, we were the happiest fellows in the world. Doc told us that he was starting on a new story and was thinking seriously of shelving Kinneson. When we discussed his short story "Robot Nemesis", Doc said "l will never write a short story again*. And here is the reason why,..Doc told us that "R.N. was horribly slashed. He showed us places where whole paragraphs were slashed away. Can we blame this great writer??? No is the only answer when a real piece of writing is handled in the fashion that Thrilling Wonder Stories handled "Robot Nemesis"... More never-to-be-forgotten hours wore spent that day at Doc's rifle range in the basement. Doc is a professional marksman and conseq-
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