James Gunn (1923-2020) | Hacker News Reader

James Gunn (1923-2020)

locusmag.com

59 pointssohkamyung25 comments

I met James Gunn in 2014, when I was at a residential writing workshop at the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas. That may have been the first year he wasn't helping lead part of the workshop, but he was still keeping an eye on things and talking with students. He was -- as the name of the center tells you -- a champion of the idea that science fiction was literature worthy of academic study, which was a pretty controversial take in the humanities for a long time (and still is in some quarters, I suspect). I still refer to some of the material he wrote for that workshop, too.

James E. Gunn, professor emeritus, University of Kansas

He wrote science fiction, in particular a novel "The Listeners", 1972. I don't read much SciFi, but I think "The listeners" is very good. It is worth reading if you can find a copy.

After your recommendation, I went to Amazon and bought one of many used copies on sale there.

After working at a radio astronomy observatory, I was impressed when I read "The Listeners".

Despite unshakable public belief, we didn't do any SETI work.

But the characters in this short story -- yes.

Apparently no relation to the other James Gunn movie director of several Marvel movies

I liked his modern witch stories, clearly adapted from the 40ies "I Married a Witch" with Veronica Lake. Very sexy and charming political fantasy, with the witch being Russian. The most successful TV series ever, "Bewitched" followed.

It is so wonderful he was able to keep working til his last days at 97 years old.

Cant ask for much more with a biography like that. A life well lived doing what he loved to the end, with many moments of success.

yeah and I always wonder how life is when you are that old. I mean one of my grandmothers died before being 80, while my other grandmother is 91. the younger one needed help (alzheimer) and had a miserable life post 70. while the other is alive (has his problems, but still). I'm always baffeled why some people could be so well for an eternety and others start to have problems way earlier.

I recently read Transcendental and related books by this author and really enjoyed the writing style and stories. What a cool life to get to create and share science fiction with us for so many years.

Should clarify title a bit. At first I thought this was the director.

I think the year span given makes it pretty clear it is not the director.

I agree. I was just terrified for a second.

Well that's just sad.

I think it's understandable if you enjoy something to be feel a bit apprehensive about the idea of never getting to enjoy new parts of it. Lots of people would be very dissatisfied if GRR martin or rothfuss died before finishing their series.

Tempted to flag on principal. I have no idea who this person is, yet he's front-paged in the same year that every post concerning Kobe Bryant's passing was dead-modded in some weird way (search his name and there are dozens of posts with zero comments, and the few with them were forced to mention it obliquely).

I don't think a US sports professional is as interesting to an international audience as an author. Enthusiasm for a specific sport is not as international as literature.

I had to google who Kobe Bryant was.

May both Kobe and James rest in piece - but 150 000 people die each day. This forum surely cannot fit obituaries for all of them - have to draw a line somewhere.

While we’re on the subject, let’s wish the dead some peace (not piece) please.

Yes. Excuse my autocorrectlesness.

>> Enthusiasm for a specific sport is not as international as literature.

Brilliant.

Kobe Bryant's death is arguably the most infamous of a year defined by death. This is the only HN post mourning Gunn; again, there were dozens of attempts to give HN readers a place to mourn Bryant's death in a venue they found comfortable. Each of them were either flagged or modded so that they would not show up on the front page.

It's interesting that you're unaware who one of the most famous people on the planet was (he was the third most searched topic of the year[1]), but for what it's worth, he was much more than simply a sports professional, and his influence was certainly felt in tech as well as elsewhere.[2]

There was no need to "draw a line." HN users could have been allowed to decide for themselves who and how they wanted to talk about things that are meaningful to them and the tech/hacker community.

1: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/12/09/googles-top-t...

2: https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/27/daily-crunch-kobe-bryant/

I don’t think it’s interesting I was unaware who he was. I am not located in US and Kobe was not an internatinal celebrity before his death. I remebered reading about the accident but could not link the name to the event. I sense he was important to you. We all have to let go of those who leave us behind. Go in peace.

Bryant was, in fact, a major international celebrity. He was among the most popular players in a sport with global reach - his jersey was the highest-selling for many years - and represented the US in 2 Olympic gold medal runs, including when the games were hosted by the nation that represents the largest market for basketball outside the US (China).

I suspect, as is common in the tech and venture capital scene worldwide, his race had something to do with the appraisal a limited number of influential people on HN had of him. What's important to me is that people in this community start to recognize the blindspots and, in unfortunate cases, biases which contribute to the schism between the makers and the people whose lives their creations are supposed to be making better. Step one would be taking this criticism seriously and with humility.

Your analysis of ethnic biases sounds plausible in the general case, but in my specific case I'm fairly ignorant of all athletes and sports - I find them all equally unexciting regardless of ethnicity. I realize this puts me in the minority as rest of humankind is concerned.

hackers are more interested in SciFi than sport, shouldn't really come as a surprise. As a non American, no idea who both were.

edit: but James Gunn look more interesting to me I would say. Also Kobe Bryant was apparently major news in the US, and this site is more about alternative, more obscure or specific news. Authors don't get celebrated enough compared to sport celebrities in my opinion

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