E.B. Frohvet, Ellicott City, MD, USA

Thank you for Challenger #23. The obvious theme was New Orleans the Hurricane Katrina disaster, and the different takes on it were dramatic and moving. If there was an aspect that troubled me, it was the generally nasty tone of the Bush-bashing. Much of the criticism appeared fair, and I hold no brief for Mr. Bush (except that, as an honorably discharged veteran, I still feel oathbound to “protect and defend the Constitution,” and thus respect the office even if I have substantial differences with the incumbent or his policies). The side of it which concerned me was the problem of Chall becoming the anti-Fosfax, a mainly political zine of the left, as Fosfax is a mainly political zine of the right.

In her play Watch on the Rhine, my onetime teacher Lillian Hellman had a Nazi tell a guy “You’re too cynical to be really dangerous.” I never want to get that cynical. Of course, in person Hellman once told me, “Somebody’s got to stop them.” No doubt who “them” was, or is.
I regard her comment as a charge.

I was really interested by Joseph Green’s article on John W. Campbell. I never had the opportunity to meet Campbell; he was before my time. As you probably know, Bob Sabella’s Who Shaped Science Fiction lists the three most important figures in SF history as: Campbell, Wells, Heinlein, in that order. It also took me a moment to realize that the shy teenager mentioned in the article is the charming lady whom I had the pleasure of meeting briefly in Chicago!

Richard Dengrove: I had never heard of G. Pope before, and I think of myself as moderately well read in SF. But certainly E.R. Burroughs was a pulp hack of the times – even Tarzan was not a greatly original concept; so it’s certainly possible he might have been influenced by the earlier work to some degree. A good sercon piece.

Gregory Benford: Even if we are confining the conversation to fiction, I would have second thoughts about “I don’t think you should write anything unless it is fun.” Down that road lies “You shouldn’t read anything unless it is fun,” which would rule out 80% of the world’s great literature, and probably a higher percentage of SF. Then there’s the questionable overlap between what’s fun for the writer, versus what’s fun for the reader.

Indeed – and “great literature” got that way because it was satisfying – enjoyable – stimulating – compelling to its audience. Hamlet and Huckleberry Finn and Moby Dick and Ulysses are all of those things to me. What “fun” means to a writer is another story—because art flows from deeper waters than mere diversion.

Mike Resnick: Whether Jefferson was “devout” remains to be seen.
Since T.J. died in 1826 – on July 4, according to legend – there doesn’t seem to be much that isn’t known about him. His deism may be questionable, but on one subject he certainly was a true believer: “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility to every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” On that point he was devout. Are we?

Lloyd Penney: I read an interesting observation that one of the reasons boys enjoy video games far more than girls is that failure at them is private.

Joseph Major, and Guy: I have decided not to have a birthday this year. The custom simply bores me.

Sheryl Birkhead: I’m with you. The Hugo rules ought to be clarified to prevent double-dipping for both “fanzine” and “website.” Not that I really care, except abstractly.

Guy, on politics: A good, fair-minded, liberal rant on how the system should work. Much of your take is admirable, much less of it is feasible. You assume that congress-critters should want to govern fairly and for the benefit of the nation as a whole. That is just not the case.