Rest In Peace, Philip Jose Farmer

Philip Jose Farmer passed away this morning at the age of 91.

He was a giant in science fiction. If the Riverworld series was all he wrote, his immortality would be assured. But he created so much more.

He had a love for the age of pulp magazines heroes. In fact, when I published a Doc Savage fanzine in high school with my friend John Boehm, Farmer was he first author I ever interviewed. Even as he tried to convince me over the phone that Doc Savage and Tarzan were real people, he remained a true gentleman. In later correspondence he encouraged my writing, and never treated me like the gawky fanboy I was.


I think I'm going to sit down with To Your Scattered Bodies Go, and rediscover the brilliance of his work.

Funked-Up Hog Meat

Proving that Internet radio shows have officially run out of guests, I’ve been invited to appear on The Funky Werepig tonight at 11:00 (eastern).

What’s that, Mark? you say. You’ll be a guest at 11:00 PM on a day where you got out of bed at 2:00 AM?

Why, yes. That’s right. Imagine the hilarity. Imagine the fun. Imagine the incoherent rambling.

Hard to believe they don’t charge you to listen.

I’m not sure what we’ll discuss, but I’m guessing the topics may include Pod of Horror, my meager literary efforts and my inexplicable fascination for Rachael Ray and Marie Osmond.

Tune in at the link above. If you hear somebody snoring, it will be me.