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Four Inducted Into SF Hall of Fame

maxentius writes "There are four new members of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Chesley Bonestell, Philip K. Dick, Ray Harryhausen, and Steven Spielberg. The Hall, once located in Lawrence, Kansas, is now a part of the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle. This brings to 40 the number of inductees; the newest members will be officially welcomed May 6. According to the SF Museum site, "The event will include a cocktail hour, seated dinner, induction ceremony, and after-party." The ceremony will occur in the middle of the Eaton Conference, a three-day presentation co-sponsored by the museum and the University of California Riverside's Eaton Collection. This year's topic is "Inventing the 21st Century: Many Worlds, Many Histories.""

54 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. Philip K. Dick by FunWithHeadlines · · Score: 5, Funny

    Philip K. Dick would, of course, find something darkly paranoid about this honor and would have accepted with suspicion. :)

    1. Re:Philip K. Dick by ackthpt · · Score: 3, Funny
      Philip K. Dick would, of course, find something darkly paranoid about this honor and would have accepted with suspicion. :)

      Maybe he'd work it into a book which Speilberg could make a movie out of.

      --

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    2. Re:Philip K. Dick by AndroidCat · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Spielberg would make a dog's dinner out of it and call it a movie. (Not so much a knock at Spielberg as at most attempts to capture PKD on the screen: much the same as the way a killing jar captures butterflies.)

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    3. Re:Philip K. Dick by ackthpt · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Spielberg would make a dog's dinner out of it and call it a movie. (Not so much a knock at Spielberg as at most attempts to capture PKD on the screen: much the same as the way a killing jar captures butterflies.)

      Really. Rather see Ridley Scott up there for Alien and Blade Runner, further he's bringing back Andromeda Strain.

      --

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  2. Steven Spielberg? by ackthpt · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Man... The guy will have his version of War of The Worlds come out shortly afterwards. Why would this be? I don't especially associated him with Sci-Fi. Is this a ploy of some sort?

    Lord knows there's a heck of a lot of authors who have done more for Sci-Fi than his films.

    --

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    1. Re:Steven Spielberg? by AuMatar · · Score: 2, Informative

      E.T.

      --
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    2. Re:Steven Spielberg? by raitchison · · Score: 4, Informative

      http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000229/

      E.T, Jurassic Park Series, Back to the Future Series, Batteries Not Included, Men In Black just to name a few.

      All of those are classics or wee massively popular, some are both (not going to categorize here)

      Not the greatest contributor ot SciFi of all time but definitely certianly a candidate for the hall of fame.

    3. Re:Steven Spielberg? by ackthpt · · Score: 3, Insightful
      http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000229/

      Pop stuff, mostly. JP series was horrible compared to the books. I'd give him a nod for close encounters, but that's about it.

      What about the Michael Crichton, the guy who wrote the JP books?

      Closer to the hearts of /.ers, what about Gene Roddenberry?

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    4. Re:Steven Spielberg? by liangzai · · Score: 2, Insightful

      He is a great popularizer of science fiction, and therefore eligible.

      You can compare this to scientists like Carl Sagan, whose direct contributions to science weren't tremendous, but whose popularization of science has meant a great deal.

    5. Re:Steven Spielberg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The bigger question to me is why they're honoring someone whos films are derivative of old school scifi, and ignoring (so far) the icons of new wave scifi of the 60s and 70s.

      Chosing someone like Spielberg, involved only peripherally in scifi, as opposed to Harlan Ellison and Roger Zelaszny, who managed to help scifi stay fresh, interesting and relevant in a post-modern world really makes me wonder.

      And where the hell is William Gibson? Anyone who says that E.T. had anywhere near the impact of Neuromancer needs to have their head examined.

    6. Re:Steven Spielberg? by snuf23 · · Score: 2, Informative

      And indeed it was. An SGI Irix system running 3D File System Navigator.

      --
      Sometimes my arms bend back.
    7. Re:Steven Spielberg? by Sanga · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Are you claiming SS wrote all this (/created all of this from scratch?). If rehashing pre-told SCIFI was fair game you can include AI and Minority Report.

      That way, Kubrick has more of a claim to make it there -- he set the tone for many scifi (/fantasy) flicks to follow.

    8. Re:Steven Spielberg? by Babbster · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Closer to the hearts of /.ers, what about Gene Roddenberry?

      Having looked at the member list, I can only conclude that they're not giving TV scifi any respect. I would certainly expect Gene to enter a scifi hall of fame before Spielberg, if for no other reason than Star Trek came out and had an impact long before Spielberg's stuff. It's certainly had more impact on the scifi culture over four decades.

      A similar oversight in my view is Irwin Allen. He's created, produced and/or directed quite a bit of popular scifi material, most notably Lost in Space.

      Bottom line is that the people are probably folks who are uppity and don't consider TV high enough art (yes, there have been ST movies but the TV was and is homebase for ST).

    9. Re:Steven Spielberg? by Ohreally_factor · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Does the fact that they're finally inducting PKD tell you nothing?

      --
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    10. Re:Steven Spielberg? by 1u3hr · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Does the fact that they're finally inducting PKD tell you nothing?

      It tells me it's a sop to literary SF, to cover up their sell out to Hollywood sci-fi's version, where directors of movies based on SF writer's books are honoured. And Ray Harryhousen?? For God's sake, he was a great special effects guy, but what the hell has that to do with SF? And most moves he worked on I can reall were straigh-out fantasy, animated skeletons, etc.P> If they are going to hounour contributors to movie SF they should have started with the Lumiere Brothers.

      Anyway, this marks the end of any credibility of this so-called "Hall of Fame" in my eyes, call me a snob if you will.

  3. No Olaf Stapledon? by rokzy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm no expert and don't recognise most of the names, but thought Olaf would be there?

  4. No Frank Herbert? by downward+dog · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Besides Asimov and Bradbury, I would have thought for sure that he'd be there. The Dune series (and not just the first book!) is a serious contender for greatest work of SF/Fantasy ever written.

    Someone correct me and tell me that I just missed him!

    1. Re:No Frank Herbert? by mustbepatient · · Score: 5, Informative

      You're not the only one who thinks that highly of Dune - it's ranked #1 on the Locus list: http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/LocusAT1975.ht ml#allnvl Given that, he should be in soon...

    2. Re:No Frank Herbert? by ackthpt · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Besides Asimov and Bradbury, I would have thought for sure that he'd be there. The Dune series (and not just the first book!) is a serious contender for greatest work of SF/Fantasy ever written. Someone correct me and tell me that I just missed him!

      Tell me about it. I used to work in a library and had to look after the sci-fi section for months. What about Clifford Simak? Ben Bova? Alice Sheldon (aka James Tipree)?

      at least not L. Ron Hubbard

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    3. Re:No Frank Herbert? by unitron · · Score: 2, Insightful
      "But it could be that your quote itself explains why he's not there. It's the "Science Fiction" hall of fame, not the Fantasy hall of fame."

      The presence of the recently deceased Andre Norton on the winners' list rather argues against that explanation. I suspect that since they've only been at it since 1996 they have a lot of catching up to do, and the self-imposed "2 living, 2 dead" rule probably complicates things as well.

      --

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    4. Re:No Frank Herbert? by Lars+T. · · Score: 2, Insightful

      How about John Brunner?

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      Lars T.

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  5. Spielberg? O_o by codergeek42 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What the heck has he done for Sci-Fi?

    1. Re:Spielberg? O_o by blackmonday · · Score: 2, Informative

      E.T.
      Close Encounters Of The 3rd Kind
      Minority Report
      Back To The Future (Producer)
      Innerspace (Producer)
      Pinky And The Brain (Producer)
      Jurassic Park
      A.I.
      Men In Black (Producer)

      Sure, these aren't "hardcore" SF offerings, but its hard to imagine another guy, other than Lucas, who consistently churns out enjoyable Scifi fare.

    2. Re:Spielberg? O_o by snuf23 · · Score: 2, Informative

      That would be Michael Crichton. And Minority Report was based on a story by Phillip K. Dick. I don't think they inducted Spielberg for his writing, I'm sure it's for his work bringing Sci-Fi to the movies.
      I don't agree with it. Spielberg always strikes me a director who likes to use cheap appeals to emotion to manipulate his audience. A little heavy handed for me.

      --
      Sometimes my arms bend back.
    3. Re:Spielberg? O_o by GnarlyNome · · Score: 2, Funny

      I've seen Jurassic Park but is Jurassic fucking Park the p0rn version?

      --
      Diplomacy is the art of saying "Nice doggie" until you can find a rock. Will Rogers
  6. A Tribute to Ray Harryhausen by sheetsda · · Score: 3, Informative

    For anyone with a taste for the bizarre (like me), I recommend checking out A Tribute to Ray Harryhausen. (Macromedia Flash required)

  7. Adams by schnits0r · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What? No Douglas Adams? He was my favourite

    1. Re:Adams by SlashThat · · Score: 3, Insightful

      He should definitely be on the list. It's hard for people to appreciate in year 2005, but Adams' understanding of where the computing world was heading, back in 1978, amazes me.

      My favorite part of H2G2 is when Adams tells about the robots with "genuine people personalities". I.e. Marvin (the paranoid android), the doors that go "thank you" when you go through them and Eddie, the ship computer. What is amazing is that Adams not only visioned that computers will be user friendly (in 1978!), but also how annoying this will be!

      --
      1's and 0's should be free.
  8. Spielberg: Happy Ending Man by handy_vandal · · Score: 3, Funny

    What the heck has [Spielberg] done for Sci-Fi?

    Given it happy endings.

    -kgj

    --
    -kgj
  9. Re:Wait a minute! by ackthpt · · Score: 2, Insightful
    What about George Lucas?

    An excellent point, further, because of his success a smattering of other authors, such as Michael Stackpole (who languished at FASA for a while, doing some pretty damn good BattleTech novels) got some real exposure.

    Love or hate Star Wars, he's had a great impact.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  10. Slight typo by GuyMannDude · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sure, these aren't "hardcore" SF offerings, but its hard to imagine another guy, other than Lucas, who consistently churns out enjoyable Scifi fare.

    I hate to nitpick but your sentence seems to be implying that Lucas makes enjoyable SciFi fare.

    GMD

  11. Re:Spielberg? by GnarlyNome · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Eric Flint for starting Open Source Science Fiction Library http://www.baen.com/library/
    And dDavid Baen for sponsoring it

    --
    Diplomacy is the art of saying "Nice doggie" until you can find a rock. Will Rogers
  12. Re:Appaling by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    When the hell did Jack Valenti start frequenting slashdot?

  13. Harryhausen and Spielberg... by exp(pi*sqrt(163)) · · Score: 3, Insightful
    ...are excellent film makers but they've brought shame on science fiction by making "science fiction movie" synonymous with "action movie with dinosaurs and aliens 'n' stuff". Maybe someone should reserve some spaces in the Hall of Fame for film makers who actually make their audiences think as much as a well written science fiction novel or short story.

    (Note: I love Harryhausen's movies (I have the 3 DVD Sinbad set for a start) and one or two of Spielberg's. My gripe is only with which Hall of Fame they're being placed in.)

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    1. Re:Harryhausen and Spielberg... by networkBoy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I think you're missing an important point.
      Spielberg's big gift to Sci-Fi is that he's gotten more people into it than anyone else. Even if he bastardises the novel for the sake of the big screen, he exposes countless people to Sci-Fi who would never ever pick up a book (without at lease some inspiration).
      Thus, he belongs in the hall of fame.
      -nB

      --
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  14. Close encounters of the third kind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Are people too young to have seen this? One of the best of the genre. I'm am not a UFO believer, but this had me going. The encoounter with the mothership at devils tower was to die for and sets the standard in first contact scenarios. Totally realistic and fully realized on an epic scale. Required no suspension of disbelief in this hardened cynic.

  15. Re:I hope that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    You are a moron. It doesn't matter what the "fans" want or don't want. Lucas could release a 2-hour movie of himself taking a shit, call it "Star Wars Episode 3", and you would happily wait in line for 3 days for tickets. So STFU.

  16. Robert Sheckley by AmicoToni · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I am absolutely shocked to see that Robert Sheckley is not in the list!

    The author of the AAA Ace Agency series, Mindswap, the priceless Dimension of Miracles, and countless others...!
    How can it be??

    For further info: http://www.sheckley.com/

  17. I am now eagerly anticipating by Timesprout · · Score: 4, Funny

    The slashdot explosion of rage when George Lucas gets inducted.

    --
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  18. The first person to ask... by uhlume · · Score: 3, Funny

    what this headline has to do with San Francisco gets dumped in the Bay. That is all.

    --
    SIERRA TANGO FOXTROT UNIFORM
  19. Isaac Asimov by Winckle · · Score: 2, Interesting

    His book of short stories entitled I, robot is simply fantastic. I have it in pdf format if you PM me. It's nothing like the hollywood garbage of the same name, before i accidently start a flamewar!

  20. Never really was in Kansas by L-Train8 · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Hall, once located in Lawrence, Kansas, is now a part of the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle.

    The Hall was originally run be a group in Lawrence, Kansas, but there was no actual physical place. They would hold meetings to induct members, then send plaques to the new inductees. It wasn't until the Science Fiction Museum worked out a deal to house the place that it became a physical reality, some place that you could go visit.

    Also, the Kansas group was the Sci Fi/Fantasy Hall of Fame, but the Seattle Sci-Fi Museum didn't want to include fantasy. Fortunately, all the members with a background in fantasy also had at least some sci-fi in their ouevre.

    --

    Don't forget that Friday is Hawaiian shirt day.
  21. Re:I hope that... by eclectro · · Score: 2, Funny

    It doesn't matter what the "fans" want or don't want. Lucas could release a 2-hour movie of himself taking a shit, call it "Star Wars Episode 3", and you would happily wait in line for 3 days for tickets. So STFU.

    I wouldn't go that far. He'll wear a black cape.

    --
    Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
  22. What About . . . by White+Roses · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Charles Dikkens?

    That's Dikkens with two k's, the well known Dutch author.

    Seriously, though, what about Python animator and accomplished director Terry Gilliam? 12 Monkeys? Time Bandits? Brazil? Cripes, that one scene in Life of Brian?!? Now, that's science fiction. If we're nominating directors now, Gilliam is high on my list.

    --
    Do not touch -Willie
  23. He'll be the 42nd inductee ;-) by codergeek42 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Just you wait and see :-)

  24. Zeladbury by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 2, Funny

    The SF Hall of Fame won't be complete until it inducts writers not yet born. I nominate the hybrid clone of Bradbury and Zelazny.

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  25. Re:No Shelley until 2004? by Kiryat+Malachi · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They've been at it since 1996, and induct 4 per year (2 living, 2 dead). So she was inducted after a grand total of 16 other people. Which other people?

    Isaac Asimov. Alfred Bester. James Blish. Edgar Rice Burroughs. John Campbell, Jr. Hal Clement. Hugo Gernsback. Heinlein. Damon Knight. Fritz Leiber. Abraham Merritt. C.L. Moore (a woman). Eric Russell. Theodore Sturgeon. A.E. Van Vogt. Jules Verne. H.G. Wells. Donald Wollheim.

    And if you look at the competition, Shelley was up against some tough competition. Was Frankenstein historically important to the development of sci-fi? Absolutely. But was Shelley more important than people like Asimov, Heinlein, Campbell? I'd even argue that inducting her before PKD was doing a huge disservice to the genre. Gender-friendliness is nice, but when you're talking about the best of the best, there's no shame in acknowledging that *due to historical and cultural reasons*, the majority of those are men. Going out of your way to induct a woman just because she's a woman makes a mockery of both the idea of an award, and of the body of work of the individual so "honored".

    (Oh, yeah. LeGuin was inducted in 2001, Andre Norton in 1997, and CL Moore in 98. FOAD with your accusations of gender bias, please.)

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  26. If you are going to let Spielberg in... by __aaasvk1266 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    because of a high fan-boy index, shame on you.

    He has no business getting in ahead of (in alphabetical order):

    J.G. Ballard: Not all of his is writing is SF. But his Vermilion Sands type work certainly qualifies.

    William Gibson: Only created Cyberpunk.

    Frank Herbert: As others have mentioned, should have a ballot for Dune.

    Stanislaw Lem: Not seeing him in the HoF is a fucking embarassment, and shows how shallow the average American SF reader is. He has far better material than Solaris.

    Larry Niven: Big Iron stuff like Ringworld earns him a slot, along with his humor (Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex).

    G. Harry Stine: If you don't know who he is, shame on you again. Go back to school. He's as important as Shelley.

    1. Re:If you are going to let Spielberg in... by MSBob · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Thanks for pointing out Lem. He's one of my favourites as well as my fellow countryman. Besides his writing he is also credited with bringing to focus the works of Philip K Dick who was a relatively obscure writer in Europe until Lem started to pimp him in all respected Sci-Fi magazines.

      --
      Your pizza just the way you ought to have it.
  27. Re:Philip K Dick by MSBob · · Score: 2, Insightful
    True enough. I was also surprised he wasn't there. To me the guy made sci-fi into a respectable genre. Before him it was mostly flying saucers and men in sliver suits firing guns with light bulbs.

    That said, I find his work a mixed bag. From absolute total brilliance (Ubik, Three stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Martian Timeslip) to some pretty lame crap (Clans of the alphane Moon, We can build you). He was a very prolific writer but he also has his share of crap.

    On average though he's probably #1 in Sci-Fi in my opinion. Oh, and his short stories are totally mind blowing.

    --
    Your pizza just the way you ought to have it.
  28. Chesley Bonestell's "Atomic War" paintings by bkrog · · Score: 2, Informative

    This wonderful, talented painter, illustrator and architect did a stunning series of paintings -- many reproduced in an article in Collier's Magazine in 1948 -- graphically depicting nuclear attacks on New York and Moscow (both the detonations themselves and their aftermath). Prints of these have never been made available to the public, although several are reproduced in the book "The Art of Chesley Bonestell". After Bonestell's death, they were left/given to the New York Historical Society. They are not currently on display, but interested parties can contact the Collections Manager at the Society, and can make an appointment for a viewing.
    http://www.nyhistory.org/

  29. Re:Stanislaw Lem? by 1u3hr · · Score: 2, Informative
    Is it an All-American affair?

    Not quite. There's Mary Shelly, Brian Aldiss, Arthur C Clarke, Jules Verne, Eric Frank Russell and Michael Moorcok, for instance. But now they're indicting movie directors and stop-motion animators don't hold your breath for many names not known to the presenters of "Entertainment Tonight".

  30. Chris Carter by Scott7477 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    belongs in the scifi hall of fame now! "The X-Files" has been to TV scifi what "Amazing Stories" was to magazine scifi. The exploration of the conflict between skepticism and faith, demonstrating the use of science to solve crimes, in general consistently excellent storytelling, development of complex characters, high quality musical scoring, mixing individual stories with a lengthy unifying background plot, a healthy willingness to not take the characters and the story too seriously, are all attributes of this series that contributed to it being one of the all time greatest television series. IMO, "X-Files" is far superior to Star Trek.

    --
    "Lack of technical competence coupled with the arrogance of power, as usual, leads to no good end."
  31. capturing PKD on film by gad_zuki! · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think the grandparent is quite correct. It is difficult capturing PKD on film. First off, his stories are usually very dense and character driven. That means a long film and being able to do character development.

    For instance, Blade Runner has only the setting of the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and the most basic plot elements. Its missing Deckerd's marital problems, Mercerism, the little existential crisis, lots of important scenes and ideas, etc. Scott pretty much took the story and turned it into an action movie, albiet a moody and gorgeous sci-fi action movie.

    This review has an interesting quote: The film version, on the other hand, was shaped along the lines of a mean-streets detective novel by Raymond Chandler. In it the pervasive confusion is a puzzle to be solved, not an exercise in mind-bending.

    I just saw Blade Runner again at a late night viewing and am blown away by how well made of a film it is and how it captures the vision of a near-future dystopia, but it has very little in common with the book.

    The other PKD stories turned movies have been mostly short-stories, as a short story is pretty much the size and scope of a typical movie. But even Minority Report was trimmed down and the politics from the story were removed and replaced with more action sequences.