In Memoriam: Philip José Farmer, 1918-2009

[thatcrazycajun]

Somewhere in the timestream, Josie Bauer is weeping in lament for her dad. Philip José Farmer, one of the last of the Silver Age greats of science fiction, has passed away at the ripe old age of 91 of causes not as yet reported. His obit can be found on the website of his hometown paper here.

For the Riverworld series alone, he deserves eternal installation in the pantheon of writers that includes such Golden Agers as Asimov, Heinlein and Clarke, now all gone to their own rewards. But that was hardly all he wrote—under his own name or his notorious noms de plume such as Kilgore Trout or Cordwainer Bird—nor all he accomplished in his long and rich life. Wikipedia's entry on him contains much of this, but it can only even begin to scratch the surface of all the influence he had on other writers...including a certain now-gray Spider, who slyly paid homage to PJF in his own most famous series. The Wold-Newton family's genealogy, connecting far more famous heroes of fact and fancy than I can possibly recall offhand, was another Farmer achievement.

A grateful fandom thanks you, sir, and wishes you a well-earned rest...assuming, of course, you haven't simply ended up on Riverworld yourself.

Comments

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

And he ended his life 'til he hears a voice say, "To your scattered bodies go . . ."

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Where was the Farmer ref in Callahan's?

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

See the story "Have You Heard the One...?" which introduces Al Phee. Originally published in Time Travelers Strictly Cash.

Although

[maverick-weirdo.livejournal.com]

Somewhere in the timestream, Josie Bauer is weeping in lament for her dad.

She at least can go back in time to visit him

[lemmozine.livejournal.com]

I have been a huge fan of Mr. Farmer's work since, oh, 1974 - more than half my lifetime. I've probably read around 90% of everything he ever wrote. My favorite is probably the pocket universe series.

I can think of one Riverworld song, written by a local Denver filker - Kathy Mar sings it occasionally - it's the one where the chorus goes "You've got to drink up the river until you drown."

Does anyone know any other songs based on Farmer's work?

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Ah, hmmmm....

1. Are you referring to a filk of Kathy Mar's own "Drink Up the River" (Pegasus Award, 1994, Best Filk Song), or
2. Are you referring to "Drink Up the River" as a Riverworld song, or
3. Are you putting us on?

[lemmozine.livejournal.com]

No, it's a parody of Kathy Mar's song, written by Sourdough Jackson, and Kathy does sing it occasionally.

And it's really good.

Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of the lyrics.

[lemmozine.livejournal.com]

I found a reference on the internet. Apparently the song I was thinking of is called Suicide Express and came out on a tape, in 1988.

http://www.filk.info/filkdb/zeige_medium.php?id=440

It's a great song, but the lyrics don't seem to be posted anywhere, and the tape is very OOP.

I also did a search for other Farmer filks and found one, also a Riverworld filk.