One of the first science fiction artists I ever noticed was John Berkey. I saw his work in old Starlog magazines in the 1970’s and I fell into trances staring at gargantuan spaceships. They were amazing.
I didn’t love Syd Mead’s futuristic imagery until I was a little older. Less dreamy. It had grownups doing grownup things. Still, when the time was right, I developed a similar fascination for his scenes of sleek vehicles and everyday life in the high-tech future. It was a different kind of dreaming: imagining myself stepping into those scenes and turning on some of the cool machines, riding Star Wars-looking cars with sloped windshields.
Anyway, it amuses me often to think of famous creators of the past that I admire meeting each other. I think it’s funnier if they’re arguing, though many of these folks were wonderful people who wouldn’t likely do that. I went fly fishing this past weekend with my son and he was later to breakfast so I took a stab using ChatGPT’s Pro mode to simulate Syd Mead and John Berkey arguing – and I left the topic completely up to the simulation. That’s what I did while I polished off my eggs & sausage and sipped my coffee.
As usual, when I wanted to spice things up, I added speculative fiction writer, Harlan Ellison who was always good for a spirited and insulting debate. And since no author has inspired me more than Arthur Clarke, I had him enter the stage as well. I like to have him throw out mind-melting ideas and smile as he waits to see what people do with them.
Want to see how that went?
Welcome back to an ongoing series here on Grailrunner where we resurrect great creators of the past and smash them together for energetic and hilarious conversations. We call it:
I’ll include the pdf download button at the bottom of this post. It’s about 30 pages and reads like a punchy little play, mostly funny banter where they take sides on the issue of details and believability in art. Feel free to take your own sides as you hear them out. After a while, Ellison and Clarke enter and do it, why not you?
Anyway, this is what I wanted to bring you today. It shouldn’t take long to read since they’re chirping at each other so much, throwing quips and digs as they go. I thought it was funny, but my sense of humor may be off from yours. I’m told that sometimes.
It’s called Spaceships, Plumbing and the Fate of Humanity. That’s Mead on the left, Berkey holding the palette, Ellison overreacting (of course), and Clarke grinning on the right at something he’s said to spin Ellison up.
Hope you enjoy! Smash the booklet image below to download the pdf for free. And let me know what you thought!
Till next time,
