Letters

We'll see

I am glad to hear that the editor has gotten a computer. Maybe in the near future we can see straight columns and fewer typos.

Bernard Macejewski
Juneston, South Carolina

We can only hope,
The Editor

Smith Redeemed

Just who is Neal Wilgus, and what has he done for us lately? His attack on L. Neil Smith's Tom Paine Maru and The Gallatin Divergence seems more suited to a Karl Marx or Vladimir Lenin obituary. He obviously does not know that Tom Paine Maru was butchered by Del Rey; in fact the word "censorship" comes to mind. And he doesn't even mention "A New Covenent" now "The North American covenant," from The Gallatin Divergence. Perhaps the concepts presented in that document are a little advanced for Mr. Wilgus, and he chose to disregard them. Or is the "Good German Syndrome" rearing its ugly head? Are we expected to be upright Libertarian Party soldiers? Is Anarchism a dirty word? Mr. Wilgus might do well to look up the meaning of Voluntaryism, and attempt to figure out what its impact could be—...

And the inclusion of another attacker's remarks of "arf, arf," and "rotten writer" make for cute opinions, but they leave us grasping for definable objections. Are Wilgus and bis buddy writing for low-I.Q. Democrats?

There is little I can do to alter perceptions of L. Neil Smith. But I do know that his range runs from "pure" Sci-fi such as the Lando Calrissian books to a mind-tingling glimpse of possibilities in the North American Confederacy series. Are all his jokes good? Are anyone's? Does he weave mystery, romance, adventure, and humor into his fabric of philosophy? Absolutely: And his books are fast-paced, something that cannot be said for many others.

Perhaps it would be wise to assign Mr. Wilgus to review a Nixon book, or maybe something by Hitler. Then his acidic prose might accomplish something, and at least entertain those who love liberty.

D.R. Blackmon
Etiwanda, California

Neal Wilgus was not trying to castigate L. Neil Smith's morals, his philosophy or his libertarian credentials. Wilgus was criticizing the literary qualities of his last few novels. It would be interesting to hand Smith $50,000 and say "Now, write one book this year instead of five." Perhaps then we could get Smith's version of Atlas Shrugged (which, by the way took Rand ten years). In the meantime. one of Smith's latest, The Wardove, is from all reports, the best Smith yet. See D.R. Blackmon's review in this issue.

The Editor