Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Once upon a time, (early nineties) I was sitting in a holiday inn lobby in Jefferson City, which, although it is the state capital is a very small town. I got talking to a young black woman next to me - I'm pathologically shy and don't usually talk to young black women next to me. Said she was Octavia Butler and wrote science fiction. (Not totally coincidence; we were both at the hotel for the con, but could have been mistaken for mundanes.) Some time later I read one of her books and was impressed - I've forgotten the title [Kindred], but it reminded of Toni Morrison's Beloved, which, outside the science fiction ghetto, is considered an important book. So I was pleased to read today on Boing-Boing that Butler was awarded the McArthur prize, which comes with a half million dollars, as was Richard Stallman. Several years ago, I'm just finding out about it now. Actually 1995, not too long after I met her. Update: this Tyler Cowan post at marginal revolutions points to her newest stuff.
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