Better late than never

[captainsblog]

I was beta-reading a Friend's fic earlier today, and there was a plot twist in it which reminded me a little of one used in one of my alltime favorite Twilight Zone episodes. I'd forgotten that the writer of that particular ep, and several others, was Richard Matheson, so I did a bit of checking to see if he's still with us and what he's up to.

First and foremost, he is. With us, that is, and up to stuff, which some 84-year-olds aren't. A number of his stories are in production in variously-lengthed film projects.

While he probably remains best known for his Zone contributions, he's covered quite a range beyond that in his writing career which is longer than my own lifetime. One impressive outcropping from the sci-fi genre, which never clicked with me as his until today, is Duel. He wrote the short story on which it was based, and the screenplay for the TV movie that was probably Steven Spielberg's best-known work before Jaws, and it was loosely based on a real-life encounter Matheson had with a semi- on the day of JFK's assassination. That alone makes my memory of that movie even spookier.

An even nicer touch was learning that he was named to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame this year.

Be well, good sir, and enjoy your accolades. You've deserved them.

Comments

[bill_sheehan.livejournal.com]

I read Matheson's Born of Man and Woman when I was a kid, and it blew my mind. He wrote my favorite Star Trek episode, The Enemy Within. He's a great writer.