TAVERN MOOD
The melancholy
faces drift in gloom like pale
headlights through the fog.
—Walt Klein
WHAT THE CAT DRAGGED IN
All letters for this column should be sent to Robert E. Briney, 561 W. Western Avenue, Muskegon, Michigan. No letter should exceed 250 words in length.
Dear Bob: Maybe you're wondering what my reaction was toward Saunders' story, A PHONE IS RINGING. Well, I'm still wondering, too. I don't know whether I liked it or whether I didn't. I'm perplexed. Before I go any further, however, I must admit that the story held my interest. The suspense was superbly executed. But when I read the ending, I was disappointed. It seemed as if Saunders had a good idea in the beginning ... but as the tale progressed, he forgot about it. He seemed to be in too much of a rush to get it finished. And the ending struck me——huh? I'm still saying "huh?" Perhaps I skipped a vital paragraph in the story—I'll have to reread it one of these days and possibly my "huh?" will change to an "Oh!" I don't know, though. The short-shorts, I didn't care for, and as for Leverentz' column.... I cannot see how he considers "The Crimson Pirate" as science-fiction. He creates an argument that really isn't an argument. CP was a comedy, anyway, and it was supposed to create a laugh, which it did.... This is the first time I have heard it classed as science fiction. [If memory serves, it was not Leverentz but the movie reviewer he quoted who classed "Crimson Pirate" as science fiction, thus reflecting the public opinion of sf.—Ed.] Not that science fiction is "respectable"—but Leverentz should have chosen a better example to illustrate his point.——Joe Semenovich, 155-07 71st Avenue, Flushing 67, New York. P.S.: In SOLUTION T-400 there are 399 words! You're wrong, Ken, I took time to count them.
[Judging from the following letter from Larry Saunders, we doubt that you missed a vital point in A PHONE IS RINGING. In fact, you probably noticed something that no one else has bothered to comment upon, and which Larry mentions in his letter.—Ed.]
Dear Bob: An explanation for the confusion that probably resulted from the appearance of A PHONE IS RINGING seems to be in order. I wrote the story some years ago while I was under the influence of Leiber, Bradbury, and Benet. When I submitted it to Paul, he accepted it with reservations. In other words, he was confused. He suggested that I might rewrite it and clear up a few points. This seemed like a good idea. The fact remains that I am a lazy SOB, in other words a typical fan, and I never did rewrite it for him. Its appearance in the Nov.-Jan. issue of F-F thus came as a complete and utter surprise to me. I was both pleased and embarrassed. Embarrassed because the story is a confused mess. As it stands, I know what's going on but the readers do not—a situation which should not be allowed to happen. Rather than offer you my full explanation of PHONE, I offer you my apology instead. Ghu forgive me. ### Toby Duane's COLIN AND THE LEPRECHAUN was well-written and capably handled. Ken Krueger's SOLUTION T-400 was an amusing play on words. The best item was Al Leverentz' TARRY THOU HERE, which though unoriginal, was masterfully pulled-off. INTRANSIGEANT impressed me with its Nietzschean bitterness. Can't say that I agree with him.... Who gives a faint, unheated damn whether sf is "respectable" or not? If I want to read something respectable I can turn to Dostoyevsky, Balzac, Dickens, Hardy, or even Nietzsche. As for the song RUDOLPH—well I can't stand it either, but not for the same reason. The song just is no good—it stinks. The majority of commercial songs do. I listened to this tripe all my life and it had no apparent affect on me. I just outgrew it. Now instead of the current Hit Parade, it's Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler, Handel, Nielson, Strauss, etc.——Larry Saunders, 170 Washington Avenue, Stamford, Connecticut.