While everyone is tippin' back a pint of green beer this St. Patrick's Day I'd like to steer in another direction for a moment and salute a rather influential Sci-Fi author who captured my interest during my high school years and is celebrating a birthday today — William Gibson, author of such modern classcis as Neuromancer and the short story collection, Burning Chrome.
Some notable tidbits about Mr. Gibson:- born in South Carolina, 1948
- coined the term cyberspace for the first time in history in the short story, Burning Chrome
- originally came to Canada to avoid a Vietnam draft call that fortunately never came
- combined noir and the experimental aesthetics of William S. Burroughs with the punk and post-punk scene to create what came to be known as the cyberpunk movement in science-fiction literature
- the cyberpunk movement had a huge influence on speculative fiction, science and journalism, notably shaping the birth of the periodical, Wired
Thank you, Mr. Gibson, for all the fun, the fantasy and guiding my gaze to the future.
6 comments:
I've never heard of him (I don't read sci-fi) but very interesting facts on him. That's cool that he coined "cyberspace."
Hey Winklepots - thanks for stopping by! Glad you found the facts about William Gibson and cyberspace fun and interesting!
Nice post. We have several of his books around here. But, I never knew he was from South Carolina--now that I live here it may be fun to see what I can find on him.
Hey Beth, not sure how much there will be to find of Gibson in SC. He was born there but apparently moved to Virginia at age 6. He also lived in Arizona for a time and spent a bunch more time in California and Europe. He was in Toronto for a while and then Vancouver. I believe he still lives in British Columbia, but I'm not entirely certain. Do let me know if you find anything interesting about him in SC though!
Neuromancer...now that brings back memories from long ago & far away.
A friend thrust the book into my hands & insisted i HAD to read it so he'd have someone to talk to :D
Been so long, think I'll have to pick it up again next time I hit the library.
Hey Stacey. I know what you mean. It's been a long time for me too. I have a copy sitting right here on my shelf and after thinking about it all day, I'm thinking it might be fun to pick it up again and revisit!
Post a Comment