James P Hogan: what to say?

[major_clanger]

With only one or two exceptions there seems to be an odd silence across my f-list over the death of James P Hogan. I take it that what I'm seeing is the outcome of very mixed feelings as to how to react to the passing of someone who was on the one hand a long-time member of Anglo-Irish fandom and by all accounts a very personable individual, and on the other was an outspoken denier of the Holocaust, global warming and the HIV causation of AIDS.

I've heard it said that Hogan was the original exemplar case for Brain Eater Syndrome, so striking was the contrast between his early writing (and personal manner) and the eccentricity and offensiveness of his later opinions. If so, then it is sad that such views are likely to be what many who did not know him personally remember him for.

For myself, I'll try to remember him as the author of The Proteus Operation, which might be summed up as 'Alternate WW2 meets the wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey theory of time travel' and as the chap who was very apologetic indeed about accidentally pouring his pint over me at WinCon III.

[Edited 14 Aug 16 to make public]

Comments

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

Very personable indeed, as we encountered in Ireland at a PhoenixCon or two. And I did enjoy the full-on sense-of-wonder of his earlier novels.

Sadly, his determination to take the contrarian view at every opportunity left him among very nasty company.

[autopope.livejournal.com]

That's how I read it; stubborn contrarianism combined with EngineerFail - the tendency to see a grand design or an overarching conspiracy behind every phenomenon.

In his social context, nobody would have been remotely surprised if his need for explanatory narratives had found its outlet through the church.