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Some of you might not have heard-- but one of the
real legends of the genre died a couple of weeks ago. He never
wrote any comic books. I believe he may have plotted a few of them.
We may never know all the things he worked on.
I am of course, referring to the sci-fi author
extraordinaire Kilgore Trout. Trout was a true grandmaster of science
fiction. It is a shame so little of his work actually survives. Well
actually -- none of it remains in print. Most of it was done in cheap pulps, porn
mags and poster books and go for a bundle if you're lucky enough to find
them on Ebay.
Trout served some time in prison. No one is sure
what exactly he did. One account -- as told by Kurt Vonnegut in Jailbird --
claims Trout was the only man convicted of treason during the Korean War.
This however can not be verified since oddly enough they both passed away
on the same night.
Both during (and after) his prison sentence Trout
was prolific. So prolific in fact that he had at least three other professional
pennames and had enough left over ideas that he sold them to other writers as
a side venture.
A world class science fiction writer who I won't
name (because he's very litigious and in case of a law suit I'd have to REPENT
for it like a Harlequin until I had no cash left) was once asked where writers
get their ideas. He told a tale of writing letters to a man in
Schenectady, New York who would give you a guaranteed seller of a plot for ten percent
of what you make off the story. Many at the convention believed most
writers went to talk to him.
Very few people knew he was actually talking about
Kilgore Trout. Many people know that Kilgore Trout worked with Kurt Vonnegut. A
fact Vonnegut brought up in any book that Kilgore contributed to. This lead to a
falling out between the two of them for some time. (Something Vonnegut refers to
himself in Breakfast of Champions which was written after they reconciled their
differences.)
Trout was a very private individual after his release from prison. He made only one
media appearance after his release. This became the basis for Breakfast of Champions.
Vonnegut's use of his persona in so many of his novels
had made him even more sought after by the literary lunatic fringe than J.D.
Salinger.
I was at a used book store the other day when I found an actual Kilgore Trout novel
in a bargain bin for 50 cents. It was science fiction novel about economics. The very
one mentioned at the end of Kurt Vonnegut's Jailbird. Oddly enough -- it had a lot of
the same characters as Vonnegut's (including Roy M. Cohn) but Trout's tale was not a
comedy. Reading both books back to back, first Vonnegut's comedy and then Trout's
version was interesting.
The difference between science fiction and the works of Kilgore Trout is like the difference
between a steak and a lobster dinner with a side order of steak wing tips lightly dipped in
white wine sauce and a garden salad with a slice of chocolate cake at the end.
I mean no disrespect to Mister Vonnegut.
I just wish the media had given Kilgore his due.
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