RIP Ray Nelson

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I learned Monday that my neighbor, science-fiction icon Ray Nelson (Wikipedia, official website) passed away last November. His wife, the poet Helene Knox, had been ill for a long time and, once she was moved into permanent care elsewhere, he wasn’t long for this world.

Ray Nelson’s most famous piece of writing is probably the short story that led to the movie They Live. But his most famous creation fullstop must be the propellor beanie:

"Centuries after all my writings have been forgotten, in some far corner of the galaxy, a beaniecopter will still be spinning."

But what Ray also deserves credit for is the writing group he and Helene hosted at their house just down the street from me. I don’t own this piece of paper so I can’t give you a clearer scan, but I’ll transcribe it below:

Bonjour [xxx]:

A historical note:  Marion Zimmer Bradley, Ursula le Guin, Chelsea Quin Yarbro and Anne Rice.

What do they have in common?

They are all award-winning science fiction writers. What else do they have in common? They were all members of the Thursday’s Child writing workshop over a period of decades, women writers breaking into a literary genre previously marked by a sign that said “For men only”. These writers changed science fiction forever”.

And where did the Thursdays Child meet?

At [xxx] Ramona Avenue, El Cerrito, CA.

In my front room.

I thought you might like to know history was made only one block from your front door.

Your fan,

Ray

This isn’t everyone who was there either. Philip K. Dick, for instance. But, being a man, he didn’t deserve mention in this particular note.

Anyway, we’ll miss you Ray.

And for those into El Cerrito trivia, this is the same stretch of road where you can find the garage where CCR rehearsed, and one Tess Taylor. Fertile ground, this.