It’s also about literal child molesters living in Salem Oregon.
Edit: see below, not living there.
Also, it may not be intuitive for people one possible takeaway from this if this interpretation is correct: LeGuin commenting on SFF authors giving a pass to the abuse on the justification that they create such good art that it is overall net positive for the world that the abuse continue.
Referencing mainly Marion Zimmer Bradley and her husband Walter Breen, but the scuttlebutt is that they were not the only problem in the scene at the time. Including enablement by other authors who knew about it being a problem.
I don’t think MZB or Breen ever lived in Oregon. They moved to Berkeley for grad school in the mid 60s and except for some time on the east coast, lived in the Bay Area for the rest of their lives.
Yeah, I think I misremembered that point. I think it might have been that there was a SFF convention held in Salem that LeGuin regularly attended because she lived in Portland. Conventions are funnels where content creators interact with fans, so some sexual grooming happens for scenes that involve children fans. MZB and Breen were the case where it was widely known among other authors what was going on, and people were downplaying it instead of exposing it. Major pedophilia issues among golden age authors eg Heinlein and Clarke.
But like, how do you know about the details here? Did you read anything that made you believe this? See an interview? Did you know anyone involved directly or indirectly?
It’s also about literal child molesters living in Salem Oregon.
Edit: see below, not living there.
Also, it may not be intuitive for people one possible takeaway from this if this interpretation is correct: LeGuin commenting on SFF authors giving a pass to the abuse on the justification that they create such good art that it is overall net positive for the world that the abuse continue.
Maybe referencing this? http://www.castaliahouse.com/when-good-science-fiction-goes-bad/
Referencing mainly Marion Zimmer Bradley and her husband Walter Breen, but the scuttlebutt is that they were not the only problem in the scene at the time. Including enablement by other authors who knew about it being a problem.
I don’t think MZB or Breen ever lived in Oregon. They moved to Berkeley for grad school in the mid 60s and except for some time on the east coast, lived in the Bay Area for the rest of their lives.
Yeah, I think I misremembered that point. I think it might have been that there was a SFF convention held in Salem that LeGuin regularly attended because she lived in Portland. Conventions are funnels where content creators interact with fans, so some sexual grooming happens for scenes that involve children fans. MZB and Breen were the case where it was widely known among other authors what was going on, and people were downplaying it instead of exposing it. Major pedophilia issues among golden age authors eg Heinlein and Clarke.
But like, how do you know about the details here? Did you read anything that made you believe this? See an interview? Did you know anyone involved directly or indirectly?
Spoke with an older sff enthusiast about it at one point, so, hearsay.