As many folks across the Internet are announcing, author George Clayton Johnson had died at the age of 86. I believe he was deceased on some websites before he was in reality…but I somehow think he would have enjoyed "outliving" his own death, even if just for a few hours.
[And 24 hours later, we find out that he is still outliving the reports.]
George was a man who lived for ideas and concepts and new ways of looking at whichever world he thought he was living in at any given moment. He could sit and "hold court" (as they say) for endless hours, spinning out thoughts that raced in and out of his mind. He was the kind of man who not only thought but made you think. I confess I didn't always understand what he was talking about but I'm sure he was fine with that because he often admitted that he didn't, either. One time when I did understand him, he was saying how you often have to take a lot of wrong turns to get to the right place…and I could certainly agree with that.
George was known for writing on the original Twilight Zone TV series, for co-writing the novel Logan's Run (with William F. Nolan), for writing the first-aired episode of the original Star Trek, for writing the story upon which the movie Oceans 11 was based and for countless short stories in fantasy anthologies. Among the other TV shows he worked on were Route 66, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Law and Mr. Jones and Kung Fu.
He was a constant presence at science-fiction, fantasy and comic book conventions in Southern California and could usually be found surrounded by a bevy of friends and admirers doing what he did best…telling stories and talking about ideas. He also taught writing and gave invaluable support to a long list of students who went on to fine careers.
Oh, yeah. And he smoked an awful lot of marijuana and campaigned mightily for its legalization. I might have known George better but not for that. Not the campaign part but I sometimes found it hard to breathe within ten feet of him.
I have known him so long that I have trouble zeroing in on our first encounter. It was probably a planning meeting for the second or third San Diego Comic Book Convention — the event now known as Comic-Con International. That would place it in 1971 or 1972. The organizers held meetings in Los Angeles and invited folks to come and make suggestions to make the con better. I was invited and so was George and we got into what now seems like a silly debate about a suggestion of his. That was how I learned that the best way to become friends with the man was to discuss something — almost anything! — with him. He loved conversation and any exchange of ideas.
Soon after that, he fronted a small comic convention called Clayton Con. It was held at a public school on a weekend and he invited me to be one of its guests. I went and was pleased to find that it was not about the buying and selling of old comic books, as most such events were. It was about sitting around, talking about them.
That became my entire relationship with George and I suspect it was the entire relationship he had with most people we both knew. It was all about sitting around, talking about things. He was never at a loss for words or ideas and he was a fine inspiration to everyone who was privileged to be in those discussions.
Want to hear the guy? The TV Academy once sat him down and recorded a five-hour interview with him…or as his friends might call it, a brief conversation. He will certainly be missed.