Joel Rosenberg Dies

[filkertom]

Great sadness -- we have lost one of the family. SF/F author, gun rights activist, and acclaimed Really Nice Guy Joel Rosenberg has passed away at the age of 57.

Comments

[jenrose]

This nearly panicked me, as one of our longstanding family jokes is that my dad's name is Joel Rosenberg and he owns all of the other Joel Rosenberg's books.

Sadness indeed.

[jenrose]

Aaaand I just had the most surreal phone call with my father. Anyway.

[dan-ad-nauseam.livejournal.com]

I almost panicked when I saw an e-mail with his name as the subject.

[jenrose]

Dad's comment was "And he looked so well when you saw him at lunch." We have to be a little irreverent, because it hits a little too close to home. Dad is actually about to turn 61... a few years older than the "other" Joel Rosenberg. He's actually been to one or two conventions and managed to confuse people royally, because they look, looked, similar enough.

[madrona.livejournal.com]

I have yet to go up to dad and sigh and say "He looks so peaceful" and then duck.

[jenrose]

Lawl!

[melchar.livejournal.com]

...but I like [liked] him SO much! He wrote nicely, but he was a wonderful guy.

[juglore.livejournal.com]

Oh no. No no no no no.

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

What?! But... but, he wasn't even remotely old!

foo. Thank you for the stories squire, and save me a seat at the reading in the great beyond.

[batyatoon]

Sadness. Baruch dayan emet.

I think Joel Rosenberg's Not For Glory may have been my first exposure to a Real Live Published Work of Science Fiction With Actual Jews In.

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

Aw man, what a sad thing. I've been a huge fan and oddly enough, just finished rereading the Guardians of the Flame series.

[alverant.livejournal.com]

Wow. I remember reading some of his books in summer camp. The Guardians of the Flame was probably a bit old for me, but I got most of it. I was surprised that they would kill one of the characters so early. I guess it was to drive home the point that it was real.

[ravenclaw-eric.livejournal.com]

Sad news indeed.

And---don't take this wrong, Tom---I'm surprised that you're sad. I'd have thought you would hate the ground Joel walked on.

Live and learn!

[bryanp.livejournal.com]

Why? You can disagree with someone without disliking them.

[redneckgaijin.livejournal.com]

Bear in mind that (these days) I'm as liberal as Tom, if not more so...

... and I still believe in the Second Amendment.

My only caveats are that, if someone wants to take his arms outside, he should have a basic background check, safety training, and demonstrated accuracy. Pass that, and so far as I'm concerned you can have a Colt on each hip and a shotgun in an over-the-shoulder holster.

Oh- and as I tried to explain to certain people back in my Libertarian Party days, the right to keep and bear arms DOES not and SHOULD not extend to nuclear bombs, Sarin gas bombs, etc. no matter what certain extreme "no prior restraint!" true believers said. There really are people who believe the government has no right to deny them a nuke.

Anyway, my point is that a difference on one issue does not constitute totally opposing political viewpoints. Or, for that matter, incompatible personalities.

[alverant.livejournal.com]

I think the whole 2nd Amendment issue can be boiled down to one question, "Are the first four words, 'A well regulated militia' or 'Right to bare arms'?" IMHO if we saw a whole lot more gun responsibility, the whole issue of gun rights wouldn't even be a blip on the radar. It would be like not having to house soldiers in times of peace; something people remember but rarely have to invoke.

I'd rather have a neighbor that takes meticulous care of a dozen machine guns than one that treats a pistol with all the consideration the average person treats an ordinary tool because my odds of being accidentally shot are way lower with the first guy.

[dornbeast.livejournal.com]

I remember hearing one interpretation which broke down to, "Without the right to bear arms, the militia will be able to do whatever it wants to the citizens. In order to regulate the militia, the right to keep and bear arms will not be infringed." I'm not sure I agree with it, but I think it makes more sense than some of the arguments I've heard.

If I had unlimited use of a time machine (oh, and I might have to borrow a white male), I'd go back and ask the people who wrote the Second Amendment to unpack their thought process a little, so there wouldn't be any question what they meant in two hundred years.

[dysprog.livejournal.com]

If you had unlimited use of a time machine I would lend you myself (a white male) in exchange for a side trip to ask the drafters of the 14th amendment if a corporation is a person, with in the definition they were using.

[alverant.livejournal.com]

Except in colonial times, the militia was every man who could handle a gun. So that interpretation would mean that the militia is regulating itself. I'm not sure how that makes sense.

I'd be the "white male" you'd have to borrow to ask about what they meant. I would also tell them about how easy it was to get a pistol and how powerful they had become and try to give them the whole situation about guns in our country. I'd also ask questions about the idea that this country was based on christian values as well as specifically what values they are referring to.

[judifilksign.livejournal.com]

Far too young. He was always so nice to me at cons. How sad.

[regalpewter.livejournal.com]

Damn, that's the third J name, today. A heck of a loss.
YIS,
WRI

[gorgeousgary]

I'm ashamed to admit I haven't (to my recollection) read any of Rosenberg's work. But I see I need to put the Metzadan Mercenary Corps books on my list of things to browse used book dealers for.

[aota.livejournal.com]

Very sad. I was very fond of his writing. Got me through several rough times when I was first in the Air Force. He will be missed.

[darksunlight.livejournal.com]

Sad. He was a fantastic writer.

[r-caton.livejournal.com]

No personal knowledge of the man, but I've read a good few of his books and he had a refreshing style....
and 57's TOO BLOODY YOUNG (yes, I'm 55)

Sic transit... may he find new frontiers...

[invader-tak-1.livejournal.com]

I used to bump into him all the time at the Book Trader. He got me to go out and get my permit when I didn't think I could. He was a good guy.

[dbcooper.livejournal.com]

This is definitely sad news for me; one of the very first fantasy novels I read--in fact, THE first after The Hobbit and not getting through The Lord of the Rings--was The Sleeping Dragon.