ATHOL DICKSON

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Fact Follows Fiction

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They Shall See God
Be Careful at the Zoo

It’s always fun when a novelist imagines something wild and crazy, only to have that very thing pop up in the real world later on. Of course, we’ve come to expect it in science fiction. About 100 years ahead of time, Jules Verne wrote about things like electric submarines, newscasts, solar sails, lunar modules, skywriting, video conferencing, tasers, and spaceship splashdowns. He probably gets the prize for the most imaginary fictitious scenarios to come true.

But I am in the running.

Consider The Cure. In that novel, a scientist is relentlessly pursued by an evil corporation which wants to profit from her invention, a cure for alcoholism. Crazy idea, right? Science could never cure addictions. And yet, it seems there really might be a drug that does just that. Check out this video or read this article to learn about naltrexone, and the exciting role it’s playing in healing people from alcoholism.

sometimes even in the strangest of stories it’s hard to find the line between fiction and the truth.

Next up is Lost Mission, in which construction workers digging a building foundation disturb a mass grave, exposing themselves to small pox which has lain dormant underground for hundreds of years. Awfully unlikely, no? But wait. Just last summer more than 40 people were hospitalized after being exposed to anthrax that had lain dormant in reindeer carcasses for nearly 50 years. In another article, the Siberian Times offered this: “The fear is out there. Recently French scientist Professor Jean-Michel Claverie issued a warning that energy exploration in permafrost regions could unlock ancient viruses…. ‘If we are not careful, and we industrialise [sic] these areas without putting safeguards in place, we run the risk of one day waking up viruses such as smallpox that we thought were eradicated.'” Hmm…

Then there’s They Shall See God, with a character who is stalked and killed by a tiger which escapes from the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. It seemed like a far fetched scenario when I wrote it, and then it actually happened in San Francisco.

“Truth is stranger than fiction,” as they say. But sometimes even in the strangest of stories it’s hard to find the line between fiction and the truth. That’s one of the reasons I love to read good novels, and why I love to write them.

Bob Dylan awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature

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Bob Dylan wins the Nobel Prize for Literature
The Nobel Prize medal

The Nobel Prize committee has been making strange decisions for a while now, such as giving out the Peace Prize for things that haven’t been done. And giving the Prize for literature to a songwriter is certainly unusual. But if any modern songwriter deserves it, Bob Dylan does.

For younger readers who may not be familiar with his lyrics, here are some examples of his awesome way with words:

‘There must be some way out of here’
said the joker to the thief
‘There’s too much confusion,
I can’t get no relief’
Businessmen, they drink my wine,
plowmen dig my earth
None of them along the line
know what any of it is worth.”
(All Along the Watchtower)

Then take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind
Down the foggy ruins of time,
Far past the frozen leaves
The haunted, frightened trees,
Out to the windy beach
Far from the twisted reach
Of crazy sorrow.
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free
Silhouetted by the sea,
Circled by the circus sands
With all memory and fate
Driven deep beneath the waves
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.
(Mr. Tambourine Man)

Come writers and critics who prophesy with your pen
And keep your eyes wide the chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon for the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who that it’s namin’.
For the loser now will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’.
(The Times They Are a-Changin’)

 

 

Submarine Fun

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H. L. Hunley
Detail from 1864 painting of H. L. Hunley by Conrad Wise Chapman

Ever since I saw 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as a boy, I’ve been fascinated by boats in general, and submarines in particular. I spent a lot of rainy days during my grade school years drawing designs for my father to build in the garage. It seemed obvious the contraptions could be cobbled together easily from empty oil drums, if only Dad would cooperate. Alas, he had other plans.

One design that seized my imagination early on was real.

The H. L. Hunley was a people powered submarine used by the Confederate forces in the War of Northern Aggression to sink the Union sailing ship Housatonic which was part of the blockade of Charleston harbor. The Hunley also sank that night, for the third and final time. It’s a fascinating story filled with courage, romance, and a Dickson (although he spelled his name incorrectly) which you can see here.

The H.L. Hunley has been found and raised. It now rests in a giant water tank at a museum in Charleston. I visited the museum a couple of years ago, and highly recommend the experience. This morning they sent an announcement about their 12th annual oyster roast, which I am posting below for those in the Charleston area area who may be interested in oysters, BBQ, scientists, history and…submarines!

H. L. Hundley Oyster Roast!