Robert Lynn Asprin - Friend, Mentor, "Brother" has Passed away
What the hell do you say when you get a call from across the Atlantic, from an old friend, telling you that one of your best friends, someone that, although you'd had a falling out years ago, you still owed much of what's happened to you in your life, much of who you are today and much of what you've learned in life - died this morning?
How do you process that information that he was on his way to MarCon, decided to lie down to take a nap and will never get up again?
How do you handle the fact that you'll never get the change to try to make things right between you?
Bob was one of the most important people in my life from a lot of standpoints. He taught me to look at things in his oddly critical way, sort of. Taught me to question things, taught me to watch my OWN back more effectively, saving my life in the process, several times, and taught me the joys of filking, of the well-placed pun, the perfectly set-up practical joke and how to deflate a stuffed shirt when the situation called for it. And even though, compared to him, I am still very much a tyro at many of those things, I learned many a valuable lesson, sitting at his side, whether at science fiction conventions, surprising George "Mr. Sulu" Takei at StarCon 2 as his surprise Klingon Diplomatic Corps bodyguard, learning how to tell a good shaggy dog story, singing Irish drinking songs, exchanging bad puns or getting ready to step into the lists at a tournament in the Society for Creative Anachronism.
I learned to appreciate good Irish whiskey, a wide range of folk music, song parodies, women in a ways that had never been shown to me and an appreciation for the well-timed verbal riposte to an attempted jibe from some self-important jackanapes.
Yes, Bob was a flawed individual, but aren't we all - most certainly myself?
But Bob burned with a brightness that often outshone everyone else in the room. His wit, his joie de vivre, his insights and his sheer love of a good time could carry even the most depressed individual up out of the most suicidal thoughts and into the light. I've seen him do it on more than one occasion.
Yes, he had his demons - don't we all? And, like many who burn brightly, Bob's demons often were darker than those of those who could burn as brightly. But his brightness, overall, in my opinion and direct experience of him, FAR outshone his darkness.
Bob has left lasting legacies - his daughter Annette, his books, the ones he authored on his own and the ones he collaborated on with so many others and his legacy in the Dorsai Irregulars, a non-profit corporation dedicated to providing fan-based security and art show services to science fiction conventions which was originally licensed by fellow science fiction author Gordon R. Dickson, upon whose novels the group is based. This license continues through the Dickson Estate, proudly, by those of us who "wear the beanie," which is our term for the black berets that we wear and which we ceremonially bestow upon new members - members who included Gordy Dickson, himself, Robert Heinlein and his wife, Ginny, noted science fiction artist and winner of 12 Hugo Awards, Frank Kelly Freas (who designed the Dorsai Flag, seen on our berets) and many others.
Bob's impact on the world, especially the fantasy and science fiction world, will be felt for a very long time.
But his impact on the life of an unknown magician/hypnotist/mentalist from Chicago will last my lifetime - and throughout the lifetimes of many of my audiences - because Bob, along with my wife Nanci, later, was instrumental in teaching me how to ENTERTAIN. Bob by teaching me how to tell a story and to time certain kinds of jokes. By helping me select certain kinds of magic effects that I use in my act to this very day, because he KNEW that they would blow an audience out of its socks.
But most of all because Bob believed in me.
And to a young college kid who had grown up in the shadow of his musical prodigy brother - that meant more than almost anything else.
I know that one of my regrets in this life will be that I never got the chance to try to reconcile with him.
I also hope that he understands.
Shai Dorsai, my friend, teacher, brother, mentor.
You will be missed.
How do you process that information that he was on his way to MarCon, decided to lie down to take a nap and will never get up again?
How do you handle the fact that you'll never get the change to try to make things right between you?
Bob was one of the most important people in my life from a lot of standpoints. He taught me to look at things in his oddly critical way, sort of. Taught me to question things, taught me to watch my OWN back more effectively, saving my life in the process, several times, and taught me the joys of filking, of the well-placed pun, the perfectly set-up practical joke and how to deflate a stuffed shirt when the situation called for it. And even though, compared to him, I am still very much a tyro at many of those things, I learned many a valuable lesson, sitting at his side, whether at science fiction conventions, surprising George "Mr. Sulu" Takei at StarCon 2 as his surprise Klingon Diplomatic Corps bodyguard, learning how to tell a good shaggy dog story, singing Irish drinking songs, exchanging bad puns or getting ready to step into the lists at a tournament in the Society for Creative Anachronism.
I learned to appreciate good Irish whiskey, a wide range of folk music, song parodies, women in a ways that had never been shown to me and an appreciation for the well-timed verbal riposte to an attempted jibe from some self-important jackanapes.
Yes, Bob was a flawed individual, but aren't we all - most certainly myself?
But Bob burned with a brightness that often outshone everyone else in the room. His wit, his joie de vivre, his insights and his sheer love of a good time could carry even the most depressed individual up out of the most suicidal thoughts and into the light. I've seen him do it on more than one occasion.
Yes, he had his demons - don't we all? And, like many who burn brightly, Bob's demons often were darker than those of those who could burn as brightly. But his brightness, overall, in my opinion and direct experience of him, FAR outshone his darkness.
Bob has left lasting legacies - his daughter Annette, his books, the ones he authored on his own and the ones he collaborated on with so many others and his legacy in the Dorsai Irregulars, a non-profit corporation dedicated to providing fan-based security and art show services to science fiction conventions which was originally licensed by fellow science fiction author Gordon R. Dickson, upon whose novels the group is based. This license continues through the Dickson Estate, proudly, by those of us who "wear the beanie," which is our term for the black berets that we wear and which we ceremonially bestow upon new members - members who included Gordy Dickson, himself, Robert Heinlein and his wife, Ginny, noted science fiction artist and winner of 12 Hugo Awards, Frank Kelly Freas (who designed the Dorsai Flag, seen on our berets) and many others.
Bob's impact on the world, especially the fantasy and science fiction world, will be felt for a very long time.
But his impact on the life of an unknown magician/hypnotist/mentalist from Chicago will last my lifetime - and throughout the lifetimes of many of my audiences - because Bob, along with my wife Nanci, later, was instrumental in teaching me how to ENTERTAIN. Bob by teaching me how to tell a story and to time certain kinds of jokes. By helping me select certain kinds of magic effects that I use in my act to this very day, because he KNEW that they would blow an audience out of its socks.
But most of all because Bob believed in me.
And to a young college kid who had grown up in the shadow of his musical prodigy brother - that meant more than almost anything else.
I know that one of my regrets in this life will be that I never got the chance to try to reconcile with him.
I also hope that he understands.
Shai Dorsai, my friend, teacher, brother, mentor.
You will be missed.
Labels: Asprin, Dorsai, eulogy, Robert, science fiction
posted by Lee Darrow at 2:04 AM
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