To be fair, I love Harlan Ellison. I've never actually read his works, but I've seen him at DragonCon several times and he's the most hilarious and endearing crotchety old grandpa that ever existed. He's been there and seen it all.....has tons of stories about working in old Hollywood. One time he told a story about beating up one of Frank Sinatra's goons. He'll rant about pretty much anything, and insult perfect strangers with the most venomous vulgar language. Nobody in his Q&A sessions ever dared to bring up the more controversial and contested stories like his feud with the original Star Trek producers over scripts he wrote. I'd love to hear him go off about it though.
His Wikipedia page mentions that he has sued basically anyone and everyone that has ever put his work online -- and has the following awesome quote from him: Quoted by the New York Times on May 10, 2009, he said "If you put your hand in my pocket, you’ll drag back six inches of bloody stump."
I'd love to see him again, but DragonCon hasn't booked him since like 2005 and his website hasn't really been updated in like half a decade. It seems hard to tell if he even does public appearances anymore. I hope he's not in failing health.
