Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2004 17:17:43 -0400 From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at press.jhu.edu> To: <WSFAlist at WSFA.org> Subject: [WSFA] Re: Title: The World Turned Upside Down Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org> > twhite8 at cox.net 9/10/04 5:09:36 PM >>> > >----- Original Message ----- >From: <samlubell at verizon.net> >To: "WSFA members" <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>; <WSFAlist at WSFA.org> >Sent: Friday, September 10, 2004 4:00 PM >Subject: [WSFA] Re: Title: The World Turned Upside Down > >> > From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at press.jhu.edu> >> > Date: 2004/09/10 Fri PM 02:42:39 CDT >> > To: <WSFAlist at WSFA.org> >> > Subject: [WSFA] Re: Title: The World Turned Upside Down >> > >> >Flint, atleast with the Schmitz reissues, seems to be under the >> >delusion that unless an editor actually "edits" a collection of >> >previously published stories then . . . well, I'm not too sure >> >what he thinks. >> >> >He'd probably be quite perplexed by Groff Conklin. And by Healy & >> >McComas with the classic Adventures in Time & Space. Nope, no >> >rewriting there. >> >> >Hmmm . . . .Eric Flint, the Roger Elwood of his generation? >> >> In all fairness to Flint, the alternative to his edited versions of >Schmitz was not reprinting the "Flint Free Text" but nothing as no >publisher had reprinted anything of Schmitz in years (save a high-priced >NESFA edition not generally sold in bookstores). Some of the stories (even >of the Telzey stories, easily his most popular) had *never* been reprinted. >> >> Flint (and Baen) are bringing back classic authors that have languished >out of print for too long and bringing them back to mass market paperbacks >where they are affordable to general readers. If, in return, it means a >little bit of editing (and I do object when he rewrites a whole story as >happened a couple of times) the price is worth it. > >======== > >Frankly, I am aghast at the notion that it's proper or acceptable to >*rewrite* published "classics" in our field What next? Heinlein as >rewritten by Spider Robinson? The "William Shattner" version of Asimov's >Foundation series? Pretty amazing, ain't it? According to http://www.sfwa.org/org/estates.htm the estate is handled by the Scott Meredith Agency. So, I guess it was a case of "Show me the money." The question is: would Baen have reissued Schmitz if told to print the stories as John W. Campbell (and other editors more talented than . . .) had published them? mjw