The John Sladek Society
Announcing the formation, on 5 June 2008, of the John Sladek Society,
to promote interest and awareness in the life and writings of American-born
author
John
Sladek
(1937-2000),
whose novels include The Reproductive System (1968),
a book that established him as one of the great satirists of science fiction.
Sladek
was also founding editor of Ronald Reagan. The Magazine of Poetry (2
issues, 1968-1970), where New Wave authors such as Thomas M. Disch, Pamela Zoline,
J. G.
Ballard,
and
others were contributors. Other works include The Müller-Fokker
Effect (1970)
and the Roderick novels. Sladek lived in London through
1986,
when
he
returned
to the U.S. Maps (2002; Cosmos, 2003) collects
materials from all phases of Sladek’s career, and has a splendid introductory
essay by editor David Langford.
In a draft for an obituary of Sladek (published in Locus for April 2000), Disch wrote :
“Back in January of 1968, when we were living in London, in a squalor worthy of today’s Mozambique but also in the glory of our own self-declared genius, I wrote a poem in memory of John Sladek. He had not died at that point, but I was sure he would in due course, and this way I would have an elegy prepared against the day. It was a Petrarchean sonnet, no less . . . [Sladek] was the kind of laughing fatalist who understood right from the cradle that the grave was there as the punchline of life’s big joke.”Sladek was resident at 221B Camden High Street, London, for several years during the late 1960s, with Zoline and Disch — the address is celebrated in science fiction circles — and the chief aim of the Society is to secure the placement on 221B Camden High Street of a Blue Plaque designating the cultural significance of this address in the literary landscape of London and the world ; and to encourage congenial gatherings where one or more of the directors may be present. As Sladek will only be eligible for designation in 2020 under the current nominating criteria of English Heritage, the John Sladek Society has a timetable of palaeontological increments, but its activities will be continuous, and the society will be ready to accelerate.
John Sladek was the high priest of something else , the clown in the choir, the valet who takes your keys to the Rolls and brings you an ice cream truck. He was a wonderfully funny and engaging writer, a satirist of the first rank, and he deserves to be remembered.— James Sallis
The founding directors of the Society are Thomas M. Disch, Honorary Chairman (In Memoriam), John Clute, Judith Clute, David Langford, and Henry Wessells (to whom correspondence may be directed, to : wessells [at] aol [dot] com ). Please note that correspondence pertaining to the Estate of John Sladek should be directed to the agent for the Estate, Christopher Priest.
The John Sladek Museum :
Sladek inscribed and decorated the copy of The Reproductive
System (London :
Gollancz, 1968) that he gave to Thomas M. Disch :
Exhibits will be added to the John Sladek Museum at regular intervals.
Bibliography :
The standard reference to the writings of John Sladek is :
John T. Sladek. Steam-Driven Satirist. A Working Bibliography by Phil Stephensen-Payne and Chris Drumm. Galactic Central vol. 49 (1998).
Other articles of interest :
— David Langford :
Maps of Minnesota : Stalking John Sladek
— James Sallis : John Sladek : The high priest of something else