Algirdas Jonas Budrys

I don't talk much about influences in my work. I don't do hero worship well. Even so, in my own mind I annotate my writing: this came from Clemens, that came from Terry Carr.

A whole lot came from Algis Budrys.

I met AJ at the Clarion SF Writers Workshop in 1978. The important thing I learned from AJ had little to do with story technique or language-- though I learned that from him, and the other teachers, as well. What I learned from AJ, and probably the most important thing I learned from Clarion, was an understanding of how stories work.

I took apart Who? and Rogue Moon to see what made them tick more times than I can count. I still think they were two of the most interesting and powerful books I've ever read. The Falling Torch is still the best blend of political and family fiction ever written in SF.

I think AJ introduced ambiguity to science fiction. Certainly, he introduced that sort of complex understanding to my perception of SF. Rogue Moon and A Canticle for Leibowitz competed for a Hugo in 1961 and Canticle won. But the impact of Rogue Moon is greater. Canticle fell into the pattern of epic SF, its innovation resting solidly on its investment in catholicism. Rogue Moon was much more interesting. Its foundation rested on a kind of character development seen more commonly outside of SF, in the works of Norman Mailer or Truman Capote; complex, driven, sometimes self destructive people. People with jobs. People with obsessions. People.

At Clarion, in the evening after the sessions, we'd sit around the dorm. It was God-awful un-airconditioned hot. AJ sat with us and we exchanged shaggy dog stories. AJ excelled at such stories-- his set ups were often far funner than the punchline. I worked hard to pronounce Algirdas Jonas Budrys. I don't think I ever got it right but at least I got close enough that he didn't laugh out loud. Not that I minded. He had a good laugh.

Madeleine Robins' essay on AJ
SFWA Obituary
Algis Budrys Bibliography
SFSite 1997 Interview
Interview on Scifi.com
Algis Budrys on Writing
Excerpt from Locus
Films
Article from LoneStarCon 2, 1997
Writing to the Point: Algis Budrys on writing
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Links of Interest
Templeton Essays: Does science make belief in God obsolete?
The Demon of Determinism
Hot Moth Action
Genetic Engineering as Natural Violation
Tiger Wine
The pH of Oceans
Terrorbirds, Redux
The Evolution of the Vertebrate Brain