RIP L. Neil Smith
Writer L. Neil Smith passed away on the morning of August 27th 2021. He was 75 years old, still writing and opining until his last moments, no doubt. And so the world has lost another voice of liberty, and the original Libertarian Writers Mafia is diminished even further. More than any other libertarian sf writer, Smith had the greatest influence in the field. He was a friend for many years, an inspiration, and a powerful voice for freedom. I disagreed with him on occasion, favored some books over others, but looking at my collection of his books I find that I own most of them, and have read many of them more than once.
When it came to adventure, Smith’s novels embodied that spirit and sense of wonder. His books were full of action, color, and character. When it came to style, I sometimes shook my head at his choices, such as his heavy use of apostrophes and the constant interruptions of characters by other characters. At times his sentences were a convoluted mess, especially (in my opinion) after he started writing a great deal of non-fiction along with his fiction. Still, I look back at some of his books, and wish there were more of them.
With Smith, everyone will mention his first novel, The Probability Broach, and rightly so. This is the quintessential libertarian novel. Rather than ready dystopias and battles against the state that fail, again and again, or end in unrealistic triumph, Smith created a libertarian utopia. No utopia is perfect, and Smith didn’t pretend it was perfect. Crime exists, people make bad choices, but his world seethes with vision, optimism, and a future. It might not be a future every libertarian desires; his emphasis on guns and self-defense has, over the years, made some libertarians cringe. Guns just aren’t mentioned in polite society, I guess.
A rush of novels set in the same universe followed, as well as a trilogy featuring Lando Calrissian, from the Star Wars universe. These novels were apparent written in a rush, under an unrealistic deadline, and he never made much money from them (no doubt there were accounting adjustments, typical of large studios, than benefitted the suits and not the creator). He also wrote several books about space pirates, started a seven book series that ended after two novels (sadly), a vampire novella (and sequel), alternate history with The Crystal Empire and Roswell, Texas, and many more books across different genres. I still cannot forgive him for killing off my favorite character in his book, Pallas. But then, he was an uncompromising person, and maybe that made sense from his writer’s perspective. He published over 35 books, and was forever talking about books he’d planned, had started, or intended to write. It seemed his imagination was boundless.
Late in his life Smith battled ill health, from strokes and other problems. He always seemed to maintain his optimism, still tried to convert people to liberty, and constantly inspired those already gathered under that banner. I’ll admit that I disagreed with him vehemently regarding his support for a certain Republican president, but he wasn’t the only libertarian who turned to that direction, possibly out of a hatred of the man’s opponent at the time. Nonetheless, his legacy persists. Smith founded the Prometheus Award to honor libertarian science fiction. For a time it seemed like libertarian writers were everywhere. Now many of the original group has passed, all in recent years: Brad Linaweaver, J. Neil Schulman, Victor Milán. When I think of this I’m struck by the words of John Donne, for “Each man’s death diminishes me.” All I have left is memories and some physical editions of their creations. Rest in peace, my friend.
