Literary Art and Illustration

(I wrote this on December 16, 2024…)

Given the ongoing flurry of news about the (increasing?!) number of unexplained drone sightings across the United States – and elsewhere – I can’t help but wonder about the parallels between this event (generously assuming it’s even a real event), and the innumerable reports of unidentified airships – from all points across the country – at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Though I believe the drone panic shares similarities with prior “mass” episodes, the singular difference today is the pervasiveness and immediacy of communications technology, and its ability – in a sense prefigured by Philip K. Dick and indirectly anticipated by Neil Postman – to alter human cognition and perception, let alone shorten attention, in ways that were simply not possible in the media of prior eras.

So, below are three videos which are apropos to the focus on this December’s skies. While I’m fully “on board” with the analyses and conclusions of the first three videos, I do not agree with the conclusions of the fourth … regarding the true origin about the Phantom Airship of 1897 … though the great mystery airship saga of over-a-century-ago truly merits a feature film. Regardless, We Travel by Night’s video is extremely impressive from the standpoints of research involved, quality of animation, narration, and the clear way that information, analysis, and conclusions are presented.

(December 20…

I’ve added a fourth video, this one by Dr. Todd Grande: “Do Mass Hysteria and Conspiratorial Thinking Explain New Jersey Drone Scare? | Update & Analysis”)

But, first…! …a quote from a short story by Cyril M. Kornbluth: “The Marching Morons”…

“Elsewhere there was the usual run of traffic accidents.
A three-way pileup of cars on Route 66 going outta Chicago took twelve lives.
The Chicago-Los Angeles morning rocket crashed and exploded
in the Mo-have – Mo-javvy – whatever-you-call-it Desert.
All the 94 people aboard got killed.
A Civil Aeronautics Authority investigator on the scene
says that the pilot was buzzing herds of sheep and didn’t pull out in time.

Hey! Here’s a hot one from New York!
A Diesel tug run wild into the harbor while the crew was below
and shoved in the port bow of the luck-shury-liner S.S. Placentia
It says the ship filled and sank taking the lives of an es-ti-mated
180 passengers and 50 crew members.
Six divers was sent down to study the wreckage,
but they died, too,
when their suits turned out to be fulla little holes.

And here is a bulletin I just got from Denver. It seems –“

From: “The Marching Morons”, by Cyril M. Kornbluth, Galaxy Science Fiction, April, 1951

I’ve had this copy of Galaxy for a long, long time: I purchased it from the late Robert A. Madle in the 1980s. (!) Now I show it to you, here. (It’s been sitting around all these past decades, but I was confident it’d come in handy some day, even if it took a little time!)

At Alex Hollings’ Sandboxx YouTube channel…
“What’s really going on with the drones over New Jersey?” (December 14, 2024)

“Idiocracy was meant to be a funny movie, not a how-to guide.”

At C.W. Lemoine’s YouTube channel…
“NEW Drone / UAP / UFO Sightings EVERYWHERE! Is the Threat REAL?” (December 14, 2024)

A former fighter pilot, YouTuber since 2018, and published author, C.W. Lemoine’s videos are in equal measure enlightening, entertaining, and highly informative, focusing on such topics as the intersection between popular culture military aviation and technology, military life, and aviation – both civilian and military – “in general”. Particularly interesting are the regular guest appearances of and interviews with other military aviators, such as “The Mover and Gonky Show” with Trevor “Gonky” Hartsock.

At Dr. Todd Grande’s channel…
“Do Mass Hysteria and Conspiratorial Thinking Explain New Jersey Drone Scare? | Update & Analysis” (December 19, 2024)

At We Travel by Night…
“The Phantom Airship Mystery of 1897: what did the Americans see?” (July 23, 2024)

Dating back to November of 2017 (gadzooks!), this is one of my earliest posts. Generally typical of my earliest posts, it simply features images unaccompanied by commentary. I’ve now updated it – seven years later – to include a link to the website of illustrator Stephen E. Fabian, Sr. (StephenFabian.com), which features many examples of Mr. Fabian’s work.

Among these is his adaptation of one of Edd Cartier’s illustrations for Jack Vance’s story “The Potters of Firsk”; specifically, the woman holding the “Firsk-ian” vase. As described by Mr. Fabian:

“THE POTTERS OF FIRSK – A black ink and color pencil drawing on a 9 x 12 size vellum paper, circa 1966.

While I was learning how to draw and paint I would occasionally copy a drawing of one of my favorite science fiction and fantasy artists. In this case I copied Edd Cartier’s story illustration, “The Potters of Firsk,” by Jack Vance. It appeared in the May 1950 issue of Astounding SF, in black and white. I added color to my copy.

Many years later, around 1990 I think, I had the great pleasure of meeting Edd Cartier, who was one of the outstanding Golden Age magazine illustrators. We became good friends, he came to my home, I went to his. The basement in his home had been made to look like an old-fashioned cabaret, there were several round tables covered with appropriate red-checkered tablecloths, and lots of antique lanterns hung from the ceiling, giving the room a unique atmosphere. It was a fun place to meet, eat and chat.

Sadly, Edd passed away in 2008. He was a man of “The Greatest Generation,” a decorated soldier-hero of WW2. He was also a devoted husband and father, an outstanding illustrator, a truly decent and honorable man, it was a joy and an honor to know him.”

Since Mr. Fabian’s work is copyrighted I won’t present his art “here”, in this post. Instead, you can view his interpretation of Cartier’s art here.

With that, on to Astounding…