LOC for Nice Distinctions #34

The following is a letter of comment sent to Arthur Hlavaty, editor of Nice Distinctions, commenting on issue #34.

Dear Mr. Hlavaty:

Thank you for emailing me Nice Distinctions #34. It’s been a while since we’ve exchanged zines or correspondence, and I didn’t quite know what to expect. What a delightful surprise. I see that ND is also available as a PDF, as mentioned on the Robert Anton Wilson Twitter account last month—and posted on eFanzines, no less. That’s slightly easier to read, but I quite like the lo-fi approach of a text-only email. Where do you post on social media? Facebook, I gather; I haven’t explored your LiveJournal in recent days. Regardless, two years between issues is a long time, though understandable given the pandemic. It’s good to have you in my inbox.

While I’m sorry to hear about your health concerns, I’m glad you’re relatively hale and hearty. Reading what you consider the best of your social media commentary is an interesting experience. It’s a free-flowing stream of consciousness, similar to my Common Book items in the weekly email newsletter Media Diet—or Dave Hickey’s Wasted Words and Dust Bunnies, books that collected his social media posts from almost a decade ago. The result is a fun and thought-provoking peek into what’s going on inside that skull of yours.

I enjoyed the random walk through your comments on technology, privacy, politics, science fiction, fanzines, Octavia Butler reprints, transgression, police brutality, the pandemic, gender and race, fandom, cover art, and other topics. I was intrigued by your comment on sf authors contributing to men’s magazines such as Playboy and Rogue. I’ll have to explore that further. I’ll also have to check out Outworlds #71—sounds like a bumper issue!

But mostly you added to my reading list: Isaac Asimov, Butler, Harlan Ellison, Robert A. Heinlein (I recently enjoyed The Door into Summer, which was… made into a movie!), Hugh Kenner, Roger Zelazny, and others. And I’m inspired to seek you out more on Facebook. You don’t always show up in the algorithm-driven stream.

Hope you’re well, and glad to see you continuing to publish. I’ve enjoyed remaining in your loop over the years.