Great Moments in HLP FAILS

[Nekhrun]

I thought it might be nice to dig up some of the old goodies care of my old friend archive.org.

Remember this one:

Monday, May 22, 2006
Soul Catcher Movie Option

My father's 1972 novel Soul Catcher has been optioned for a movie by Bruce Bernhard of Cavu Films, Inc. (http://www.cavupictures.com/attractions.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) in Sherman Oaks, California. Mr. Bernhard has been interested in this project for more than a decade, and has held previous options on the book. Cavu Films is an independent studio responsible for critically acclaimed indie films such as "Silence of the Sea" and "Take Out."

Soul Catcher is Frank Herbert's classic mainstream novel about a Native American who takes an innocent white boy hostage, intending to kill him in retaliation for all the innocents of his own race who were murdered by whites. When Frank Herbert was alive, there was a great deal of interest in this story as a movie, and he was contacted by Marlon Brando, Robert Redford, and Paul Newman, among others.

Soul Catcher is currently out of print, but as with other Frank Herbert classics we are trying to find a way to republish it. If the movie gets made, we will have all the push we need.
-- BH

Sounds great. I can't wait to see it.

Source: http://web.archive.org/web/200605310642 ... age71.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Nekhrun]

Here's another DN Classic

Monday, May 1, 2006
Penny's Guest Blog

This is a special installment from Frank Herbert's daughter Penny --

WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE ONE OF THE CHILDREN OF DUNE

I am the daughter of Frank Herbert. He and my mother married very young and were divorced when I was a year old. Living with my mother, I have no recollection of my father until I was about 7 years old. My mother remarried and dropped me off to stay with him and my stepmother, Beverly Herbert, for two weeks. At that time, I mostly remember the thrill of having an instant brother named Brian Herbert, age 2.

Over the following years, my visits with my father were sporadic. A few weeks in the summer. A Christmas vacation. Then one summer I spent three months with my Dad and my loving stepmother. By then there were two brothers (Brian and Bruce), and I was ecstatic to be the big sister to two fun-loving little boys. I was also instantly exposed to living in the home of a science fiction writer. One day it was fun stuff -- going to the beach, going shopping, going to the movies. The next day it was being quiet while the legendary author was clicking away on his manual typewriter. If I'd known what to listen for, I am sure I could have heard the creative juices flowing.

This man, my father, was creating the incredible universe of "Dune." He was putting thousands of words on paper each day. He was a man of many words...quieting his boisterous children with just one. That word was "callate!" (pronounced kye-a-tay), the Spanish word for "Shut up!" I also remember learning many loving words from this incredible man, who would sing entire love songs in Spanish to my stepmother.

Penny

And she was never heard from again.

Sounds like FH was fond of telling people around him to "Shut up."

Source: http://web.archive.org/web/200605131056 ... age62.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[SandChigger]

Well, considering the people he was surrounded by, is that really surprising?


Then again, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it? It may say something about the man that his family all seem to have turned out assholes.

[Freakzilla]

Well, considering the people he was surrounded by, is that really surprising?


Then again, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it? It may say something about the man that his family all seem to have turned out assholes.

So you're saying being a genius writer doesn't necessarily equate to being a good father? Say it ain't so!

I guess nobody's perfect.

[chanilover]

Frank does sound like a bit of an old arsehole, but that was probably brought on by writing about perfecting human abilities through genetic manipulation over millennia in his books whilst witnessing the genetic dead-ends he spawned himself. How disappointing that must have been.

[Mr. Teg]

Monday, May 1, 2006
Penny's Guest Blog

This is a special installment from Frank Herbert's daughter Penny --

WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE ONE OF THE CHILDREN OF DUNE

I am the daughter of Frank Herbert. He and my mother married very young and were divorced when I was a year old. Living with my mother, I have no recollection of my father until I was about 7 years old. My mother remarried and dropped me off to stay with him and my stepmother, Beverly Herbert, for two weeks. At that time, I mostly remember the thrill of having an instant brother named Brian Herbert, age 2.

Over the following years, my visits with my father were sporadic. A few weeks in the summer. A Christmas vacation. Then one summer I spent three months with my Dad and my loving stepmother. By then there were two brothers (Brian and Bruce), and I was ecstatic to be the big sister to two fun-loving little boys. I was also instantly exposed to living in the home of a science fiction writer. One day it was fun stuff -- going to the beach, going shopping, going to the movies. The next day it was being quiet while the legendary author was clicking away on his manual typewriter. If I'd known what to listen for, I am sure I could have heard the creative juices flowing.

This man, my father, was creating the incredible universe of "Dune." He was putting thousands of words on paper each day. He was a man of many words...quieting his boisterous children with just one. That word was "callate!" (pronounced kye-a-tay), the Spanish word for "Shut up!" I also remember learning many loving words from this incredible man, who would sing entire love songs in Spanish to my stepmother.

Penny

Thanks for bringing this one back.

Granted she was really just a guest at the house, but a different vibe from Brian's account.
The Spanish angle really puts a different spin on how Brian presented those moments.

Also, I think it's really hard to understand unless you truly work at home as a career.
You have the freedom to go to the beach one day but can be very frustrating when you need to buckle down but keep getting interrupted by your family.
So, I still haven't heard anything really different from other families to suggest he was an asshole of a father.

Actually, Brian whined and complained so much in DoD to the point I thought it's like hinting there was some kind of abuse...
Most normal people would just say,"Yeah, pop and I didn't get along. The jerk!" Move on or move away.
But it's his identity.

[TheDukester]

The Herberts' "home life" does sound less than ideal, if we're going to be fair about it.

But here's the thing: most writers are basically incredibly selfish people. Most also tend to be very possessive of their time. The next time you're bored enough to do something like this, read like 25 author bios ... I'll bet at least 18 mention that the writer has no children. The least-surprising fact I've ever heard about TheKJA, for example, is that he has no children. He's the most self-centered, selfish man I've ever encountered; there's no way he'd ever let something so silly as a family get in the way of his "craft."

Frank was a selfish writer (like they all are) who had children. After discovering that children are the biggest time-sink imaginable, he became frustrated. It's an old story. He was neither Father of the Year material nor a complete ogre.

[Freakzilla]

I could really care less about his personal life.

[Sandwurm88]

I'm probably wrong about this, but TheDukester, didn't KJA have a son named Jonathan and has bragged recently about being a grandfather?? ( I don't really follow his personal life, but I recall something like that...or was it Brian?)

[Nekhrun]

I'm probably wrong about this, but TheDukester, didn't KJA have a son named Jonathan and has bragged recently about being a grandfather?? ( I don't really follow his personal life, but I recall something like that...or was it Brian?)

Step-son.

[Sandwurm88]

...Well that doesn't mean he's a grandfather. Oh man, another KJA half-truth.

[Nekhrun]

...Well that doesn't mean he's a grandfather. Oh man, another KJA half-truth.

I'm not ready to trash him for that without knowing more. I've known people with step-fathers who were better parents than biological fathers, so I think many deserve the title. We'll have to wait until the grandkid writes an account of what it was like in that household to know the rest.

[A Thing of Eternity]

...Well that doesn't mean he's a grandfather. Oh man, another KJA half-truth.

I'm not ready to trash him for that without knowing more. I've known people with step-fathers who were better parents than biological fathers, so I think many deserve the title. We'll have to wait until the grandkid writes an account of what it was like in that household to know the rest.

Yeah, genetics don't necessarily mean much in parenthood. I have plenty of people I consider myself family with that I'm not related to, and plenty of people I'm related to that I don't consider family. I'm with Nekhrun on this one.

[Freakzilla]

I think being a step-father is close to marriage in difficulty. Sometimes more so.

[A Thing of Eternity]

I think being a step-father is close to marriage in difficulty. Sometimes more so.

Well, seeing as it by definition goes hand in hand with marriage, doesn't that automatically make it more difficult? You can have marriage without having to try to be a step-parent, but not (generally) be a step-parent without a marriage!

Seriously though, yeah, I bet its not easy, especially depending on the age of kid you get.

[Mr. Teg]

Is anything in DoD really any different from most other fathers or parents?
If after the first 10 years the kids don't get it that on some days it's a good idea to play outside or keep it down perhaps they're a little slow.
What Brian doesn't go into detail is about the alcohol, drugs and his brother which leaves his book rather lopsided.

But does share the one quote from his mom which is she sides with dad...

Interestingly, Penny seemed aware of Dune during her visits, but didn't Brian say he basically found out about the book while hitchhiking?

[lotek]

...Well that doesn't mean he's a grandfather. Oh man, another KJA half-truth.

I'm not ready to trash him for that without knowing more. I've known people with step-fathers who were better parents than biological fathers, so I think many deserve the title. We'll have to wait until the grandkid writes an account of what it was like in that household to know the rest.

so if Bobo became a failed writer because he's dad was so good at it(long story short), it means that one growing up with the Hack could well become one one the best writers of his generation

[Nekhrun]

...Well that doesn't mean he's a grandfather. Oh man, another KJA half-truth.

I'm not ready to trash him for that without knowing more. I've known people with step-fathers who were better parents than biological fathers, so I think many deserve the title. We'll have to wait until the grandkid writes an account of what it was like in that household to know the rest.

so if Bobo became a failed writer because he's dad was so good at it(long story short), it means that one growing up with the Hack could well become one one the best writers of his generation

If he wants to follow the pattern of children rebelling against their parents he'd have to.

[Orthodox]

...Well that doesn't mean he's a grandfather. Oh man, another KJA half-truth.

I'm not ready to trash him for that without knowing more. I've known people with step-fathers who were better parents than biological fathers, so I think many deserve the title. We'll have to wait until the grandkid writes an account of what it was like in that household to know the rest.

so if Bobo became a failed writer because he's dad was so good at it(long story short), it means that one growing up with the Hack could well become one one the best writers of his generation

If he wants to follow the pattern of children rebelling against their parents he'd have to.

This must be another reason he didn't have kids. Too much threat to his time and career. That and I don't think he'd want to deal with combovers other than his. "This is my jacket, you can't have it!"

[Nekhrun]

...Well that doesn't mean he's a grandfather. Oh man, another KJA half-truth.

I'm not ready to trash him for that without knowing more. I've known people with step-fathers who were better parents than biological fathers, so I think many deserve the title. We'll have to wait until the grandkid writes an account of what it was like in that household to know the rest.

so if Bobo became a failed writer because he's dad was so good at it(long story short), it means that one growing up with the Hack could well become one one the best writers of his generation

If he wants to follow the pattern of children rebelling against their parents he'd have to.

This must be another reason he didn't have kids. Too much threat to his time and career. That and I don't think he'd want to deal with combovers other than his. "This is my jacket, you can't have it!"

I'm sure he thinks that jacket is going into a museum some day in stead of a thrift store where it will later be picked up as part of some kid's homeless guy ensemble.

[Orthodox]

...Well that doesn't mean he's a grandfather. Oh man, another KJA half-truth.

I'm not ready to trash him for that without knowing more. I've known people with step-fathers who were better parents than biological fathers, so I think many deserve the title. We'll have to wait until the grandkid writes an account of what it was like in that household to know the rest.

so if Bobo became a failed writer because he's dad was so good at it(long story short), it means that one growing up with the Hack could well become one one the best writers of his generation

If he wants to follow the pattern of children rebelling against their parents he'd have to.

This must be another reason he didn't have kids. Too much threat to his time and career. That and I don't think he'd want to deal with combovers other than his. "This is my jacket, you can't have it!"

I'm sure he thinks that jacket is going into a museum some day in stead of a thrift store where it will later be picked up as part of some kid's homeless guy ensemble.

Right. Wouldn't want the Jacket to end up back where he got it. Sorry, Goodwill! No Jacket grace for you!