Bewildering Stories Editorial

by Jerry Wright

Hope

I just saw an interview with Spider Robinson and David Crosby (yes THAT David Crosby) about Variable Star coming out out on the 17th of October. Aside from the fact that I will grab and devour that book, there is something I want to talk about in regards to some comments they made. When the interviewer asked the two what they would like readers to take from the book, they both answered, "Hope... We want the readers to take hope from the book."

We could use some hope. When I see the mess the world is in, with collapse of the Soviet Union not bringing an unparalleled time of peace, but rather a world where religious fanaticism (both Islamic and "Christian") is more than happy to kill the other guy, and terror is a watchword on people's lips, I feel that there is certainly no hope from these political leaders.

And I look at the schools, and I see the destruction and degradation of the entire concept of education in so many "places of learning". And yet... And yet...

Here in my hotel room in Denver, the night clerk is a sweet young lady (well, young to me; she wouldn't see herself as "young") who is going back to school to get a teaching degree. Right now, she is studying Children's Literature, and she wants very much to fan that flame of desire that little children have, that desire, that need, to learn. Little sponges, they readily pick up anything in front of them. With teachers like Kara, I have hope. At least about some things.