OC.TREI@CU20B.ARPA (09/23/85)
From: Peter G. Trei <OC.TREI@CU20B.ARPA>
Today I visited the New York Bookfair, an annual event
which occupies a stretch of midtown 5th Avenue for one day.
There were a couple notable SF items:
Asimov was signing his new book, \Robots & Empire/. I didnt
get a chance to talk to him, since the line was long, and my copy
was at home anyway.
Towards the south end of the fair (I started at the north),
there was a large (~10' diameter) spherical red balloon.
Initially I thought it was supposed to be a big apple, and thus
just part of the dressing of the fair. When I got closer, I found
it was in fact an ad for L. Ron Hubbard's new book, \The Invaders
Plan/. It appears to be about 500 pages, and the hardback was in
the $17-$18 range. A promotion bookmark I picked up read:
<START OF QUOTE>
In "Close Encounters" and "E.T." there were aliens that
were visible...
NOW...
Unknown...
Unrecognized...
they walk among us...
in
L. RON HUBBARD'S
THE INVADERS PLAN
A LITERARY GUILD SELECTION
"On our scale of 1-10 with 10 being excellent, The Invaders Plan
comes out a 10. It's fabulous!"
PAUL THOMAS HUGHES
United press International
"An incredibly good story, lushly written, vibrating with action
and excitement. A gem."
A. E. VAN VOGT
"...a big humorous tale of interstellar intrigue in the classical
mold. I fully enjoyed it."
ROGER ZELAZNY
THE INVADERS PLAN
BY
L. RON HUBBARD
VOLUME 1
THE BIGGEST SCIENCE FICTION DEKALOGY* EVER WRITTEN
MISSION EARTH
RELEASE DATE OCTOBER 6TH
Available wherever fine books are sold.
* 10 volume work
(c) Copyright 1985 Bridge Publications Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
<END OF QUOTE>
It will be interesting to see what happens to the Hugo
ballot over the next few years if he makes good on the implied
next 9 books.
There was a neigbouring bookstall selling nothing but copies
of 'Dianetics' by the same author.
On a related matter, I have several times heard it said that
at some point soon before he gafiated and started 'Scientology',
(late 40's, early 50's?) LRH stated, in front of witnesses,
words to the effect that:
"The fastest ways to get rich in this country are to start a
religion or invent a new psychotherapy."
and then went off to do just that.
This is now part of the folklore of fandom, but I would like
to know if he really did say something to this effect, or at
least, what is the earliest allegation of his doing so. Come on
you SF historians (jmb?)! This is a challenge!
Peter Trei
oc.trei@cu20b.arpa
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