Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 20:42:42 -0400
To: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com>
From: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com>
Subject: L. Neil Smith's Prometheus Acceptance Speech
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L. Neil Smith's Prometheus Acceptance Speech


Date: Thu, 06 Sep 2001 15:43:50 -0600
From: "L. Neil Smith" <lneil@ez0.ezlink.com>
X-Accept-Language: en
To: "000 L. Neil Smith" <lneil@ezlink.com>
Subject: L. NEIL SMITH'S _FORGE OF THE ELDERS_ WINS PROMETHEUS AWARD

   L. NEIL SMITH'S _FORGE OF THE ELDERS_
     WINS PROMETHEUS AWARD

      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, ALL MEDIA

     I'm happy to announce that my novel _Forge of the Elders_ has
received the Prometheus Award from the Libertarian Futurist Society
<http://www.ls.org>, for best libertarian novel of the year.

     The award was presented at the World Science Fiction Convention
over the Labor Day weekend in Philadelphia. Because I was unable to
attend, at my request, the award was accepted by Toni Weisskopf of
Baen Books <http://www.baen.com>, publisher of _Forge of the Elders_.

     At the request of the Libertarian Futurist Society, I prepared a
few remarks for Toni to present on my behalf. This is what I wrote:

     ******

     Ladies and gentlemen of the Libertarian Futurist Society, I'm
sorry I can't be with you today. I had a previous obligation to my
daughter, and I learned long ago, the hard way, that before anything
else -- writer, thinker, political activist -- I'm Cathy's husband and
Rylla's daddy.

     Nevertheless, I'm happier and more grateful than I can say for the
honor you pay me here, especially because it's for _Forge of the
Elders_.

     When I began writing _Forge_, the Berlin Wall had just come down
and the Soviets were collapsing. I had concerns, expressed in _Forge_,
that American socialists would try to interfere with that process. At
the same time, it was my dream to reexamine Social Darwinism -- which
I'd already written about in essays and speeches -- with the idea of
learning lessons that a genuine understanding of evolution by natural
selection might have to teach us.

     It took 15 years for _Forge_ to be published the way I wanted it
to be. Endless thanks to Baen Books for that, and to Tom Knapp at
Free-Market.net for seeing in _Forge_ what I'd always hoped would be
seen.

     My earliest recollection of a political idea I could wholly grasp
was the story -- call it a parable -- of a butterfly emerging from its
cocoon. According to the story, if, through misplaced kindness, you
try to help it, you'll deny it a lifegiving struggle necessary to the
process of transcending itself -- caterpillar to butterfly -- and it
will die.

     To this day, I don't know if the parable is true. I do know that
America has had as much "help" as it can stand, and that it must be
our purpose as libertarian futurists, as Prometheans, to put an end to
that, so it might have a chance to transcend itself -- police state to
free society -- and allow us to transcend ourselves, as well.

     ******

     _Forge of the Elders_ accomplished several things that were -- and
are -- very important to me. First, it reconsiders "Social Darwinism",
arriving at radically different conclusions about the ethical and
political implications of evolution by natural selection than are
traditionally associated with it.

     Second, it continues my interest in "alternate history", taking
the idea further back in time than has ever been done before; it
contemplates the notion that, in other branches of reality, other
species might have become sapient and dominant on Earth.

     Third, it addresses my concern that while the rest of humanity is
rejecting Marxism, America will embrace it, dragging the whole world
back into the black hole of socialism. That process, accelerated by
the Clinton Administration (nor does either Bush Administration have
clean hands) continues, threatening the property, liberty, and life of
every individual on the planet.

     Along the way, _Forge of the Elders_ introduces many interesting
and remarkable characters (at least they're interesting and remarkable
to me). Funny and tragic by turns, it begins with a murder mystery and
continues with a biological mystery that expands into a cosmic
mystery. Ranging from spaceship battles to a wild pig hunt, it also
tells three love stories and a 15,000-year-old tale of refugees from
the Lost Continent.

     _Forge of the Elders_ was also named Freedom Book of the Year" by
Free-Market.net <http://www.free-market.net> the year it was
published. But awards -- however gratefully appreciated -- aside, it
needs to reach a wider audience to continue making its point for as
long as that point needs to be made. Buy a copy for yourself, if you
haven't yet, buy a copy for a friend, and buy a copy for an enemy. You
may turn him (or her) around. If you don't, you may make his stomach
churn, cost him a night's sleep, and shorten his life expectancy by a
few minutes.

     Such an effort will not only take care of my family (and three
skating coaches), it will increase the chance that my publisher will
buy the next project I offer them with and give you something new to
read.

     You can find _Forge of the Elders_ at bookstores everywhere, or
persuade them to order it for you if they don't currently stock it.
It's also available from my old friends Laissez Faire Books at
<http://laissezfairebooks.com>, as are many of my other books.

     If you order from Amazon.com, please do it by clicking through my
personal website at <http://www.webleyweb.com/lneil/lnsbook.html>. My
webmaster receives a small commission when you buy this way, and that
helps keep the website going.

     And please remember to stop by <http://www.jpfo.org>, where you'll
find _The Mitzvah_ and _Hope_, two novels I wrote with JPFO's Aaron
Zelman, and <http://www.webleyweb.com/lneil/leveraction.html>, where
you can order my book of political essays, _Lever Action_.

Thanks for listening,

L. Neil Smith
Phone: (970) 484-6824
E-mail: lneil@ezlink.com

      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, ALL MEDIA


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