<em>[I tried posting the following on your R.A. Lafferty Message Board today, but couldn't -- the page remained blank. Maybe you could re-post it for me? Thanks!] -- (OK
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
<strong>If anyone has the same problem please email me! I am not aware of any problem)</strong></em>
I just picked up a 1968 copy of R.A. Lafferty's "Space Chantey" from Ace Books, and I found the following quote from Mr. Lafferty in his biography at the beginning. I found the quote to be quite interesting, if not revealing:
"I was a heavy drinker till about eight years ago at which time I cut down on it, beginning my writing attempts about the same time to fill up a certain void."
That would seem to explain the late start in writing (at 45 years of age, right?) as well as, perhaps, his distorted perception of reality. Hey, if Philip K. Dick could turn his drug addictions into "A Scanner Darkly", why couldn't R.A. Lafferty could turn his drinking problem into a writing career? Cheers, George Gilbert