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For those of you who don't pay much attention to the literary side of SF/F fandom, some things about the late Marion Zimmer Bradley* that had been known in certain circles but not in the larger fandom became public.
Namely, that she aided and abetted her husband Walter Breen to molest children and protected him from the consequences thereof over the course of several decades. And probably actively abused children herself. And by "aiding and abetting" and "protecting" I mean that she used her status as a major and highly influential author to ensure that he would not be banned or ostracized from events such as cons and other fannish gatherings, and knew he was molesting their children for years and did nothing about it and (from her own testimony in court on the matter) didn't think there was anything wrong with her husband's actions.
There's been a lot written in the literary SFF blogosphere. Natalie Luhrs over at Radish Reviews, as always, has done an excellent job of summarizing the issue (complete with links to important documents and posts) and putting her finger on the heart of things: silence is complicity. And, over the course of decades, quite a number of people who knew for certain that Walter Breen was a child molester did absolutely nothing to stop him or impede his access to children. Our society, including the SFF subculture, has a problem of silence in the face of sexual abuse. It has to change.
*Marion Zimmer Bradley was one of the most influential authors of the 70s through the 90s, in both science fiction and fantasy. Her Darkover stories and The Mists of Avalon were instant classics, and she was an ardent feminist who used her power as an author to do a lot of good things like help other women authors launch their careers and always speak up for women in the genre.
Namely, that she aided and abetted her husband Walter Breen to molest children and protected him from the consequences thereof over the course of several decades. And probably actively abused children herself. And by "aiding and abetting" and "protecting" I mean that she used her status as a major and highly influential author to ensure that he would not be banned or ostracized from events such as cons and other fannish gatherings, and knew he was molesting their children for years and did nothing about it and (from her own testimony in court on the matter) didn't think there was anything wrong with her husband's actions.
There's been a lot written in the literary SFF blogosphere. Natalie Luhrs over at Radish Reviews, as always, has done an excellent job of summarizing the issue (complete with links to important documents and posts) and putting her finger on the heart of things: silence is complicity. And, over the course of decades, quite a number of people who knew for certain that Walter Breen was a child molester did absolutely nothing to stop him or impede his access to children. Our society, including the SFF subculture, has a problem of silence in the face of sexual abuse. It has to change.
*Marion Zimmer Bradley was one of the most influential authors of the 70s through the 90s, in both science fiction and fantasy. Her Darkover stories and The Mists of Avalon were instant classics, and she was an ardent feminist who used her power as an author to do a lot of good things like help other women authors launch their careers and always speak up for women in the genre.
