Return to K-Mac's home pageThe Portable Universe
by Michael P. Kube-McDowell

The Portable Universe was an irregular science-fiction review column I wrote for The Elkhart Truth between October, 1982 and March, 1985. It was a post-Star Wars, pre-World Wide Web world, and I saw the column as a sort of outreach to a general audience which was vastly more likely to be familiar with SF on the screen than in print. My working theory was that adults were allowed to read science fiction, too, and I tried to use my limited space to steer fringe fans toward (and occasionally away from) the most notable of the current releases--the books they might see on their next visit to the library or the Waldenbooks at the mall. In hindsight, both my theory and my method may have been faulty. Nevertheless, here are the columns, offered as a minor historical curiosity.

Column 1 - October 16, 1982

Column 2 - November 12, 1982

Column 3 - January 28, 1983

Column 4 - March 4, 1983

Column 5 - April 15, 1983

Column 6 - May 28, 1983

Column 7 - August 12, 1983

Column 8 - September 9, 1983

Column 9 - October 28, 1983

Column 10 - December 23, 1983

Column 11 - February 3, 1984

Column 12 - April 6, 1984

Column 13 - June 1, 1984

Column 14 - August 17, 1984

Column 15 - November 24, 1984

Column 16 - February 2, 1985

Column 17 - March 23, 1985

Column 18 - never published


In Memory Still Bright

All too many greater and lesser stars have fallen to earth since these
observations were taken. They shine on through their works.

A. Bertram Chandler 1912-1984

L. Sprague de Camp 1907-2000

Terry Carr 1937-1987

Edward Llewellyn 1917-1984

Marion Zimmer Bradley 1930-1999

Lester Del Rey 1915-1993

C. L. Moore 1911-1987

Poul Anderson 1926-2001

Robert A. Heinlein 1907-1988

Isaac Asimov 1920-1992

Frank Herbert 1920-1986

Hal Clement 1922-2003

Gordon Dickson 1923-2001

Damon Knight 1922-2002

F. M. Busby 1921-2005

Jack Chalker 1944-2005--

Fritz Leiber 1910-1992

Joseph Delaney 1932-2000

Jack C. Haldeman II 1941-2002

James White 1928-1999


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Created: 12 March 2005
Last Revised: 07 July 2009