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.

Update: 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