Part Two - interview
How much did the times of the late sixties influence the novel Logan's Run?
George Clayton Johnson and I were very concerned with overpopulation at that time, as were many people. There was also a big youth movement in which people didn’t trust anyone over the age of 30. Fortunately, the overpopulation crisis was somewhat averted by the Green Revolution. You see the themes that were prevalent in the late 60s and early 70s such as the sexual revolution and focus on the pleasures of the individual reflected in the novel and the movie. This was frightening as we felt that people would not reach a higher level of wisdom.
I think the 1976 movie made a mistake raising the age to thirty what about the last day being at age twenty-one is important to you?
MGM raised the age due to casting problems. They felt they didn’t have enough young actors to fill the parts in their opinions.
I think the age of death at 21 is extremely important, due to the fact that we are merging into maturity. It is a cusp year, and therefore carries much more impact.
The 1976 movie was not exactly the most faithful adaptation, I am hoping the new film will follow the novel more closely. Has the new producer asked your opinion? How would you like to see the story re-booted?
Obviously, I would like to see the film story follow the novel more closely. That’s what seems to be happening, but I have not talked to the producer. We can just keep our fingers crossed. I enjoy aspects of what Paul J. Salamoff and Jason V Brock have come up with for the Bluewater Comics adaptation, and would like to see some of that incorporated into the movie. I really hope they hire good actors – in my opinion, that’s what saved the MGM movie.
The 1976 film seemed obsessed with this idea that they lived in a utopia, and that everything was care free. When I re-read the novel the idea that these people never get older or wiser seemed tragic. No matter how nice their lives are for twenty years isn't Logan really a dystopia?
MGM dropped the entire subtext of the novel. It was all Happyland until age 30. Certainly, Logan’s Run is an anti-Utopian novel, but the film dumbs it all down.
You wrote two sequels to Logan's Run, will the new Bluewater comics series follow that extended story line?
Who knows. I am reading it issue to issue as is everyone else. What Jason Brock and Paul Salamoff do with the plot will be a surprise. But I trust both of them.
Your name is often associated with this novel, but you have written so much else in so many genres. Do you feel Logan's Run is your masterpiece if not what out of the 2,000 things you have written are you most proud of?
The Marble Orchard is my best novel, followed by Logan’s Run. But Logan’s Run is certainly my iconic calling card.
Photos:
Middle: Jason V.Brock and William F. Nolan @ our last solstice party, Hey Logan fans that couch is now for sale!
Bottom: Myself and William F. Nolan at the 2009 HP Lovecraft film fest here in Portland
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