Controversial Celebrity Week at Fuck Yeah Ohio continues, with Cleveland-born author Harlan Ellison.

He’s written countless short stories, novels, and television episodes and he’s won more awards for doing so than anyone else alive. We’re talking Star Trek, Babylon 5, Alfred Hitchcock, the post-apocalyptic film A Boy and His Dog, and the list goes on… and on. Let’s just say he’s extremely prolific and extremely good.

He’s a staunch advocate for writers. He’s also a civil rights supporter and even marched with Martin Luther King Jr. We can’t say enough good things about him.

So why are we featuring Harlan Ellison during Controversial Celebrity Week, when he’s such a talented and well-respected writer and all-around decent human being? Well, the list that follows is just the tip of the “Harlan is difficult to get along with” iceberg:

• If you Google the phrase “the most contentious person on Earth”, you’re going to get over a thousand resullts and every single one of them will be about Harlan Ellison.
• His Wikipedia page has a dedicated, and lengthy, “Controversies” section.
• He was fired by Roy Disney on his first day at Disney.
• He was expelled from the Ohio State University for hitting a professor who didn’t like his work.
• He’s almost as well known for initiating lawsuits as he is for his writing.

This list also goes on.

Bonus: Harlan Ellison on God

Harlan Ellison — Pay the Writer (via factualfactory)