I am so exhausted right now – mentally, physically and psychologically – that I probably should not be writing anything.. No doubt I’ll use a wrong word or phrase, be unclear in my meaning, step on a toe (any toe, let alone the wrong one) and achieve the exact opposite of my intention.
I take full responsibility for everything published on the Amazing Stories website, good, bad or indifferent, typos, bad links and all.
While I do have the final say over what appears on the site, perhaps I should also mention that only those occasional posts that appear under the Editorial category and those regularly published under the News category are the “official” position of Amazing Stories. Everything else published here are the opinions and thoughts of their individual authors.
I exercise a very light touch. Deliberately so, as I would like Amazing’s contributors to have the same degree of freedom of expression that they would enjoy if they were writing for their own blogs.
The past week has found me unable to devote the usual amount of time I do in reading the posts prior to publication. Last Wednesday I had to make emergency arrangements to fly to Florida when my father (recovering from major surgery for cancer) was taken to the ICU; medical details aside, I’ve almost lost him, twice, over a five day period. In addition, the home care aide who had been taking care of my mother (who obviously is not doing well during all of this) had to go on vacation.
I’ve spent the past week shuttling between hospital and my parent’s home, running errands, making meals, trying to coordinate contradictory medical information, handle my parent’s finances and legal matters, the fifty million phone calls that come in at all hours of the day and night and, in the short bits of time remaining, manage this site.
I don’t like sharing these personal details. It’s really no one else’s business but the family’s. I do so only to explain, not to excuse.
My circumstances have obviously affected my ability to handle the site properly, whatever that means, considering the huge amount of condemnation and complaint I’ve been subjected to since yesterday.
I’ve been accused of cowardice for closing down discussion of Paul Cook’s article. I don’t agree with the charge as the discussion had become nothing more than name-calling and I could see no purpose being served in allowing that to continue.
I’ve been accused of striking a blow against diversity and to tell you the truth, that one really, really hurts, as I have been working very hard over the past several months to do everything I can to support diversity in all of its guises. I’ve tried to give a voice to important issues and striven to assemble a broadly representative group of contributors.
I honestly can’t say whether or not I would have published Paul’s article as is under different circumstances. I’m incapable of judging objectively at this point; I’m totally stressed, utterly exhausted and do not have the time available to sit back and think. I know that’s not a satisfactory answer, but it’s all I can muster the energy for right now.
I’d like to ask for a little indulgence from you all considering my circumstances. I return home tomorrow and expect that by Saturday I will have begun to sort things out. By that time maybe I’ll have had a chance to figure things out and provide a coherent response and formulate whatever actions may be necessary, if any.
In the meantime – my apologies for “striking a blow against diversity”. That is absolutely not my intention here. I’ll try to take a closer look at the area of intersection between encouraging diversity and the freedom of expression. My apologies for “cowardice” in the face of fire – but I don’t think it cowardly to discourage hateful rhetoric. The comment policy here has always requested limiting discussion to the subject, not the individual.
I hope this message provides some degree of explanation, however inadequate it may be. It’s all I can offer right now.
Steve Davidson is the publisher of Amazing Stories.
Steve has been a passionate fan of science fiction since the mid-60s, before he even knew what it was called.
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