（外文电子版资料）Charles L. Grant - Secrets of the Heart.pdf

SECRETS OF THE HEART Charles L. Grant When Poul Anderson was president of SFWA, the job nearly killed him; and when his term was over, there were few suckers willing to take the position. Eventually I was talked into it; I accepted on the condition that we radically transform the organization. A committee of ex-presidents and other interested people was created, and thorough reforms proposed . One needed reform was to hire an executive secretary, someone to do much of the routine work that was killing off presidents. Unfortunately, SFWA had almost no money . “That’s all right,” one of the ex-presidents said. “We’ll find some starving young writer and pay him enough to let him live in a garret .” And lo, the search began. We wanted someone articulate, willing to work for beans, and living in New York; and oddly enough there were quite a few candidates for the post. Unfortunately, although all were articulate and eager and willing to work for slave wages, none lived in New York City; and we really did need someone able to get to Publishers’ Row and pound on desks once in a while . Then Charles L. Grant applied. He lived in New Jersey, only an hour by bus from Manhattan. He’d been writing for several years, but his career was interrupted by military service, and he was starting over. He wanted to learn more about the writing business, and Lord knows, the SFWA post would teach him that . So I hired him. I admit I had reservations. Charlie seemed so mild-mannered and polite that I wondered if he would be tough enough to survive in a post that