Susan Ellison (1960-2020)
Susan Ellison, 60, died August 1, 2020 at home, in the “Lost Aztec Temple of Mars,” in Sherman Oaks CA.
Susan Toth was born in 1960 in the British Midlands. She met Harlan Ellison at a convention in Scotland in 1985 and they married in 1986. She was his fifth wife and the love of his life: the two were inseparable for the next 32 years, until his death in 2018.
Her contributions to the genre include film and television column “Through the Lens”, published in Aboriginal SF in the ’80s and ’90s.
Somehow this makes me happy to know about this marriage.
Your
I’m a friend of Susan (Mrs Harlan) Ellison’s from England. She is not the same Susan Ellison that wrote ‘Man of Many Parts’ in ‘Worlds of If’ magazine. In 1973 Sue would have been just coming up to her 13th birthday.
I was proud to be able to count Susan as a friend, and devastated that she has left us so soon. Those of us who knew her while Harlan was still alive can testify to her quiet strength, wit, and intelligence. I fear no written tribute will be adequate.
I’m not sure Harlan’s many friends (myself included) were enough to even partially compensate her for Harlan’s loss, but Susan was kind enough to let us try. Physically fragile, she seldom complained about chronic aches and issues that would topple a lesser person; and when we hung out briefly at NebulaCon a year ago, I hoped she’d soon be able to travel more after she got Harlan’s estate all sorted to her satisfaction.
Sadly, we won’t travel or talk about books together anymore. No more time to share jokes and stories, strategies and minor triumphs in this sick, sad, and somehow still beautiful world. I miss her deeply.
Carol Cooper
NYC
I knew Harlan and Susan Ellison. Both their passing leaves a gap in my heart.
Who will care for Harlan’s legacy? Who will maintain that magnificent house? Who or what can possibly fill the void their passing has left? Harlan’s passing I was prepared for; Susan’s not so much.