WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.640 Welcome, everyone. I want you to start off today 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:05.080 by doing a little mental exercise with me. Oh, 00:00:05.099 --> 00:00:07.059 I love these. Right. Okay, so picture someone 00:00:07.059 --> 00:00:10.039 you know. Maybe it's a quiet, mild -mannered 00:00:10.039 --> 00:00:12.500 teacher you had back in college, or that really 00:00:12.500 --> 00:00:15.179 soft -spoken colleague who sits a few desks over 00:00:15.179 --> 00:00:17.820 from you. You know the type. The one who is always 00:00:17.820 --> 00:00:21.219 incredibly professional, highly diligent, maybe 00:00:21.219 --> 00:00:25.140 a bit, um... A bit reserved. Exactly. Now, I 00:00:25.140 --> 00:00:27.620 want you to imagine that same person secretly 00:00:27.620 --> 00:00:31.359 harboring a wild, fantastical, intensely complex 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:34.219 double life. Just completely hiding in plain 00:00:34.219 --> 00:00:36.960 sight. Yeah. Because today's deep dive is taking 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:40.270 us into exactly that kind of story. We are looking 00:00:40.270 --> 00:00:42.469 at the life of an American author and academic 00:00:42.469 --> 00:00:44.929 named Robert Lester Stallman. A really fascinating 00:00:44.929 --> 00:00:47.390 figure. He really is. Our mission today is to 00:00:47.390 --> 00:00:49.670 explore the mind bending duality of a man who 00:00:49.670 --> 00:00:51.789 spent his days dissecting the intricate nuances 00:00:51.789 --> 00:00:54.909 of Victorian poetry and his nights architecting 00:00:54.909 --> 00:00:57.670 a brilliant award nominated sci -fi and horror 00:00:57.670 --> 00:01:00.990 werewolf trilogy. It serves as a stark reminder 00:01:00.990 --> 00:01:03.990 that we rarely see the full inner worlds of the 00:01:03.990 --> 00:01:07.239 people around us. Stallman's life is essentially 00:01:07.239 --> 00:01:10.060 a master class in not judging a book by its cover. 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:12.019 Totally. I mean, from the outside, you see a 00:01:12.019 --> 00:01:14.459 very standard, highly respected mid -century 00:01:14.459 --> 00:01:18.459 academic. But just beneath that carefully curated 00:01:18.459 --> 00:01:22.819 surface. an entirely different, incredibly visceral 00:01:22.819 --> 00:01:25.359 universe was brewing. Okay, let's unpack this, 00:01:25.459 --> 00:01:27.439 starting right from the beginning, because his 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:30.560 origins provide a really fascinating contrast 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:33.060 to where he ends up. They definitely do. He wasn't 00:01:33.060 --> 00:01:36.260 born into some elite literary dynasty or a wealthy 00:01:36.260 --> 00:01:39.019 family of academics. Robert Lester Stallman was 00:01:39.019 --> 00:01:42.159 born on January 6, 1930, in Kankakee, Illinois, 00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:45.040 into a distinctly working -class environment. 00:01:45.459 --> 00:01:47.680 Right in the heart of the Midwest. Yeah. His 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:50.760 mother was Martha Elizabeth Lester, and his father, 00:01:50.939 --> 00:01:53.260 Otto John Melvin Stallman, actually worked as 00:01:53.260 --> 00:01:56.400 a grainer in a bed factory. That detail about 00:01:56.400 --> 00:01:58.439 the bed factory is a crucial context, I think. 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:00.519 We're talking about a physically demanding industrial 00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:03.500 reality. Very blue collar. Exactly. When you 00:02:03.500 --> 00:02:05.519 look at the trajectory of his life, starting 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:08.199 from that factory floor in Kankakee, it reveals 00:02:08.199 --> 00:02:11.280 a methodical, highly disciplined climb into the 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:14.300 world of letters. It's a classic narrative of 00:02:14.300 --> 00:02:17.599 mid -century American mobility. with a level 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:19.979 of hyper -focus that really stands out. Oh, absolutely. 00:02:20.280 --> 00:02:22.659 Like many young men coming of age in that era, 00:02:22.780 --> 00:02:26.060 his journey included military service. He served 00:02:26.060 --> 00:02:28.979 in the U .S. Army for two years, from September 00:02:28.979 --> 00:02:32.659 1952 to September 1954. And then things really 00:02:32.659 --> 00:02:34.599 kick into high gear. Right. It's immediately 00:02:34.599 --> 00:02:36.860 following his discharge that he begins what can 00:02:36.860 --> 00:02:40.659 only be described as a relentless academic pipeline. 00:02:41.319 --> 00:02:43.419 Looking at his academic timeline, what stands 00:02:43.419 --> 00:02:45.060 out to me isn't just the degrees themselves, 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:48.620 but the absolute, almost obsessive drive. Within 00:02:48.620 --> 00:02:51.120 nine years of leaving the army, he leapfrogs 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:53.500 across the country, building this impenetrable 00:02:53.500 --> 00:02:56.000 wall of scholarly credentials. Step by step. 00:02:56.300 --> 00:02:58.039 First, he gets his Bachelor of Arts in English 00:02:58.039 --> 00:03:00.819 from the University of Chicago in 1957. Then 00:03:00.819 --> 00:03:02.740 he moves to the University of New Mexico, earning 00:03:02.740 --> 00:03:05.719 a Master of Science in 1961. And it's worth noting 00:03:05.719 --> 00:03:07.900 he wrote his thesis there on D .H. Lawrence. 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:11.340 Yes, D .H. Lawrence. But he doesn't pause to 00:03:11.340 --> 00:03:13.400 catch his breath at all. He heads over to the 00:03:13.400 --> 00:03:16.400 University of Oregon, earning his Ph .D. in 1966. 00:03:16.900 --> 00:03:19.800 And his dissertation there was literally titled, 00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:22.659 The Quest of William Morris. It's the resume 00:03:22.659 --> 00:03:25.419 of a man desperate to establish a very specific, 00:03:25.620 --> 00:03:28.840 serious identity. And that focus on William Morris, 00:03:28.939 --> 00:03:31.319 who is a towering figure in the 19th century 00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:33.879 arts and crafts movement, as well as a poet and 00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:36.180 early fantasy pioneer that becomes the absolute 00:03:36.180 --> 00:03:38.699 bedrock of his professional scholarly life. It 00:03:38.699 --> 00:03:41.280 really does. Following his graduation from Oregon, 00:03:41.500 --> 00:03:43.800 Stallman secures a position as an assistant professor 00:03:43.800 --> 00:03:46.099 of English at Western Michigan University in 00:03:46.099 --> 00:03:49.120 Kalamazoo. He firmly establishes himself as a 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:51.780 genuine, highly specialized authority on Morris 00:03:51.780 --> 00:03:53.879 and Victorian literature. He built a robust, 00:03:54.099 --> 00:03:57.030 heavy academic career. Publishing these niche, 00:03:57.210 --> 00:03:59.150 highly intellectual articles in professional 00:03:59.150 --> 00:04:01.629 journals. The kind of articles only other specialists 00:04:01.629 --> 00:04:04.110 read. Exactly. The titles alone give you a sense 00:04:04.110 --> 00:04:06.569 of the dense scholarly atmosphere he inhabited. 00:04:06.889 --> 00:04:09.830 I mean, in 1978, he publishes a piece in the 00:04:09.830 --> 00:04:12.069 Journal of Aesthetic Education called Poetry 00:04:12.069 --> 00:04:15.740 Without Fear. A great title. Right. Then in 1979, 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:19.379 a piece in Victorian poetry called Rapunzel Unraveled. 00:04:19.379 --> 00:04:22.120 And then there's a 1975 piece from Studies in 00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:24.839 English Literature titled The Lover's Progress, 00:04:25.180 --> 00:04:27.959 an investigation of William Morris's The Defense 00:04:27.959 --> 00:04:31.199 of Guinevere and King Arthur's Tomb. What's fascinating 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:33.980 here is the rigid boundary he placed around this 00:04:33.980 --> 00:04:37.480 identity. navigating university politics, teaching 00:04:37.480 --> 00:04:40.180 classes, and publishing these deep analytical 00:04:40.180 --> 00:04:42.699 investigations of 19th century literature. It's 00:04:42.699 --> 00:04:44.939 a full -time job. More than full -time. And he 00:04:44.939 --> 00:04:47.800 explicitly and consistently used the name Robert 00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:50.660 L. Stallman for all of it. That middle initial 00:04:50.660 --> 00:04:53.000 was a permanent fixture. Like a badge of serious 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:55.879 academia. Exactly. It acted as his scholarly 00:04:55.879 --> 00:04:58.980 armor. He carefully compartmentalized this academic 00:04:58.980 --> 00:05:01.899 identity, creating a clear, deliberate demarcation 00:05:01.899 --> 00:05:04.759 between the professor grading papers and the 00:05:04.759 --> 00:05:06.939 man who was quietly preparing to disrupt the 00:05:06.939 --> 00:05:09.259 speculative fiction landscape. Which brings us 00:05:09.259 --> 00:05:11.459 to the secret life. Because while Professor Robert 00:05:11.459 --> 00:05:14.139 L. Stallman was standing at a chalkboard in Kalamazoo 00:05:14.139 --> 00:05:16.500 dissecting King Arthur's tomb, he was spending 00:05:16.500 --> 00:05:18.860 his spare time writing a massive, sweeping science 00:05:18.860 --> 00:05:21.360 fiction novel called The Book of the Beast. In 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:23.910 secret. Completely in secret. And when he sat 00:05:23.910 --> 00:05:27.050 down to write this fiction, he dropped the middle 00:05:27.050 --> 00:05:31.910 initial entirely. He became simply Robert Stallman. 00:05:32.050 --> 00:05:34.009 I almost wonder if it was more than just a standard 00:05:34.009 --> 00:05:37.089 pen name, though. Dropping the L feels like he 00:05:37.089 --> 00:05:39.649 was consciously unburdening himself from the 00:05:39.649 --> 00:05:42.569 rigid, evidence -based constraints of academia. 00:05:42.970 --> 00:05:44.930 To free himself up. Right. So he could actually 00:05:44.930 --> 00:05:48.170 swim in the weird, unrestrained waters of speculative 00:05:48.170 --> 00:05:52.180 fiction. It's a small textual shift, but psychologically 00:05:52.180 --> 00:05:54.860 it's a complete shedding of skin. And he didn't 00:05:54.860 --> 00:05:57.240 just dabble in those waters. In 1980, at the 00:05:57.240 --> 00:06:00.379 age of 50, Robert Stallman finally strikes gold. 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:02.899 He breaks through. He really does. He signs a 00:06:02.899 --> 00:06:04.680 major deal with the science fiction division 00:06:04.680 --> 00:06:07.439 of Pocketbooks. They agree to take this massive 00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:09.639 manuscript he's been working on and publish it, 00:06:09.660 --> 00:06:12.120 not just as a single novel, but as a full trilogy. 00:06:12.579 --> 00:06:15.100 50 years old, and he lands a massive publishing 00:06:15.100 --> 00:06:17.500 contract for his debut work. Think about the 00:06:17.500 --> 00:06:19.819 immense patience and silent belief that requires. 00:06:20.139 --> 00:06:23.620 To spend decades quietly building this universe, 00:06:23.779 --> 00:06:26.519 maintaining a demanding day job, and holding 00:06:26.519 --> 00:06:28.399 on to that vision until you're 50. It's incredible 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:31.079 discipline. It is. It's really worth pausing 00:06:31.079 --> 00:06:34.019 to consider your own side projects. Those hidden 00:06:34.019 --> 00:06:36.240 passions or half -finished manuscripts sitting 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:38.620 on your hard drive. Stallman is the ultimate 00:06:38.620 --> 00:06:41.519 proof that persistence, even when pursued entirely 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:44.139 in the shadows, can eventually find its moment 00:06:44.139 --> 00:06:46.660 in the light. Here's where it gets really interesting, 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:49.920 though, because you might assume a Victorian 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:53.339 English professor writing a novel would churn 00:06:53.339 --> 00:06:56.660 out some dry literary fiction about a middle 00:06:56.660 --> 00:06:59.060 -aged academic having an existential crisis. 00:06:59.160 --> 00:07:01.399 That would be the scary type. Right. But the 00:07:01.399 --> 00:07:04.120 reality of what he created completely defies 00:07:04.120 --> 00:07:06.279 that expectation. Far from it. The prominent 00:07:06.279 --> 00:07:08.379 science fiction critic Peter Nichols analyzed 00:07:08.379 --> 00:07:11.480 the work and described the books as sensitively 00:07:11.480 --> 00:07:14.120 written fabulations. Fabulations. That's a great 00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:16.740 word. It is. And for those exploring the critical 00:07:16.740 --> 00:07:19.540 landscape of the era. Fabulation in this context 00:07:19.540 --> 00:07:21.600 means he wasn't just writing standard nuts and 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:24.279 bolts sci -fi. He was bringing mythic, almost 00:07:24.279 --> 00:07:27.759 magical realist textures into a rigorous speculative 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:31.459 framework. Blending genres. Exactly. Nichols 00:07:31.459 --> 00:07:33.980 noted that Stallman completely blurred the lines 00:07:33.980 --> 00:07:36.660 between science fiction and horror. He took the 00:07:36.660 --> 00:07:40.420 ancient primal folklore of the werewolf and updated 00:07:40.420 --> 00:07:42.779 it with a hard science fiction premise. He took 00:07:42.779 --> 00:07:45.040 something visceral and bloody and wrapped it 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:47.439 in the conceptual framework of speculative fiction. 00:07:47.339 --> 00:07:50.220 fiction it's a brilliant pivot it's genius but 00:07:50.220 --> 00:07:52.519 just as this magnificent secret life is stepping 00:07:52.519 --> 00:07:55.399 into the spotlight the narrative takes a sudden 00:07:55.399 --> 00:07:58.829 incredibly dark turn Shortly after signing this 00:07:58.829 --> 00:08:01.470 massive, life -changing three -book deal with 00:08:01.470 --> 00:08:04.529 Pocketbooks in 1980, Robert Stallman passed away 00:08:04.529 --> 00:08:07.709 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The timing is just devastating. 00:08:08.009 --> 00:08:10.790 It really is. He spends years, possibly decades, 00:08:11.050 --> 00:08:13.990 crafting this universe in his spare hours, finally 00:08:13.990 --> 00:08:16.850 achieves the ultimate validation of a major publishing 00:08:16.850 --> 00:08:19.029 contract, and then right at the finish line, 00:08:19.089 --> 00:08:21.170 he's gone. He never gets to see the books hit 00:08:21.170 --> 00:08:23.470 the shelves or witness the reaction of the literary 00:08:23.470 --> 00:08:25.810 world he so desperately wanted to join. It's 00:08:25.810 --> 00:08:28.129 a tragic irony. And as a quick aside on the historical 00:08:28.129 --> 00:08:30.449 record, there's a slight discrepancy in the source 00:08:30.449 --> 00:08:32.490 material regarding his death. Oh, really? Yeah. 00:08:32.610 --> 00:08:34.750 The introductory text of the Wikipedia article 00:08:34.750 --> 00:08:37.309 lists his date of death as August 1st, 1980, 00:08:37.570 --> 00:08:40.509 while the info box lists August 6th. It's one 00:08:40.509 --> 00:08:42.990 of those classic details of historical archiving 00:08:42.990 --> 00:08:46.210 where the exact day gets slightly muddied, but 00:08:46.210 --> 00:08:49.159 the harsh reality remains. He was only 50 years 00:08:49.159 --> 00:08:51.960 old when he died. Because of his premature passing, 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:54.720 the entire Book of the Beast trilogy had to be 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:57.659 released posthumously. The reading public didn't 00:08:57.659 --> 00:08:59.960 get to experience his vision until after the 00:08:59.960 --> 00:09:01.960 author was already gone. They came out one year 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:04.500 after another, right? Yes. The Orphan was published 00:09:04.500 --> 00:09:08.059 in 1980, The Captive followed in 1981, and the 00:09:08.059 --> 00:09:10.779 final installment, The Beast, came out in 1982. 00:09:11.470 --> 00:09:14.070 Which makes what happened next even more bittersweet, 00:09:14.090 --> 00:09:15.830 because the science fiction community didn't 00:09:15.830 --> 00:09:18.250 just offer polite applause for a deceased author, 00:09:18.429 --> 00:09:21.309 they genuinely embraced the work. The immediate 00:09:21.309 --> 00:09:23.990 impact these books had was immense. The sheer 00:09:23.990 --> 00:09:26.110 volume of critical acclaim he received right 00:09:26.110 --> 00:09:28.610 out of the gate completely validated the secret 00:09:28.610 --> 00:09:30.590 life he had been leading. Let's look at those 00:09:30.590 --> 00:09:34.570 awards. Let's do it. In 1981, Stallman was nominated 00:09:34.570 --> 00:09:37.309 for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, 00:09:37.350 --> 00:09:40.879 placing fifth. That same year, His first novel, 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:43.059 The Orphan, was nominated for the prestigious 00:09:43.059 --> 00:09:45.419 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and it was also 00:09:45.419 --> 00:09:48.320 nominated for the Balrog Award. Landing a Nebula 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:50.840 nomination right out of the gate is a massive 00:09:50.840 --> 00:09:53.539 flex. It shows he immediately commanded the respect 00:09:53.539 --> 00:09:56.100 of his peers. The readers recognized it, too. 00:09:56.519 --> 00:09:59.340 In the Locus poll, which is a massive indicator 00:09:59.340 --> 00:10:02.500 of fan reception, The Orphan placed second for 00:10:02.500 --> 00:10:05.840 Best First Novel and 17th for Best Fantasy Novel 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:08.139 overall. The momentum just carried over to the 00:10:08.139 --> 00:10:11.940 next year. In 1982, the second book, The Captive, 00:10:12.100 --> 00:10:14.980 placed fifth for best fantasy novel in the Locust 00:10:14.980 --> 00:10:17.820 Poll. These are highly competitive arenas. Placing 00:10:17.820 --> 00:10:19.620 that high in the Campbell and the Locust Polls 00:10:19.620 --> 00:10:21.620 indicates that his work was standing toe to toe 00:10:21.620 --> 00:10:24.200 with the titans of the genre during an incredibly 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:26.799 fertile period for speculative fiction. So what 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:29.360 does this all mean? How do we evaluate the legacy 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:31.879 of a writer who essentially arrived, conquered 00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:34.220 and vanished all at the same moment? To really 00:10:34.220 --> 00:10:37.419 understand his critical legacy. We have to look 00:10:37.419 --> 00:10:40.639 closely at the specific reception from the critics 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:43.279 of the era. It provides a beautifully balanced 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:46.480 view of both his brilliance and his imperfections. 00:10:46.539 --> 00:10:48.779 The reviews were pretty polarized on certain 00:10:48.779 --> 00:10:51.440 aspects, weren't they? They were nuanced. Writing 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:53.940 in Abyss Magazine, critic Dave Now called the 00:10:53.940 --> 00:10:57.139 series phenomenal. He was particularly struck 00:10:57.139 --> 00:10:58.980 by Stallman's execution of characterization. 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:03.139 Nell praised the complex emotional personas that 00:11:03.139 --> 00:11:04.840 the Beast creates while living among humans. 00:11:05.080 --> 00:11:07.220 He wrote that Stallman's background characters 00:11:07.220 --> 00:11:09.840 were amazingly well -drawn, that the Beast's 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:13.059 personality is complex almost beyond assimilation. 00:11:13.299 --> 00:11:15.460 I'd argue that's the hardest thing to pull off 00:11:15.460 --> 00:11:18.159 in this specific subgenre. It's relatively easy 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:19.879 to write a monster that just tears through a 00:11:19.879 --> 00:11:22.159 narrative. But Nell concluded that the books 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:24.700 worked so well because the characters felt thoroughly... 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:28.340 grounding the fantastical in reality. Making 00:11:28.340 --> 00:11:30.799 a shape -shifting science fiction werewolf feel 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:33.299 fundamentally emotionally authentic to the reader 00:11:33.299 --> 00:11:36.500 requires a deep, profound understanding of human 00:11:36.500 --> 00:11:39.139 psychology. But the critical legacy isn't just 00:11:39.139 --> 00:11:42.419 a fairy tale of unblemished perfection. There 00:11:42.419 --> 00:11:44.620 is a deeply flawed conclusion to the trilogy, 00:11:44.840 --> 00:11:47.059 and the critics of the time didn't shy away from 00:11:47.059 --> 00:11:50.250 pointing it out. Both Nichols and Nell noted 00:11:50.250 --> 00:11:52.950 a heartbreaking flaw in the final book, The Beast. 00:11:53.230 --> 00:11:56.309 Yes. Nell pointed out that the final volume really 00:11:56.309 --> 00:11:59.129 doesn't stand well on its own. And Peter Nichols 00:11:59.129 --> 00:12:01.690 was even more specific in his structural critique. 00:12:01.929 --> 00:12:04.909 He described the final book as being awkwardly 00:12:04.909 --> 00:12:06.970 structured. And the reason for that is the really 00:12:06.970 --> 00:12:10.450 sad part. It is. The reason Nichols gives for 00:12:10.450 --> 00:12:13.769 this awkwardness is what truly stings. He states 00:12:13.769 --> 00:12:15.970 that the book desperately needed an octorial 00:12:15.970 --> 00:12:18.610 revision that Stallman couldn't provide due to 00:12:18.610 --> 00:12:21.029 his sudden death. That phrase, octorial revision, 00:12:21.289 --> 00:12:24.009 really hits hard. It refers to that final polish, 00:12:24.090 --> 00:12:26.049 that last crucial sweep through the manuscript, 00:12:26.309 --> 00:12:28.870 where the author tightens the structure, fixes 00:12:28.870 --> 00:12:31.409 the pacing, and smooths out the rough transitions. 00:12:31.889 --> 00:12:33.830 He just wasn't there to do it. The book went 00:12:33.830 --> 00:12:35.690 out into the world with the unpolished edges 00:12:35.690 --> 00:12:38.250 still showing. If we connect this to the bigger 00:12:38.250 --> 00:12:40.809 picture, it highlights the bittersweet reality 00:12:40.809 --> 00:12:44.669 of posthumous art. When we consume a posthumous 00:12:44.669 --> 00:12:47.190 work, we get the incredible privilege of experiencing 00:12:47.190 --> 00:12:50.230 the raw imagination and the world -building genius 00:12:50.230 --> 00:12:52.870 of the creator. But we also have to confront 00:12:52.870 --> 00:12:55.850 the undeniable absence of the artist. Exactly. 00:12:55.950 --> 00:12:58.330 The structural flaws in The Beast aren't just 00:12:58.330 --> 00:13:02.129 mistakes. They are the literal, textual evidence 00:13:02.129 --> 00:13:05.610 of a life cut short. We see exactly where the 00:13:05.610 --> 00:13:08.110 pen fell from his hand, leaving the work suspended 00:13:08.110 --> 00:13:11.139 between draft and final masterpiece. That is 00:13:11.139 --> 00:13:13.799 a deeply poignant way to look at it. And it brings 00:13:13.799 --> 00:13:16.220 us back to our final takeaways from this exploration 00:13:16.220 --> 00:13:19.059 of Robert Lester Stallman. We are looking at 00:13:19.059 --> 00:13:21.860 a man of staggering duality. A life split down 00:13:21.860 --> 00:13:23.899 the middle. The son of a bed factory worker from 00:13:23.899 --> 00:13:26.700 Kankakee. The military veteran. The rigorous 00:13:26.700 --> 00:13:28.639 English professor who taught his students how 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:31.600 to approach poetry without fear. And hidden away 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:33.899 from the academic establishment, the brilliant 00:13:33.899 --> 00:13:36.559 architect of a genre -defying sci -fi werewolf 00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:39.279 trilogy. He literally lived two entirely different 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:41.860 professional and creative lives in the span of 00:13:41.860 --> 00:13:44.980 50 years, carefully managing the boundary between 00:13:44.980 --> 00:13:47.639 the two until his breakthrough. And that's what 00:13:47.639 --> 00:13:49.460 I want to leave you, the listener, with today. 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:52.919 This deep dive is a testament to the multitudes 00:13:52.919 --> 00:13:55.740 that people contain. The next time you are sitting 00:13:55.740 --> 00:13:58.019 in a meeting or walking past a neighbor's house, 00:13:58.220 --> 00:14:01.580 look around and consider what secret worlds the 00:14:01.580 --> 00:14:03.419 people around you might be building in their 00:14:03.419 --> 00:14:06.889 spare time. You never know who is quietly drafting 00:14:06.889 --> 00:14:09.289 a masterpiece while the rest of the world isn't 00:14:09.289 --> 00:14:11.809 looking. This raises an important question, something 00:14:11.809 --> 00:14:14.409 to really chew on long after we finish today. 00:14:14.509 --> 00:14:16.570 Okay, what is it? We spent this entire discussion 00:14:16.570 --> 00:14:19.029 marveling at how Stallman successfully split 00:14:19.029 --> 00:14:21.830 his life in two, the respected academic during 00:14:21.830 --> 00:14:24.629 the day and the boundary -pushing sci -fi author 00:14:24.629 --> 00:14:27.570 at night. But think about his specific academic 00:14:27.570 --> 00:14:30.590 focus. He spent his professional life studying 00:14:30.590 --> 00:14:33.570 D .H. Lawrence, an author famous for exploring 00:14:33.570 --> 00:14:37.370 intense primal human emotions. And William Morris, 00:14:37.450 --> 00:14:39.710 who was a literal pioneer of the fantasy genre. 00:14:39.909 --> 00:14:41.809 Oh, wow. I see where you're going with this. 00:14:41.950 --> 00:14:45.129 Did Stallman's academic day job secretly serve 00:14:45.129 --> 00:14:47.929 as the ultimate research for the complex, emotional 00:14:47.929 --> 00:14:50.750 and very real beast personas he created at night? 00:14:51.100 --> 00:14:53.519 Were these two lives actually as separate as 00:14:53.519 --> 00:14:56.100 he made them seem, or was the professor constantly 00:14:56.100 --> 00:14:58.679 feeding the author? That is an incredibly powerful 00:14:58.679 --> 00:15:01.179 thought to end on, the idea that his scholarly 00:15:01.179 --> 00:15:03.500 work was quietly fueling the beast the entire 00:15:03.500 --> 00:15:05.659 time. Well, thank you so much for joining us 00:15:05.659 --> 00:15:07.679 on this deep dive into the fascinating sources 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:10.320 behind the life of Robert Lister Stolman. Keep 00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:13.080 your eyes open, keep your mind curious, and keep 00:15:13.080 --> 00:15:15.120 exploring the hidden depths of the world and 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:17.120 the people around you. Until next time.