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Changed "...which concern the recognition of a peculiar alien species as sentient." to "...which concern the recognition of a peculiar alien species as sapient." which reflects the word usage in the Fuzzy books.
H. Beam Piper was one of the few SF authors to not incorrectly use sentient to refer to intelligent, self aware beings.
OK, can anybody be more specific about what aspects of this article need to be cleaned up? - Gladmax
I have done some cleanup of the introduction and biography sections, including attributing the specifics of his suicide to Pournelle, who wrote about it in his introduction to the Ace reprint of Little Fuzzy. - Gladmax
Oops, I just noticed this: The introduction lists his day of death as 1964-11-11, while his bio lists it as 1964-11-09. which is correct? - gladmax
Apparently[1] the date of his death is actually unknown, as his body was not discovered for some time. The last entry in his diary is November 5 ("Rain 0930"). Here's a report that his body was found on November 9. Here's a posting that mentions his last substantial diary entry, on November 4, about the 1964 presidential election. There may be other useful information in that list if someone wants to read it all. John F. Carr is apparently still working on his Piper biography, but given that he posted the first chapter in 1988, it may be a while. Still, the hostigos.com site is about Piper and is being kept up to date, so there is still hope. 192.35.100.1 01:19, 8 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I fixed the Project Gutenberg links as per the Project Gutenberg Linking Policy
Apparently a whole bunch of his books have recently gone back into print (according to amazon.com).
Actually most of his work is now public domain since the rights holder neglected to renew the copyrights. VanitasStation (talk) 21:07, 21 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
This was put in out-of-place, but maybe something can be said about Piper's beliefs in reincarnation and time.
—wwoods 17:27, 6 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
According to the Williamsport Sun-Gazette dated Mon, Nov. 9th, 1964, police discovered the body in the early morning of that same day. I would assume that the body was indeed found on the 9th.
I would strongly suggest that all statements in this article related to his suicide be sourced, to specific lines in specific reliable sources. while he is not living, its generally wise to not have unsourced, controversial statements, particularly relating to peoples intentions or motivations, in articles. i may try to source or remove some of them.Mercurywoodrose (talk) 07:19, 13 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I don't know how widely influential science fiction RPGs are considered to be in pop culture, but Game Designers Workshop's "Traveller" space-opera RPG universe contains a number of Piper homages and references. Piper's "Sword Worlds," for example, are transplanted to a sector of the Solomani Rim, and the term "Space Viking" likewise puts in an appearance in some of the later material. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.41.40.24 (talk) 19:01, 31 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
The unsigned commentator is correct about the use of the Sword Worlds in Traveller and Piper's books. Geraldshields11 (talk) 15:04, 4 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Also, in his book Space Viking, Piper uses the name Enterprise for the name of the pirate ship, which was the focus of the book. Geraldshields11 (talk) 12:46, 6 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I recently read [this article] which includes the paragraph:
I can confirm the introduction of Federation does have this, but I've been unable to navigate the Library of Congress website to find their entry for Piper. Can anyone try? ~ Brother William (talk) 16:56, 5 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]
In the bio, the reasons for his suicide are not only vague (what does "financial difficulties" even mean?? and what does "career on the skids" mean?!!) but COMPLETELY IGNORE THE FACT THAT ALMOST CERTAINLY THE PROXIMATE CAUSE WAS CLINICAL DEPRESSION!!!! This article reminds me of the biographies which claim stress led to mental breakdown. (rather than being caused by an underlying mental condition). I encourage the editors to avoid writing about medical conditions they are apparently totally ignorant of and further to avoid quotes or references to the pseudo-scientific beliefs of the mid-20th Century.207.155.85.22 (talk) 05:54, 31 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]