Harlan Ellison, Star Trek and Twilight Zone writer, dies at 84

Harlan Ellison, the legendary science fiction author and screenwriter whose many credits included the 1967 Star Trek episode “The City on the Edge of Forever” and the same year’s short story “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream,” about a supercomputer torturing the world’s last human survivors, has died at age 84.

Ellison’s death was confirmed to the Associated Press on Thursday by Bill Schafer, an editor with Subterranean Press, the author’s publisher.

A prolific and acclaimed writer, Ellison penned the 1969 novella A Boy and His Dog, which was adapted into the 1975 film of the same name starring Don Johnson, and also worked on TV series including The Outer Limits, the 1980s version of The Twilight Zone, and Babylon 5.

Those who have paid tribute to Ellison include fellow writer Stephen King, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, and The Simpsons showrunner Al Jean. King tweeted, “There was no one quite like him in American letters, and never will be. Angry, funny, eloquent, hugely talented. If there’s an afterlife, Harlan is already kicking ass and taking down names.”