IS THE DUNE ENCYCLOPEDIA CANON ?

[ This document originally appeared in the alt.fan.dune newsgroup. ]

From: wmcnelly@ccvax.fullerton.edu (Will McNelly)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.dune
Subject: Dune Ency as canon
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 1995 11:52:00 -1000

Of course the DE is not canon, and of course it IS canon - but does it really make any difference? As I said, it is a work of fiction about a work of fiction, and it was compiled with FH's full approval and enthusiastic encouragement. I consulted with him by phone very often, and he and I had only one quibble - my assertion that Rev Mother Helen Gaius Mohiam was Jessica's true mother - which is contrary to what the books themselves say where FH identified some shadowy figure as Tanicia Nerus as her mother. However--REMEMBER that the material in the Riculoan crystals were stored there by Leto who severely edited and modified and changed the material to suit his own purposes. Leto was in effect a modifier of history, so as I told Frank, my assertion about Jessica was just as valid as Leto's - and he ultimately agreed - thinking that it was the kind of scholarly BS that academics go in for - and he had a good laugh out of it.

As to the languages: FH told me that he had learned several hundred words of Arabic in preparation for the book - and some of the words in the books are severely modified - as it natural with languages - by the passage of time. The author of all of the articles on languages in the DE was Walter Meyers, prof of English and linguistics at NC State - the author of a very influential book on SF and linguistics.

Will McNelly


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[ The following is a correction to the above document. ]

From: Willis E. McNelly
Subject: Linguistics in the DE
Date: Monday, March 16, 1998 10:01 AM

My apologies to all who might have read my erroneous attribution of authorship concerning the linguistics essays in "The Dune Encyclopedia."

As Mr. Quijada has corrrectly pointed out, several of the essays on lingustics in the DE were jointly written by him and by my esteemed colleague at Cal State Fullerton, Dr. Alan Kaye. Dr. Kaye is perhaps the world's foremost authority on Arabic dialects, and his assistance in giving me suggestions for the DE was invaluable.

Because of my own lack of knowledge on many items or topics which the DE concerned, I had every essay read by some second authority in the field. Such was the case with the essays on linguistics. I may have inadvertently given the incorrect impression that Dr. Walter E. Meyers of North Carolina State University, the author of the justly acclaimed "Aliens and Linguists," who was my "second reader" of all of the linguistics essays was in fact the author of them. My apologies.

The DE could NOT have been completed without the contributions of scholars like Messrs. Kaye and Quijada.

Dr. Willis E. McNelly
Compiler
The Dune Encyclopedia