Famed science fiction writer Harlan Ellison has declared, “The truth of what's going on here is that I'm dying," in an interview with Isthmus, a Madison, Wisconsin weekly.  He told the publication that his appearance this past weekend at MadCon in Madison would be his last convention appearance ever.  "I'm like the Wicked Witch of the West -- I'm melting. I began to sense it back in January. By that time, I had agreed to do the convention. And I said, I can make it. I can make it.'"

Ellison told the paper, “I'm not afraid of death, and there is not one iota of suicide in me. All I want to make sure is that when the paper comes out, it says, 'Harlan Ellison died in his sleep.'”

Ellison revealed that he has completed his last piece, a 15,000-word introduction, titled “Riding the Rails in Atlantis” to a book called The Discarded.  The book is based on an Ellison short story and teleplay based on it co-written with Josh Olson for Masters of Science Fiction.  This will be his last book, he told Isthmus.