From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!npoiv!npois!houxm!houxa!houxi!houxz!ihnp4!ixn5c!inuxc!pur-ee!uiucdcs!uicsl!pollack Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers Title: Re: puns in SF - (nf) Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.1301 Posted: Thu Jan 6 18:47:17 1983 Received: Mon Jan 10 02:58:19 1983 #R:sri-arpa:-22400:uicsl:10700002:000:1329 uicsl!pollack Jan 6 15:21:00 1983 I can vividly recall one of Asimov's pun stories, called "Death of a Foy" which appeared in F&SF several years ago. I will reconstruct it from memory: A Foy was dying on Earth. This was very unusual because few Foys ever came to Earth since their planet (named Sortibakenstrete) was several light-years away, and because they had extraordinary cardiovascular systems (including 5 large hearts) which usually lasted a very long time. Anyhow, this Foy was dying and it wanted to return to Sortibakenstrete for its last rites. But the Foy's terran Cardio-pulmonologist, Maude Feldman, unable to save it, didn't want the Foy to depart; she wanted to make a big contribution to science by examining the Foy's heart system. So she had her assistant, Ray Smith, continually cajoling and pestering the Foy to try and make it stay. One day, during his cajoling and pestering session, Ray told the Foy that if the New York Philharmonic Choir, led these days by Harold Peterson, sung a dirge at the Foy's funeral, then its soul would waft through space back to its native planet. Anyhow, soon it was d-day for the Foy, and on its death-bed it called its pesterer over and said: "Give my big hearts to Maude, Ray. Dismember me for Harold's choir. Tell all the Foys on Sortibakenstrete that I will soon be there..."