The Cool War by Frederik Pohl

A hapless minister is drafted into international intrigue.

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/just-another-day-in-paradise
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--- PyGate Linux v1.0
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

James Nicoll wrote:

The Cool War by Frederik Pohl

A hapless minister is drafted into international intrigue.

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/just-another-day-in-paradise

I don't have my copy to hand, but wasn't there a mention of a gay
marriage very early on?

I thought it was the first mention of a gay marriage, as an
unexceptional occurrence that i had ever read.

William Hyde

--- PyGate Linux v1.0
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 09/10/2025 21:29, William Hyde wrote:

James Nicoll wrote:

The Cool War by Frederik Pohl

A hapless minister is drafted into international intrigue.

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/just-another-day-in-paradise

I don't have my copy to hand, but wasn't there a mention of a gay
marriage very early on?

I thought it was the first mention of a gay marriage, as an
unexceptional occurrence that i had ever read.

William Hyde

Arthur C. Clarke may have written one earlier,
because, you know. But I don't recall a wedding,
if you mean the wedding.

Apparently the same publication year as
_The Cool War_ - 1981 - I think Vonda N. McIntyre
included polyamorous marriage in Star Trek novel <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Entropy_Effect>
though I think only one member of the marriage
appears. But I suppose that a certain kind of
fan fiction had been marrying Kirk to Spock
for years... or not:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirk/Spock>
mentions marriage only once, re Spock's on-screen
anullment. "Proper" novels _The Price of the
Phoenix_ and _The Fate of the Phoenix_ took
the affection between Kirk and Spock farther
than most stories that aren't only about that.


--- PyGate Linux v1.0
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Mon, 13 Oct 2025 19:55:12 +0100, Robert Carnegie
<rja.carnegie@gmail.com> wrote:

Apparently the same publication year as
_The Cool War_ - 1981 - I think Vonda N. McIntyre
included polyamorous marriage in Star Trek novel ><https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Entropy_Effect>
though I think only one member of the marriage
appears. But I suppose that a certain kind of
fan fiction had been marrying Kirk to Spock
for years... or not:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirk/Spock>
mentions marriage only once, re Spock's on-screen
anullment. "Proper" novels _The Price of the
Phoenix_ and _The Fate of the Phoenix_ took
the affection between Kirk and Spock farther
than most stories that aren't only about that.

Actual marriage between Kirk and Spock or simply boinking?

--- PyGate Linux v1.0
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:

Actual marriage between Kirk and Spock or simply boinking?

Interesting question. Does the Enterprise even have a chaplain? Maybe Engineer Scott has a certificate from the Church of the Subgenius.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

--- PyGate Linux v1.0
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 17/10/2025 08:29, The Horny Goat wrote:

On Mon, 13 Oct 2025 19:55:12 +0100, Robert Carnegie
<rja.carnegie@gmail.com> wrote:

Apparently the same publication year as
_The Cool War_ - 1981 - I think Vonda N. McIntyre
included polyamorous marriage in Star Trek novel
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Entropy_Effect>
though I think only one member of the marriage
appears. But I suppose that a certain kind of
fan fiction had been marrying Kirk to Spock
for years... or not:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirk/Spock>
mentions marriage only once, re Spock's on-screen
anullment. "Proper" novels _The Price of the
Phoenix_ and _The Fate of the Phoenix_ took
the affection between Kirk and Spock farther
than most stories that aren't only about that.

Actual marriage between Kirk and Spock or simply boinking?

Just going by that Wikipedia page - no one was
writing about them getting married. But someone
may have done, even though the "slash fiction"
usually is interested in erotic love. And mind melds.

Amongst things that a writer /could/ do is have
them beam onto the Honeymoon Planet where it's
illegal for two people to be NOT married, so the
captain performs a quick ceremony and consummation -
perhaps they do this to rescue and marry off the
previous landing party - or a Transporter incident
fuses them into one body which counts as legal
marriage while they have a heated mental experience,
or Kirk wins the fight and therefore the groom in
"Amok Time" and the groom is insistent.

I don't think that marriage by Transporter really
would be a thing, or you'd get individuals doing
it on purpose to a reluctant partner.


--- PyGate Linux v1.0
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 10/17/2025 7:08 AM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:

In article <10ctej9$l8p$1@panix2.panix.com>,
Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:

The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:

Actual marriage between Kirk and Spock or simply boinking?

Interesting question. Does the Enterprise even have a chaplain? Maybe
Engineer Scott has a certificate from the Church of the Subgenius.
--scott

Who was going to perform the ceremony at the start of "Balance of Terror"?

Was it Kirk as Captain, or was there a chaplain on site?

Kirk as Captain.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

--- PyGate Linux v1.0
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:

Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:

The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:

Actual marriage between Kirk and Spock or simply boinking?

Interesting question. Does the Enterprise even have a chaplain? Maybe >>Engineer Scott has a certificate from the Church of the Subgenius.

Who was going to perform the ceremony at the start of "Balance of Terror"?

Was it Kirk as Captain, or was there a chaplain on site?

Yes, it was Kirk in his official capacity.

My ex reminds me that airline pilots can do this too, depending on what
state they are currently flying over and depending on the approval of the airline. She was not sure about cargo pilots.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

--- PyGate Linux v1.0
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 17 Oct 2025 14:08:56 GMT, ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan
<tednolan>) wrote:

Who was going to perform the ceremony at the start of "Balance of Terror"?

Was it Kirk as Captain, or was there a chaplain on site?

I've never heard of a marriage officient doing their own wedding
though I know lots who have performed the ceremony for family members
marrying unrelated partners. (I know one minister who performed the
marriage of all three of his daughters - obviously each to a separate
partner)

--- PyGate Linux v1.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:

I've never heard of a marriage officient doing their own wedding
though I know lots who have performed the ceremony for family members >marrying unrelated partners. (I know one minister who performed the
marriage of all three of his daughters - obviously each to a separate >partner)

Didn't the Stainless Steel Rat mention a doctor who had taken his own
appendix out?
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

--- PyGate Linux v1.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 19/10/25 13:20, Scott Dorsey wrote:

The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:

I've never heard of a marriage officient doing their own wedding
though I know lots who have performed the ceremony for family members
marrying unrelated partners. (I know one minister who performed the
marriage of all three of his daughters - obviously each to a separate
partner)

Didn't the Stainless Steel Rat mention a doctor who had taken his own appendix out?
--scott

Just to get even weirder, it is claimed, and debated, that a Filipino
eye surgeon trained in Europe, performed eye surgery on himself on
return to the Philippines.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)