[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 27, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S1234]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Remembering Ursula K. Le Guin

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the extraordinary 
life and work of one of Oregon's finest, Ursula K. Le Guin, who, after 
a long life, passed away in my hometown of Portland on January 22 at 
the age of 88.
  You would have a tough time overstating Mrs. Le Guin's impact on 
American literature, particularly on the genres of fantasy and science 
fiction. She didn't invent science fiction or fantasy literature, but 
what she did, in true Oregon fashion, is redefine them.
  Millions of school children in Oregon and around the world know her 
best as the author of the unforgettable Earthsea series. She also wrote 
essays, poetry, and short stories throughout her life. To the end, she 
fiercely resisted the constant attempts to pigeonhole her as a sci-fi 
author.
  Over five decades, she upended conventions, shattered ceilings, and 
inspired generations of readers and authors. She is going to be missed, 
even as her legacy lives on.
  Ursula Le Guin was born Ursula Kroeber on October 21, 1921, in 
Berkeley, CA. Her parents were both successful anthropologists who 
encouraged their kids to think and to question. Exposed to mythology 
and science fiction at an early age, she soon grew tired of what she 
would later describe as White men and soldiers going forth and 
conquering the universe.
  A shy young woman, she escaped the anxieties of adolescence by 
reading authors like Austen, Shelley, and Tolstoy in her local public 
library. She went on to Radcliffe College, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 
1951. She earned a master's degree from Columbia University the 
following year and won a prestigious Fulbright scholarship to continue 
her studies in Paris.
  She met fellow Fulbright scholar Charles Le Guin on her way there, 
and they were married shortly thereafter.
  The pair returned to the United States and ultimately settled in 
Oregon in the late 1950s, when her husband took a job at Portland State 
University. She focused on the couple's three children and on her 
writing, returning to science fiction with ``Rocannon's World'' in 
1966. Two years later, she published ``A Wizard of Earthsea,'' the 
first in a series of highly acclaimed fantasy novels that have remained 
in print to the delight of millions.
  I can't imagine it is an easy feat for any author to create an entire 
universe that sticks in the minds of readers for generations. In 
building Earthsea, Mrs. Le Guin joined that elite group of fiction 
writers, like Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, who have done just that.
  More impressively, she used her writing to push back against social 
injustices and social constraints. She wrote about environmental 
destruction, about feminism and gender inequality, about racism, about 
war and peace. She wrote about women protagonists and about non-White 
heroes when they were even less commonly highlighted than they are 
today. She wrote about multidimensional characters and others who 
sought to better themselves and their societies rather than bend others 
to their will.
  The more Mrs. Le Guin wrote, the more people would read, and the more 
the awards started to pile up. She racked up awards in the course of 
her career like few authors have--multiple Hugo, Nebula, and Locus 
Awards, a National Book Award, a Newbery Medal, and a Pushcart Prize. 
In 1977, she was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize.
  She twice won the Hugo and Nebula Awards in the same year, for 1969's 
``The Left Hand of Darkness'' and in 1974 for ``The Dispossessed.''
  I would be here until next week if I tried to list all of her 
achievements, but because we have a rule in the Wyden household against 
filibustering friends, let me just say that in 2000, the Library of 
Congress made official what all of Oregon had long known. It declared 
that Ursula Le Guin was a ``Living Legend'' for her contributions to 
American literature.
  The fact is, we love our bookstores, and I very often kid Michael 
Powell and my wife Nancy that they are the LeBron James and Damian 
Lillard of bookstores. The fact is, Mrs. Le Guin has been in demand in 
bookstores and libraries for decades, and she has always been sharing 
that wisdom in her books with visitors near and far. Thanks to her 
example and her influence, generations of women writers have blazed new 
trails and defied old dogmas.

  As a dad who knows full well the importance of reading in a child's 
life, this is really a special honor today to be able to stand before 
this distinguished body and remember Ursula K. Le Guin, her life and 
her legacy. Her pioneering writing is going to continue to make readers 
challenge their conceptions and contemplate their role in this 
enormously vast universe for decades to come. Her long career's worth 
of great works will be treasured far into the future. I especially 
appreciate the opportunity to recognize the extraordinary work of a 
woman who did so much to promote writing and attract young readers at 
home in Oregon and the chance to have been able to recognize Ursula Le 
Guin today before the U.S. Senate.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 
up to 20 minutes as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.