An illuminating moment in the schism between the science fiction establishment and its foes came about in 1967 and 1968, when the science fiction community, like the rest of American society, engaged in loud debate over the Vietnam war. Starting at the Milford Conference in August 1967 (an annual science fiction writers' workshop) the proposal was made that science fiction writers express themselves on the issue of the war. (p. 26)

The final result was not one but two statements, which appeared as paid advertisements in 1968 issues of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and Galaxy Science Fiction. An examination of the signers of the two statements is illuminating as to the state of science fiction, a state which has continued to evolve since 1967–68 but which has not been essentially altered since then.

The "war" ad carried 72 signatures including those of Poul Anderson, Leigh Brackett, John W. Campbell, Hal Clement, L...