Harlan Ellison, science fiction master, dies at age 84

LOS ANGELES (AP): Harlan Ellison, the prolific, pugnacious author of "A Boy and His Dog," and countless other stories that blasted society with their nightmarish, sometimes darkly humorous scenarios, has died at age 84.

Ellison's death was confirmed Thursday to The Associated Press by Bill Schafer, an editor with Subterranean Press, the author's publisher. A woman who answered the phone at Ellison's office, who declined to give her name, said he died Wednesday in his sleep.