I remember almost everything about this story but the title and author. :-)
The last man and the last woman on earth meet. He has some sort of
illness where he has attacks, but his medication will bring him out of
them, so he wants someone to watch over him. He also immediately wants
to hook up with her, but she's a prude and insists on being married.
Somehow they figure out how to get married (or at least plan to figure
it out), but then they're in a restaurant and he goes to the men's room, where he has an attack, and the end of the story is him hearing the door click shut and knowing that the label "Men" outside means she will never come in to save him.
I thought it was in a Judith Merril annual collection, but none of the
story titles seem to fit it.
On 6/6/26 2:08 PM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
I remember almost everything about this story but the title and
author. :-)
The last man and the last woman on earth meet. He has some sort of
illness where he has attacks, but his medication will bring him out of
them, so he wants someone to watch over him. He also immediately wants
to hook up with her, but she's a prude and insists on being married.
Somehow they figure out how to get married (or at least plan to figure
it out), but then they're in a restaurant and he goes to the men's
room, where he has an attack, and the end of the story is him hearing
the door click shut and knowing that the label "Men" outside means she
will never come in to save him.
I thought it was in a Judith Merril annual collection, but none of the
story titles seem to fit it.
That sounds like Damon Knight's short story "Not with a Bang".
- Tony
I remember almost everything about this story but the title and author. :-)
The last man and the last woman on earth meet. He has some sort of
illness where he has attacks, but his medication will bring him out of
them, so he wants someone to watch over him. He also immediately wants
to hook up with her, but she's a prude and insists on being married.
Somehow they figure out how to get married (or at least plan to figure
it out), but then they're in a restaurant and he goes to the men's room, where he has an attack, and the end of the story is him hearing the door click shut and knowing that the label "Men" outside means she will never come in to save him.
I thought it was in a Judith Merril annual collection, but none of the
story titles seem to fit it.
On 6/6/26 11:08, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
I remember almost everything about this story but the title andI remember the story. HOWEVER, the man was thoroughly despicable. His
author. :-)
The last man and the last woman on earth meet. He has some sort of
illness where he has attacks, but his medication will bring him out of
them, so he wants someone to watch over him. He also immediately wants
to hook up with her, but she's a prude and insists on being married.
Somehow they figure out how to get married (or at least plan to figure
it out), but then they're in a restaurant and he goes to the men's
room, where he has an attack, and the end of the story is him hearing
the door click shut and knowing that the label "Men" outside means she
will never come in to save him.
I thought it was in a Judith Merril annual collection, but none of the
story titles seem to fit it.
plan was to have a daughter with the woman and it is implied (I think implied, it has been decades since I read it) use the daughter for sex.
Now I have to see if I have a "Best of Damon Knight" somewhere and
reread it. Or maybe it was a Hugo winner. Or something.
On 6/6/26 14:18, Tony Nance wrote:
On 6/6/26 2:08 PM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
I remember almost everything about this story but the title and
author. :-)
The last man and the last woman on earth meet. He has some sort of
illness where he has attacks, but his medication will bring him out of
them, so he wants someone to watch over him. He also immediately wants
to hook up with her, but she's a prude and insists on being married.
Somehow they figure out how to get married (or at least plan to figure
it out), but then they're in a restaurant and he goes to the men's
room, where he has an attack, and the end of the story is him hearing
the door click shut and knowing that the label "Men" outside means she
will never come in to save him.
I thought it was in a Judith Merril annual collection, but none of the
story titles seem to fit it.
That sounds like Damon Knight's short story "Not with a Bang".
- Tony
Bingo! Thanks. (That took ten minutes, less time than I spent trying to
get all those weird AIs to find it for me.)
On 6/6/26 14:18, Tony Nance wrote:
On 6/6/26 2:08 PM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
I remember almost everything about this story but the title and
author. :-)
The last man and the last woman on earth meet. He has some sort of
illness where he has attacks, but his medication will bring him out of
them, so he wants someone to watch over him. He also immediately wants
to hook up with her, but she's a prude and insists on being married.
Somehow they figure out how to get married (or at least plan to figure
it out), but then they're in a restaurant and he goes to the men's
room, where he has an attack, and the end of the story is him hearing
the door click shut and knowing that the label "Men" outside means she
will never come in to save him.
I thought it was in a Judith Merril annual collection, but none of the
story titles seem to fit it.
That sounds like Damon Knight's short story "Not with a Bang".
- Tony
Bingo! Thanks. (That took ten minutes, less time than I spent trying to
get all those weird AIs to find it for me.)
Evelyn C. Leeper <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> wrote:I thought Cringlely was dead.
On 6/6/26 14:18, Tony Nance wrote:
On 6/6/26 2:08 PM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
I remember almost everything about this story but the title and
author. :-)
The last man and the last woman on earth meet. He has some sort of
illness where he has attacks, but his medication will bring him out of >>>> them, so he wants someone to watch over him. He also immediately wants >>>> to hook up with her, but she's a prude and insists on being married.
Somehow they figure out how to get married (or at least plan to figure >>>> it out), but then they're in a restaurant and he goes to the men's
room, where he has an attack, and the end of the story is him hearing
the door click shut and knowing that the label "Men" outside means she >>>> will never come in to save him.
I thought it was in a Judith Merril annual collection, but none of the >>>> story titles seem to fit it.
That sounds like Damon Knight's short story "Not with a Bang".
- Tony
Bingo! Thanks. (That took ten minutes, less time than I spent trying to
get all those weird AIs to find it for me.)
"Artificial" aptly applies to all things AI. [1] The Epstein class
yearns to use AI to "correct" the digital world. [2]
Human communications that fall outside of the written word, such as schematics or sheet music, tend to stymie AI. So it adopts an affected altruistic attitude and starts nagging about copyrights and proprietary information instead of admitting its own shortcomings in processing
pictures.
Long story short, a few years ago AI failed to find CITADEL by Budrys
despite being fed keywords such as: "Buick," "chocolate," "pulp,"
"science," "fiction," "magazine," "1950s." AI wasted my time in this particular endeavor. Never again!
On the other hand, AI excels at computer coding. It saves me time by
creating software skeleton code.
Note.
[1] I, Cringely's take:
Here is what a language model actually does. It has read
an enormous amount of text, and from that text it has
learned, with real brilliance, what tends to come next.
Give it some words and it predicts the words likely to
follow. That is the whole trick. It is a magnificent
trick - it gives us machines that write fluent prose in
any voice on any subject - but look at what it optimizes
for. It optimizes for plausible. It was never, at any
point, optimizing for true. Truth was not in the
objective. Plausibility was. And plausibility and truth
often travel together, which is precisely why we confuse
them - but they are not the same thing, and the gap
between them is the whole story.
<https://www.cringely.com/2026/06/08/genai-is-fluent-in-everything-but-faithful-in-nothing/
On 6/6/26 14:18, Tony Nance wrote:
On 6/6/26 2:08 PM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
I remember almost everything about this story but the title and
author. :-)
The last man and the last woman on earth meet. He has some sort of
illness where he has attacks, but his medication will bring him out
of them, so he wants someone to watch over him. He also immediately
wants to hook up with her, but she's a prude and insists on being
married.
Somehow they figure out how to get married (or at least plan to
figure it out), but then they're in a restaurant and he goes to the
men's room, where he has an attack, and the end of the story is him
hearing the door click shut and knowing that the label "Men" outside
means she will never come in to save him.
I thought it was in a Judith Merril annual collection, but none of
the story titles seem to fit it.
That sounds like Damon Knight's short story "Not with a Bang".
- Tony
Bingo! Thanks. (That took ten minutes, less time than I spent trying to
get all those weird AIs to find it for me.)
On 6/8/26 13:02, BCFD 36 wrote:
On 6/6/26 11:08, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:The ISFDb is your friend. (I used to use my two volumes of Contento for anthologies and collections, but the ISFDb is easier, and actually also
I remember almost everything about this story but the title andI remember the story. HOWEVER, the man was thoroughly despicable. His
author. :-)
The last man and the last woman on earth meet. He has some sort of
illness where he has attacks, but his medication will bring him out
of them, so he wants someone to watch over him. He also immediately
wants to hook up with her, but she's a prude and insists on being
married.
Somehow they figure out how to get married (or at least plan to
figure it out), but then they're in a restaurant and he goes to the
men's room, where he has an attack, and the end of the story is him
hearing the door click shut and knowing that the label "Men" outside
means she will never come in to save him.
I thought it was in a Judith Merril annual collection, but none of
the story titles seem to fit it.
plan was to have a daughter with the woman and it is implied (I think
implied, it has been decades since I read it) use the daughter for sex.
Now I have to see if I have a "Best of Damon Knight" somewhere and
reread it. Or maybe it was a Hugo winner. Or something.
has the last forty years or so that Contento doesn't.)
In article <1109so2$22nj0$3@dont-email.me>, BCFD 36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> wrote:I did go look it up. I just wanted to get spoon fed the information,
On 6/8/26 11:51, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
On 6/8/26 13:02, BCFD 36 wrote:
On 6/6/26 11:08, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:The ISFDb is your friend. (I used to use my two volumes of Contento for
I remember almost everything about this story but the title andI remember the story. HOWEVER, the man was thoroughly despicable. His
author. :-)
The last man and the last woman on earth meet. He has some sort of
illness where he has attacks, but his medication will bring him out
of them, so he wants someone to watch over him. He also immediately
wants to hook up with her, but she's a prude and insists on being
married.
Somehow they figure out how to get married (or at least plan to
figure it out), but then they're in a restaurant and he goes to the
men's room, where he has an attack, and the end of the story is him
hearing the door click shut and knowing that the label "Men" outside >>>>> means she will never come in to save him.
I thought it was in a Judith Merril annual collection, but none of
the story titles seem to fit it.
plan was to have a daughter with the woman and it is implied (I think
implied, it has been decades since I read it) use the daughter for sex. >>>>
Now I have to see if I have a "Best of Damon Knight" somewhere and
reread it. Or maybe it was a Hugo winner. Or something.
anthologies and collections, but the ISFDb is easier, and actually also
has the last forty years or so that Contento doesn't.)
Boy! If YOU were my friend, you would have told me it was in "Best of
Damon Knight". But no, you made me go look it up! Friends don't make
friends looks stuff up. They spoon feed it to lazy bums.
No I have to go out to the tub in the shed and see if I have "Best" out
there. It is not on any of my book shelves.
Here you go:
https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v001n02_1950-Winter-Spring_AK/page/n119/mode/2up
On 6/6/26 3:43 PM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
On 6/6/26 14:18, Tony Nance wrote:
On 6/6/26 2:08 PM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
I remember almost everything about this story but the title and
author. :-)
The last man and the last woman on earth meet. He has some sort of
illness where he has attacks, but his medication will bring him out
of them, so he wants someone to watch over him. He also immediately
wants to hook up with her, but she's a prude and insists on being
married.
Somehow they figure out how to get married (or at least plan to
figure it out), but then they're in a restaurant and he goes to the
men's room, where he has an attack, and the end of the story is him
hearing the door click shut and knowing that the label "Men" outside
means she will never come in to save him.
I thought it was in a Judith Merril annual collection, but none of
the story titles seem to fit it.
That sounds like Damon Knight's short story "Not with a Bang".
- Tony
Bingo! Thanks. (That took ten minutes, less time than I spent trying
to get all those weird AIs to find it for me.)
I'm a little surprised the AI queries weren't successful. When the
Knight story came to mind, I wanted to make sure I wasn't fooling
myself, so I googled the story. It's right there in Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_with_a_Bang_(short_story)
and even includes this info (direct quote, at least until somebody
changes it!) under "Synopsis":
"The story is an ironic, Adam-and-Eve tale. Humanity has been wiped out
by a nuclear war, except for one man and woman, who meet in a restaurant
in Salt Lake City. The man has a disease that causes recurrent episodes
of total paralysis. While in the bathroom, he has an attack, and dies
with the realization that the woman is too prudish to enter and save him."
Last I knew (including a brief check a minute ago), a lot of AIs use Wikipedia as part of their training.
Tony
On 6/9/26 13:32, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
In article <1109so2$22nj0$3@dont-email.me>, BCFD 36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> wrote:
Just got notified of a wildland fire across the valley. I think I will >wander down to the FD and see what's what.
On 6/8/26 11:51, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
On 6/8/26 13:02, BCFD 36 wrote:
On 6/6/26 11:08, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:The ISFDb is your friend. (I used to use my two volumes of Contento
I remember almost everything about this story but the title andI remember the story. HOWEVER, the man was thoroughly despicable. His
author. :-)
The last man and the last woman on earth meet. He has some sort of
illness where he has attacks, but his medication will bring him out
of them, so he wants someone to watch over him. He also immediately
wants to hook up with her, but she's a prude and insists on being
married.
Somehow they figure out how to get married (or at least plan to
figure it out), but then they're in a restaurant and he goes to the
men's room, where he has an attack, and the end of the story is him
hearing the door click shut and knowing that the label "Men" outside
means she will never come in to save him.
I thought it was in a Judith Merril annual collection, but none of
the story titles seem to fit it.
plan was to have a daughter with the woman and it is implied (I think
implied, it has been decades since I read it) use the daughter for sex.
Now I have to see if I have a "Best of Damon Knight" somewhere and
reread it. Or maybe it was a Hugo winner. Or something.
for anthologies and collections, but the ISFDb is easier, and actually
also has the last forty years or so that Contento doesn't.)
Boy! If YOU were my friend, you would have told me it was in "Best of
Damon Knight". But no, you made me go look it up! Friends don't make
friends looks stuff up. They spoon feed it to lazy bums.
No I have to go out to the tub in the shed and see if I have "Best" out there. It is not on any of my book shelves.
BCFD 36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> writes:
On 6/9/26 13:32, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
In article <1109so2$22nj0$3@dont-email.me>, BCFD 36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> wrote:
Just got notified of a wildland fire across the valley. I think I will
wander down to the FD and see what's what.
I see a CalFire Super King Air (air tactical) is headed your way,
coming up over Gilroy now. There is no active incident report yet.
On 6/9/26 16:23, BCFD 36 wrote:
On 6/8/26 11:51, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
On 6/8/26 13:02, BCFD 36 wrote:
On 6/6/26 11:08, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
I remember almost everything about this story but the title and
author. :-)
Enjoy!
On 6/9/26 15:20, Scott Lurndal wrote:
BCFD 36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> writes:Small 1/2 acre wildland fire. They got it knocked down and mopped up in
On 6/9/26 13:32, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
In article <1109so2$22nj0$3@dont-email.me>, BCFD 36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> wrote:
Just got notified of a wildland fire across the valley. I think I will
wander down to the FD and see what's what.
I see a CalFire Super King Air (air tactical) is headed your way,
coming up over Gilroy now. There is no active incident report yet.
a couple of hours.
On 6/6/26 11:08, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
I remember almost everything about this story but the title and author. :-) >>I remember the story. HOWEVER, the man was thoroughly despicable.
The last man and the last woman on earth meet. He has some sort of
illness where he has attacks, but his medication will bring him out of
them, so he wants someone to watch over him. He also immediately wants
to hook up with her, but she's a prude and insists on being married.
Somehow they figure out how to get married (or at least plan to figure
it out), but then they're in a restaurant and he goes to the men's room,
where he has an attack, and the end of the story is him hearing the door
click shut and knowing that the label "Men" outside means she will never
come in to save him.
I thought it was in a Judith Merril annual collection, but none of the
story titles seem to fit it.
BCFD 36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> writes:<bcfd36@cruzio.com> wrote:
On 6/9/26 15:20, Scott Lurndal wrote:
BCFD 36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> writes:
On 6/9/26 13:32, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
In article <1109so2$22nj0$3@dont-email.me>, BCFD 36
will
Just got notified of a wildland fire across the valley. I think I
Small 1/2 acre wildland fire. They got it knocked down and mopped up inwander down to the FD and see what's what.
I see a CalFire Super King Air (air tactical) is headed your way,
coming up over Gilroy now. There is no active incident report yet.
Thea couple of hours.
Yeah, I saw those on the calfire map (once I enabled all incidents).
king air was headed up to the Putah fire, it turns out.
You may find this interesting:
https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/emerging-technologies/transplant-miss ion-drives-evtol-innovation
There was an article last month about a more recent test flight.
On Mon, 8 Jun 2026 10:02:51 -0700, BCFD 36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> wrote:author. :-)
On 6/6/26 11:08, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
I remember almost everything about this story but the title and
of
The last man and the last woman on earth meet. He has some sort of
illness where he has attacks, but his medication will bring him out
wantsthem, so he wants someone to watch over him. He also immediately
figureto hook up with her, but she's a prude and insists on being married.
Somehow they figure out how to get married (or at least plan to
room,it out), but then they're in a restaurant and he goes to the men's
doorwhere he has an attack, and the end of the story is him hearing the
neverclick shut and knowing that the label "Men" outside means she will
thecome in to save him.
I thought it was in a Judith Merril annual collection, but none of
story titles seem to fit it.I remember the story. HOWEVER, the man was thoroughly despicable.
I know the original poster was looking for a written story and it has
already been identified, but about 75% of that description fits the TV
show "The Last Man On Earth" that ran on Fox from 2015 to 2018.
Will Forte played a plague survivor who thinks he's the last person on
Earth until he meets another survivor named Carol (played by Kristen
Schaal). He suggests they should start repopulating the human race,
but she refuses until they can find some way to get legally married.
I wouldn't say Forte's character was dispicable, but he was kind of a >self-centered jackass.
The show was actually pretty funny and made good use of post
apocalyptic cliches. I was bummed when it was canceled (leaving a >season-ending cliffhanger unanswered).
I know the original poster was looking for a written story and it has
already been identified, but about 75% of that description fits the TV
show "The Last Man On Earth" that ran on Fox from 2015 to 2018.
Will Forte played a plague survivor who thinks he's the last person on
Earth until he meets another survivor named Carol (played by Kristen
Schaal). He suggests they should start repopulating the human race,
but she refuses until they can find some way to get legally married.
I wouldn't say Forte's character was dispicable, but he was kind of a >self-centered jackass.
On Wed, 10 Jun 2026 18:03:26 -0400, Bice <eichler2@comcast.net> wrote:
On Mon, 8 Jun 2026 10:02:51 -0700, BCFD 36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> wrote:
On 6/6/26 11:08, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
I remember almost everything about this story but the title and author. :-)I remember the story. HOWEVER, the man was thoroughly despicable.
The last man and the last woman on earth meet. He has some sort of
illness where he has attacks, but his medication will bring him out of >>>> them, so he wants someone to watch over him. He also immediately wants >>>> to hook up with her, but she's a prude and insists on being married.
Somehow they figure out how to get married (or at least plan to figure >>>> it out), but then they're in a restaurant and he goes to the men's room, >>>> where he has an attack, and the end of the story is him hearing the door >>>> click shut and knowing that the label "Men" outside means she will never >>>> come in to save him.
I thought it was in a Judith Merril annual collection, but none of the >>>> story titles seem to fit it.
I know the original poster was looking for a written story and it has
already been identified, but about 75% of that description fits the TV
show "The Last Man On Earth" that ran on Fox from 2015 to 2018.
Will Forte played a plague survivor who thinks he's the last person on
Earth until he meets another survivor named Carol (played by Kristen
Schaal). He suggests they should start repopulating the human race,
but she refuses until they can find some way to get legally married.
He actually believed that that was a good idea, given the clear
evidence that it was nothing of the kind?
I wouldn't say Forte's character was dispicable, but he was kind of a
self-centered jackass.
The show was actually pretty funny and made good use of post
apocalyptic cliches. I was bummed when it was canceled (leaving a
season-ending cliffhanger unanswered).
IIRC, one of the parts of /The Martian Chronicles/ has a similar story
in it. Set on Mars, of course.
On Wed, 10 Jun 2026 18:03:26 -0400, Bice <eichler2@comcast.net> wrote:
On Mon, 8 Jun 2026 10:02:51 -0700, BCFD 36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> wrote:
On 6/6/26 11:08, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
I remember almost everything about this story but the title and author. :-)I remember the story. HOWEVER, the man was thoroughly despicable.
The last man and the last woman on earth meet. He has some sort of
illness where he has attacks, but his medication will bring him out of >>>> them, so he wants someone to watch over him. He also immediately wants >>>> to hook up with her, but she's a prude and insists on being married.
about 75% of that description fits the TV
show "The Last Man On Earth" that ran on Fox from 2015 to 2018.
Will Forte played a plague survivor who thinks he's the last person on
Earth until he meets another survivor named Carol (played by Kristen
Schaal). He suggests they should start repopulating the human race,
but she refuses until they can find some way to get legally married.
He actually believed that that was a good idea, given the clear
evidence that it was nothing of the kind?
| Sysop: | Jacob Catayoc |
|---|---|
| Location: | Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines |
| Users: | 4 |
| Nodes: | 4 (0 / 4) |
| Uptime: | 494926:54:55 |
| Calls: | 162 |
| Files: | 568 |
| D/L today: |
14 files (349K bytes) |
| Messages: | 74,906 |