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Ursula Le Guin died last week, on Jan. 22. She was a rarity: a great writer and marvelous human being whose large heart and brilliant vision – along with her huge literary talent – transformed the genre of science fiction.

I read “The Dispossessed” for a class in 1978. It was written in 1974. To this day it is the best novel I have ever read. In a lyrical, beautifully written, philosophical saga it offers an Einstein-like genius walking away from his anarchist utopian society because it has stagnated and lost its way.

This humanist dystopian tale, in a small subplot, foretel...