Derb, seeing as how The Caves of Steel was, at age 8, the first “adult” novel I ever read, and played a significant role in my development into a young nerd, I’ll have to disagree with you about his novels. Regarding his reputation for being the great explainer and his ability to put together concise, readable essays and entertaining speeches on no notice whatsoever, I often think Asimov would have loved and flourished in the blogosphere, where his talent for producing slick, smart copy almost instantaneously would’ve certainly have made him a formidable figure.