I wouldn't call him the writing world's most dismal flop, but I think he was a marginal figure in SF at best.

As Izzy said, it wasn't hard to believe how he went out. He was quite the absurd poseur. I didn't know he was quite that far gone, but it's been many years since I've seen him and apparently he got worse instead of better. It's too bad for the woman he tormented and the other people in the building he tried to burn down.