I read, or turned the pages of, Schlovskii and Sagan in the 6th grade, and thought myself very distinguished for having done so. I don't remember the fish-man stuff.

John Gribbon (sp?) has done some flake pop science but seems to have calmed down.

Frank Tipler, well, that's out there.

I think that unusual ideas can be enriching (even if wrong; "not even wrong" may be a different matter) but they get unfair attention for being sensational.