I was assigned, and read, Canticle for Liebowitz.
Never knew the author did such a thing. The anecdote you relate makes me see him as an ultimate Richard. What a horrible hateful thing to do to people.
Walter Miller became a troubled man as he got older. He abandoned Christianity and embraced eastern philosophies. By his end he seemed to be very bitter if the letters he wrote are anything to go by. I think his mind was ravaged by depression. Tragic story.