Elliot Shorter Medical Update

Following up, I’ve learned that Elliot Shorter is doing much worse than in the last report.

Don D’Ammassa writes: “Okay, here’s as much as I can find out. The hospital won’t tell non-family members anything and there are apparently no family members able or willing to get involved.

“El is in the ICU at the Veterans Hospital. He has not been conscious for almost two weeks now and is on a ventilator. From what the doctors and nurses won’t say, it seems unlikely that he will regain consciousness.”

Edward S. Kessell, Pulpcon Founder (1930-2008)

The SFWA News reports that pulp magazine fan Edward S. Kessell (b. October 6, 1930) passed away on June 4, 2008. He ran the dealers room at the 1969 St. Louis World Science Fiction Convention, and with others organized the first Pulpcon, also held in St. Louis in 1972.

Mr. Kessell was a devoted teacher, respected mentor and theatrical director. During his 25 years at Florissant Valley Community College he created, and ran, the Touring Children’s Theater which traveled to area schools.

He is survived by his wife Florann and children Michael, Steven and Geoff.

A graveside service was held on Sunday June 8 at Beth Hamedrosh Hagodol Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri. Contributions in his memory may be made to Family Resource Center, 3309 S. Kingshighway, St. Louis, MO, 63139 or to the Humane Society of Missouri.

Walker Martin wrote this appreciation online:

Ed Kessell was one of the good guys in pulp fandom. He organized and put on the first Pulpcon in 1972 in St Louis. My wife and I attended it and when we arrived at the hotel Ed Kessell was at the registration desk almost having a nervous breakdown. He was overjoyed to see us because he was worried since there was almost no advance registration at all. There was a good chance no one would show up and the whole show would be a disaster. Fortunately it was a success though he did lose money and there has been a Pulpcon every year since the first in 1972. Three main things made the show a big success: Ed Kessell, Nils Hardin, who sold thousands of pulps, and the nine Walter Baumhofer original oil pulp paintings, all with a minimum bid of only $75.00. Many went for the minimum and I got two for only around a $100.00 each.

Ed was so excited during the weekend that he kept forgetting to put on his toupee. Half the time he was bald and half the time he had hair. That Sunday he put on a cook out at his house and afterwards I swore I’d never miss a Pulpcon if I could help it. Over 35 years later I’ve only missed a couple and it’s all because of the pioneer work of Ed Kessell. Years later he was a guest of honor and Pulpcon paid him back the money he had lost. Rest in Peace Ed.

[Thanks also to Andrew Porter for the Martin quote.]

Update 7/2/2008: Corrected names indicated in Geoff Kessell’s comment.

Milestones for Diana’s Book

Steven Silver has posted an insightful new review of Diana Glyer’s The Company They Keep on his website at http://www.stevenhsilver.com/reviews.html.

And if you’re looking for a library that can lend you a copy, the chances of finding one are improving daily. According to WorldCat, as of June 2 The Company They Keep has been catalogued in 414 libraries. It is now in all 50 states and in 10 countries. Taking other Kent State University Press books as a yardstick, Diana’s seems to be doing pretty well with libraries. The stats are behind the cut.

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Haffner Press Announces
Collected Edmond Hamilton

Steven Haffner is taking pre-orders for the first several volumes of the newly-announced Collected Edmond Hamilton.

• The Metal Giants and Others: The Collected Edmond Hamilton, Volume One
• The Star Stealers: The Complete Tales of the Interstellar Patrol, The Collected Edmond Hamilton, Volume Two
• The Collected Captain Future, Volume One: Captain Future and the Space Emperor

See the full press release after the jump.

[Thanks to Andrew Porter.]

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Nerd Culture at LASFS

The Sunday Los Angeles Times ran an interview with Benjamin Nugent headlined “Anthropology meets the pocket protector in American Nerd: The Story of My People.” Surprisingly, several graphs were devoted to Nugent’s visit to LASFS:

You traveled the country for this book, and some key chapters take place in Southern California. What did you find here?

Southern California has an amazing nerd landmark, the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society in North Hollywood. It’s a relic of a time when nerds physically got together in one place to discuss their interests, like sci-fi and the space race and D&D and anime.

I went through some records, and the attendance used to be larger and, more important, the average age used to be late 20s, and now it’s clearly middle-aged to late-middle-aged. The people who would have been their [new] members are on the Internet.

Why was that physical getting together so important?

I think a lot of people in these subcultures think that it’s not important, that they’re exchanging ideas, or playing a game that’s fun, or figuring out problems — they really do crave social contact and community and a kind of spiritual release. The things they did at the Science Fantasy Society were in some ways like a Quaker meeting house. They’d eulogize a member who had recently died, or a writer they were a fan of.

Was there a writer who seemed to be the favorite?

[Robert] Heinlein seemed to be pretty universally looked up to there. I also visited a “polyamorous” household that was inspired by his writings; this group household where everyone can kind of make out with everybody else.

[Thanks to Bill Warren for the story.]