Ellison’s Big Pair

Two new Ellison books will be available for pre-order on November 1None of the Above and Rough Beasts.

None of the Above is Ellison’s 238-page, unproduced screenplay adaptation of Norman Spinrad’s Hugo Award-nominated novel Bug Jack Barron that was to have been directed by Costa-Gavras (Z) for Universal Pictures in the early 1980s. Respected film critic and historian Leonard Maltin has written an insightful introduction with input from Ellison on why the film has never been made.

Rough Beasts assembles seventeen never-before-collected pulp stories from the 1950s, including the Stephen King-lauded “Invulnerable,” which eluded collection despite a prominent mention 30 years ago in Stalking the Nightmare. Every story has been revised by the author specifically for this collection.

The stories collected in Rough Beasts include: Invulnerable (1957), Like Father, Like Son (1957), Walk the Ceiling (1957), The Kissing Dead (1956, with Henry Slesar), Across the Silent Days (1958), Star Route (1955), Backlash! (1956), Machine Silent, Machine Yearning (1957), Way of an Assassin (1958), Fool’s Mate (1958), The Untouchable Adolescents (1956), The Little Boy Who Loves Cats (1954), Parasite (1955), Up the Down Escalator (1955), Glug (1958), Hit-Skip (1957), and Why Did Wallace Crack? (1956).

The two-book set can be ordered from Harlanbooks.com starting at 10 a.m. PDT on November 1.

Rough Beasts will be signed by Ellison. Any two-book sets ordered through November 6 may have the signature personalized upon request. The set sells for $75.

[Via Galen Tripp.]

Enterprise Survives Sandy

Though it’s not the most significant news story in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, fans will be gratified to learn that the storm did only minor damage to the space shuttle Enterprise at its new home on the deck of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

The storm elevated the level of Hudson River and at Pier 86, where the Intrepid is berthed, water flooded the main electrical transformers and both backup generators. Lack of power caused the Space Shuttle pavilion to deflate. The shuttle sustained only minor damage. The museum is closed for the time being.

The Enterprise’s pavilion deflated because of a power failure during the storm.

“Before” picture of the Enterprise’s pavilion.

Darth Vader’s New Boss Is The Mouse

Walt Disney Co. will buy George Lucas’s Lucasfilm Ltd. And the Star Wars franchise for $4.05 billion and release three new Star Wars movies, beginning with a seventh episode in 2015:

The new trilogy will carry the story of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia beyond Return of the Jedi, the third film released and the sixth in the saga. After that, Disney plans a new “Star Wars” movie every two or three years. Lucas will serve as creative consultant in the new movies.

Disney’s announcement of the transaction quotes George Lucas, Chairman and CEO of Lucasfilm:

For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next. It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I’m confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come. Disney’s reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products.

Kathleen Kennedy, current Co-Chairman of Lucasfilm, will become President of Lucasfilm, reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn, and serve as executive producer on new Star Wars feature films.

Phillips: Dave Locke (1944-2012)

Long time fannish friends Dave Locke (L) and David Hulan (R), taken September 30, 2012 at Locke’s home in Vermont. Photo credit: David Hulan

By Curt Phillips: Dave Locke passed away over the weekend. His son Brian stopped by Dave’s house earlier today after returning from an out of town trip and found him earlier today. Dave had suffered from serious heart troubles for year and had a heart attack a few years ago. His long time friend David Hulan – who’d visted Dave at his home in Pownell, VT exactly one month ago to the day, was called by Brian a short time ago, and Hulan broke the news to the rest of us on the Southern Fandom Classic discussion Group on YaHoo – of which Dave had been a member and a moderator.

I only met Dave Locke once; at a Midwestcon several years ago. But as often happens in Fandom, we quickly became fast friends and I felt that we both knew each other very well through our fanzine writing and our extensive private correspondence. I’m going to miss that friendship for the rest of my life. In spite of the fact that I’m one of the laziest fanwriters in all Fandom, Dave somehow managed to talk me into writing a semi-regular column for his on-line fanzine Time and Again. That ranks as no small feat and I’ll always be grateful to him that he did twist my arm over those articles. Somehow he knew I’d enjoy having written them after I got off my butt and actually wrote them, and Dave gave me as fine a showcase any fanwriter could ask for in T&A.

Dave Locke was one of those folks we rarely meet in life; He knew how to cut through the nonsense most of us clutter our lives up with and he could do that in just about any situation. He knew how to connect with a new friend instantly. He was witty, sardonic, analytically critical – yet he could find the proper context for any discussion. And he was intelligent. Vastly intelligent. He was also a kind man. Intolerant of fools and scoundrels, yet endlessly tolerant, helpful, and understanding of the shortcomings of any honest friend. He was a damn good friend to have your corner. I’m glad he was in mine for a time.

Dave, I wish we’d had a thousand face-to-face conversations at a thousand convention fan lounges instead of just that one at Midwestcon, but I’m glad we did have that day. It was a very good day.

Kill City Kickstarter Campaign

Urban fantasy and horror writer Nancy A. Collins, author of Sunglasses After Dark, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the completion and publication of Kill City, the first new novel in the Sonja Blue series in ten years.

If the campaign is successful, Kill City will be the first traditional print novel from Collins’ Hopedale Press.

Traditional publishers deemed her initial book proposal for Kill City to be “uncommercial” — largely due to “a biting take on a certain popular series of vampire novels aimed at the Young Adult market.” So Collins is taking her case directly to the fans of the Sonja Blue series.

Kill City opens with vampire/vampire slayer Sonja Blue still doing what she does best–hunting down and killing undead and other dangerous “Pretenders”–inhuman creatures, such as werewolves and demons, who pose as humans in order to prey upon mankind. 

She receives a letter from the aged Senator Holden, looking to sell her a rare occult artifact. But upon arriving at his estate, she soon discovers that he knows who and what she really is, and wants her to search for his missing granddaughter, who was spirited away by a man on the internet claiming to be the vampire protagonist from the wildly popular Eventide series.

The Kill City Kickstarter campaign runs until November 28.

Faunt Rescued From Bounty

The Coast Guard rescued 14 crew members who took to lifeboats when the HMS Bounty sank in a storm on October 30, among them long-time fan Doug Faunt, one of its regular volunteers. A search continues for the Bounty’s captain and another crew member who are missing at sea.

Faunt sent a tweet after reaching shore: “The ship sank beneath us, but we swam free and mostly got into two rafts. I’m at the USCG station Elizabeth City NC. Thee are two unaccounted for at present.”

The three-mast, 180-foot ship, built for the 1962 movie Mutiny on the Bounty is under water but for the tip of one mast still protuding above the surface.

Update 10/30/2012: Gary Farber says the missing crew woman is not the captain’s wife, as she was reported in an online source. Farber lives in Faunt’s home, and has posted more commentary on his Facebook page.

Doug Faunt back on shore after Coast Guard rescue. Image from CG’s video via Gary Farber.

NY Is SF on BBC

Nearly 400,000 people in New York were ordered to leave their homes ahead of Hurricane Sandy.

None of the city’s thousands of taxis are on the streets today one driver told the BBC. “It feels like a science fiction movie,” he said.

(David Klaus, watching the TODAY show at 7 a.m. EDT, said to the contrary, he could see several taxis driving past the Rockefeller Plaza studio window.)

Waves are coming ashore in Battery Park City on the southwest tip of Manhattan.

Jacques Goimard Passes Away

Jacques Goimard

French SF critic, editor and anthologist Jacques Goimard, 78, died October 25 of Parkinson’s Disease.

His works include a prolific series of introductions to many American sf writers published in the 1970s and 1980s by Le Livre d’Or de la science-fiction.  

Andrew Porter remembers:

I met him at the first Francophone SF conference, held in Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada, in 1979. It was attended by various French pros, plus John Brunner, C.J. Cherryh, and others. It was organized by Elizabeth Vonarburg, and as I recall, the bus carrying attendees from Montreal deep into the heart of Francophone Quebec hit a moose en route.

Fanartist Alan Hunter Dies

Alan Hunter. Photograph by and copyright © Andrew Porter.

British fanartist Alan Hunter died August 1 after a long illness. Ned Brooks learned of his passing from Alan’s son.

Andrew Porter published many pieces of Hunter art in Algol/Starship and Science Fiction Chronicle and recalls that the back cover on the final issue of Starship was by him. Porter visited him in Bournemouth on a trip to the UK in 1993 and says, “A really nice guy and a wonderful artist, who should have been an artist guest of honor somewhere. But now it’s too late.”

Here are three examples of Hunter’s art which appeared in Science Fiction Chronicle as headers above Porter’s editorials.

[Thanks to Andrew Porter for the story.]

Tarpinian: A Monstrous Presidential Debate

By John King Tarpinian: This evening the Alex Theater in Glendale, CA had a showing of Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman plus the Mickey Mouse cartoon “Runaway Brain.” There is nothing like watching classics on the big screen with a full audience.

However, the real treat was before the movie, the political debate between Frankenstein’s Monster and the Wolfman. Frankenstein was introduced by Bela Lugosi, Jr. while the Wolfman was brought on stage by Ron Chaney, grandson of Lon, Jr. and great-grandson of Lon, Sr.

Frank represented the Electrican party while Wolfie was from the Lycancrat ticket. Many topics of the day were debated; Frank thought that the best way to solve the energy crisis was with lightening while Wolfie thought moonlight was the best approach…because moonlight was more predictable.

A surprise third candidate came onstage at the last minute…the Invisible Man.

Frank was portrayed by make-up artist John Goodwin and the Wolfman was portrayed by character actor, Daniel Roebuck. They also appeared in their own political ads which have already found their way onto YouTube.

Wolfman

Frankenstein

The candidates settle their differences.

Ron Chaney

Bela Lugosi, Jr.