By Andrew Porter: I returned from nearly a week away from the computer to find the shocking and horrifying news of Alice Turner’s death. I was stunned by this totally unexpected news — I’d last spoken to Alice earlier — … Continue reading
By Steve Vertlieb: On April 21, 1973, a hero by the name of Merian C. Cooper laid down the gauntlet of fame and passed quietly into memory. He’d grown ill from the rigors of age and experience, losing his grasp of … Continue reading
By Steve Vertlieb: King Kong premiered ninety years ago on March 2, 1933, opening simultaneously at both the Radio City Music Hall and Roxy Theaters in New York City, followed by an “official” March 23,1933, opening at Grauman’s Chinese Theater … Continue reading
(1) CATS MEOW, LIZARDS THUNDER, BOOK HAPPENS. Filers Charon Dunn and Sally Smith collaborated on a book that’s newly released! What’s it about? Rhonda Wray’s “favorite boy band is trapped on a dinosaur planet and it’s up to Rhonda to … Continue reading
One of Australia’s foremost fans, John Bangsund, died August 22 of COVID-19 at the age of 81. It was his idea to have a Worldcon in Australia, and he served as Toastmaster when Aussiecon was held in 1975. Bangsund got … Continue reading
(1) LETTING THE GENE OUT OF THE BOTTLE. One of the field’s most esteemed writers delivers Whatever’s recurring feature today: “The Big Idea: Nancy Kress”. At parties in my city—environmentally conscious, crunchy-granola, high-tech and socially activist Seattle—it is easy to … Continue reading
(1) RECESS IS OVER. File 770 was down for approximately 7 hours today, for reasons never fully explained by customer support, except they were “actively working” on a server problem. Well, to quote Sam Gamgee, “I’m back.” (2) WHO WATCHED. … Continue reading
By Steve Vertlieb: Here’s my look back at the three major motion picture productions of King Kong, encompassing the beloved original 1933 RKO classic, a primeval variation of “Beauty and the Beast” created by Merian C. Cooper; John Guillermin’s ill-fated … Continue reading
By Steve Vertlieb: Here’s an advertisement for the 1993 sixtieth anniversary King Kong celebration at Chicago’s famous Gateway Theater. Writer and Kong scholar George Turner shared the giant Gateway stage with me as we spoke lovingly of the big gorilla’s … Continue reading
David Langford’s Ansible Editions has published his nonfiction collection Up Through an Empty House of Stars: Reviews and Essays 1980-2002 as an ebook for the first time. The collection originally appeared in 2003. The ebook has all of that content, … Continue reading