About the Big Heart Award

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By John Hertz:  Thanks to Colleen McMahon for taking note, in a recent post, of E. Everett Evans “Triple-E” and the Big Heart Award.

Triple- E was great.

The Big Heart is the highest service award in the SF community, as the Hugos are the highest achievement award.

It is given annually, at the World Science Fiction Convention, for good work and great spirit long contributed.  McMahon quoted that phrase from Fancyclopedia III, which correctly says it is “the words of one recent recipient”.  That recipient is myself.

The Big Heart should not be thought a fan award (a point on which Fancy 3 is mistaken).

The Science Fiction Awards Database, maintained by Mark Kelly and the Locus magazine Science Fiction Foundation, correctly says

The Big Heart Award, highest service award in the SF community … one of few presented during the preliminaries of the annual Hugo Awards ceremony…. may go to a fan or a pro – as has been noted, some people are both.

Recognition for something else is not a disqualification for the Big Heart.  For example, two of the recipients McMahon named, Robert Silverberg and Our Gracious Host, have won Hugos.  Mike Glyer has chaired a Worldcon, and at another was Fan Guest of Honour (so spelled, it was in Canada). They were given the Big Heart neither because of, nor in spite of, their recognition for other things.

It shouldn’t be surprising that many who have earned the Big Heart have been fans.  The heart of fandom is participation.

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5 thoughts on “About the Big Heart Award”

  2. John Hertz replies by carrier pigeon:

    Write to me, 236 S. Coronado St., No. 409, Los Angeles, CA 90057 U.S.A.

  3. Who is it who decides the recipient of the Big Heart? Are they (by and large?) fans? If so, I would say it is a fan award, just as the Hugo for Best Novel is a fan award even if the recipient is not.

  4. Neat! Thanks for the additional info. I hadn’t heard of the award til I was writing this. I missed the announcement from last year.

  5. Pingback: 2019 Big Heart Award: Alice Lawson | File 770

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