Chicago area fan Midge Reitan died January 14. I’ll miss her: we talked at a lot of Worldcons and Windycons over the years.
Most of the time when I ran into Midge she was with Martha Beck or Dana Siegel. It was through Midge and Dana that I met and became friends with Martha (who had already run for TAFF and so on before I ever met her)
Midge made an appreciative audience for Dana Siegel: they had the same acerbic wit (although Dana’s is more so.)
Midge helped friends throw parties and contributed in other ways to make conventions worthwhile without getting her name on too many long lists. One exception was her service as co-chair of Windycon 7 (1980).
[Via Steven Silver and Andrew Porter.]
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I’ve been told that there will be some sort of celebration of Midge’s life when the weather turns warmer, but as far as I know, no arrangements have yet been made.
Midge was a marvelous person to know and talk with over the 35 or so years since I first met her, and someone whose passing has significant impact on the makeup of the fannish society that I have thought well of for all those years.
I first met Midge at a Minicon or Windycon in 1975 and always enjoyed her company at cons. She will be sorely missed.