Monthly Archives: September 2008

Snapshots 3

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Five developments of interest to fans: 

(1) The official Hugo Awards website (http://www.thehugoawards.org/) now boasts a handsome specification sheet containing all the dimensions of the Hugo rocket. Kevin Standlee has added this note to the site:

We thank Deb Kosiba, designer of the 2005 and 2006 Hugo Award trophy bases, for preparing this specification sheet. The design of the trophy rocket is the property of the World Science Fiction Society and may not be used without permission; however, you are welcome to use this document for legitimate purposes such as describing the Hugo Award and preparing designs for trophies.

(2) Laurraine Tutihasi and Mike Weasner have picked up their building permit and expect progress on their house to move along pretty quickly now. Follow the work on their blog.

(3) Francis Hamit sends along this Heinlein-related “ found object.” It is an earlier version of a form letter I once received from the author, his standard answer to fan mail and requests from strangers. Having read about Jubal Harshaw’s system for dealing with correspondence, I sent something to Heinlein’s address angling for my own sample of this very response, and was pleased to get it.

(4) The 1400-lb “Early Ammonia Servicer” (EAS) thrown overboard by International Space Station astronauts in 2007 has been in a decaying orbit around the Earth ever since, and is now a naked-eye object that grows brighter as it descends.

Space Weather News says the EAS is expected to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere in late 2008 or early 2009. ‘Til then, you can see it with your own eyes. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker for flyby times.

(5) When a dad and his autistic son were swept out to sea near Daytona Beach, the dad repeatedly shouted Buzz Lightyear’s motto “To infinity…and beyond!” to encourage his 12-year-old:

Lost at sea with nothing to hold onto amid a dreadful darkness, Florida resident Walter Marino continually called out some of the few words his 12-year-old autistic son Christopher responds to. The pair, swept out in a late-afternoon current near Daytona Beach, had been treading water in shark- and jellyfish-infested waters throughout the night, slowly floating apart.

“I’d be screaming, ‘To infinity … and beyond!'” Marino said, referring to the Disney character Buzz Lightyear’s catchphrase in Toy Story, one of Christopher’s favorite movies.

[Includes links from David Klaus, used with thanks.]

Joanie Winston Passes Away (1931-2008)

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Joanie Winston, 77, an organizer of the original Star Trek conventions of the early 1970s, died September 11 after several months in an assisted living center.

I remember her from the 1975 NASFiC, and a couple other cons of that era.

ComicMix gives a detailed look back at her life.

Her chapter in Jacqueline Lichtenberg and Sondra Marshak’s Star Trek Lives! provided people with a glimpse into the birth of the conventions along with a take on the Star Trek fan fiction world. She continued to talk about those days, providing information to William Shatner for his Get a Life! memoir and can be seen on camera in Denise Crosby’s documentary Trekkies 2.

Jacqueline Lichtenberg, in her review of the Trekkies 2 DVD, lists some of Winston’s credits:

Joanie Winston was a contributor to Star Trek Lives! with a chapter on the first Star Trek Convention in New York that started all this. She went on to write a whole book — The Making Of The Trek Conventions: Or, How To Throw A Party For 12,000 Of Your Most Intimate Friends by Joan Winston. And she edited Star Toons — Trek cartoons…

Two more well-known fans listed among those “starring” in Trekkies 2 are Ben Yalow and Leslie Fish.

The Trekkies 2 site has an image of her at a Shore Leave in Baltimore.

Metrolink Crash

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I learned today that a colleague of mine was injured in Friday’s Metrolink crash. She’s a manager who divides her time between LA and Glendale — her Glendale office is right next to mine. She commutes from Ventura to LA on the train. I don’t know how badly she’s hurt, but I should be able to find out until tomorrow.

There were 25 people killed in the crash, and 135 injured, 40 of them critically. I have yet to hear of any casualties among local fans.

The fatalities included another employee at my agency who I’ve never met, Greg Lintner. A comment posted to his online death announcement revealed the shocking coincidence that he had survived a previous Metrolink disaster in 2005. Patti Hudson remembers what he did for her that day:

Greg helped me in the Glendale train crash. I was critically injured and couldn’t move. Without regard to his own safety he dug me out of the debris and stayed with me until the paramedics arrived. He was a real hero. I am so shocked and saddened by this.

Lintner was among the people interviewed by ABC News about the 2005 wreck.

The L.A. Times has an excellent report on the first responders to Friday’s train crash:

Barrios and his crew cut through the fence and raced for the wreckage. The captain was on his radio as they approached. The scene started to come into relief. Send five ambulances, he said at first. He got closer and saw the flames. Send 30 firetrucks, he added. Then he was there. The Metrolink engine seemed to be missing. In the head-on crash, a Union Pacific engine had shoved it violently inside the first passenger car, which was lying grotesquely on its side. Two dozen passengers had emerged from the wreckage; some, dazed, were walking in circles against a curtain of black smoke.

Barrios made his last request: Send every heavy search-and-rescue unit in the city.

Update 9/15/2008: I learned that the manager from our Glendale office suffered a broken nose, a facial cut and deep bruising to her lower body. They expect it will be a couple weeks before anyone can know how long she’ll be away from work. Both the Glendale and LA offices are collecting for get-well bouquets of flowers. It’s all made me feel unusually grateful to be able to drive home to Diana and Sierra at the end of a day.

Rockefeller Update

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On September 10, a court authorized the district attorney to receive copies of certain documents from the Rockefeller/Boss divorce proceedings.

Christian Gerhartsreiter was living under the name Clark Rockefeller when he was arrested on charges of kidnapping his daughter. He also has been identified as the Christopher Chichester wanted for questioning in connection with the 1985 disappearance of LASFSians Linda Mayfield and John Sohus.

According to the Boston Globe:

The Suffolk district attorney has secured the release of the separation and divorce pacts between the mystery man known as Clark Rockefeller and his former wife, Sandra Boss, Rockefeller’s attorney said yesterday…

“There are affidavits that go into extremely personal matters that are unrelated to the criminal charges,” [Rockefeller attorney Stephen] Hrones said. “The district attorney’s just on a fishing expedition. He doesn’t really need all this other information.”

Boss also opposed the release of information from the divorce file, Hrones said, adding that prosecutors sought the records to present to a grand jury considering an indictment against Rockefeller.

There was also a new charge formally leveled against Rockefeller on September 3:

A man calling himself Clark Rockefeller, who is accused of kidnapping his 7-year-old daughter and is being investigated in a California couple’s disappearance, was charged Wednesday with giving a false name to police.

Waldrop Reviewed by Booklist

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Michael Walsh of Old Earth Books happily passes along the good things a reviewer has to say about his new Howard Waldrop collection, “Others Worlds, Better Lives,” in the September 15 issue of the American Library Association’s Booklist:

Waldrop is an acknowledged master of the sf short story. This volume collects seven examples of his mastery of the lengthier novella and proves beyond much doubt that he is equally adept at it, too. “A Dozen Tough Jobs” transfers the Labors of Hercules to the 1920s South. “Fin de Cyclé” is a frank homage to Alfred Jarry, one of the founders of the Surrealist and Dada movements. “Major Spacer in the 21st Century!” essays an alternate history of the visual media and their consequences for the history of sf. “A Better World in Birth!” postulates the elimination of most of the classic nineteenth-century revolutionaries, including even Richard Wagner, in favor of, well, perhaps one could call them more constructive alternate figures, such as Bakunin, the father of collectivist anarchism. Add to this level of imagination outstanding clarity in the use of the English language and introductions that put each novella in the context of Waldrop’s long career, and you have a quite essential volume of his work.”

Clarke Condolence Book Delivered

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After the sudden death of Sir Arthur C. Clarke last spring, Yvonne Penney created a book of condolences to be sent to the Clarke family and circulated it at conventions for fans to sign. The Penneys brought it to Ad Astra and at Corflu Silver, then Apogee Books publisher Rob Godwin took it to several space conferences.

Fred Clarke now has the book. Godwin spoke with him by phone and reported back to Yvonne: “He got the book and was genuinely thrilled to receive it. I wrote a blurb in the front explaining that it was started by you. Anyway, he just told me that the local town council have finally agreed to give him a building to put in an Arthur C. Clarke museum and the book will be going on display under glass with all the pages blown up and displayed behind it. Just thought you’d like to know that it was a really nice thing you did and it was genuinely appreciated. Last person to sign it was Buzz [Aldrin]…”

Yvonne’s reaction was, “I’m so touched by this… really…I was not expecting this.”

Thanks to Lloyd Penney for sharing the story.

Minehead & West Somerset HospitalI searched for more information about the Clarke museum. It may be part of the plan for the West Somerset Hospital in Minehead, the town where Arthur C. Clarke was born:

A shared vision for the future of the West Somerset Hospital in Minehead has united community and public sector organisations across West Somerset with a single aim to try to keep the historic listed building for the community…

Julian Luttrell, Chairman of the group, explained, “The hospital was built as a town hall in 1889, before it was converted into the Luttrell Memorial Hospital and, latterly, the West Somerset Hospital…

The aim of the feasibility study is to establish the ways in which the hospital can be developed to play a significant part in social and cultural life locally. The study will look at the possibilities of incorporating a library, exhibition and museum space, and community arts space, study rooms and offices. It will also explore whether the works and theories of Minehead-born author, Arthur C Clarke, can be celebrated, and there will be scope to look at commercial and residential aspects of any proposals.

And I believe the image above is a picture of the hospital.

Zazzle Sale for Megumi’s Vet Bills

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Trinlay Khadro introduces her cat, Megumi, as “my ‘assistance kitty’ who managed to save my life when I had a bad reaction to a new medication a few years ago.” Unfortunately, Megumi is sick with a liver ailment, so “Prayers, purrs, and happy thoughts appreciated.” Megumi is scheduled for ultrasound on September 22

The tests and vet visits are a financial drain. Trinlay hopes to cover the bills with a sale on Zazzle of various products with Megumi-themed imagery. She also sells craftwork at Silly Kitty.

Trinlay is well-known as a letter-writer in fanzine circles.

Stars Hosting their Films
at LA’s ArcLight on October 1

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When Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was first released, Lynn Maudlin knew I wanted to see it. She invited me to accompany her and a number of other femmefans to a local theater. My most indelible memory from that evening was hearing them in rapture over Sean Connery’s cameo appearance. In fact, I’ve had trouble ever since remembering that it’s “a Kevin Costner film.”

So I e-mailed Lynn as soon as I read that Sean Connery will be one of the stars hosting next month’s “Target Presents AFI Night at the Movies,” where people get to watch a famous movie in the company of a featured actor or actress. Sean Connery will present The Man Who Would Be King.

Several other sf/fantasy films will also be on the marquee when the event takes place October 1 at the ArcLight in Los Angeles. Keanu Reeves will present The Matrix, Jim Carrey will host Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Mike Myers will celebrate Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery..

The other presenters will be Annette Bening, American Beauty, Cameron Diaz, There’s Something About Mary, Jodie Foster, The Silence of the Lambs, Dustin Hoffman, Tootsie, Shirley MacLaine, The Apartment, Steve Martin, The Jerk, Rita Moreno, West Side Story, and Denzel Washington, Glory. The idea is to bring filmmakers and fans together to celebrate American movies, said AFI chief Bob Gazzale.

Tickets are $25 and will be available beginning September 17.

Lagniappe

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I’ve been lurking around the Rocky Mountain News’ “Dozen for Denver” page, watching for Connie Willis’ story to appear. Not yet.

But I enthusiastically recommend last Tuesday’s entry, Joanne Greenberg’s “It’s November 1880, and the Angel of Death is having a bad day“, a terribly sad, terribly funny short story.

The Angel of Death for the 4-year-old state of Colorado has overslept. An hour after his normal waking, he heaves himself from his lumpy mattress. In the old country, he remembers with a pang, they had feather beds, deep, warm and soft. You could lie by the chimney and … He sighs. He is in his frailer years and had dreamt yet another dream of happier times.