John Jeffries Sr., art designer for the classic Star Trek series, died March 25 at the age of 74 from lung cancer, reports Trek Today. John and his brother Matt were responsible for the design of the original phaser pistol. John Jefferies also participated in the final construction design for the Enterprise.
Monthly Archives: April 2010
Dick Giordano Dies
Dick Giordano, Charlton and DC Comics editor, artist, inker, and teacher passed away on March 27 in Florida from complications stemming from a recent, brief illness reports Stephen R. Bissette. Giordano was 78.
Dick Giordano had a deep resume, though Bisette says he became especially well-known “as Neal Adams inker on Adams’ more notable contributions to the DC pantheon: the Green Lantern/Green Arrow series and some of Adams’ work on Batman.”
[Thanks to David Klaus for the link.]
London Bids for 2014 Worldcon
A bid to bring the 2014 Worldcon to London was officially announced on April 2 at the British Eastercon by spokesman Chris Priest.
The committee proposes to hold the con August 14-18, 2014 in the new International Convention Centre, part of the ExCeL exhibition centre complex in London’s Docklands.
Leading the bid are co-chairs Steve Cooper and Mike Scott. Steve headed the Publications division for the 2005 Glasgow Worldcon, and is the deputy Facilities division head for 2011 Worldcon in Reno. Mike has extensive Worldcon experience, and co-edits the Hugo award-winning fanzine Plokta.
There are two Deputy Chairs. James Bacon, a former TAFF winner, also co-chaired the 2009 Eastercon. Alice Lawson was the Member Services division head at Interaction and chaired the 2001 Eastercon.
Other members are Claire Brialey, Secretary, co-editor of Banana Wings; John Dowd, Treasurer; Rita Medany, Membership, who is chairing the 2010 Eastercon; and two Advisers, past Worldcon chairs Vince Docherty and Colin Harris.
The bid, and the convention itself, will be non-profit-making organisations run entirely by unpaid volunteers. The bid will be primarily financed by the sale of “pre-supporting” and “friend” memberships, costing £12 and £60 respectively and giving discounts on membership of the convention itself. See the bid website for more details.
The full press release follows the jump.
[Thanks to Mike Scott for the story.]
A Few Novels More
Chip Hitchcock adds several more titles to the list of stories set at sf conventions (see Barf Factor Three, Mr. Sulu):
One of Donna Andrews’s Meg Langslow books, We’ll Always Have Parrots is set entirely at a convention for a TV show with elements of Sheena, Xena. (Her studly ?fiancee? appears on ~half of the episodes, so they’re guests when the unprintable star gets murdered; the title comes from the attempt to reproduce the show’s setting in a very mundane hotel.)
I suppose Murder at the ABA doesn’t really count — even if mundanes would think publishers and authors are plenty weird enough.
And to dig really deep, the end of de Camp’s Goblin Tower is set at a wizards’ assembly that is extensively pastiched from SF conventions, even including an uncredited reference to one of Rotsler’s Rules.
(If you’re curious, Rotsler’s Rules for Masquerades is available here in a PDF file.)
Frazetta Sr. Lowers Boom on Jr.
After a preliminary hearing Frank Frazetta Jr. was bound over for trial in Monroe County Court on charges of burglary, criminal trespass and theft, reports the Pocono Record, though the date must still be set.
Frank Jr. was arrested by police in December after he allegedly broke into the family museum using a backhoe and removed about 90 paintings worth an estimated $20 million.
Frank Frazetta Sr., making his first public comments since his son was arrested, told the Record on March 26 that he never gave Frank Frazetta Jr. permission to take his paintings.
…Frank Sr. talked Tuesday from his home in Boca Grande, an island off the southwest coast of Florida. Despite claims to the contrary, he was lucid and feisty — just what you’d expect from an 82-year-old Italian grandfather from Brooklyn.
And Frank Sr. got personal.
“My son is an alien,” he said. “There’s no telling what he’ll do. He’s been like that for, I don’t know, how many years. We played baseball in the old days. He always chose the opposite side from me.”
Coincidentally, March 26 was the day Frank Jr.’s supporters held a candlelight vigil “to save Frank Frazetta Sr. and his artwork.”
The defense has been justifying Frank Jr.’s attempt to take the paintings with a letter supposedly dictated by Frank Sr. asking for help. It was witnessed by notary Adeline Bianco, who testified in a preliminary hearing that a little more than a week before the alleged burglary, the elder Frazetta, 82, told her he wanted Frank Jr. to protect his paintings by any means necessary.
The letter, in somewhat fractured language, said in part, “I Frank Frazetta … of sound mind and body of this date hereby order nothing and not the 2 daughters or 2 sons who can sign take or assume none of my possessions either tangible or monetary. I will have a will and list what each is to have. Until then, I hereby put a end to them using me.”
[Via Andrew Porter and Joe Siclari.]
Anticipation Is Makin’ Me Wait
Actually the waiting is over! Chris Garcia has posted the highly entertaining Fanzine Cover In An Hour featuring art improvised at Anticipation by Taral, Marc Schirmeister and Steve Stiles.
The zine’s official title is rather longer and here is Chris’ explanation of how he ended up with “Go Drop Dead” An Anticipation Fanzine in an Hour…kinda —
The theme for the art, which I got from the audience was…tentacles and airships! It did my heart good, being such a fan of both Cthuhlu and Steampunk. I asked folks for a suggestion for a title, particularly bothering Marc [Schirmeister], who told me to ‘Go Drop Dead”. That is how titles are made!
In one of several short articles between the drawings of tentacles and airships Chris Garcia pays tribute to poutine, a Canadian comfort food that may possibly taste good but does not photograph well. It looks a lot scarier than all those sketches of Cthulhu.
Top 10 Posts For March 2010
Several deeply troubling stories about people in the sf community’s bad experiences with US customs and border authorities received by far the most attention this past month.
There was also some spillover from Lifetime’s movie Who Is Clark Rockefeller? as people searched the internet for “Clark Rockefeller” and “John Sohus.”
Here is the complete Top 10 list of most frequently viewed posts for March 2010, according to Google Analytics.
1. Cheryl Morgan Refused Entry to US
2. Invisible Ansible
3. Jury Finds Watts Guilty
4. Once More Into the Breach
5. What Heinlein Believes
6. Clark Rockefeller (tag)
7. Heinlein’s Tea for Two
8. Jury Deliberating Watts Case
9. John Sohus (tag)
10. Watts Trial, 3/16 Afternoon
Konrath’s Kindle Success
Curious about the sales of self-published books? Wonder about the effectiveness of different ebook marketers? Good luck, because that kind of information is seldom made public. Whenever somebody pulls back the curtain that’s news in its own right.
Thriller author Joe Konrath told readers of his blog that he sold 5,850 ebooks and made over $4200 on Kindle in March 2010. And later this year he expects to be doing a lot better:
In June, Amazon is switching to the agency model, which means ebooks priced between $2.99 and $9.99 will earn the author a 70% royalty, minus a 6 cent delivery fee. Instead of making 70 cents per ebook sale like I’m currently doing, I can make $2.04 per sale.
Konrath also speculates about selling a book to a conventional publisher but holding back the ebook rights.
“This is a very interesting blog post,” says Francis Hamit. “My own results with e-books have not been anywhere near this, but Mr. Konrath obviously has a following. I will have to think anew on this. My concern is that a lot of people are going to jump in and expect similar results but miss the fact that he is probably in the levels of what makes a “best seller” in volume sales in this niche. However his points about keeping the rights and the impact of that on the bottom line are compelling and a real argument in favor of self-publishing.”
[Thanks to Francis Hamit for the story.]
2010 SFRA Awards
The winners of the Science Fiction Research Association awards for 2010 are:
Pilgrim Award (for lifetime contributions to sf & f studies)
Eric Rabkin
Pioneer Award (for the most outstanding sf studies essay of the year)
Allison de Fren, “The Anatomical Gaze in Tomorrow’s Eve,” published in Science Fiction Studies No. 108, Vol. 36 (2), July 2009: 235-265)
Clareson Award (for distinguished service)
David Mead
Mary Kay Bray Award (for the best essay, interview, or extended review in the past year’s SFRA Review)
Ritch Calvin, “Mundane SF 101”
Student Paper Award (for the best paper presented at the previous year’s SFRA conference)
Andrew Ferguson, “Such Delight in Bloody Slaughter: R. A. Lafferty and the Dismemberment of the Body Grotesque”
4/1 for All and All 4/1
Mary Robinette Kowal has announced she is withdrawing from the SFWA VP race. After telling why she took a look ahead:
So what’s next? According to the bylaws, the president is able to appoint a replacement for me and I’m happy to announce that long time member, Alan Smithee will take my place.