Dennis Coleman told The Harlan Ellison Facebook Fanclub on October 23, “He’s doing OK but really wants to get out of the hospital. Not quite ready yet, but soon we hope.” And the staff of The Simpsons has sent him a gift box full of cheeses.
Jason Davis announced he’s recorded a brief message from Harlan that will be mailed to people on the HarlanEllisonBooks.com mailing list Friday. I hastened to subscribe. If you want to read it badly enough, go thou and do likewise.
George R. R. Martin and Tor publisher Tom Doherty are being presented the Harris Collection Literary Award today, October 23, at Brown University in Providence, RI. They are the first recipients of the new award celebrating the influence of literature in popular culture.
The award is named for Caleb Fiske Harris, Brown class of 1838, who assembled a collection of over 5,000 works of poetry, drama and early American history. After his death in 1881 it was bought by a relative and eventually bequeathed to the university.
[Via Locus Online.]
WisCon has announced that “in response to member concerns” 2011 and 2014 co-chair Piglet Evans will not be handling harassment reports in any committee position she may hold in the future, nor will she serve in any of the convention’s Safety positions. (See “Piglet recuses herself from harassment process”.)
As if to allay skeptics, they added: “We further guarantee that she will be held to this.”
In recent months WisCon and its parent organization SF3 have issued a series of apologies about mishandling two harassment complaints. Piglet Evans was a point of contact for at least one of these complaints (screencap at Radish Reviews).
Unless extras are getting paid a lot more than I’ve heard, someone’s about to take a hell of a loss on their gig as a background extra in Batman v. Superman. An extra is facing a $5 million fine after blabbing details about the movie in violation of a non-disclosure agreement, according to two websites (here and here).
[SPOILER WARNING]
The extra told a reporter for Detroit’s NBC affiliate that a fight scene between Batman and Lex Luthor was shot in the art museum on the Michigan State University campus.
She also leaked that the part of Robin will be played by a woman, reports The Guardian — Robin a.k.a. Carrie Kelley will be played by Hunger Games: Catching Fire actress Jena Malone.
As for the $5M fine – I’m curious if such a fine might really get paid — are extras insured? — or if this is just one of those Hollywood numbers bandied about for publicity.
After viewing this trailer I’d say, yessir, I’m ready right away to pay my money and see this movie. Too bad they’re making us wait til May 1, 2015!
When Ray Bradbury’s 2004 Retro Hugo brought $28,734 in an estate auction last month that made me wonder — What individual Hugo Award is worth the most money?
There wasn’t much reason to wonder before. In all the other transactions I knew about the Hugo sold for $2,000 or less. Forry Ackerman’s Retro Hugo, part of a lot of six awards, auctioned for $1,500 in 2009. Emsh’s 1961 Best Professional Artist Hugo sold for $1,075 in 2011. And Harry Warner Jr.’s 1972 Best Fan Writer Hugo, offered together with copies of his books, was part of a lot that went for $2,000 in 2012.
Why did Bradbury’s Hugo command a much higher price? For three main reasons.
Are there Hugos that might fetch a price even higher than Bradbury’s?
I think people who bid on a Hugo Award have an affinity for the sf field and know why the award is important. With that in mind, it could be argued that Robert Silverberg’s 1956 Hugo for Most Promising New Author should be one of the most valuable, not just for his literary output, but because he’s repeatedly made that award the turning point of a funny comment while emceeing or presenting at Hugo ceremonies over the years. Unfortunately, the fanhistory we cherish rarely translates into cash value (or we’d all be rich!)
What about Hugos won by the sf writers with the biggest reputations, Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke?
Heinlein’s 1961 Best Novel Hugo for Stranger In A Strange Land must be worth a pretty penny – an enduringly popular book widely read outside of fandom that became embedded in Sixties popular culture. Or there is his 1960 Best Novel Hugo for Starship Troopers (1960) – a veteran or military sf fan with deep pockets might bid that up (and in that case, the bug-hunting movie based on it makes it all the more attractive, despite how bad the film actually was.)
In Isaac Asimov’s case, the 1966 Hugo given to Foundation as Best All-Time Series is probably his most valuable — voted in recognition of his most iconic work, the series whose concept of psychohistory is credited by Nobel laureate Paul Krugman for sparking his interest in economics. Asimov also enjoys an enduring celebrity as witnessed by the attachment of his name to Microsoft’s recently-announced computer telemetry system.
The Arthur C. Clarke Hugo I expect collectors would pay the most for, by far, is his 1969 Best Dramatic Presentation Hugo for 2001: A Space Odyssey – always assuming he received a rocket for that in the first place, as I tend to expect he would have based on how the official Hugo Awards site credits the movie:
[Paramount] Directed by Stanley Kubrick; Screenplay by Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick; based on the story “The Sentinel” by Arthur C. Clarke
Beyond the Big Three, it would be a mistake to overlook the media appeal of Philip K. Dick and the potential market for his 1963 Best Novel Hugo for The Man In The High Castle. PKD’s name is frequently invoked by the critics of our dystopian present, and his works have been turned into movies like Bladerunner, Total Recall and Minority Report featuring some of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.
All the Hugos I have mentioned so far follow the standard rocket-on-a-wooden-base design, so the artistry of the award isn’t a factor that would enhance their value. (Maybe just the reverse in the caseof Arthur C. Clarke’s 1956 Hugo for the Best Short Story, “The Star,” which was made with an Oldsmobile Rocket 88 hood ornament…)
Arthur C. Clarke being presented his 1956 Hugo Award by NyCon II chairman Dave Kyle at the 1957 Worldcon, Loncon I.
But over the past 30 years most Worldcons have commissioned Hugo bases that depart from the cliché plinth-and-rocket. They all have their advocates and among my favorites are:
However, my absolute favorite is Tim Kirk’s base for the 1976 Hugo, co-designed with Ken Keller, a cold-cast resin base wreathed with a dragon. Tragically, there isn’t a good image of it online. (After looking at the photo on the official site you’ll be questioning my sanity: “That’s the most beautiful Hugo base? It looks like a rocket on an oil can!”) But I’ve seen one up close many times at Larry Niven’s home. I think it’s quite beautiful.
So looking at who won the Hugos of 1976, one prospect jumped out as having the perfect combination of attributes to bring a good price at auction.
Best Dramatic Presentation
- A Boy and His Dog (1975) [LQ/JAF] Directed by L. Q. Jones; Screenplay by L. Q. Jones and Wayne Cruseturner; Story by Harlan Ellison
The question, as with 2001: A Space Odyssey, is whether Ellison got a copy of the rocket, but for purposes of this discussion I’ll assume he did. Ellison enjoys the celebrity built on a long career of writing sf, fantasy and horror in all media – print, TV, movies, comics, as a Grammy-nominated voice actor. He’s even been in a commercial or two — remember “Harlan Ellison, Noted Futurist” plugging Geo Metros? “A Boy and His Dog” is one of his best-known stories. And there is a legion of Ellison collectors snapping up everything he produces. Just imagine the market for an Ellison Hugo?
So unless somebody can talk me out of it, I nominate the Clarke 2001 and Ellison A Boy and His Dog Hugos as the most valuable out there.
Update 10/27/2014: Corrected photo caption based on Rob Hansen’s comment.
By James H. Burns: It’s easy — particularly across a matter of decades! — to lose sight of the era, or milieu, in which a teleseries, or movie, first appeared. I’m intrigued by this sequence of clips someone put together of original commercials that aired during a Star Trek broadcast in 1967.
I’m reminded to ask about what remains one of the few Star Trek mysteries – why did NBC (or Desilu?) come up with that alternate series title logo — one which appeared on so much of the show’s initial merchandising and advertisements? Although no one could have known that Trek’s TYPOGRAPHY would also become near iconic, it’s odd that anyone thought that using a logo NOT featured on the series itself was a good idea!)
Also of note is this relatively recently discovered Adam West-as-Batman public service announcement for our government’s once-upon-a-time youngsters’ savings stamps/bank program:
For a stunning reason, in a way, which will become evident!
(In all my years of following “Batmania” — going back to its 1966 origins! — I don’t recall ever having seen this!)
CanSMOF Inc., the parent organization of the 2009 Montreal Worldcon, has selected the recipients of two scholarships to attend Smofcon 32, a convention for conrunners. Jean-Louis Trudel of Quebec City and Jared Dashoff of Washington, D.C. will each receive 500 CAD to help defray the cost of attending Smofcon.
One scholarship was designated for a Canadian citizen or resident, while the second was open to anyone involved in running conventions, anywhere.
Smofcon 32 will be in Manhattan Beach, California from December 5-7.
Gerard Parkes, who played Doc the inventor, the only human character on Jim Henson’s 1980s children’s show Fraggle Rock, died October 19 at the age of 90.
He appeared in many other children’s television shows as well, like The Littlest Hobo and Shining Time Station.
His genre roles included episodes of The Twilight Zone (1988), The War of the Worlds series (1989), and Ray Bradbury Theatre (1990).
[Thanks to Andrew Porter for the story.]
October 21, 1977: Post-apocalyptic classic Damnation Alley opened in theaters. The film was based on a novel by Roger Zelazny. (Well, about as much as any “based on” movie ever is. It had the same title, anyway.)
Damnation Alley involved a cross-country trek in a vehicle dubbed the Landmaster. When production ended, it was parked beside the Hollywood Freeway by Dean Jeffries’ automotive shop from 1977 to 2005 where every passing science fiction fan might blink and ask himself, “Didn’t I see that in….?”
