Fans In Accident Returning From Dragon Con

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Bookdealer Larry Smith and Joni Dashoff had a rollover in Larry’s van on the way back from Dragon Con on September 8 reports Marcia Kelly Illingworth. The accident occurred near Sweetwater, Tennessee.

Smith was injured and is in the University of Tennessee Hospital in Knoxville, Steven H Silver wrote in an update. Sally Kobee said they expect to keep him there until at least Saturday.

According to Illingworth, Dashoff is okay.

The van was totaled, however, and Sally needs immediate help retrieving and salvaging the contents of the van. Steven H Silver continues —

It was loaded to the gills with books and the shelves & hardware they use to construct their sales booth at cons. She could use people with strong backs at both ends of the trip – in Knoxville, TN and in Columbus OH.

Please contact her directly at sallykobee (at) hotmail (dot) com.

Update: Additional news here.

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42 thoughts on “Fans In Accident Returning From Dragon Con”

  2. Larry’s a good guy. My best wishes for his complete recovery, and I hope local fen can help him salvage his inventory.

  4. Larry and Sally are longtime members of my local sf/f club, the Cincinnati Fantasy Group. I’ve posted this to CFG’s social media sites so local friends will be sure see it.

  5. Best wishes for fast healing to Larry. I understand that the display grid stacked up behind the driver’s seat acted as a sort of roll bar and probably saved his life. I’m never swearing at grid again.

  7. Best wishes to Larry for a speedy recovery and to Sally for all the worry and anxiety until he is home. Hope you get enough help to salvage everything. Larry is one of the best booksellers I’ve ever met!

  8. Wishes for a speedy and full recovery and a quick and complete rescue of your gear and merchandise. Light be with you all and Shadow as needed.

  10. Larry has been a fixture at every convention I have ever attended. Part of my regular con-going experience is to stop by his bookstore and pick out a couple of things. I even helped out unloading his stock from his truck one time. Sending all my best thoughts his way for a full recovery.

  11. Best wishes for Larry’s recovery, and I’m definitely going to boost the signal to get Sally some help saving what can be saved.

  12. Wishing him “refuah shlaimah,” the Hebrew prayer for complete and speedy healing.

    And glad to hear that Joni is all right.

  14. Larry has always been a good guy, and I always oak forward to seeing him and his booth at cons. Best wishes for a speedy return to health, and recovery of the van contents. Can’t be of much assistance since I’m in New England.

  18. I’ve just heard about Larry’s accident. I live two hours away in Virginia and may be able to help. Have just written to Sally to see what can be done. I’ve also just now copied the message to the Knoxville Area SF Association (KASFA) and to the Karl Edward Wagner Literary Society, both of which are based in Knoxville, in case some of their members can provide more immediate help. Larry’s a good guy and it’s lousy that this has happened to him. I’ve known him for many years, ever since he took over the book business started by Dick Spellman. I’ve been a seller of used SF books at regional conventions here myself, so I have some idea of how Larry must be feeling about *that* aspect of his situiation tonight.

  19. Fandom responds! I join in wishing both Larry and Sally a safe, swift recovery and a return home. Not close enough geographically to lend a hand, alas.

  20. Wishes for a speedy recovery – get well soon Larry and back on the Con-circuit!

  21. Not what I wanted or expected to read. Poor Larry and all the stress. I wish I was closer to help Sally.

  22. So glad it looks like everyone will be OK, but my heart goes out to you. Best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery, Larry. I’m too far away from Knoxville or Columbus, but I’ll spread the word.

    Are you taking up a van collection?

  23. Oh we hope that Larry will recover fully and speedily. We also hope they are fully back to normal in a short time. They are both nice people and make the Cons so much fun. Best Wishes to you Both.

  25. Larry and Joni, Joyce and I wish you all a speedy and complete recovery. It was good seeing y’all at Inconjunction in July again after so many years, and we really hate that such bad things happen to good people.

  28. I’ve been in touch with Sally. She and Larry WILL be at Archon in St. Louis in October. They appreciate everyone’s concern but she does ask that folks refrain from e-mailing unless they are volunteering to come out and help — they are buried in e-mails!

  29. A speedy recovery, and well wishes, to both!

    Sadly, this reminds of a very similar incident.

    In the 1980s and 1990s (and beyond?), Chuck Mayo was a book-dealer from Connecticut, big on the Creation and other media conventions scene. (I believe Chuck would also be at some of the literary science fiction conventions, at the time.)

    Some time after 1995, and perhaps in the early 2000s, Chuck was on his way back from a convention in Maryland… And HIS car did a complete roll over, down some kind of gully.

    Remarkably, Chuck got out of the car, basically okay, and his stock untouched.

    I used to talk to Chuck about once a year, but haven;t heard from him now, for ages.

    So, in a development entirely unrelated to books and conventions and automobiles, I just hope he’s okay!

    (Sadly, we lost another book dealer from that era, and that circuit, the great gentleman Craig Goden, some time ago.)

  30. Best wishes to Larry for a full and speedy recovery, and a big sigh of relief that Joni is okay.

  31. When I saw Stephen Silver’s post on SMOFS I forwarded to allen sundry, including Fictionmags, Trufen, and other Yahoo groups. Hope I did my bit.

    I never buy from Amazon or on-line, always buy from Larry or independent booksellers. We have to support our local [fan] community!

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