Betz, Hutchings Pass Away

Vancouver fandom has lost two of its best-known members this year.

Ed Hutchings passed away February 22, of leukemia. He was involved in BCSFA for 30 years, and a regular at Vancouver’s alternate gathering, FRED. He pursued a wide range of professions over the course of his life, at times an electrical engineer, an oboist with the Toronto Symphony, a programmer, a glass blower, and after earning a PhD in mathematics, teacher at local colleges and universities.

Al Betz, author of the long-running fanzine column “Ask Mr. Science,” a Prix Aurora nominee, died April 14 of kidney and heart failure. He had been part of the British Columbia SF Association since 1973.

You missed something if you weren’t a regular reader. Here’s a sample of Betz’ most recent “Ask Mr. Science” column from WCSFAzine:

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF A VOLCANO ACCIDENTALLY GOT TURNED UPSIDE DOWN?

MR. SCIENCE: … During an eruption the volcano would pump a significant fraction of our atmosphere into the core of the planet, causing it to inflate like a balloon. If the volcanization lasted more than 3.1 days the Earth would burst, also like a balloon. Calculations show that 74% of the objects on the surface would be ejected at greater than escape velocity.

[Via R. Graeme Cameron]

Update 04/23/2011: Corrected name in headline.