Photographer Eric Wong granted John Hertz’ wish to see how his Rotsler Award exhibit was displayed at Worldcon 75.
The exhibit took a circuitous route to Helsinki, the banners rolled in a mailing tube and delivered by Hertz at Westercon to Seth Breidbart for relay at NASFiC to Worldcon Vice-Chair Colette Frozard; she to give to W75 Exhibits Deputy Div. Head Terry Neill.
John adds, “Rick Kovalcik of Boston helped arrange by E-mail. He and I co-wrote an explanation of putting up the banners, and a request they not be confined to the Fanzine Lounge but placed where everyone could see them, as was done at MAC 2.”
The last leg of the exhibit’s journey will be when Chris Marble brings the banners home.
(1) PAST WORLDCON CHAIRS PHOTO. In the video, they all state their names and the cons they chaired. The photo session starts to shape up at about the 35-minute mark.
Questions were raised directly with us both by email and social media enquiries, both from members of the Worldcon 75 team and from other interested parties. We do not disclose the source of individual queries below, nor do we comment on questions that were not brought directly to our attention.
Thanks to Gerald Winters of Gerald Winters and Son Rare Books in Bangor, ME, here’s an amazing find: a letter that Stephen King wrote to publisher Coward, McCann, and Geoghegan recommending a new in-progress book by a new writer named Rick Hautala! The book, The Dark Brother, was retitled Moondeath when it was finally published by Zebra Books in 1980.
I’m writing in hopes that you will read a manuscript in progress. It is a novel called THE DARK BROTHER by a young man named Rick Hautala. Rick works in the South Portland Walden bookstore, and a few months ago he asked me if I’d look at this script.
Gerald wrote, “After Putnam Publishers acquired CM&G, this letter was kept on their files until it was eventually acquired by the previous owner.
“Now it is back in Bangor where it will stay for anyone wishing to view.”
There’s a readable image of the letter at the site.
Cat Eldridge sent the link with a comment, “Rick died of a massive heart attack four years back while out on a walk with his wife. Like all too many genre writers, he made very little money. And yes I knew him, a really nice person.”
(4) TODAY IN HISTORY
August 12, 1943 — Arthur Lubin’s Phantom of the Opera premiered. Universal originally planned this film as a comedy for Bud Abbott and Lou Costello.
August 12, 1977 — Space shuttle Enterprise completed its first free-flight test.
(5) YESTERDAY IN HISTORY
August 11, 1962 — Haruo Nakajima takes on the Eighth Wonder in King Kong vs. Godzilla.
August 11, 1963 — Haruo Nakajima plays the title role in Matango, opening this day in Japan.
On Thursday, Entertainment Weeklyreleased concept art of Batman’s plane, the Flying Fox. And, fans were quick to note a surprising detail: Thanks to a Wayne Enterprises decal, Batman’s real name, “Wayne,” is written on the side. Gotta have brand awareness, I guess.
The Justice League Comic-Con sneak peak made it seem like a big deal when Cyborg dropped into Batman’s plane, hacked it, and said, “Relax, Alfred, I’ll take it from here.” While pretty much the entire Justice League will know Batman’s identity at this point in the film — Wonder Woman and the soon-to-return Superman learned it in Batman v Superman, and we already knew that Bruce Wayne would reveal that he was Batman to Barry Allen/The Flash when he was recruiting him — it was still a big moment, and a showcase of Cyborg’s impressive skillset. Within seconds, he was able to hack into a plane that was “password-protected” by the Batman, and determine his identity. Apparently, though, he could just as easily have read it off the side of the plane.
As things have turned out, the Dragons are claiming to be the big populist award, are mainly get nominations that are a rightwing-indy award, are an epitome of cliques and have found themselves to be even more political by trying to avoid being political.
How did they get into this mess? Partly by ignoring the disconnect between why the puppies disliked the Hugos and what the puppies said was structurally wrong about the Hugos. Specifically:
The Hugos are membership based.
There is a cost involved.
There is only one novel category.
There is no video game category.
There are voting systems and rules
So the Dragons did the opposite:
Any one can vote.
There is no cost.
There are multiple subgenre categories.
There is a specific video game category.
The voting is a simple tally.
The issue is that none of those approaches really get the Dragons to what they want. Just because anybody CAN vote doesn’t mean anybody WILL vote. No cost and no membership requirement makes stacking the vote trivial. The multiple categories are confusing for fans to know where to nominate things and encourage category shopping for vote campaigns.
Even those of us who’ve never read Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451know it as a searing indictment of government censorship. Or at least we think we know it, and besides, what else could the story of a dystopian future where America has outlawed books whose main character burns the few remaining, secreted-away volumes to earn his living be about? It turns out that Bradbury himself had other ideas about the meaning of his best-known novel, and in the last years of his life he tried publicly to correct the prevailing interpretation — and to his mind, the incorrect one.
“Fahrenheit 451 is not, he says firmly, a story about government censorship,” wrote the Los Angeles Weekly‘s Amy E. Boyle Johnson in 2007. “Nor was it a response to Senator Joseph McCarthy, whose investigations had already instilled fear and stifled the creativity of thousands.” Rather, he meant his 1953 novel as “a story about how television destroys interest in reading literature.” It’s about, as he puts it above, people “being turned into morons by TV.”
(12) VIDEO OF THE DAY. Martin Morse Wooster, in recommending “Helium Beer Test–Short Version With English Subtitles,” says it’s “a video on YouTube in which two German guys end up drinking ‘helium beer.’ It’s really funny and in my view fannish but it is a spoof.” Apparently it was originally posted on April 1 a couple years ago.
[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, Cat Eldridge, Martin Morse Wooster, Chip Hitchcock, and Mike Kennedy for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Ky.]
The Worldcon 75 Masquerade award winners were announced in a series of tweets, which is the source of the following text.
The Masquerade was co-directed by Debi Chowdhury and Christine Doyle. Masquerade photographer was Lincoln Peters.
The Best in Show at Worldcon 75 is Olivia Flockhart – competing in the Novice category instead of Child at her first Worldcon. Entry Name: “When Halley came to Jackson in 1910,” Entry No. 1, Olivia Flockhart with Ian Flockhart.
Best Workmanship: Leena Peippo
Best Overall Effect to Rachelle Hrubetz, Most Excess to Anna Davenport. Best in Open Category: Miki Dennis
Open category: Best Prop goes to Anna Davenport, Best Performance to Rachelle Hrubetz, Use of Materials to Ronja Valasma
Best Novice goes to Lassi Aalto
Novice Award for Spit and Polish goes to Teemu Lähteenmäki: Novice Best Likeness goes to Kerttu Vähänen
Novice awards go to Kanerva Tuominen, Mika Sarjanen for Best Inflation, Johanna Mustapää and Leena Peippo
First Workmanship award: Olivia Flockhart for Sparkliest Outfit
Workmanship award: Lassi Aalto for Best Prop
Workmanship award for the Novice class: Salla Juva for Most Complete Headdress
Final Workmanship award in the Novice class: Suvi Kauppila
The convention also tweeted the entries, many with photos. (Note: I did not find a tweet for Entry No. 2.)
Masquerade Entry No. 1: Olivia Flockhart with Ian Flockhart; Entry Name: "When Halley came to Jackson in 1910" #Worldcon75pic.twitter.com/efExzvXyzs
In the course of Worldcon 75, the organizers have just announced that “the Hugo Awards have been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running science fiction award.”
(2) HUGO VOTING STATISTICS. If you haven’t already seen them, here’s where you can download the reports.
(6) WORLDCON 75 DAILY NEWZINE. The Worldcon daily zine reports there were 4,759 visitors on Day 1. Who knows what other tidbits you’ll find in the issues linked here?
Malcolm Devlin and Helen Marshall. Travellers to antique lands frequently flock to Shelley’s two vast and trunkless legs of stone. But why not squint up with the locals into the desert firmament azure, where hover two vast and trunkless arms of flame, Helen and Malcolm?
(9) CYCLIC HISTORY. Ah yes. Those who don’t know the lessons of fanhistory are doomed to repeat them. As are those who do know them.
more about dragon awards: here's what Asimov wrote about the Futurians in his memoir. fascinating how stable this phenomenon is pic.twitter.com/lKNZ6ribkJ
Witches and wizards the world over will rejoice this week at the news that Primark has announced it will be introducing a Harry Potter range to its stores in honour of the famous book series’ 20th anniversary.
The high street retailer, which is famed for its bargains, has created an official range of clothing, stationery and home accessories in line with the wizarding theme which will be available in shops from next week.
Fans of the fantasy world will be able to pick up everything from potion shaped fairy lights (£8) to cauldron mugs (£6) with some items costing as little as £2.
The wait will finally be over for those after their Hogwarts acceptance letter too, which can be bought on a cushion for £4 and whether you’re a Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin, you’ll be able to pick up a pair of pyjamas in your house colours for just £6.
To the Batpoles! This awesome 20? tall replica of the Shakespeare bust from the 1966 Batman TV series doubles as a coin bank. Like the prop, the coin slot (along with the customary dial and button) is hidden inside the bust’s neck. See it unboxed on video here.
The Walking Dead has been a big money-making success at AMC, pulling in an impressive amount of viewers for the network. But Skybound—the entertainment company founded by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman—just announced that Amazon will be the home of all their new TV content moving forward.
(13) COMIC SECTION. Chip Hitchcock found more on autonomous cars in Arctic Circle.
(14) THE TRUE SIGN OF QUALITY. Camestros Felapton (or was it Timothy?) put his marketing and design skills to the test.
I’m not worried about American lives above everyone else’s – hopefully nobody has to die because of two unhinged custodians of nuclear power taking brinkmanship too far – but there is one American who must be kept safe, no matter what.
I’m talking about George R. R. Martin, the author of the epic fantasy book series, A Song of Ice and Fire, better known to most people as Game of Thrones, the HBO hit series that is, hands down, the best show on TV these days.
… But if you’ve read the books, you’ll agree that the TV show is not a patch on Martin’s writing and sheer storytelling genius. He makes TheLord of the Rings look like a slow ride to grandma’s cottage. George R.R. Martin is J. R.R. Tolkien on steroids, and then some.
In 2006, Butler died of a stroke outside her home in Lake Forest Park, Washington. Her many papers now reside at the Huntington, a private library in San Marino, California. Curator Natalie Russell describes the collection as including “8,000 manuscripts, letters and photographs and an additional 80 boxes of ephemera.”
On display there now are numerous treasures, including working manuscript pages from The Parable of the Sower covered in her brightly colored notes: “More Sharing; More Sickness; More Death; More Racism; More Hispanics; More High Tech.”
There are the beautiful, bold affirmations that recently went viral online, which she wrote to frame her motives for writing: “Tell Stories Filled With Facts. Make People Touch and Taste and KNOW. Make People FEEL! FEEL! FEEL!” On one page of her journals she visualized the success that she desired: “I am a Bestselling Writer. I write Bestselling Books And Excellent Short Stories. Both Books and Short Stories win prizes and awards.”
But what is not on public view are the drafts?—?the things she had hoped to write someday and never did, including The Parable of the Trickster.
Scholar Gerry Canavan described getting a look at that work-in-progress for the LA Review of Books in 2014:
Last December I had the improbable privilege to be the very first scholar to open the boxes at the Huntington that contain what Butler had written of Trickster before her death. What I found were dozens upon dozens of false starts for the novel, some petering out after twenty or thirty pages, others after just two or three; this cycle of narrative failure is recorded over hundreds of pages of discarded drafts. Frustrated by writer’s block, frustrated by blood pressure medication that she felt inhibited her creativity and vitality, and frustrated by the sense that she had no story for Trickster, only a “situation,” Butler started and stopped the novel over and over again from 1989 until her death, never getting far from the beginning.
The novel’s many abandoned openings revolve around another woman, Imara, living on an Earthseed colony in the future on a planet called “Bow,” far from Earth. It is not the heaven that was hoped for, but “gray, dank, and utterly miserable.” The people of Bow cannot return to Earth and are immeasurably homesick. Butler wrote in a note, “Think of our homesickness as a phantom-limb pain?—?a somehow neurologically incomplete amputation. Think of problems with the new world as graft-versus-host disease?—?a mutual attempt at rejection.”
(17) NEVERTHELESS. Mindy Klasky has put together an anthology by Book View Café authors, “Nevertheless, She Persisted”. It has released in July Here’s the table of contents.
“She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”
Those were the words of Mitch McConnell after he banned Senator Elizabeth Warren from speaking on the floor of the United States Senate. In reaction to the bitter partisanship in Trump’s United States of America, nineteen Book View Café authors celebrate women who persist through tales of triumph—in the past, present, future, and other worlds.
From the halls of Ancient Greece to the vast space between stars, each story illustrates tenacity as women overcome challenges—from society, from beloved family and friends, and even from their own fears. These strong heroines explore the humor and tragedy of persistence in stories that range from romance to historical fiction, from fantasy to science fiction.
From tale to tale, every woman stands firm: a light against the darkness.
Table of Contents:
“Daughter of Necessity” by Marie Brennan
“Sisters” by Leah Cutter
“Unmasking the Ancient Light” by Deborah J. Ross
“Alea Iacta Est” by Marissa Doyle
“How Best to Serve” from A Call to Arms by P.G. Nagle
“After Eden” by Gillian Polack
“Reset” by Sara Stamey
“A Very, Wary Christmas” by Katharine Eliska Kimbriel
Fritz Leiber, a science fiction and fantasy author, wrote a story in 1939 called “Two Sought Adventure” starring Fafhrd, a large barbarian from the frozen North, and the Gray Mouser, a taciturn thief. Soon, Leiber realized he could use these characters to not only poke fun at the Conan the Barbarian-type stories that pervaded fantasy magazines, but to also construct his own fantasy world and deconstruct a various number of characters and tropes.
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser sold their services to anyone with the right coin — more importantly, Mouser was a former member of the Thieves’ Guild and would often go up against his former employers. But they also went on adventures due to bets or because they wanted to have a bit of fun. Sometimes they got into trouble because of drink or because of women — they were often subject to the Cartwright Curse, where their love interests ended up dead by the end of the story. However, later stories gave both of them long-term girlfriends, even if one of them was, uh, a big unconventional.*
* One of Mouser’s girlfriends was Kreeshka, a ghoul, whose skin and organs are all invisible. Which means she looks like an animated skeleton. Whatever you do, don’t think about their sex life.
(19) BUGS, ZILLIONS OF ‘EM. Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars trailer #3:
(20) SHOOTING AND BLOWING UP. Kingsman 2 trailer #3 TV spot.
[Thanks to JJ, John King Tarpinian, Lee Whiteside, Cat Eldridge, Carl Slaughter, Andrew Porter, and Michael J. Walsh for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Soon Lee.]
So when I got into Helsinki this was one of the first stories I saw on the bus. Expecting a TON of people at #WorldCon75 today! pic.twitter.com/qtszEnuE1v
A classic collection of works of Walt Willis to buy at the Fan Funds auction on Saturday #Worldcon75 This was Bob Shaw's copy of Warhoon 28 pic.twitter.com/KqKgBP3P8P
Compiled by Steven H Silver: Here is the In Memoriam list shown during the Worldcon 75 Hugo Ceremony. Since the livestream didn’t work, most people haven’t seen it yet. The list covers the August 1, 2016-July 31, 2017 period.
Scott Alter (b.1953) August 10, Fan
Ruth Stuart (b.1964) August 12, Fan
Kenny Baker (b.1934) August 13, Actor
Warren Johnson (a.k.a. Whisky) (b.1970) August 13, Fan
Robert C. Peterson (b.1921) August 15, Fan
Victor Mora (a.k.a. R. Martin) (b.1931) August 17, Comics Author
Sören Cardfeldt August 19, Fan
M.K. Wren (b.Martha Kay Renfroe, 1938) August 20, Author
Michel Butor (b.1926) August 24, Critic
Gene Wilder (b.Jerome Silberman, 1933) August 29, Actor, Hugo Winner
Robert C. Lee (b.1931) August 31, Author
Peter Bromley (b.1956) September 2, Game Designer
Bill Woodrow (b.1970) September 4, Fan
Duane E. Graveline (b.1931) September 5, Author, Astronaut
Hugh Zachary (a.k.a. Zach Hughes, Evan Innes, Pablo Kane, Peter Kanto)(b.1928) September 5, 2016, Author
Brian Lewis September 7, Fan
Barry R. Levin (b.1946) September 14, Bookseller
David Keith Mano (b.1942) September 14, Author
W.P. Kinsella (b.1935) September 16, Author
Dave Kyle (b.1919) September 18, Fan, Publisher, Worldcon Chair, Worldcon GoH
Bernard Bergonzi (b.1929) September 20, Author
Robert Weinberg (b.1946) September 25, Author, Collector, Worldcon Special Award Recipient
D. Douglas Fratz(b.1952) September 27, Fan
Jorge de Abreu (b.1963) September 28, Author
Lucy Stern September 28, Fan
Kira Heston (b.Kimberly Heston, 1969) September 30, Filker
JoEllyn Davidoff (b.1963) October 1, Filker
Kate Yule (b.1961) October 4, Fan
Howard Harrison (b.1961) October 5, Filker
Arthur Jean Cox (a.k.a. Gene Cross) (b.1929) October, Fan, Author
Bill Warren (b.1943) October 7, Critic
Robert A. Rosenberg (b.1947)October 8, 2016, Fan
Paul Brazier (b.1950) October 10, Fan
Per G. Hvidsten (a.k.a. Per G. Olsen ) (b.1944) October 11, Fan
Ed Gorman (a.k.a. E.J. Gorman, Robert David Chase, and Daniel Ransom) (b.1941) October 14, Author
Dennis Cummins (b.1951), October 18, Author
Richard Cavendish (b.1930) October 21, Author
Martin Aitchison (b.1919) October 22, Artist
Steve Dillon (b1962) October 22, Artist
Norman F. Stanley (b.1916) October 22, Fan
Sheri S. Tepper (b.Sheri Stewart Douglas, 1929) October 22, Author
Leslie Lupien (b.1921) October 25, Fan
Cornel Robu (b.1938) October 27, Critic
Ellen Key Harris-Braun (b.1960) October 28, Editor
Natalie Babbitt (b.1932) October 31, Author
Massimo Mongai (b.1950) November 1, Author
Alex Hamilton (a.k.a. Donald Speed) (b.1930) November 2, Author, Editor
John Calvin Rezmerski (b.1942) November 5, Academic
Wil Baden (b.1928) November 9, Fan
Amy Sefton November 9, Fan
André Reullen (a.k.a. Kurt Steiner (b.1922) November 10, Author
Kenichiro Takai (b.1937) November 14, Author
Sabina Theo (b.1977) November 16, Author
Gino Gavioli (b.1923) November 19, Cartoonist
Lon Atkins November 28, Fan
Paul A. Carter (b.1926) November 28, Author
Joe Dever (b.1952) November 30, Author
Marcel Gottlieb (ak.a. Gotlib) (b.1934) December 4, Comic Author
Patricia Robins (b .1921) December 4, Author
Bill Dunbar December 4, Fan
Richard Purtill (b.1931) December 4, Academic
John Glenn (b.1921) December 8, Astronaut
Robert Scholes (b.1929) December 9, Academic
Richard Kyle December 10, Fan, Bookseller
Nila Thompson (b.1954) December 10, Fan
Robert Stiller (b.1928) December 10, Translator
Kathleen Meyer (b.1948) December 13, Fan, Worldcon Chair
The winners of the 2017 Hugo Awards and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer were announced by Worldcon 75 on August 11.
Best Novel
The Obelisk Gate, by N. K. Jemisin (Orbit Books)
Best Novella
Every Heart a Doorway, by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com publishing)
Best Novelette
“The Tomato Thief”, by Ursula Vernon (Apex Magazine, January 2016)
Best Short Story
“Seasons of Glass and Iron”, by Amal El-Mohtar (The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales, Saga Press)
Best Related Work
Words Are My Matter: Writings About Life and Books, 2000-2016, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Small Beer)
Best Graphic Story
Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening, written by Marjorie Liu, illustrated by Sana Takeda (Image)
Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form)
Arrival, screenplay by Eric Heisserer based on a short story by Ted Chiang, directed by Denis Villeneuve (21 Laps Entertainment/FilmNation Entertainment/Lava Bear Films)
Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)
The Expanse: “Leviathan Wakes”, written by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, directed by Terry McDonough (SyFy)
Best Editor – Short Form
Ellen Datlow
Best Editor – Long Form
Liz Gorinsky
Best Professional Artist
Julie Dillon
Best Semiprozine
Uncanny Magazine, edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Julia Rios, and podcast produced by Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky
Best Fanzine
Lady Business, edited by Clare, Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay, and Susan
Best Fancast
Tea and Jeopardy, presented by Emma Newman with Peter Newman
Best Fan Writer
Abigail Nussbaum
Best Fan Artist
Elizabeth Leggett
Best Series
The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
Ada Palmer (1st year of eligibility)
HUGO BASE. Designed by Eeva Jokinen. Photo by Cheryl Morgan.
Also presented during the Hugo Ceremony:
Big Heart Award
Carolina Gomez Lagerlöf
First Fandom Hall of Fame Award
Les and Es Cole
First Fandom Posthumous Hall of Fame
Jim Harmon
Sam Moskowitz Archive Award
Jon Swartz
Seiun Awards
Best Translated Long Story
United States of Japan by Peter Tieryas / tr. Naoya Nakahara (Hayakawa Publishing, Inc.)
Best Tranlated Short Story
(2 winners)
“Backward, Turn Backward” by James Tiptree, Jr. / tr. Kazuko Onoda (Hayakawa Publishing, Inc.)
and
“Simulacrum” by Ken Liu / tr. Furusawa Yoshimichi (Hayakawa Publishing, Inc.)
Atorox Award
Atorox Award
“The Temple of Heavenly Tears” by Maiju Ihalainen
The Atorox Award goes to the best Finnish sf short story published in the previous year.
Atorox the robot appeared in a series of stories by Aarne Haapakoski (1904–1961), one of the first sf writers in Finland.
