Denvention: Saturday
Aug. 18th, 2008 07:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stoutfellowAnd on the third day...
My first panel on Saturday was a tribute to Jack Williamson. Most of the discussion had to do with Williamson the man; he seems to have been remarkably humble - one of the panelists recounted how, even into the 1990s, Williamson could be found at panels on writing, in the audience, notebook in hand. He was always open to trying new things in his craft, and was one of the first old-line authors to welcome the New Wave. He was also kind to newcomers (though rather diffident about approaching them himself). The panel made me wish that I'd had the chance to know him; Connie Willis and Melinda Snodgrass, who were on the panel, were visibly struggling with tears by the end. (On my next trip to the Dealers' Room, I looked for his Space Patrol and Time Patrol stories - I already have "With Folded Hands" - but all I could find was a used copy of Darker Than You Think, which I bought.)
At 11:30 was Lois Bujold's second reading, from the nascent Miles novel. (She read two chapters from the four that currently exist.) CROWDED! I wound up leaning on the wall off to one side (though well to the front, so I had a good view). The passage was very promising; I look forward to reading the whole thing (though not very hard, since it's probably a year-and-a-half, maybe two, away from publication).
After my previous trip to the Dealers' Room, my wad of cash was running thin, but I replenished it Saturday morning and paid another visit. I found a table where a group of people were running what amounted to a collective garage sale, and picked up eight books for about $9.50: Avram Davidson's Peregrine: Primus (another book that I'd once had; they also had Peregrine: Secundus, but I decided not to buy that one); James Blaylock's The Stone Giant (I like Blaylock's work, but it seems a bit hard to find, especially his older novels); Andre Norton's Star Guard and Star Gate (cherished memories, though I was disappointed not to find Quest Crosstime or any of her other time-travel stories); Darker Than You Think; Ian Wallace's Dr. Orpheus (Wallace is weird, but can be entertaining); Joy Chant's When Voiha Wakes (the third and weakest story in that particular universe, but I do have a completist streak); and Somtow Sucharitkul's The Aquiliad (I'm a sucker for weird alternative histories). From another dealer, I added three new books: S. M. Stirling's The Protector's War, Jo Walton's Farthing, and Jane Lindskold's Wolf's Blood.
Then I spotted Howard Tayler (Schlock Mercenary) and made a beeline for his table. He had three of the Schlock books on display - The Tub of Happiness, Under New Management, and The Blackness Between. Unfortunately, they're numbers 1, 3, and 4 in chronological order; #2, The Teraport Wars, is out of print. Tayler is working to make it available, and I pre-ordered a copy (along with buying the three on display). He was struggling to add up the prices; I flicked an eye over them and said "Eighty-five dollars". He eventually agreed; I replied, "I'm a professor of mathematics." He looked up sharply and said, "That doesn't mean you're a professor of arithmetic!" - which was exactly the right answer. We bantered a bit more as he signed and sketched my purchases. He sketched Schlock and Ennesby on the first two, then offered me a choice for the third, between Kaff and... somebody. I asked if I could talk him into Elf, and he agreed that this was a good volume for that - it's the one where she gets her boots. (And I mean boots. Nancy Sinatra had nothing on Elf....) (Final book count for trip: 34.)
2:30 brought the panel "A Bryant of Books", featuring James Bryant and several other collectors, discussing book collecting. It was interesting, but rather disorganized; James' attitude toward collecting was radically different from that of the other three - he wants the words, not necessarily their containers, and is enthusiastic about e-books - and one of the others kept throwing out non sequiturs, which no one seemed to know what to do with.
Somewhere along here I met![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cynthia1960 and Kay B.; the first of those encounters was brief but heartfelt (and, Cynthia, if my reaction seemed a bit wrong-footed, it was because my thoughts were on a completely different track, and it took me more than a moment to reorient. Sorry!), and it turned out that Kay lived (possibly grew up?) in Edwardsville at one time, though she had left long before I arrived.
Dinner was a big bowl of chicken carbonara, at the Corner Bakery. It was delicious; I was to come to know the Corner Bakery quite well over the next couple of days.
Afterwards, I went to a panel on the varying treatment of Mars in SF, "From ERB to KSR". I recall it as being interesting, but not much has stuck with me. There was a clear distinction drawn between the "classical" Mars of canals and ancient civilizations and the "modern" desolate and terraformable Mars. The classical version was more fun, unreal though it has proven to be. It remains to be seen how unreal the modern version is; at least one of the panelists took the Antarctica analogy seriously.
The Hugo ceremonies capped the day. Unfortunately, I wasn't familiar with any of the nominees, in any category, but it was fun to watch anyway. A particularly touching moment: Connie Willis presented the Short Story and Novelette awards, then handed off to Robert Silverberg and went offstage. When he announced that she had won the Novella award and had her brought back onstage, she seemed genuinely astonished. Silverberg's part of the presentation was hilarious.
One more day to go!
My first panel on Saturday was a tribute to Jack Williamson. Most of the discussion had to do with Williamson the man; he seems to have been remarkably humble - one of the panelists recounted how, even into the 1990s, Williamson could be found at panels on writing, in the audience, notebook in hand. He was always open to trying new things in his craft, and was one of the first old-line authors to welcome the New Wave. He was also kind to newcomers (though rather diffident about approaching them himself). The panel made me wish that I'd had the chance to know him; Connie Willis and Melinda Snodgrass, who were on the panel, were visibly struggling with tears by the end. (On my next trip to the Dealers' Room, I looked for his Space Patrol and Time Patrol stories - I already have "With Folded Hands" - but all I could find was a used copy of Darker Than You Think, which I bought.)
At 11:30 was Lois Bujold's second reading, from the nascent Miles novel. (She read two chapters from the four that currently exist.) CROWDED! I wound up leaning on the wall off to one side (though well to the front, so I had a good view). The passage was very promising; I look forward to reading the whole thing (though not very hard, since it's probably a year-and-a-half, maybe two, away from publication).
After my previous trip to the Dealers' Room, my wad of cash was running thin, but I replenished it Saturday morning and paid another visit. I found a table where a group of people were running what amounted to a collective garage sale, and picked up eight books for about $9.50: Avram Davidson's Peregrine: Primus (another book that I'd once had; they also had Peregrine: Secundus, but I decided not to buy that one); James Blaylock's The Stone Giant (I like Blaylock's work, but it seems a bit hard to find, especially his older novels); Andre Norton's Star Guard and Star Gate (cherished memories, though I was disappointed not to find Quest Crosstime or any of her other time-travel stories); Darker Than You Think; Ian Wallace's Dr. Orpheus (Wallace is weird, but can be entertaining); Joy Chant's When Voiha Wakes (the third and weakest story in that particular universe, but I do have a completist streak); and Somtow Sucharitkul's The Aquiliad (I'm a sucker for weird alternative histories). From another dealer, I added three new books: S. M. Stirling's The Protector's War, Jo Walton's Farthing, and Jane Lindskold's Wolf's Blood.
Then I spotted Howard Tayler (Schlock Mercenary) and made a beeline for his table. He had three of the Schlock books on display - The Tub of Happiness, Under New Management, and The Blackness Between. Unfortunately, they're numbers 1, 3, and 4 in chronological order; #2, The Teraport Wars, is out of print. Tayler is working to make it available, and I pre-ordered a copy (along with buying the three on display). He was struggling to add up the prices; I flicked an eye over them and said "Eighty-five dollars". He eventually agreed; I replied, "I'm a professor of mathematics." He looked up sharply and said, "That doesn't mean you're a professor of arithmetic!" - which was exactly the right answer. We bantered a bit more as he signed and sketched my purchases. He sketched Schlock and Ennesby on the first two, then offered me a choice for the third, between Kaff and... somebody. I asked if I could talk him into Elf, and he agreed that this was a good volume for that - it's the one where she gets her boots. (And I mean boots. Nancy Sinatra had nothing on Elf....) (Final book count for trip: 34.)
2:30 brought the panel "A Bryant of Books", featuring James Bryant and several other collectors, discussing book collecting. It was interesting, but rather disorganized; James' attitude toward collecting was radically different from that of the other three - he wants the words, not necessarily their containers, and is enthusiastic about e-books - and one of the others kept throwing out non sequiturs, which no one seemed to know what to do with.
Somewhere along here I met
cynthia1960 and Kay B.; the first of those encounters was brief but heartfelt (and, Cynthia, if my reaction seemed a bit wrong-footed, it was because my thoughts were on a completely different track, and it took me more than a moment to reorient. Sorry!), and it turned out that Kay lived (possibly grew up?) in Edwardsville at one time, though she had left long before I arrived.Dinner was a big bowl of chicken carbonara, at the Corner Bakery. It was delicious; I was to come to know the Corner Bakery quite well over the next couple of days.
Afterwards, I went to a panel on the varying treatment of Mars in SF, "From ERB to KSR". I recall it as being interesting, but not much has stuck with me. There was a clear distinction drawn between the "classical" Mars of canals and ancient civilizations and the "modern" desolate and terraformable Mars. The classical version was more fun, unreal though it has proven to be. It remains to be seen how unreal the modern version is; at least one of the panelists took the Antarctica analogy seriously.
The Hugo ceremonies capped the day. Unfortunately, I wasn't familiar with any of the nominees, in any category, but it was fun to watch anyway. A particularly touching moment: Connie Willis presented the Short Story and Novelette awards, then handed off to Robert Silverberg and went offstage. When he announced that she had won the Novella award and had her brought back onstage, she seemed genuinely astonished. Silverberg's part of the presentation was hilarious.
One more day to go!
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no subject
Date: 2008-08-19 01:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-19 02:42 am (UTC)Both those ladies were at Jack's memorial service, though Connie was one of only three who spoke. (The others were Jack's niece, Betty Williamson, and Patrice Caldwell, the professor with whom he'd co-taught his writing class for many years.) All three were brilliant. It was the most beautiful, most moving, most simply perfect memorial I've ever witnessed. The man was enormously loved and respected.
Jim, I think you'd love "Wonder's Child," Jack Williamson's autobiography. I have both the original and the updated versions. I especially love my copy of the original, as it's a printer's goof--it's bound backwards! Anyway, if you'd like to read it and don't find a copy any where, I'll be glad to loan you mine.
Oh, oh, oh... the more I read these WorldCon reports, the more I wish I'd somehow found a way to attend! It's not like Denver was all that far. *kicks self*
no subject
Date: 2008-08-19 09:53 am (UTC)Wonder's Child was mentioned (and the fact that he'd had to write an updated version by virtue of living so long...), and I do plan to look around for it.
Did The Coalwood Way ever arrive?
no subject
Date: 2008-08-19 04:21 pm (UTC)Love, C.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-19 05:06 pm (UTC)If you do not find WC, let me know. Also, the tribute/collection "Seventy-Five" (massive, massive tome!) is fascinating, with snippets of many stories, biographical information, articles, photos... one can spend hours leafing through that one. Will loan as well. Let me know.
How is Ben? Not only his health, but how does he seem to be coping without his doggie-companion?
no subject
Date: 2008-08-19 05:21 pm (UTC)Healthwise... He's snuffling and sneezing quite a bit, and his appetite is off at the moment. He'll take his dog treats, and he'll eat scraps, but he doesn't do more than pick at his regular food. But he still gets excited when I get the leash out, and shows every sign of delight on while we're out. As long as he continues to enjoy life....
no subject
Date: 2008-08-19 07:15 pm (UTC)Looking forward to more WorldCon reporting. You are bringing it so to life for me!
no subject
Date: 2008-08-20 03:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-22 05:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-19 04:10 pm (UTC)Jack was always kind to the hyperactive kid, Vaquero says. Jack always remembered him too. We inhabited the same Southwestern e-mail list. Jack always commented on Vaquero updates and expressed his pleasure that Vaquero was following his path.
He was one of those rare persons about whom not a single soul could or would say a single negative remark. He was so loved by the Southwestern SF/F community. The loss of his wife was so hard for him. They did their best to step in.
Love, C.