[APAK logo] Issue #78, May 8th, 1997

Days of Fandom
edited by Andy

First of all, a major piece of errata: In the process of tweaking and polishing #77, we managed to bump the last line of Christina Lake's article off the bottom of the page. We corrected this for the overseas addition, and the full text was on the Web site, but for those who have been waiting three weeks to find out, this is the full final sentence of Christina's article: "I wondered if perhaps New Zealand fandom wasn't a lot saner than I am." And haven't we all? Our sincere apologies to Christina, wherever she is.

Congratulations to Martin and Helena Tudor on the birth of their daughter Heloise, at 3 am on Friday 25th April 1997, weight 5 pounds 9 ounces. As Martin reports, "despite being over two weeks early and sharing a birthday with Steve Green, Heloise is remarkably well and healthy. Mother is doing fine. Father is feeling fragile."

Mike Glicksohn wrote to me, noting that the Toronto in 2003 committee will meet in about three weeks to consider who their guests of honor should be, assuming they win the bid. Mike would like suggestions for possible fan GoHs -- write to him at 508 Windermere Ave., Toronto, ONT M6S 3L6 Canada if you have any suggestions.

In the wake of my comments about DUFF's change-of-administration, Janice Murray sent along this communique:

'The more I think about it the more I like the idea of having as few rules as possible governing the management of fan funds. There should be room for flexibility since there are always unforeseeable circumstances.

'For Instance: Usually, a North America-to-Australasia trip involves attending an Aussie convention somewhere around Easter. This year the literary NatCon and the media NatCon are being combined and held in September. Since this convention is three weeks after the San Antonio Worldcon, I won't be able to attend LoneStarCon. I sincerely believe that DUFF should have a presence at every Worldcon: to organize an auction, to answer questions about the current state of DUFF and to be on the alert for possible future candidates. Pat and Roger Sims have graciously agreed to stay on as administrators and to be that presence. For that I am very grateful.

ëI can, however, sympathize with the alternate method of passing the torch. I can see where an administrator could be tempted to say "Congratulations! You just won DUFF!" and then attempt to dispose of all of the paperwork as soon as possible.

'I was intrigued when Alan Stewart told me about the gentlemen's agreement he and Perry Middlemiss worked out, wherein Alan maintained the job of administrator until Perry returned from the trip. I was unaware that this was similar to the arrangement that the Smiths had with the Sims. So now we have a couple of precedents, and the system worked well in both cases. Should this not be convenient for my successor, we will deal with it then.'

Perry Middlemiss also wrote me to point out that Alan Stewart had concluded a similar "gentlemen's agreement" when he won the fund, and that he found this a much preferable situation than the one which Alan had faced taking over from the late Roger Weddall, or that Roger had to deal with when succeeding the gafiated Greg Turkich -- Roger had to publish the news of his victory himself!

All of this indicates that we are moving toward a system where the outgoing DUFF admin does everything they can to help ease the new delegate's load, and that seems like a very good idea. Perhaps TAFF should follow suit? Does it already?

It's been reported to us that SciFi Inc., the corporate face of LACon III and other Southern California fan projects, has passed on $22,000 each to the next three Worldcons, in San Antonio, Baltimore and Australia. The consumer advocate side of my brain asks why membership costs have to be so high in the face of these profits, but all kudos to SciFi for their generosity anyway, and especially for making the grants so quickly.

It couldn't come at better time for San Antonio concom members. Membership estimates have been adjusted downward to 4,000, and everyone involved has scurried to cut their budgets before they get cut by someone else.

Congratulations to Seattle resident Nicola Griffith on the best novel Nebula for her book Slow River. Bruce Holland's novelette "Lifeboat on a Burning Sea," and Esther M. Friesner's short story "A Birthday" also took Nebulae. Jack Vance was given the Grand Master award.

As for the Hugo nominations, fanzines Ansible, File 770, Mimosa, Nova Express and Tangent were so honored, as were fan writers Sharon Farber, Mike Glyer, Andy Hooper, Dave Langford and Evelyn C. Leeper, and fan artists Ian Gunn, Joe Mayhew, Peggy Ranson, William Rotsler and Sherlock.

carl would like me to mention that he would love to see copies of Banana Wings, Plokta, Wild Heirs, and Glamour, to mention but a few, so send extras!

Finally, a few quick Changes of Address: Lindsay Crawford is now at 5335 Daisy St. SPC #94, Springfield, OR, 97478, and accepts e-mail at lindsay.crawford@juno.com. And Amy Thomson and Edd Vick are now out in the hinterlands at 14906-210th Ave. N.E., Woodinville, WA 98072-7635, where Amy gets e-mail at amy@jetcity.com.

Later, she gave Senator Helms a blue t-shirt inscribed, "Somebody at the State Department Loves Me."

[APAK logo] Issue #78, May 8th, 1997

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