Ansible 391 -- February 2020

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Feb 3, 2020, 12:13:12 PM2/3/20
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ANSIBLE(R) 391
FEBRUARY 2020 

From DAVID LANGFORD, 94 London Road, Reading, Berks, RG1 5AU, UK. Website news.ansible.uk. ISSN 0265-9816 (print); 1740-942X (e). Available for SAE or a nice slice of Crustimoney Proseedcake.

[NET NOTE. See https://news.ansible.uk/a391.html for the nice HTML version; https://news.ansible.uk/pdf/a391.pdf for a printable PDF. Mailing list subscribe/unsubscribe information appears below -- please don't send such requests to my own e-mail address. DRL]


### THE MEANING OF LIFE ###

ISAAC ASIMOV was the theme of the Inquisitor crossword 'Lawgiver' (_i_, 18 January) that teased solvers with Laws of Robotics but required them to know his First Law of Dietetics. (Fifteensquared.net, 28 January)

KEITH BROOKE reports another publishing secret: 'So... Apple Books reject a book published there several years ago on the grounds that it uses the word "kindle" at one point, and they don't allow "competitor reference". That's one smart algorithm at work.' (Facebook, 20 January)

JONATHAN CLEMENTS had a New Year gloat: 'Kim Newman may have fallen at the first hurdle with Sussex (as reported in last month's _Ansible_), but authors Jonathan Clements and Henry Gee were both on the victorious Leeds team, the first from a non-Oxbridge institution to ever win Christmas University Challenge, scoring 235 points against Wadham College, Oxford, in January 2020.' (Email, 3 January)

ROBERT DOWNEY, JR., who plays Dr. Dolittle in the new film _Dolittle_, answered the key question 'What animal would you talk to if you could?' with: 'Probably one of the ancient ones, like a Gila monster. I mean, seriously, what was it like? Did you see that asteroid hit the Yucatan?' (Interview in _Parade_ magazine, 5 January) [PL]

HARLAN ELLISON, it now emerges in contradiction of the story list at harlanellison.com, didn't write 'Biddy and the Silver Man' (February 1957 _Fantastic_). Its byline E.K. Jarvis was a house name used by several others besides HE, and Harlan Ellison Books has denounced Armchair Fiction for marketing this as an Ellison story. (Email, 30 January) [AIP]


### CONSTAT ###

7-9 Feb [] DEMISEMIQUAVER (filk), Best Western Hotel, Marks Tey, Colchester.GBP42 reg; GBP32 unwaged; under-18s GBP1 per year of age at time of joining. See www.contabile.org.uk/demisemiquaver/.

7-9 Feb [] SCI-FI BALL (media), Grand Harbour Hotel, Southampton. Weekend passes from GBP145, GBP35 child; day rate GBP15 (no access to evening events), children free; more expensive options at scifiball.com.

10 Feb [] ROYAL SOCIETY LATES: SCIENCE FICTION, 6-9 Carlton House Tce, London, SW1Y 5AG. 6:30pm-10pm. Free; over-18s only. See royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/2020/02/science-fiction.

22 Feb [] PICOCON 36, Blackett Building, Imperial College, London. GBP12 reg; GBP10 concessions; GBP8 for ICSF members; past GoHs free. See www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/icsf/picocon/. Natasha Ngan has had to drop out as a guest of honour; Juliet Kemp has joined the guest list.

25 Feb [] WOMEN IN SF AND FANTASY (Bristol Women's Literature Festival panel) with Emma Geen, Kate Macdonald (moderator), Cheryl Morgan, Emma Newman and Liz Williams. Foyles, Philadelphia St, Bristol, BS1 3BU . 7:30pm-9pm. GBP8; GBP6 concessions. Online booking at www.ideasfestival.co.uk/events/women-in-science-fiction-and-fantasy.

8 Mar [] HITCHHIKERS GUIDE 42nd anniversary event, Knowledge Centre, British Library, London. Noon-8pm. Adults GBP30; for other rates see www.bl.uk/events/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-at-42. [Sold out, alas.]

13-14 Mar [] STARBURST FILM FESTIVAL, The Landing, Salford. 5pm-1am. Tickets GBP33.25. See starburstmagazine.com/filmfestival/.

20 Mar [] FUTUREFEST (futurology), Tobacco Dock, London. 10am-10pm. Tickets GBP80; students GBP35. More at www.futurefest.org.

4-5 Apr [] SCI-FI SCARBOROUGH (multimedia), The Spa, Scarborough. Tickets (per day only) are available at scifiscarborough.co.uk.

10-13 Apr [] CONCENTRIC (Eastercon), Hilton Metropole near Birmingham NEC. GBP80 reg; other rates at www.concentric2020.uk.

16-19 Apr [] STOKERCON (horror), Grand and Royal Hotels, Scarborough. GBP130 reg; HWA members GBP120. See stokercon-uk.com.

17-19 Apr [] SPRINGMOOT (Tolkien Society), Mercure Exeter Rougemont Hotel. Includes AGM for members only. Booking details awaited at www.tolkiensociety.org/events/springmoot-and-agm-2020/

15-21 Jun [] TALOS IV: SF Theatre Festival of London, The Cockpit, London. Call for proposals at www.cyborphic.com/talos-2020.

29 Jul - 2 Aug [] CONZEALAND (Worldcon 78), Wellington, New Zealand. NZD $425reg, _rising to $450 on 15 February_; $250 YA; $225 unwaged; $105 child (born 2005+), infants (born 2015 +) free, $75 supp. _Hugo nominations are open, closing 13 March._ See conzealand.nz.

25-27 Sep [] FANTASYCON 2020, Resource for London, 356 Holloway Road, London, N7 6PA. (Previously announced for Sheffield.) Guests TBA. _Now GBP75 reg (BFS members GBP65)_ at www.fantasycon.org.

7-11 Oct [] GRIMMFEST (horror/cult films), Odeon Manchester Great Northern. GBP99 reg (GBP84.50 concessions) plus fees from grimmfest.com.

9-11 Oct [] LAKES INTERNATIONAL COMIC ART FESTIVAL, Kendal, Cumbria. Ticket sales awaited at www.comicartfestival.com.

22 Oct - 1 Nov [] EDINBURGH HORROR FESTIVAL, The Banshee Labyrinth; Lauriston Castle; other city venues. See www.edhorrorfest.co.uk.

6-8 Nov [] ARMADACON, Future Inns, Plymouth. GBP35 reg; concessions GBP30; accompanied under-16s free. Guests TBA at www.armadacon.org.

14-15 Nov [] COMIC CON, Harrogate Convention Centre. Part of Thought Bubble, the Comic Art Festival, running 9-15 November. GBP28 weekend pass or GBP17/day. See thoughtbubblefestival.com.

RUMBLINGS. _Worldcon 2022:_ two bids were filed with CoNZealand by the 31 January deadline. Chicago (chicagoworldconbid.org) has been an established bid for years; Jeddah in Saudi Arabia (jeddicon.com) had no visible bidding presence until January 2020. The latter's dearth of convention-running experience is likely to deter site selection voters, even before considering Saudi Arabia's woeful human rights record.


### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###

AS OTHERS SEE US. The poet Robert Hass came terrifyingly close to the brink but was saved: 'I tend to binge, so I have to try to avoid genre fiction [...] When I read Ursula Le Guin, who grew up in Berkeley, I thought that I had discovered that I loved science fiction, and read a lot of it and discovered that I just loved Ursula Le Guin, unless Calvino and Borges count as science fiction.' (_NY Times_ interview, 2 January) [JB]

AWARDS. _BAFTAs:_ the film _Joker_ won for best actor (Joaquin Phoenix), score and casting.
     _Philip K. Dick_ shortlist: _The Outside_ by Ada Hoffmann; _Velocity Weapon_ by Megan E. O'Keefe; _All Worlds Are Real_ by Susan Palwick; _Sooner Or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea_ by Sarah Pinsker; _The Little Animals_ by Sarah Tolmie; _The Rosewater Redemption_ by Tade Thompson. [GVG]
     _Robert A. Heinlein Award:_ Vernor Vinge.

DEATH WILL NOT RELEASE YOU. Reviewing the Amy Binns biography of John Wyndham, Alvaro Zinos-Amaro quotes a mention by Peter Nicholls in the _SF Encyclopedia_ that the still unpublished David Ketterer bio is awaited with impatience: 'Nicholls's wait is now over.' Peter (1939-2018) was unavailable for comment. (_Locus_, 20 January)

R.I.P. _Charles Alverson_ (1935-2020), US novelist and screenwriter who co-scripted Terry Gilliam's _Jabberwocky_ (1977) and the first draft of _Brazil_ (1985), died on 19 January.
     _Neda Arneric_ (1953-2020), Serbian actress in _Venom_ (1971), died on 10 January aged 66.
     _Alex Brewis_, US talent agent who represented (among others) _Star Trek_'s D.C. Fontana and Leonard Nimoy, died on 26 December aged 92. [AIP]
     _David Brider_ (1969-2020), UK fan -- especially of _Doctor Who_ -- and convention-goer, died unexpectedly on 20 January aged 50. [PBr]
     _Jack Burns_ (1933-2020), US actor, writer and producer whose credits include _Peter Pan_ (1976), _The Muppet Show_ (1978-1979), _The Muppet Movie_ (1979) and _Animaniacs_ (1993-1995), died on 27 January aged 86. [PDF]
     _Da Chen_ (1962-2019), Chinese author living in the USA whose novels include the YA fantasy _Wandering Warrior_ (2003), died on 17 December. [PDF]
     _Mary Higgins Clark_ (1927-2020), bestselling US author of suspense novels, sometimes with fantasy themes as in _The Anastasia Syndrome_ (1989), died on 31 January aged 92. [TM/LP]
     _Andrew Dunbar_, Northern Irish extra in _Game of Thrones_ and many other productions, died on 24 December; he was in his thirties. [AIP]
     _Marj Dusay_ (1936-2020), US actress who stole Spock's brain in the original _Star Trek_ and was also in _A Fire in the Sky_ (1978), _Galactica 1980_ (1980) and _Made in Heaven_ (1987), died on 28 January aged 83. [PDF]
     _Derek Fowlds_ (1937-2020), UK _Yes Minister_ actor with genre credits in _Frankenstein Created Woman_ (1967), _The Basil Brush Show_ (1969-1973) and _Rules of Engagement_ (1989), died on 17 January aged 82.
     _Wolfgang J. Fuchs_ (1945-2020), German comics author, historian and translator whose _Comics: Anatomy of a Mass Medium_ (1971; trans 1972) with Reinhold C. Reitberger was a pioneering work of German comics scholarship, died on 20 January aged 74. [PDF]
     _Tony Garnett_ (1936-2020), UK producer of _Earth Girls Are Easy_ (1988), died on 12 January aged 83.
     _Harry Hains_ (1992-2020), US actor in various genre series and _A Haunting at Silver Falls: The Return_ (2019), died on 7 January aged 27. [LP]
     _Buck Henry_ (1930-2020), US actor, producer, director and screenwriter who co-created _Get Smart_ (1965-1970) and created _Quark_ (1977-1978), died on 8 January aged 89. Further credits include _Captain Nice_ (1967), _The Day of the Dolphin_ (1973), _The Man Who Fell to Earth_ (1976), _Heaven Can Wait_ (1978) and _Shakespeare's Plan 12 from Outer Space_ (1991). [LP]
     _Terry Jones_ (1942-2020), utterly famous UK comic writer, comic actor and serious historian best known for _Monty Python's Flying Circus_ (1969-1974) and many later Python-team films and performances, died on 21 January aged 77. [JB] Further credits include _Labyrinth_ (1986), _Erik the Viking_ (1989) and _Mr Toad's Wild Ride_ (1996).
     _John Karlen_ (1933-2020), US actor in _Dark Shadows_ (1967-1971), _Daughters of Darkness_ (1971), _The Picture of Dorian Gray_ (1973) and others, died on 22 January aged 86. [PDF]
     _Stan Kirsch_ (1968-2020), US actor in _Highlander_ (1992-1998 tv), _The Sky's on Fire_ (1999) and _Invincible_ (voice, 2008), committed suicide on 11 January aged 51. [MMW]
     _Michelle Lapautre_, French literary agent whose Paris agency represented many English-language writers including Ray Bradbury, died on 3 January aged 88. [AIP]
     _Peter S. Larkin_ (1926-2019), US stage/production designer whose credits include the Broadway musical _Peter Pan_ (1954) and who co-created the 'Mothership' flying saucer used in Parliament-Funkadelic arena performances from 1977 onward, died on 16 December aged 93. [AIP]
     _Gerry Lewis_ (1928-2020), UK marketing expert who was close to Steven Spielberg and organized publicity campaigns for many of his films from _Duel_ (1971) to _Ready Player One_ (2018), died on 5 January aged 91. [AIP]
     _Jean Migrenne_ (1938-2020), French poetry translator who translated parts of Samuel R. Delany's _Atlantis: Model 1924_ (1995), has reportedly died. [SRD via GVG]
     _Lan O'Kun_ (1932-2020), US composer, writer and producer whose genre credits include _The Littlest Angel_ (1969) and eight episodes of _Highway to Heaven_ (1985-1989), died on 9 January aged 87. [PDF]
     _Nicholas Parsons_ (1923-2020), UK radio/tv personality whose immensely long career included genre credits for _Four Feather Falls_ (1960), _The Ghost Goes Gear_ (1966), _Doctor Who: The Curse of Fenric_ (1989), _The Wotwots_ (2010) and _Good Omens_ (2019), died on 28 January aged 96. [SG]
     _Alan Pattillo_ (1929-2020), UK writer and director who worked on Gerry Anderson's _Supercar_, _Fireball XL5_, _Stingray_ and _Thunderbirds_, died on 16 January aged 90.
     _Gudrun Pausewang_ (1928-2020), German YA author whose sf includes _The Last Children of Schewenborn_ (1983) and _The Cloud_ (1987), died on 24 January aged 91. [CB/F770]
     _Neil Peart_ (1952-2020), US drummer with Rush and writer of _Clockwork Lives_ (2015) and other genre stories in collaboration with Kevin J. Anderson, died on 7 January aged 67. [DKMK]
     _Mike Resnick_ (1942-2020), popular and prolific US sf author who began to publish genre fiction in 1965 and won five Hugos (the first for 'Kirinyaga' in 1988), a Nebula and a Locus Award for his short fiction, died on 9 January aged 77. He received the 1995 Skylark Award for career contributions to sf and was a guest of honour at the 2012 Chicago Worldcon. [LR]
     _Carol Serling_ (1929-2020), widow of Rod Serling (1924-1975) who launched _The Twilight Zone Magazine_ in 1981, edited it until 1989, and also edited various related anthologies, died on 9 January aged 91. [PDF]
     _Jo (Joe) Shishido_ (1933-2020), Japanese action-film star whose genre credits include _Fugitive Alien_ (1987, plus sequel), _8 Man_ (1992) and _The Final Judgement_ (2012), died on 21 January aged 85. [JAS]
     _Earl Staggs_, US mystery author whose _Memory of a Murder_ (2008) features psi powers, died on 3 January. [PDF]
     _Steve Stiles_ (1943-2020), much-loved cartoonist and illustrator for underground comics, fanzines, newspapers and occasional book covers, winner of the 2016 fan artist Hugo, died on 11 January aged 76 -- just three days after reporting bad news from his long-running cancer treatment: 'So the word is: I've got a few months, more or less.' [MD] Steve won TAFF in 1968, was unfailingly generous with unpaid artwork for fanzines (including _Ansible_), received many FAAn awards, and in 1998 became the first winner of the Rotsler Award for life achievement in fan art. He was a friend who is much missed.
     _Christopher Tolkien_ (1924-2020), UK author, editor and academic, J.R.R. Tolkien's third son and the last surviving member of the Inklings, died on 15 January aged 95. [AW] He drew the original _Lord of the Rings_ maps and became best known for editing a vast amount of his father's unpublished work for posthumous publication, beginning with -- assisted by Guy Gavriel Kay -- _The Silmarillion_ (1977).
     _Shozo Uehara_ (1937-2020), Japanese anime writer best remembered for _Return of Ultraman_ (1971-1972), its successors, and the Japanese _Spider-Man_ (1978), died on 2 January aged 82. [LP]
     _Monique van Vooren_ (1927--2020), Belgian-born actress in _Tarzan and the She-Devil_ (1953), _Fearless Frank_ (1967), _Flesh for Frankenstein_ (1973) and the Broadway musical fantasy _Man on the Moon_ (1974), died on 28 January aged 92. [AIP]

AS WE SAW US. 'In _Star Trek_, the tribe includes a Martian ...' (Madeleine L'Engle, _A Stone for a Pillow_ [nonfiction], 1986) [PL]

MAGAZINE SCENE. _Compelling SF_, whose demise was announced by its editor Joe Stech last September, has been saved by a co-publishing deal with Nick Wells of Flame Tree and will appear quarterly. [F770]

AS OTHERS SAW US. 'There can't be that many science fiction fans who are interested in how many electrical engineers can stand on the head of a cathode.' (_Biography in Sound_, NBC radio, 1956) [MMW]
     'Audiences who came to _2001_ expecting a sci-fi movie got, instead, an essay on time.' (Dan Chiasson, _The New Yorker_, 23 April 2018) [MMW]

RANDOM FANDOM. _Fan Activity Achievement (FAAn) Awards._ Voting for 2019 work closes on 13 February; for the ballot form, see corflu.org.

THE DEAD PAST. _25 Years Ago_, Harry Warner Jr. said of the Internet (in _The Reluctant Famulus_ #37): 'I hope it will all go away soon like CB radio did.' (_Ansible_ 91, February 1995)
     _50 Years Ago_, 'Isaac Asimov has donated his (recently removed) kidney stone to be auctioned off at the Boskone this March.' (_Winnie_ vol 4 #7, February 1970)
     _60 Years Ago,_ Klaus Eylmann explained the mysteries of German fandom: 'There are 3 big SF Organisations. The SFCE with Fanclub SFCD e.V., the SFCD and the SSFI. It is a unique situation in fandom that two different fanclubs have the name SFCD, but no one will give it up, because the very first club which was founded by Walter Ernsting has been the SFCD. Now both clubs, which are calling themselves SFCD are not the original clubs, but both organisations are saying that they are the successors of the original SFCD. There is a terrific feud running [...] In a short time a law suit will be filled out in this matter.' (_Skyrack_ 14, 22 February 1960)

AWARDS II. Submissions are open for the third year of 'Brave New Words': www.starburstmagazine.com/bravenewwordsaward2020.

EDITORIAL. As promised, the latest addition to the free ebook library at the TAFF site is _Homefront: Fandom in the UK 1939-1945_ edited by Rob Hansen, a huge (161,500 words) collection of wartime fanwriting showing how British fans maintained their lines of communication and even had fun despite call-up, overseas postings, the Blitz and all the rest. See taff.org.uk/ebooks.php?x=HomeFront.
     The next Ansible Editions project follows on from our three-volume collection of Algis Budrys's _F&SF_ reviews (see ae.ansible.uk/?a=budrys) and will, if the plans work out, be a fat book containing virtually all his major essays on the genre.

FANFUNDERY. _TAFF 2020_: Michael 'Orange Mike' Lowrey won this race with a simple majority (83 of 92 ballots expressing a preference) in the first round of voting and will attend the coming UK Eastercon. 103 ballots were cast, with 5 for Ann Totusek, 4 for Hold Over Funds, and 6 no preference. Further details at taff.org.uk.
     _DUFF 2020:_ candidates for the southbound race to CoNZealand are Richard Auffrey, Shaun Duke, James Davis Nicoll, and Erin Underwood. For details and ballot form see downunderfanfund.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/2020-duff-race-ballot.pdf. The voting deadline is 27 March.
     _GUFF 2020:_ candidates for the southbound race to CoNZealand are Cora Buhlert, Hisham El-Far & Lee Fletcher (jointly), Hanna Hakkarainen, Elizabeth Jones & Claire Rousseau (jointly), Dave Lally, and Alison Scott. Voting deadline is 13 April. Ballot at ozfanfunds.com/?page_id=152.
     _European Fan Fund:_ Marcin Klak reports progress on this planned Eurocon-bound fund at fandomrover.com/2020/01/27/european-fan-fund-update. (27 January) [F770] It may yet be possible to launch EFF with a first race to Eurocon 2020 (Rijeka, Croatia) or Eurocon 2021 (Fiuggi, Italy).

THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _Body Horror Dept._ 'You could push a human body to do some incredible things but it would always come back to bite you in the ass later.' (T.J. Berry, _Five Unicorn Flush_, 2019) [PM]
     _Dept of Blinding Insight._ 'Jack thought of the possibility of being murdered in some bizarre experiment here, and he didn't like the idea at all.' (Raymond Z. Gallun, 'Magician of Dream Valley', _Astounding_, October 1938) [BA]
     _Cosmology Dept._ 'And now the universe, from a physical standpoint, was approaching entropy, a state in which every atom in the universe -- numbering one to the 420,000,000,000th -- would be in a condition of stasis ...' (Silas Water [Noel Loomis], _The Man with Absolute Motion_, 1955)
     _Neat Tricks._ 'I hang on my own lips, all ears.' (Harry Mulisch, _The Procedure_, 1998; trans Paul Vincent 2001). [PB]


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### ENDNOTES ###

APPARITIONS.
     7 February 2020: R.J. Barker talks to the Brum Group. 7:30pm for 8pm at the Briar Rose Hotel, Bennett's Hill, Birmingham city centre. GBP6 or GBP3 for members. Contact bhamsfgroup at yahoo co uk. Future events/speakers: 13 March 2020, Ian Stewart; 3 April 2020, Danie Ware; 15 May 2020, Una McCormack.
     19 February 2020: BSFA Open Meeting at the Central Station pub, 37 Wharfdale Road, King's Cross, N1 9SD. 6pm for 7pm. Guest(s) TBA. Free. Date or venue changes may be announced after _Ansible_ has gone to press: always check bsfa.co.uk for the latest information.

PAYPAL TIP JAR THINGY. Support _Ansible_, cover website costs and keep the editor happy! Or just buy his books.

BSFA AWARDS. Final ballot voting runs from early February until the Easter weekend. See bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-awards/.

SOME LINKS from the _Ansible_ home page.
     Adapting H.G. Wells for TV
     Asimov's Empire, Asimov's Wall
     Locus Recommended Reading List
     Walt Willis and Nudge Theory

THOG'S GOLDEN OLDIES from _Ansible_ 151, February 2000: _Dept of Paws for Thought._''Only Lily could tell there was more to it, because whatever was haunting the back of his eyes made a trail of uneasy paw prints up her own spine.' (Charles de Lint, _Someplace to be Flying_, 1998)
     _Dept of Non-Euclidean Geometry._ 'She wore a thin metal necklet of some sort, as well, and he scrutinised it with almost equal curiosity. It supported a plastic cube a half-inch square and a quarter-inch thick.' (David Weber, _The Apocalypse Troll_, 1998)
     'Although the project would ultimately be aborted, this represented the moment that _Star Trek: Phase II_ was born.' (Ed Gross, _SFX_ #61, February 2000)


_Ansible_(R) 391 (C) David Langford, 2020. Thanks to Brian Ameringen, Paul Barnett, John Boston, Pamela Brider, Cora Buhlert, Jim Burns, Samuel R. Delany, Paul Di Filippo, Michael Dobson, _File 770_, Steve Green, David K.M. Klaus, Pamela Love, Petrea Mitchell, Todd Mason, Lawrence Person, Andrew I. Porter, Laura Resnick, Jessica Amanda Salmonson, Gordon Van Gelder, Andrew Wells, Martin Morse Wooster, and as always our Hero Distributors: Durdles Books (Brum Group), SCIS/Prophecy and Alan Stewart (Australia).

3 February 2020

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