Ansible 410 -- September 2021 [long]

[David Langford]

ANSIBLE(R) 410
SEPTEMBER 2021

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,
fayalin, or a really good Visualization of the Cosmic All.

[NET NOTE. See https://news.ansible.uk/a410.html for the nice HTML version;
https://news.ansible.uk/pdf/a410.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 HELL-HOLE IN SPACE ###

MEL BROOKS of _Young Frankenstein_ fame 'is publishing his first memoir at
the age of 95. _All About Me_ hits the shelves in November. Jonny Heller,
his literary agent, says that Brooks felt that now "was the right time to
do it -- mid-career".' (_The Times_, 6 August) [GA]

ADAM ROBERTS shared one of his deeper thoughts: 'Today in SF writers
dancing: Karel Capek dancing the Ca-Ca-Ca'. (Twitter, 26 August) A
commenter was quick to suggest _Rossum's Universal Rumba_.

J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI shows us how the professionals do submissions:
'Attention Publishers International and Domestic: by the end of this week I
will be sending the *finished* manuscript for _The Last Dangerous Visions_
to the agency that will be handling the sale. If you're a Real Deal
Publisher, flag me down and I'll give you the deets.' (Twitter, 11 August)
One suspects this means that Ansible Editions need not apply. Harlan
Ellison's legendary unpublished anthology was noted for its hugeness at
700,000 words or more, and remained substantial despite the many stories
withdrawn and published elsewhere; but this final cut -- even with new
fiction recently acquired -- runs to a mere 112,000 words. Several authors
long loyal to the project have had their stories dropped.

JEFF VANDERMEER revealed exclusively to all of Facebook that the Area X
litany ('Where lies the strangling fruit that came from the hand of the
sinner ...') was censored: 'There was actually a bit after this I cut that
went, "So, anyways, the dead flowers are not like the living flowers and
one shall come forth who shall try to wash a mouse, which you should not do
because they can get respiratory infections."' (26 August)


### CONCRUDENCE ###

HYBRID. 2-5 Sep [] OXONMOOT (Tolkien Society). GBP95 reg; GBP45 online;
members GBP10 less: www.tolkiensociety.org/events/oxonmoot-2021.

4 Sep [] WHOOVERVILLE 12 (_Doctor Who_), QUAD Centre, Derby, DE1 3AS.
Tickets GBP50; concessions GBP33; under-12s GBP10; online booking at
www.derbyquad.co.uk/whats-on/events/whooverville-12.

ONLINE. 9-11 Sep [] ACTIVISM & RESISTANCE (LSFRC conference), GBP30 reg;
other rates via www.lsfrc.co.uk/category/activism-resistance/.

24-26 Sep [] FANTASYCON 2021, Jury's Inn, Broad Street, Birmingham. See
www.fantasycon.org; www.hwsevents.co.uk/shop-2.

25-26 Sep [] NOR-CON (media), Norfolk Showground Arena. Tickets GBP13
(GBP16 early entry); child GBP9 (GBP10) from www.nor-con.co.uk.

ONLINE. 26 Sep [] DIANA WYNNE JONES celebration, 7pm-8:15pm. GBP5-GBP10
reg. See www.bristolideas.co.uk/attend/diana-wynne-jones/.

ONLINE. 1-3 Oct [] OCTOCON, normally held in or near Dublin. Free;
registration needed, donations encouraged. Physical event memberships
carried over to 2022; refunds also available. See octocon.com.

ONLINE. 8-10 Oct [] IRISH DISCWORLD CONVENTION, formerly Cork International
Hotel, Cork. Euro30 reg; Euro40 with extras. See idwcon.org.

15-17 Oct [] LAKES INTERNATIONAL COMIC ART FESTIVAL, Kendal, Cumbria. GBP25
reg; GBP15 concessions. See www.comicartfestival.com.

29-31 Oct [] FESTIVAL OF FANTASTIC FILMS, Pendulum Hotel, Manchester. GBP99
reg. More at fantastic-films.com/festival/.

30-31 Oct [] SURREY STEAMPUNK CONVIVIAL, Epsom. Weekend pass GBP20 plus fee
at bumpandthumper.wixsite.com/steampunkconvivials.

1-4 Nov [] HANDHELD PRESS WRITING RETREAT, Malvern. GBP395 with bed and
board. See www.thedellhouse.co.uk/writingretreat.html.

5-7 Nov [] ARMADACON 2021, Future Inns, Plymouth. GBP35 reg; GBP30
concessions. More at www.armadacon.org.

HYBRID. 5-7 Nov [] CORFLU 38, Mercure Holland Hotel, Bristol. GBP50/$60 reg
_rising to GBP60/$75 on 1 October_; virtual (Zoom) membership free via
robjackson60 at gmail dot com. Hotel booking form etc at corflu.org.

ONLINE. 6 Nov [] TOLKIEN SOCIETY AUTUMN SEMINAR. Free. See
www.tolkiensociety.org/events/tolkien-society-autumn-seminar/.

26-28 Nov [] UK GHOST STORY FESTIVAL, Derby, presumably at the QUAD Centre
as in 2019; details awaited. (_Brum Group News_, August)

15-19 Dec [] DISCON III (Worldcon), Washington DC, USA. $225 reg; other
rates at discon3.org. The committee announced in August that attendees must
wear masks and show proof of completed vaccination.

RUMBLINGS. _Reclamation_ (Eastercon 2022) is still unable to confirm its
hotel venue, known to be in the south of England. Keep watching the skies
at reclamation2022.co.uk .
A bit of incidental gossip is that some other prospective Eastercon
hotels now want a GBP200,000 event deposit.


### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###

AS OTHERS READ US. 'I don't think I'd ever read a book in which there was a
Black character, period. Remember, I'm reading sci-fi _[in 1979]_, so I'd
barely read anything in which there were human beings. I didn't understand
reading as having a relationship to the actual world.' (Robert Reid-Pharr
profile, www.radcliffe.harvard.edu, 25 May) [CH]

AWARDS. _Arthur C. Clarke Foundation Imagination Award:_ Samuel R. Delany.
_Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award:_ D.G. Compton.
_Munsey Award_ (pulp community): Rich Harvey.
_Shirley Jackson Awards_, best novel: _The Only Good Indians_ by
Stephen Graham Jones.
_Splatterpunk Awards_, best novel: _The Magpie Coffin_ by Wile E.
Young.

AS OTHERS DISCARD US. 'WE DON'T NEED SCIENCE FICTION TO AVERT CLIMATE
CATASTROPHE'. (Headline in thenation.com, 14 June) [MMW]

COURT CIRCULAR. The Tolkien estate will surely not be happy about the
launch of a 'JRR Token' cryptocurrency advertised with _Lord of the Rings_
imagery, including the One Ring itself and a limping little verse that ends
'One Token To Hold For All / And In Market Bind Them'. (_The Verge_, 10
August) [F770] Spend, spend to ruin and the world's ending!

AS OTHERS SAW US. Dystopian horror in the Olympic women's gymnastics:
'Because of a spiteful female chauvinist rule, male coaches are not allowed
on the floor, and so it is like a science-fiction movie of a time when
women have taken over. The judges are all women, as are the assistants, the
messengers. The only men on the premises are the piano players -- men being
built for that sort of quiet work -- who huddle together on a bench by the
baby grand.' (Frank Deford, _Sports Illustrated_, August 1976; quoted in
_The Washington Post_, 2 August) [PL]

R.I.P. _Brad Allan_ (1973-2021), Australian stuntman/stunt co-ordinator in
_The Chronicles of Riddick_ (2004), _Hellboy II_ (2008), _I Am Number Four_
(2011), _Mars Needs Moms_ (2011) and _Wonder Woman_ (2017), died on 7
August aged 48. [F770]
_Edward (Ed) Asner_ (1929-2021), multiple Emmy-winning US actor in
_Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night_ (1987), _Elf_ (2003), _Up_ (2009)
and many genre tv series, died on 29 August aged 91. [LP]
_Brick Bronsky_ (Jeffrey Beltzner, 1964-2021), US pro wrestler and
actor in _Class of Nuke 'Em High Part II: Subhumanoid Meltdown_ (1991) plus
two more films in that series, died on 23 August aged 57. [SJ]
_Ed (E.D.) Buckley_ (1940-2021), long-time Scots fan (active in the
Glasgow group), convention-goer and space artist, was found dead at home on
25 August; he was 80. [MA] Ed was a guest of honour at Satellite 5
(Glasgow, 2016); I was always cheered to meet him at cons.
_Shin'ichi (Sonny) Chiba_ (1939-2021), Japanese martial-arts actor in
_Wolf Guy_ (1975), _Legend of the Eight Samurai_ (1983), _Biohazard the
Stage_ (2015) and others, died on 19 August aged 82. [PDF]
_Alex Cord_ (1933-2021), US actor in _Chosen Survivors_ (1974) and
_Airwolf_ (1984-1986) plus guest spots in various genre tv series, died on
9 August aged 88. [LP]
_Ian Dallas_ (1930-2021), Scots author -- and Islamic Shaykh of
Instruction as Abdalqadir as-Sufi -- whose sf novel was _The Book of
Strangers_ (1972), died on 1 August. [MJE]
_Desmond Davis_ (1926-2021), UK film-maker whose many camera credits
include _The Crawling Eye_ (1958) and _The Giant Behemoth_ (1959), and who
directed _Clash of the Titans_ (1981), died on 3 July aged 95. [SJ]
_Alastair Durie_ (1944-2021), UK book, magazine and early fanzine
collector whose _Weird Tales_ (1979) reprinted cover art from 150+ issues
of that magazine, died on 5 August aged 76. [MA]
_Marilyn Eastman_ (1933-2021), US film-maker who worked on, acted in
and helped finance _Night of the Living Dead_ (1968), died on 22 August
aged 87. [LP]
_Tom Flynn_ (1955-2021), US editor of _Free Inquiry_ and author of
satirical sf beginning with _Galactic Rapture_ (2000), died on 23 August
aged 66.
_James Follett_ (1939-2021) , UK author of sf radio plays such as
_Earthsearch_ (1981; 1982) -- which he also novelized -- died on 10 January
aged 81. [GD]
_Mary Frey_ (Osmanski), US SCA fan published in Marion Zimmer
Bradley's 1990s _Sword and Sorceress_ anthologies, died on 18 August. [SS]
_Saginaw Grant_ (1936-2021), US Native American actor in _It Waits_
(2005), _Beyond the Quest_ (2007) and _Wind Walkers_ (2015), died on 28
July aged 85. [AIP]
_Anna Gross_ (1952-2021), US production manager of _The NeverEnding
Story_ (1984), died on 23 July aged 68. [AIP]
_Elizabeth Anne Hull_ (1937-2021), US academic, author and critic long
active in the SF Research Association -- as newsletter editor 1981-1984,
president 1989-1990, and winning the 1998 SFRA Clareson Award -- died on 2
August aged 84. She was married to Frederik Pohl from 1984 to his death,
and with him co-edited the World SF anthology _Tales from the Planet Earth_
(1986). [GVG]
_Ken Hutchison_ (1948--2021), Scots actor in _Ladyhawke_ (1985) and
various genre tv series, died on 9 August aged 72. [SJ]
_Alvin Ing_ (1932-2021), US actor whose genre credits include _The
Final Countdown_ (1980) and _Smilla's Sense of Snow_ (1997), died on 31
July aged 89. [AIP]
_Don Jones_ (1938-2021), US film-maker with crew credits for _The
Astro-Zombies_ (1968), _Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women_ (1968)
and _The Mighty Gorga_ (1969), died on 19 August aged 83. [SJ]
_Erle Korshak_ (1923-2021), long-time US fan active from 1934, who
attended the first Worldcon (New York 1939), co-chaired the 1940 Chicago
Worldcon and co-founded the sf small press Shasta Publishers (1947-1957),
died on 25 August aged 97. He entered the First Fandom Hall of Fame in 1996
and was to be a guest of honour at the 2022 Chicago Worldcon. [L]
_Fred Ladd_ (1927-2021), US producer and screenwriter who adapted
Japanese anime for US tv -- beginning with _Astro Boy_ in 1963 -- died on 3
August aged 94. Film credits include _Pinocchio in Outer Space_ (1965) and
_Journey Back to Oz_ (1972). [JC]
_Peter A. Lees_, US producer whose credits include _An Accidental
Zombie_ (2017), _Living Among Us_ (2018) and _Attack of the Unknown_
(2020), died on 6 August aged 51. [SJ]
_Lisa Mannetti_, US horror author who won two Bram Stoker awards --
one for her debut novel _The Gentling Box_ (2008) -- died on 19 August.
[SJ]
_Jill Murphy_ (1949-2021), UK author and illustrator of children's
books including the popular Worst Witch series opening with _The Worst
Witch_ (1974) and adapted for film, tv and theatre, died on 18 August aged
72.
_Masaya Nihei_ (Masanori Nihei, 1940-2021), Japanese actor in the
original _Ultraman_ tv series (1966-1967) plus later film compilations and
sequels up to _Superior Ultraman 8 Brothers_ (2008), died on 21 August aged
80. [PDF]
_Scott Allen Nollen_ (1963-2021), US author of many books on the
history of film -- subjects including Peter Cushing, Conan Doyle, Robin
Hood, Boris Karloff, Vincent Price and Robert Louis Stevenson -- died on 12
August aged 58. [SJ]
_Colette O'Neil_ (1937-2021), Scots actress in _The Pilgrim's
Progress_ (1967), _Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed_ (1969) and _Dreams Lost,
Dreams Found_ (1987), died on 11 July aged 84. [SJ]
_Victoria Paris_ (1960-2021), US porn actress with genre credits for
_The New Barbarians_ (1990), _Snatched to the Future_ (1991), _Time
Barbarians_ (1991) and others, died on 10 August aged 60. [SG]
_Eddie Paskey_ (1939-2021), US actor who was William Shatner's
stand-in and body double for the original _Star Trek_ (1966-1968), died on
17 August aged 81. [SJ]
_Steve Perrin_ (1946-2921), US RPG designer who co-created _RuneQuest_
(1978) for Chaosium and worked on many other games, died on 13 August aged
75. The Wild Cards shared world was inspired by his _Superworld_ game; he
contributed to the WC 'mosaic novel' _Joker Moon_ (2021). [KAM]
_Markie Post_ (1950-2021), US actress in _Transformers Prime_ (voice,
2010-2013), plus guest roles in various genre tv series, died on 7 August
aged 70. [LP]
_Zdenka Prochazkova_ (1926-2021), Czechoslovakian actress in _The Lost
Face_ (1965), _Lady Dracula_ (1977) and _Ferat Vampire_ (1982), died on 25
August aged 95. [SJ]
_Rosita Quintana_ (1925-2021), Argentina-born Mexican actress whose
films include _Demon in the Blood_ (1964), died on 23 August aged 96. [SJ]
_J.W. Rinzler_ (Jonathan Rinzler, 1962-2021), US author best known for
nonfiction books about film franchises including _Star Wars_ and _Alien_,
died on 28 July aged 58. [GVG] Mary Robinette Kowal added: '... he was one
of the authors we were fighting for with #DisneyMustPay. / And no, they
still haven't paid. Said they would, but... / And yes. They knew he had
cancer.' (4 August) [F770]
_Sompote Sands_ (1941-2021), Thai director of tokusatsu sf/horror
films from _Tah Tien_ (1973) and _Hanuman vs. 7 Ultraman_ (1974) to
_Kraithong 2_ (1985), died on 26 August aged 80. [SJ]
_Clive Scott_ (1937-2021), South African actor in _Sumuru_ (2003) and
various genre tv series, died on 28 July aged 84. [SJ]
_L. Neil Smith_ (1946-2021), US author who founded the Prometheus
Award for libertarian sf and won it several times, initially with _The
Probability Broach_ (1980), died on 27 August aged 75. [PDF]
_Una Stubbs_ (1937-2021), UK actress with genre credits for _The Water
Babies_ (1978), _Worzel Gummidge_ (1979-1981 plus sequel) and _The Worst
Witch_ (1998-2001), died on 12 August aged 84. [CM]
_Lorna Toolis_ (1952-2021), Canadian librarian who was Head of
Collection for the Merril SF Collection in Toronto 1986-2017, died on 11
August. [PH] With her husband Michael Skeet she edited _Tesseracts 4_
(1992) in the series of Canadian sf showcase anthologies.
_Jeanne Keyes Youngson_ (1924-2021), US academic and film-maker who
founded the Count Dracula Fan Club (now the Vampire Empire) in 1965, the
Dracula Museum in 1990, and published many vampire-themed anthologies and
nonfiction works, died on 17 August aged 96. [PDF]

THE WEAKEST LINK. '"Down with Big Brother" is a quote from which George
Orwell novel?' _Contestant:_ '_1986.'_ (ITV, _The Chase_) [PE]

MAGAZINE SCENE. _Amazing Stories_, having been repeatedly let down by
NBC/Universal Television failing to pay the contracted fees for their tv
show licensing of the name, is switching to annual digital-only publication
with the option of a 'separately purchased' POD edition. (_Amazing_, 25
August)
_Curious Fictions_, the online stories platform run by Tanya
Breshears, went on 'indefinite hiatus' from 27 August. [L]
_ParSec_, the digital sf magazine from PS Publishing, launched in
August with #1 dated Autumn 2021: see
www.pspublishing.co.uk/parsec-79-c.asp.

SCIENCE MASTERCLASS. _Dept of 165 Gravities._ 'The ship's relative velocity
was now in the region of 173,000 miles per second, increasing at the rate
of almost exactly one mile per second per second _[...]_ The constant
acceleration rate had some drawbacks, however. None of the men was able to
move without considerable muscular effort ...' (Lee Elliot, _Overlord New
York_, 1953) [BA]
_Astronomy Dept._ 'She was like a meteor coming back to dazzle the
very world from which it had flown for a while into space.' (John Fox Jr.,
_The Trail of the Lonesome Pine_, 1908) [PL]

RANDOM FANDOM. _Triffid Alley_, that John Wyndham memorial site, closed
last year and has been usurped by a porn merchant. See the Internet Archive
for an August 2020 snapshot: tinyurl.com/es82pvy8. [RP]
_TV and Fandom._ A new source of con-going paranoia: '_Law & Order_:
Criminal Intent. Detectives Goren and Eames discover that a victim may have
fallen prey to a woman who trawls sci-fi and vampire conventions for lonely
men.' (Freeview electronic programme guide, August) [CM]

THE DEAD PAST. _70 Years Ago_, an early As Others See Us: ' "To rival Wells
in this line is not an uncommon ambition, and it seems curious that both
authors and public fail to realise that the bottom dropped out of the
market in 1914. The element of 'science-fantasy' really played quite a
small part in the success of Wells's novels; the real point of them was a
wrenching disturbance of ordinary life.... Wells's success ... has never
been repeated, and can now never be approached." (_New Statesman_
Reviewer)'. (_Science Fantasy News_ 9, September 1951)

GROUP GROPES. _London First Thursday Pub Meetings_ at The Bishop's Finger
resume on 2 September (all evening), with further bookings for 7 October, 4
November, 2 December and the usual extra Christmas meeting on 16 December.
[RR] Please check news.ansible.uk/london.html for any updates. Virtual
meetings are moving to third Thursdays beginning with 16 September: as
before, see tinyurl.com/uow6hqn for details.
_Northumberland Heath DA8 SF_ plans its first live pub meeting for
ages on 9 September. See www.concatenation.org/n-heath-sf.html. [SF2C]

AS OTHERS IDENTIFY US. Repeating a 1989 _Face to Face_ interview: 'Jeremy
Isaacs talks to science writer JG Ballard ...' (BBC, August)

FANFUNDERY. _TAFF:_ SCIFI Inc (Southern California Institute for Fan
Interests) has sent the traditional $500 bounty to mark the publication of
Anna Raftery's report within 5 years of her trip.
_DUFF:_ in 2022 it'll be 50 years since the first Down Under Fan Fund
trip, when winner Lesleigh Luttrell travelled from the USA to Australia.
Celebrations are expected.

THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _Lockdown Hair Dept._ '... he grimaced perpetually in a
manner that caused his unclean beard to toss and curl like seaweed on a
boiling whirlpool.' (Clark Ashton Smith, 'The Voyage of King Euvoran',
1933) [BA]
_Mysteries of Female Anatomy._ 'She was the perfect picture of a
beautiful Japanese girl. Small feet, small nose, wide eyes, narrow hips
that showed she was a virgin.' (Larry Correia and John Ringo, _Monster
Hunter Memoirs: Grunge_, 2016) 'Her legs, he thought, were almost certainly
the legs of a virgin, dry and without hair ...' (Tim O'Brien, _The Things
They Carried_, 1991) (boredpanda.com, 6 August)
_Secrets of Female Characterization._ 'At Bristol University, she had
already achieved a reputation as a sex scientist. In her first year she had
gone through the men like an enema.' 'Her curved breasts were tense with
concentration.' 'She moved towards the village, allowing her hips to
continue the conversation.' 'She stopped, pursing her nipples towards him
and then swung on.' 'The left breast was fractionally larger than its
sister. It was Anna's favourite. She flexed it towards the wall.' (All from
David Pinner, _Ritual_, 1967 -- inspiration for _The Wicker Man_) (_Ibid_)


### GEEKS' CORNER ###

SUBSCRIPTIONS. To receive _Ansible_ monthly via email, send a message to:
ansible-news+subscribe [at] googlegroups.com
You will be asked to confirm by email that you want to join the group. To
resign from the Google Groups list, send email to:
ansible-news+unsubscribe [at] googlegroups.com
More details, and an ALTERNATIVE LIST subscription form for those averse to
Google, on this page (which is also where to unsubscribe from the
alternative list, hosted at ansible.uk):
https://news.ansible.uk/asubs.html
Home page -- https://news.ansible.uk/
RSS feed -- https://news.ansible.uk/rss.html
LiveJournal syndication -- http://www.livejournal.com/users/ansiblezine/
Back issues -- https://news.ansible.uk/aseries2.html
Printable PDFs -- https://news.ansible.uk/pdf/
Email the editor -- https://news.ansible.uk/contact.php
Books Received -- https://ansible.uk/books.php

CONVENTION AND EVENT LINKS
British Isles -- https://news.ansible.uk
London -- https://news.ansible.uk/london.html
Overseas -- https://news.ansible.uk/conlisti.html [no longer updated]


### ENDNOTES ###

PAYPAL TIP JAR THINGY. Donate to support _Ansible_, cover website costs and
keep the editor happy! Or just buy his books.
https://ansible.uk/paypal.html
https://ae.ansible.uk/
https://ae.ansible.uk/ebooks.php
https://ansible.uk/books/index.html

THE DEAD PAST II. _20 Years Ago_: '_Take That, Joe Haldeman!_ "The
best-known example of 'future war' fiction is _The Invasion of 1910_ by
William Tufnell Le Queux, a rich slice of scaremongering which was a
sensational success when published in 1906." (Rupert Forbes, _The London
Review of Books_, 6 September)' (_Ansible_ 170, September 2001)

EDITORIAL. Nothing much is happening here apart from the regular _SF
Encyclopedia_ update routine -- not even a new ebook at the TAFF free
library this month. But here's a happy discovery in an old book from the
Langford shelves:
https://news.ansible.uk/images/misc/KarloffPlate.jpg

OUTRAGED LETTERS. 'Dear Mr. Langford / I wish to complain in the strongest
possible terms about the number of R.I.P.s in _Ansible_. It is obviously
quite impossible for there to be so many in the SF field each month, so
this must be a work of fiction. Since I was born in 1936 I just hope that I
do not find my name there. (Or do I? If I can read it....) / Yours
sincerely, David A. Hardy.' (1 September)

VIRTUAL MEETINGS.
16 September 2021, evening: the virtual London First Thursday meeting
moves to the third Thursday. 'Please share this with people who you know
typically come to the Bishop's Finger, but aren't on Facebook.'
https://medium.com/@BohemianCoast/first-thursday-london-sf-fan-virtual-drinks-5232021e961f
19 September 2021 (every third Sunday of the month), afternoon/early
evening: Sheffield SF and Fantasy Society online meeting using Zoom. For
access details contact Fran Dowd, thesofa [at] gmail dot com.

RUMBLINGS II. ScotiaCon, the Scots furry convention (3-5 September
Glasgow), was cancelled with the next event expected on 11-13 February
2022. See ...
https://www.scotiacon.org.uk/

SOME LINKS from the _Ansible_ home page.
Mythopoeic Awards shortlists
http://file770.com/2021-mythopoeic-awards-shortlists/
Shirley Jackson Awards: all winners
https://locusmag.com/2021/08/shirley-jackson-awards-winners-3/
Splatterpunk Awards winners
https://locusmag.com/2021/08/2021-splatterpunk-awards-winners/

THOG'S GOLDEN OLDIES from _Ansible_ 170, September 2001. 'I looked at
Norathar, who was staring at Aliera with eyes like mushrooms.' (Steven
Brust, _Yendi_, 1984)
'Despite his slant eyes and yellow skin, he proved to be quite a
likeable fellow as well as an erudite scientist.' (Captain S.P. Meek, 'Awlo
of Ulm', 1931)
'Fear exploded in her mouth like a drug.' (Linda Nagata, _Limits of
Vision_, 2001)
'Then a horrid, unforgettable giggle bit at his unbelievable left
ear.' (Charles Harness, _The Paradox Men_, 1953)


_Ansible_(R) 410 (C) David Langford, 2021. Thanks to Brian Ameringen,
Graham Andrews, Michael Aries, Jonathan Clements, Gordon Davie, Paul Di
Filippo, Malcolm Edwards, _File 770_, Steve Green, Peter Halasz, Chip
Hitchcock, Steve Jones, _Locus_, Pamela Love, Chris Moore, Kevin Andrew
Murphy, Lawrence Person, Rog Peyton, Andrew I. Porter, _Private Eye_, Roger
Robinson, SCIFI Inc, SF2 Concatenation, Susan Shwartz, Gordon Van Gelder,
Martin Morse Wooster, and as always our Hero Distributors: Durdles Books
(Birmingham SF Group), SCIS/Prophecy, and Alan Stewart (Australia).

1 September 2021

--
David Langford | http://ansible.uk/ | http://news.ansible.uk/

[John Hall]

In message <f49vigtsojmoufa1v...@4ax.com>, David Langford
<ans...@cix.co.uk> writes
<snip>

> _Secrets of Female Characterization._ 'At Bristol University, she
>had already achieved a reputation as a sex scientist. In her first year
>she had gone through the men like an enema.' 'Her curved breasts were
>tense with concentration.' 'She moved towards the village, allowing her
>hips to continue the conversation.' 'She stopped, pursing her nipples
>towards him and then swung on.' 'The left breast was fractionally
>larger than its sister. It was Anna's favourite. She flexed it towards
>the wall.' (All from David Pinner, _Ritual_, 1967 -- inspiration for
>_The Wicker Man_) (_Ibid_)

Based on those quotations, one is thankful that the film was evidently
far better than the book.
--
John Hall "Hard work often pays off after time, but laziness always
pays off now." Anon

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <f49vigtsojmoufa1v...@4ax.com>,
David Langford <ans...@cix.co.uk> wrote:
>
>ANSIBLE(R) 410
>SEPTEMBER 2021

...

>### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###
>
>AS OTHERS READ US. 'I don't think I'd ever read a book in which there was a
>Black character, period. Remember, I'm reading sci-fi _[in 1979]_, so I'd
>barely read anything in which there were human beings. I didn't understand
>reading as having a relationship to the actual world.' (Robert Reid-Pharr
>profile, www.radcliffe.harvard.edu, 25 May) [CH]

Does he mean that he was reading *only* SF written in 1979? Or
can we make that assumption? Because Robin Wednesbury, the
projective telepath in Bester's _The Stars My Destination_ (1956)
is Black. (Described as "Negro," but that was the polite word
back then.)

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

[John Hall]

In message <qyro0...@kithrup.com>, Dorothy J Heydt
<djh...@kithrup.com> writes

>In article <f49vigtsojmoufa1v...@4ax.com>,
>David Langford <ans...@cix.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>ANSIBLE(R) 410
>>SEPTEMBER 2021
>
>...
>
>>### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###
>>
>>AS OTHERS READ US. 'I don't think I'd ever read a book in which there was a
>>Black character, period. Remember, I'm reading sci-fi _[in 1979]_, so I'd
>>barely read anything in which there were human beings. I didn't understand
>>reading as having a relationship to the actual world.' (Robert Reid-Pharr
>>profile, www.radcliffe.harvard.edu, 25 May) [CH]
>
>Does he mean that he was reading *only* SF written in 1979? Or
>can we make that assumption? Because Robin Wednesbury, the
>projective telepath in Bester's _The Stars My Destination_ (1956)
>is Black. (Described as "Negro," but that was the polite word
>back then.)
>

I'd assumed that 1979 must be when he was reading SF. I could understand
his not having read the particular book that you mention, and it's
probably true that black characters have been underrepresented in SF
until recently (but then that's the case for pretty much all fiction).
But it's strange that he should write that he'd "barely read anything in
which there were human beings". Did he only read SF in which all the
characters were aliens? Or did he mean that the characters were poorly
fleshed out, which has been a traditional complaint about SF by those
who don't like the genre? But why did he keep on reading SF if he found
the experience so unsatisfactory?

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <oleA8TC3v7LhFwxF@jhall_nospamxx.co.uk>,

John Hall <jo...@jhall.co.uk> wrote:
>In message <f49vigtsojmoufa1v...@4ax.com>, David Langford
><ans...@cix.co.uk> writes
><snip>
>> _Secrets of Female Characterization._ 'At Bristol University, she
>>had already achieved a reputation as a sex scientist. In her first year
>>she had gone through the men like an enema.' 'Her curved breasts were
>>tense with concentration.' 'She moved towards the village, allowing her
>>hips to continue the conversation.' 'She stopped, pursing her nipples
>>towards him and then swung on.' 'The left breast was fractionally
>>larger than its sister. It was Anna's favourite. She flexed it towards
>>the wall.' (All from David Pinner, _Ritual_, 1967 -- inspiration for
>>_The Wicker Man_) (_Ibid_)

Holy Cat. If anyone were previously unaware, a human breast is a
sack of meat, loosely held in a sling of skin, with no
musculature except, I should think, some very small muscles that
hold in, and let down, the milk during lactation. They can't go
tense, the nipples can't be voluntarily "pursed," and they can't
be flexed in any direction.

>Based on those quotations, one is thankful that the film was evidently
>far better than the book.

And the film was _The Wicker Man_? Yeesh.

> First Panel. Opus types:
>
> George Phblat's new film, "Benji Saves the Universe," has
> brought the word "bad" to new levels of badness.
>
> Second Panel. Opus types:

> Bad acting. Bad effects. Bad everything. This film
> just oozed rottenness from every bad scene... Simply bad
> beyond all infinite dimensions of possible badness.
>
> Third Panel. Opus just sits there, thinking penguin thoughts.
>
> Fourth Panel. Opus types:
>
> Well, maybe not that bad, but lord, it wasn't good.

[Peter Trei]

On Wednesday, September 1, 2021 at 3:15:01 PM UTC-4, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <oleA8TC3v7LhFwxF@jhall_nospamxx.co.uk>,
> John Hall <jo...@jhall.co.uk> wrote:
> >In message <f49vigtsojmoufa1v...@4ax.com>, David Langford
> ><ans...@cix.co.uk> writes
> ><snip>
> >> _Secrets of Female Characterization._ 'At Bristol University, she
> >>had already achieved a reputation as a sex scientist. In her first year
> >>she had gone through the men like an enema.' 'Her curved breasts were
> >>tense with concentration.' 'She moved towards the village, allowing her
> >>hips to continue the conversation.' 'She stopped, pursing her nipples
> >>towards him and then swung on.' 'The left breast was fractionally
> >>larger than its sister. It was Anna's favourite. She flexed it towards
> >>the wall.' (All from David Pinner, _Ritual_, 1967 -- inspiration for
> >>_The Wicker Man_) (_Ibid_)
> Holy Cat. If anyone were previously unaware, a human breast is a
> sack of meat, loosely held in a sling of skin, with no
> musculature except, I should think, some very small muscles that
> hold in, and let down, the milk during lactation. They can't go
> tense, the nipples can't be voluntarily "pursed," and they can't
> be flexed in any direction.
> >Based on those quotations, one is thankful that the film was evidently
> >far better than the book.
> And the film was _The Wicker Man_? Yeesh.

What version did you see?

The 2006 Nicholas Cage remake is, by all accounts, garbage.

The original 1973 version, not so. But again, what version?

The original cut was about 100 minutes long. The version seen in US theatres
was hacked down to 87 minutes, and is much less coherent - a whole day
on the island is removed.

There have been various attempts at restoration (not all footage still exists).
I have a wooden boxed, limited edition 'Directors Cut' at 99 minutes, which
is far, far better than the theatrical release. Christopher Lee considers the
role of Lord Summerisle one of his best.

pt

[Kevrob]

On Wednesday, September 1, 2021 at 1:55:01 PM UTC-4, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <f49vigtsojmoufa1v...@4ax.com>,
> David Langford <ans...@cix.co.uk> wrote:
> >
> >ANSIBLE(R) 410
> >SEPTEMBER 2021
>
> ...
> >### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###
> >
> >AS OTHERS READ US. 'I don't think I'd ever read a book in which there was a
> >Black character, period. Remember, I'm reading sci-fi _[in 1979]_, so I'd
> >barely read anything in which there were human beings. I didn't understand
> >reading as having a relationship to the actual world.' (Robert Reid-Pharr
> >profile, www.radcliffe.harvard.edu, 25 May) [CH]
> Does he mean that he was reading *only* SF written in 1979? Or
> can we make that assumption? Because Robin Wednesbury, the
> projective telepath in Bester's _The Stars My Destination_ (1956)
> is Black. (Described as "Negro," but that was the polite word
> back then.)
>
> --

We'd need to know when he discovered writers like Butler and Delany.
"Kindred" is from 1979, "Dhalgren" from 1975. The man has written
a foreword to at least one Delany, and an afterword to another. Did he
discover Delany after `79? Delany wrote an introduction to one of his
books. Depending on where one grew up, the vagaries of book and
magazine distribution and retailing, and the acquisition policies of
local libraries one had access to, one could miss out on stories and
books with black or other non-white characters. But "Tunnel In The Sky"
or "Farnham's Freehold?" Ged of Earhsea isn't "white."

--
Kevin R

[Scott Dorsey]

Peter Trei <pete...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> And the film was _The Wicker Man_? Yeesh.
>
>What version did you see?
>
>The 2006 Nicholas Cage remake is, by all accounts, garbage.
>
>The original 1973 version, not so. But again, what version?
>
>The original cut was about 100 minutes long. The version seen in US theatres
>was hacked down to 87 minutes, and is much less coherent - a whole day
>on the island is removed.

If you saw it at Arisia, you saw a still different version, which was a
television print... it was the 87 minute version with a few minutes removed
to allow enough commercials for a 90 minute show (and also a nude bit cut
I believe). (Being a TV print it was a little flatter-looking than the
prints made for theatres too.)
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Scott Dorsey]

Kevrob <kev...@my-deja.com> wrote:
>We'd need to know when he discovered writers like Butler and Delany.
>"Kindred" is from 1979, "Dhalgren" from 1975. The man has written
>a foreword to at least one Delany, and an afterword to another. Did he
>discover Delany after `79? Delany wrote an introduction to one of his
>books. Depending on where one grew up, the vagaries of book and
>magazine distribution and retailing, and the acquisition policies of
>local libraries one had access to, one could miss out on stories and
>books with black or other non-white characters. But "Tunnel In The Sky"
>or "Farnham's Freehold?" Ged of Earhsea isn't "white."

I am sad to report that even today in 2021, there are people who have not
yet discovered Delany. I attempt to remedy this whenever possible and I
have given out many copies of Triton over the years.

Farnham's Freehold has some non-white characters but they are not shown in
a very good light.

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <ff4c025a-1c7f-4c43...@googlegroups.com>,

I never saw it; discussions online convinced me that I didn't
want to.

[Peter Trei]

I confess that about 20 years passed between my first encountering
Delaney's work, and my realizing that he wasn't white. I think it was when
I met him at a Readercon.

pt

[Kevrob]

I don't remember when I first learned "Chip" was black, but it can't
have been later than 1977, when he had an academic position at
/D/o/w/n/e/r/ /C/o/l/l/e/g/e/ the University of WI-Milwaukee.
I was downtown at Marquette, but was close to fans enrolled at UWM.
They had the award-winning novelist. We had the Tolkien MSs, and
still do.

Found this essay by SRD on being "the first" black sf writer, with
a Readercon anecdote.

https://www.nyrsf.com/racism-and-science-fiction-.html

--
Kevin R

[Gary McGath]

On 9/3/21 9:28 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
> Farnham's Freehold has some non-white characters but they are not shown in
> a very good light.

It's been ages since I read it, but wasn't the point to show that a
society where whites are on top could easily be flipped on its head,
that there's no racial hierarchy decreed by nature?

--
Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com

[Peter Trei]

Interesting, thanks. I was at the Readercon mentioned.

pt

[Keith F. Lynch]

Gary McGath <ga...@REMOVEmcgathREMOVE.com> wrote:
> Scott Dorsey wrote:
>> Farnham's Freehold has some non-white characters but they are not
>> shown in a very good light.

> It's been ages since I read it, but wasn't the point to show that a
> society where whites are on top could easily be flipped on its head,
> that there's no racial hierarchy decreed by nature?

That was certainly my interpretation.

And it had plenty of sympathetic black characters. Just not the black
rulers of that future empire.
--
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.