It's great to hear that several other subscribers will be in Seattle to celebrate Wolfe's induction into the Hall of Fame. I will be at the Marriott for the weekend. See you there.
Hearing Gene speak on a wide variety of topics, one can see that his mind works in ways as multi-layered as his stories. While I think that great authors end up creating more than they might intend, Gene certainly knows that he is putting many layers into his works. Neil Gaiman once introduced Gene affectionately as a "tricky bastard," for putting even contradictory layers into his works. For this very reason, Gene has become my favorite author, and I enjoy multiple readings of Gene's works. I generally do not read a lot of SF or of short fiction. However, I read anything Gene writes with great pleasure.
Joe Bushong-Taylor