{ "export": { "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/4861", "note": "Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright in each message remains with the person who wrote it. Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact.", "addresses": "obscured as 'user at host'" }, "archive": "urth", "thread": { "id": 4861, "subject": "Seattle report", "messages": 6, "voices": 4, "first": "2007-06-20T17:04:57+00:00", "last": "2007-06-20T23:20:05+00:00" }, "messages": [ { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Nigel Price", "address": "nigelprice at onetel.net" }, "date": "2007-06-20T17:04:57+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Seattle report", "in_reply_to": null, "reply_link": null, "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Mantis gave me permission to reproduce his account of the weekend in\nSeattle. Wish I'd been there!\n\nNigel\n\n-------------------------------------\n\nHello there Nigel," }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "How was Seattle? Did you get to talk to Wolfe at all?" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "It was wonderful!\n\nThere was some stress in getting there (we left immediately from the\nlast day of school, with heavy road traffic and unexpected road\nconstruction--we had all but given up on making it to that flight,\nbut by running through the airport, and the public address system\nurging us on by name, we managed to get there after all) and some\ntedium in getting back, but the part in the middle was magic.\n\nGene Wolfe had told me in a letter that they would be at the hotel at\naround one and I should contact him as soon as we arrived. I wasn't\nsure what day he meant, but I dutifully called, and finding they had\narrived, I left a message for them at around 7:30. (Turns out that\nthey were at the museum's costume event, which we had originally\nwanted to keep as an open option, explaining why we had booked such a\nrazor-close flight, but we had not RSVPed for the event, we hadn't\ngotten costumes for the girls, and we were frazzled by the day--Cordy\nhad the ceremony of leaving elementary school, on top of the purely\ntravel stuff.)\n\nWe slept in late. On the way down to breakfast, I saw a man\ncoming towards us with a bucket of ice. It was, of course, Gene\nWolfe. I tried to take the bucket from him. He took it back. He\napologized for not returning the call the night before, explaining\nthat they had gotten back from the museum at around midnight. I\nintroduced my wife and children. He said we should have breakfast\ntogether downstairs. And so we did.\n\nIt lasted for a wonderfully long time. Gene's daughter Terri, whom I\nhad never met in person, came over. Gary K. Wolfe, the _Locus_\nreviewer, came over for a while. Katherine Cramer and David Hartwell\ncame over. Laura took the kids away to the museum when they were\ndone. We were late in getting away to the first of two panels.\n\nAfter the second panel I met up with family again and we had lunch.\nThen we tried for a nap. I set the alarm and fell right asleep, but\nthen the girls woke me up fifteen or twenty minutes later and I\ncouldn't go back, even as they conked out.\n\nI finally gave up and got up, then I realized that the book signing\nwas going on downstairs--might even be over. It was around 4\no'clock, I think, when I rushed down there. There was just the tail\nend of a line. David Hartwell said someone was looking for me,\nMichael Straight (from the list), and I found him quickly, or he\nfound me right there. I was happy to meet him in person and asked if\nthere were any others from the list around. He said James Wynn was,\nbut he hadn't seen him. I admitted that I had seen a James Wynn in\nthe audience at the panel and thought the name was familiar, but I\ndidn't have a name tag myself at that point.\n\nGene was just sitting there by himself, so I got Michael to buy the\nDreamhaven chapbook and get it autographed, then we sat there and\nchatted with him until he had to leave. Astrid Anderson Bear (whom\nI'd never seen in person) drifted over and sat with us but said\nnothing. First she was drinking a red beverage in a martini glass,\nand when that was done she took up some knitting.\n\nIt was time for dinner and Michael didn't have any plans so I invited\nhim to join me and my family for sushi. We puzzled over how to find\nJames Wynn. As we were walking to the restaurant, Laura used her\ncell phone, which reminded Michael that he had James's cell phone\nnumber (but no cell phone of his own), so right there we called him\nup and invited him over.\n\nDinner was a lot of fun but suddenly it was time to go get ready for\nthe big event!\n\nMichael Straight and the couple Wynn went ahead. They thoughtfully\nsaved places for us at their table.\n\nGene Wolfe's part was the last segment of the event, and I found it\nvery moving, to the point of shedding happy tears.\n\nAfterward we were all hanging around in the area where the museum\nwanted to take photos of the inductees, but where was Gene Wolfe?\nWell, it's like that's my \"Bat Signal\" or whatever, so I left\neverything to lend assistance. I looked where the Wolfes had been\nbefore, and I looked around from there. I didn't do much in that\nmazy place, but then they appeared at the end where I'd expected them,\nand then I jumped into action, clearing chairs from their path\nlike an icebreaker and opening the doors for them.\n\nMy point is that I was only gone for a minute or two, and when I came\nback, Michael Straight had somehow found another member from the\nlist! So there were three from the list.\n\nThe Wolfes left shortly after the photos.\n\nThe next morning on our way to breakfast we saw Gene sitting by\nhimself in the lobby, so we stopped to talk with him. Gene\nRodenberry, Jr., who was waiting for a cab, joined in. Laura said\nlater it was like matter and antimatter--not that they exploded or\nanything, it was all friendly talking--just that Wolfe's philosophy\nis largely the opposite of Star Trek's.\n\nThat's it in a nutshell. I should try to write down at least an\noutline of what was said. Already I can't remember who was there\nwhen Gene told one story or another--I'll say something to Laura,\nassuming she had been there, and find out she hadn't.\n\nOf course there's also the problem of interpretation!\n\nWhen I tried to take the bucket from him, I heard him say, \"Oh, Ma!\"\nlike I was trying to take the kid's load from him before he dropped\nit.\n\nLaura heard, \"Oh, now!\"\n\nAnd look how simple =that= is, with us being located in a quiet\ncorridor! Contrast with the Hatter's Tea Party of breakfast.\n\n=Michael=" } ] }, { "message_id": "<000c01c7b369$282686e0$36c85a42@rclackey.stic.net>", "from": { "name": "Roy C. Lackey", "address": "rclackey at stic.net" }, "date": "2007-06-20T18:30:57+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Seattle report", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Great, Nigel! Mantis is good at writing that sort of thing. But that doesn't\nrelieve Rostrum -- far from it; it only adds to the burden. We need his\nperspective, and Crush's, too, and any other unidentified list attendees.\n\n-Roy" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Michael Straight", "address": "mfstraight at gmail.com" }, "date": "2007-06-20T19:19:10+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Seattle report", "in_reply_to": "<000c01c7b369$282686e0$36c85a42@rclackey.stic.net>", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Never fear, Roy. I was just busy comparing notes with Mantis.\n\nI'll start with the award banquet. Neil Stephenson was the MC. He was\nbrief but very funny. Unfortunately, he didn't have anything to say\nabout any of the inductees, including Wolfe. There were two\nposthumous awards, artist Ed Emshwiller and Gene Roddenberry. Wil\nWheaton was there to introduce Roddenberry, whose award was accepted\nby Roddenberry's son. Wheaton gave a little paean to the Star Trek\nethos and I had to wonder what Wolfe thought of it all, since I see\nWolfe's body of work as a pretty strong rebuke to that kind of\noptimistic humanism.\n\nWheaton also told a moving story of how when his character, Wesley,\nwas (in the show) promoted to ensign, Roddenberry took his own ensign\nbars from Roddenberry's actual military service and gave them to\nWheaton. Wheaton said, \"Gene had told me that Wesley Crusher was the\nclosest he had come to writing himself into the show. I was only\nfilling Gene's shoes as an actor, but you [speaking to Roddenberry's\nson] more than anyone else have filled his shoes and carried on his\nlegacy in real life.\" And then he passed Roddenberry's ensign bars\nalong to his son. Pretty classy thing to do, I thought.\n\nRipley Scott was filming in Europe and so Wolfe was the only inductee\nactually present to receive his award. David Hartwell introduced\nWolfe. He told about how when he left one of his first publishing\nhouses, he was allowed to take one writer with him. Wolfe had\npublished Fifth Head and Hartwell had seen drafts of Shadow of the\nTorturer. So when Hartwell told them he wanted to take an author who\nwas working on an intellectual, literary SF book, the suits all broke\ninto grins and shook his hand. Of course, Wolfe went on to win the\nNebula award soon after.\n\nHartwell said that in his professional opinion, Wolfe's body of short\nfiction is unequaled by anyone alive. He also mentioned that Wolfe had\na book published almost every year since the 1970s.\n\nWe'd heard each presenter explain why each inductee's stand-in was the\nappropriate person to accept the award in his place. So then Wolfe\ncame up for his award and said (paraphrasing):\n\n\"I'm not the most appropriate person to receive an award for Gene\nWolfe. There are many people here who know him much better than I do:\nhis wife Rosemary, his daughter Teri, David Hartwell, Gardner Dozois,\nMichael Andre-Driussi. I know Gene Wolfe as a scared little man,\nalways groping around for an idea he can use. Not just an idea, but\none that will bear fruit. I might plant it, but it is the sun and the\nrain and the soil and God that do most of the work to make it grow.\nThis is one of the greatest honors of my entire life and standing here\nbefore you I feel shaken to my very core, so I hope you will forgive\nme if I do not stand here any longer.\"\n\nI gather Mantis felt pretty honored to receive a shout-out from Wolfe\nin that context.\n\nI'll post more later about meeting Wolfe and hearing about the books\nhe's currently working on.\n\nRostrum" } ] }, { "message_id": "<002801c7b386$878cf520$67cb5a42@rclackey.stic.net>", "from": { "name": "Roy C. Lackey", "address": "rclackey at stic.net" }, "date": "2007-06-20T22:01:13+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Seattle report", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Rostrum wrote:\nI'll post more later about meeting Wolfe and hearing about the books\nhe's currently working on." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I'm looking forward to it. And I know for a fact you took a camera and used\nit! Surely someone here has web space to put the pictures up for all to see.\n\nMeanwhile, here are some more tidbits you and Crush might find amusing.\nMantis gave me leave to pass this excerpt along.\n\n-Roy\n-------------------------------------------------" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Are you going to write up a second account, detailing your conversations\nwith Gene and/or others? I would like to read it, and I imagine a lot of\nother people on the list would like it too. I, at least, like the informal\ntone of your accounts." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I think things will come through with Rostrum's report. Of course\nI'll also mention things to you and you can pass along whatever you\nwant.\n\nAt the moment I'm still trying to figure out the scene at the\nsigning. When I got there I saw the guy with the suitcase putting\nhis books in. Then David Hartwell said Hey, this guy's looking for\nyou.\n\nWhich is a riot, because even though nobody can say my name\n(dree-YOU-see), still, they communicate to each other.\n\nSo then I basically turned around and within a few steps met Rostrum.\nLook, the place was small, but it was divided in two by this\nfireplace so there was a bar side and the lobby side where Hartwell\nsat and I stood. The line of signing seekers went on the bar side\nand ended at Gene's little desk, which was in sight.\n\nSo I'm talking to Rostrum and he's saying Have you seen James Wynn?\n\nAnd I say I saw him at the panel but I blah blah blah. So I try to\ndescribe him.\n\nMeanwhile, at dinner we learned that James was next in line behind\nthe guy with the suitcase! So he was only ten feet away as we're\nwondering where he might be. And while Rostrum is facing toward the\nsigning area, he has never seen James before, whereas I, who have\nseen James, am looking the wrong way!\n\nHonestly, at that point there were only six or eight people in the\narea, including the two guys from the University Book Store behind\ntheir table, Gene Wolfe, and David Hartwell. People who miss each\nother because of a big pillar type of obstruction--creatures running\naround a tree, nearly colliding.\n\nOr that's the way it seems to me in reconstructing things. Maybe the\nsuitcase guy took a detour before packing up and James was long gone\nby then, but I definitely saw the suitcase guy packing up.\n\nIt is also possible that there was more than one suitcase guy.\n\nAnother bit: Rostrum and I were over at the table, and he asked me\nwhich collection \"Trip, Trap\" is in. Someone called out \"ORBIT 2,\"\nand I looked over to see it was Gardner Dozois! I should've gone\nover and shaken his hand as being among the first of all Wolfe fans,\nbut it was too boggling at the time. (I'd just been thanking Dwayne\nof University Book Store for being one of the best at selling the\nLexicon--I'd never met him in person, either.) At the Big Event,\nHartwell in his presentation told how he first looked at Wolfe's work\nbecause of the recommendation of Dozois! Kingmaker! Now I feel I\nshould buy him a drink or three! Next time I will!\n\nAt dinner I also reminded everyone about the enigmatic movie version\nof \"The Death of Doctor Island.\" Rostrum and Crush were blank on it,\nas if they never heard of it before. Pondering the mystery, James\nsuddenly said, \"Why don't you ask Wolfe?\" Indeed! I should do that.\n\n=Michael=" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Michael Straight", "address": "mfstraight at gmail.com" }, "date": "2007-06-20T22:48:26+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Seattle report", "in_reply_to": "<002801c7b386$878cf520$67cb5a42@rclackey.stic.net>", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Part the Second - chatting with Wolfe. Minor spoilers for future\nWolfe books ahead (of the sort you might get from reading the back\ncover).\n\nI had brought a copy of Soldier of Sidon for Wolfe to sign. When it\nwas my turn, I thanked him for all the great stories and novels and\ntold him I was particularly glad he had returned to Latro because the\nSoldier books are my very favorites of his novels. I told him I\nthought this new one was every bit as good as the other two, but that\nI couldn't say for sure since I'd only read it once. He loved that,\nand told me I really shouldn't rush to judgment. He signed my book\n\"To Michael (for his insight).\"\n\nJames (Crush) Wynn's wife had the absolute best comment for Wolfe,\nwhich I shall be forced to repeat if he doesn't show up and repeat it\nhimself.\n\nWhile other people were standing in line, I was glancing at name tags\nhoping to recognize a name and found myself talking to David Hartwell.\n He was carrying around what looked like an advance copy of _Pirate\nFreedom_, cover art and all, and said it would be out in November.\nHartwell introduced me to Mantis.\n\nLater, Mantis and I had the chance to sit down with Wolfe. He said\n_Pirate Freedom_ is about the son of a Mafia don whose dad sticks him\nin a monastery in the Caribbean in hopes that the son will not get\ncaught up in the Mafia life. The son gets cold feet before he can\ntake his final vows but then finds himself transported back to the\n1600's winding up on a pirate ship where he unsuccessfully struggles\nto avoid becoming a pirate himself.\n\nWizards and Warp Drives: Hartwell said that Wolfe's next book (_An\nEvil Guest_) is a horror novel, but when I said that to Wolfe, he\nstrongly disagreed with that characterization. He described it as a\nnear-future tale in which warp-drive space ships are available to the\nvery rich and the protagonist is hunting for a wizard (I wasn't clear\nwhether he meant a magical wizard or a \"computer wizard\" type wizard.\nI wouldn't be surprised if it's not clear in the book either.) Wolfe\nsays he's about ready for the fourth draft on this one. I believe it\nwas this book (or maybe the next one) in which he said the protagonist\ntries to use an attractive woman as bait for catching the wizard, and\nthat Wolfe had the (for him) rare experience of a character (the\nwoman) completely running away with the novel. To the extent that\nWolfe was rather upset that the novel ended and said he was going to\nmiss her. The book is told in the third-person which Wolfe claimed he\nhad stuck with all the way through this time.\n\nI'm wondering if Hartwell feels obliged to sell this one as horror\nbecause of the title. I'm trying to think, when was the last time you\nsaw an SF novel with the word 'evil' in the title? Not since Heinlein\nthat I can think of, and even there, it comes across as an allusive\nphrase not a reference to something Evil. The idea of Good and Evil,\nsuch that you can refer to a guest as Evil, is usually restricted to\nfantasy and horror. (Evil Genius is the closest I can think of, but\nthat's almost always used in a silly or ironic way.)\n\nWolfe said he was also making progress on a third novel (_Sorcerer's\nHouse_ according to Mantis) about a confidence man who is released\nfrom jail and goes to buy an old house in the country, offering to do\nthe work of renovating it in exchange for a deal on the price. His\noffer is accepted in accordance with the will left by the former\nowner, a dead sorcerer, a will which mentions the man by name. The\nnovel is told in the form of letters to the man's twin brother and to\nhis former prison cell mate.\n\nI congratulated Wolfe on the excellent art he's had on the last few\nnovels (Wizard, Knight, and Sidon). He was of the opinion that art\ndirectors are the hardest people to work with in the publishing\nbusiness. My impression was that he meant that with sympathy toward\nthe conflicting demands they have to deal with, because he also talked\nabout the difficult task facing the art director of a magazine. Ever\ncover of a magazine, he said, has to simultaneously say: \"This is that\nsame magazine you love,\" and, \"This is a new issue you've never seen\nbefore.\"\n\nI asked Wolfe about the tale of the Sidhe at the end of Peace,\nwondering if it was based on an some existing Celtic tale, but Wolfe\nsaid he thought it was his own invention, attempting to match the\nstyle of other Celtic tales he'd read.\n\nWolfe seemed to be having a lot of fun, both at the events themselves\nand in terms of enthusiasm about his writing. I thought it was sweet\nseeing him taking such good care of his wife Rosemary, pushing her\naround in her wheelchair and waiting on her. I thoroughly enjoyed\nmeeting him.\n\nRostrum" } ] }, { "message_id": "<8A4F776E-DC35-4E0B-B471-5F41D3A39AF7@gmail.com>", "from": { "name": "Matthew King", "address": "automatthew at gmail.com" }, "date": "2007-06-20T23:20:05+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Seattle report", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "On Jun 20, 2007, at 5:48 PM, Michael Straight wrote:\nHartwell said that Wolfe's next book (_An\nEvil Guest_) is a horror novel, but when I said that to Wolfe, he\nstrongly disagreed with that characterization. He described it as a\nnear-future tale in which warp-drive space ships are available to the\nvery rich and the protagonist is hunting for a wizard" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "_An Evil Guest_ is, according to a Sci-Fi Channel article, set in the \nsame world as the recent novella \"Memorare\"\n\nhttp://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=5&id=40135" } ] } ] }