Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, 52, has been found guilty of first degree murder of John Sohus in 1985. Sohus and his wife Linda were active in LASFS until their disappearance. Gerhartsreiter, who has used the aliases Christopher Chichester and Clark Rockefeller, is believed to have murdered both of the Sohuses, although Linda’s body has never been found. Gerhartsreiter originally claimed the couple had left on vacation, but John’s remains were discovered by a construction crew in 1994.
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Indianapolis fan Donna Stump (b.1944) died on April 8. Stump was active in Chicago and Indianapolis fandom for several years, beginning in Star Trek fandom and attending the first InConJunction in 1981. The following year, she attended her first Worldcon in Chicago and went on to become a regular Worldcon attendee, attending a total of 20 Worldcons, her last one being in Chicago in 2013.
Fan and movie critic Roger Ebert (b.1942) died on April 4. Ebert, who is best known for his television shows with Gene Siskel reviewing films and the creation of the thumbs up/thumbs down movie review system, got his start as a fanzine writer while in high school, publishing the zine Stymie and having his writing appear in Xero, Yandro, and other zines. Although he did spend some time distancing himself from his fannish roots, he returned to write the introduction to The Best of Xero. In college, he was a member of the Champaign-Urbana Science Fiction Association.
A memorial service and Irish wake have been planned for jan howard finder. WombatCon will take place on June 1 at the Holiday Inn in Albany, NY, located at 205 Wolf Road. Friends of finder’s, who was nicknamed Wombat, are welcome to attend with a special rate of $99 for Friday and/or Saturday night.
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Fan Larry Tucker, who has been in a nursing home since his stroke two years ago, was admitted to the hospital on March 31. Tucker created the fannish film FAANS and has chaired, toastmastered, and guested at Confusion.
Fan Mark Evans (b.1951) died on April 2. Evans was active in Columbus fandom for several years, active in the early MARCONS, co-chairing the convention from 1978-1983. He was also involved in the Worldcon bid for Cincinnati in 1988 and one of the Columbus Worldcon bids. In more recent years, he was involved with running Context.
Jan van’t Ent received the Doc Weir Award at Eastercon the weekend of March 29-31. The Doc Weir Award is voted on by the convention’s attending membership. The award is given to someone who has made some form of contribution to fandom that deserves a little public recognition. The winner receives a certificate and a silver cup, although the winner must return it at the end of the year with his/her name engraved on it.
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Randy Shepherd has announced that effective immediately he will be assuming the position of Chair for LoneStarCon 3, this year’s Worldcon. The previous co-chairs, Laura Domitz and Bill Parker, will assume the duties of vice chairs. The change is an effort to streamline the Worldcon’s organization as they enter into their final six months of pre-con planning. LoneStarCon 3, the 71st World Science Fiction Convention, is scheduled to take place in San Antonio, TX from August 29-September 3.
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Anime fan and publisher Toren Smith (b.1960) died on March 5. Smith organized the first major convention anime room at BayCon in California in 1986 and translated The Legend of Kamui, one of the first manga ever translated into English, in 1988. In 1991, he co-founded AnimeCon. In 1986, he founded Studio Proteus, which proceeded to translate manga into English.
Filker Mara Brener (b.1952, Mara Berlin) died on February 27. Brener and her husband, Harry Brener, attended their first convention, LACon II, in 1984. Brener began composing and singing at a young age, but didn’t discover filk until that convention and she and her husband spent the majority of the con in the filk room and their songs were subsequently published in the fanzine Filk Fee-nom-ee-non. Brener was Guest of Honor at Leprecon 30 in 2004 and Contata 2005. In addition to her filk career, she was an artist who worked in oils and stained glass.
