Editorial insertions in blue italics.
Other contributor comments in red italics.
Steven:
Much liked Argentus.
The Brother's piece on RELIGION, SF & THE REAL WORLD brings into contrast
how hard it is to go from the inner experience of the ineffable to the raw, rude experience of the everyday,
much less trying to capture this difference in fiction of any sort. I feel the same about physics, an equally abstract
pursuit (though reinformed regularly by experiment, the ultimate authority). Right
now I'm teaching a lecture with 450 students & running a lab (both in classical mechanics) of 1300. Not exactly a Socratic dialog, no, but with logistics in
place and energy to deliver the lectures (much like giving a con GOH speech really)
'tis little trouble.
But life does produce its moments, at either end of the science/religion
dialog.
I got caught in the hurricane in Washington DC, was there for a science
meeting, and found it a puny example of its species. But at 4 AM I awoke and walked out onto the balcony of my hotel room (old Victorian) and saw a man
come down Mass Ave moving fast, on a unicycle, very Felliniesque. Two weeks later I was at Hahvahd for the annual Templeton Foundation
board meeting, plus a two-day conference on the fine-tuning of our universe (evidence for which gets stronger), and its possible philosophical implications.
Plenty of cosmologists are fancying the multiverse theory, which envisions many universes popping out of the ever-expanding (inflating) Ylem-an extravagance I
do not credit. Interesting, though, how Templeton, the most monied foundation I'm on right now,
needs science as a way of addressing ancient theological concerns.
Fred Lerner is always erudite and on the spot. Dead on about Stranger,
alas 'though few fantasy novelists these days fathom the fertility of brevity.
Mark Leeper on Doyle gave me much new information. But his & Evelyn's trip report sprawled entertainingly across much fresh territory for me,
it's best to see the world through a fan's eyes, I think, for they are brighter, more
innocent, less jaded, the best way to travel.
I'm much looking forward to Windycon; though you're chairman, we might
even get a chance to talk, perhaps?
Gregory Benford
Greetings Steven-
Great
to see Argentus #3 show up in the mailbox last week. I thought that
flaming comet was an interesting, if "thin" idea for a piece of cover
art, then read inside the story behind it, and realized that wasn't flames I was
looking at! Wow, no wonder they had to name it for Bob if it looked like that!!
(Hey,
in pulling my files to send this loc, I found copies of our quick email exchange
from way back in May of 2002 about your plans for doing a one-shot zine of
fannish memoirs of game show appearances, and my doing a cover for it. I wrote
back saying I'd be up for it, just waiting for you to send me a title to put on
it ... but that was last I heard. You still playing with the idea?) [Yes,
I'm still planning to do it, just don't know when.]
I
was pleased you picked the fillo you did of mine to run this issue. It's one of
my favorites, more idea than execution ... still remember sitting trying to come
up with a variety of interpretations of what was just a couple of lines and a
dot. My records show you've still got three other pieces on hand to choose from,
so enclosed is a new one to replace one used, keeping you with a full range to
select from for next issue.
I enjoyed
reading the article from Brother Guy, but hated the opening. As a born-again
agnostic, I've kind of gotten tired over the years of being told that not having
a religion is a religion. No, it ain't, and get over it. (Wait....a 'born-again
agnostic'? No, maybe that would be more of a "reform atheist"? An
"orthodox skeptic'? Gosh, aren't labels fun
... and useless .... ?) There, just needed to get that off my chest, now
I feel much better, and we can just all go on being friends again.
Hey,
loved the all-in-one reviews of "The Lost World" from Mark. I hadn't realized
there had been quite so many. Haven't they also pumped out another two or three
remakes of "Journey to the Center of The Earth" in the past decade? Maybe Mark
can take a look at that run next time!
Still
more talk on the acquiring and reading of books this issue, a topic I'm not yet
tired of myself. The scary thing at the present time is that my stack of
"to read" books on the bedside has now dwindled down to only three,
which will barely get me ' - through the middle of next week .... And not
time/money in sight for a while to make a run on the used book store. So, looks
like I'll be scanning the shelves to see which titles might be ripe for
re-reading again. Cindy mentioned something about Thurber the other night that
reminded me I haven't read any of his stuff in decades, so that's a few volumes
that I know I'll be getting down and enjoying again ... yeah, time to find some
old friends again!
By the by, are you looking for any large pieces
to be used for cover art? I've got some detailed metallic-style animal illos
I've done over the years that might fit in with your title. (First one I did I
called "Argent Park", since I felt these were animals made of silver.
So one of my "argent" animals might fit in well on an Argentus cover.
Even have a couple of small, vertical ones that would leave room to run lists of
contributors if you want to continue that. If you are interested, drop me an
email and I'll send you one for your consideration. But thought it bet to ask
first, rather than just assume you wanted anything cover-ish!
Brad
W. Foster
Dear
Steven
I
skipped a couple of essays and the mock article by Steven Pitluk which
did not hook me. Read everything else. I developed
a strong interest in theological things after my mother died and so went to the
article by the priest first. It was not bad , I guess I was looking for
something a little more incisive I was quite delighted with Ted White's defense
of fandom. Quite enjoyed the loc section.
Certainly
there are cliques in fandom. As Robert Lichtman told me a few years ago, fandom
is a microcosm of the real world and as such there are segments, cliques and
people who like other and people who dislike some other people. Perfectly
normal. I know/know of people who have been involved in sf fandom
for 15 or 20 years or more who are not considered fans by some folks. Ted , for
instance. On the other hand ...
various folks have described me as a fan. Even you, sir. Yet I have said a
number of times that I do not consider myself to be a sf fan. Sure, I have been
active to varying degrees in fanzines for, what, 10 or 11 years. But I still do
not think of myself as a fan. I enjoy reading Corflu reports the rare time I
happen to see one. I know without question that if I were to win a big lottery
and lose all my common sense and learn where the next Corflu is and appear at it
that I would be shunned at best and rousted at worst. That's fine. Mind you, if
I happened to WANT to attend a Corflu and be accepted, that would be different.
Anyway.
After my father died I wrote the enclosed with the full intention of not
touching this machine again this year. However, various factors occurred. I seem
to be somewhat settled down. Losing both your parents in a span of less than 6
months is not fun.
Yesterday
I started a zine-like thing which may someday see the copying machine and if it
does I will mail you a copy. This is the last ribbon I have and I am sort of
contemplating not buying any for awhile. Kind of hard making decisions.
Not
sure what I am going to do about loccing. I had serious plans for
discontinuing all my fannish activity this year, then Joe Major suggested they
might like some book reviews from me. Part of me wants to resume loccing albeit
trying to avoid controversy. Part of me doesn't want to ever write another loc.
I shall see.
Seeing my name
after Lee Hoffman reminded me I have one of her Westerns here somewhere. Must
read it someday.
Take
care
Rodney
Leighton
Dear Steven:
Thirties have their problems. "Thirty" is of course the journalistic signing-off, and true to that, two well-known fanzines,
Mimosa and Twink have wound up their runs with . . . issue #30. I
presume Windycon 30 will not be its thirty. [One of our
themes is "Logan's Run" and at closing ceremonies, we'll see if we
make it through rejuvenation. I will say that we've already announced that
we won't be returning to our hotel, where we've been since Windycon XI.
Read into that what you will.]
No, The Lord of the Rings was first published (in a sense) in the U.S. in the fifties, not long after its British publication. Houghton
Mifflin imported unbound pages from Britain, bound them, and sold them. This was what led to the whole Ace Books controversy, since HM had
imported enough copies to go over the limit and put the book in the public domain.
Anne McCaffrey has said that by the time of the settlement of Pern, humanity had grown beyond having to have religion.
We too are mourning the loss of a bookstore. Louisville's independent super-bookstore, Hawley-Cooke Books, closed September 7, due
to competition — they said, mostly Internet competition (BigSouthAmericanRiver.com and so on), but also competition from super-bookstore chains like Borders, which they sold out to. Now Borders Books
is nice, but one misses the local touch. [I
always liked H-C and tried to stop in whenever I passed through Louisville
(often, as Elaine's family is in Lexington). I'm sorry to see it go.
You say they sold out to Borders. I thought they had sold a partial
interest to Joseph-Beth (another great independent store) a few years ago. ]
The Loeb Classical Library edition of Suetonius's Lives of the Twelve Caesars leaves the parts about Tiberius's sexual habits
untranslated.
Heinlein edited Stranger In a Strange Land himself. While as you say most of the cuts are justified, there is one scene which is
comprehensible in the original but not in the edited. In the edited version, it appears — Alexei Panshin thought so, at least — that Ben
Caxton suffered a homosexual panic when Mike made his own clothes disappear. As written, it is clearer that Mike was clearing the decks
(so to speak) so he could make out, and there was no girl available for Ben. How rude!
Westfahl and Krugman are merely following the zeitgeist. We live in a culture of security. If anything might cause harm, it must be
banned. This is the same reason that playgrounds are so uninteresting.
Mark Leeper would do well to read The Annotated Lost World, notes by Roy Pilot and Alvin Rodin. Among the useful information there is an
appendix discussing the 1925 movie version
On the other hand, if you read The Mountains at the Bottom of the World by "Ian Cameron" ("Donald Gordon", D. G. Payne) you will find some
very familiar beginning and ending scenes. The middle is different, but the opening and closing chapters are lifted almost verbatim from
The Lost World, the biggest difference being that the Challenger character has red
hair.
Somewhat more relaxing is Greg Bear's Dinosaur Summer, a sequel to The Lost World — and featuring Ray Harryhausen as a character!
[And also a Sidewise Award nominee a few years ago.]
Is it possible that Kathy Secor, fan name "Aiglet", is a member of some "fringe" group — ElfQuest, furry, LARP — where someone has a
character and uses that name? And does anyone remember the NeoFan's Manifesto? If she wants to have a sample of another fanzine, I presume
my address will be somewhere in this one.
I wouldn't handle anything Pamela Isley had touched.
Namarie,
Joseph T Major
WAHF
Hal Hall
'Zines in Trade:
The Knarley Knews 101, edited by Henry Welch
Nice Distinctions, edited by Arthur D. Hlavaty
