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Every day, items of interest to you arrive in our email. Our bi-monthly format doesn't lend itself to daily updates. However, this is a small inconvenience to our Contributing Editor Steven H Silver. He's begun this column which will fill you in on recent news in science fiction. We'll be updating the page as he sends in new items.

Did you miss something? Have a look at last month's news page.

Material for possible inclusion here should be sent to Steven H Silver at shsilver@sfsite.com.

28 November 2003
Another Bookstore Closing
Atlanta's Science Fiction & Mystery Bookstore, which moved to a new location earlier this year, is following in the footsteps of many other specialty bookstores and will be closing its doors. The store originally opened in 1983 in the Virginia-Highland neighborhood and moved in 1993. The move earlier this year was made in hopes of staving off the need to close.

Space Junk Causes Clunk
A grinding metallic sound heard aboard the International Space Station is now believed to have been caused by space junk striking the space station, which is currently home to astronaut Michael Foale and cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri. The impact, with a small piece of debris, is not believed to have damaged the space station or put the astronauts at risk.

25 November 2003
Last Saxon King To Be Exhumed
A church court has been asked for permission to exhume a body believed to be that of King Harold II, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, who was killed at the Battle of Hastings. If the court gives permission, the headless remains, which were discovered at Waltham Abbey, Essex in 1954, will have DNA samples taken and compared to those of three people who claim descent from King Harold.

24 November 2003
Enterprise On Display
The Space Shuttle Enterprise, the first space shuttle, will go on display at the National Air and Space Museum's new Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles Airport in Virginia. Although Enterprise never went into orbit, it was used in the 1970s to test the shuttle's glide ability. Enterprise has been in storage since 1986, but recently has been used in the inquest following the destruction of the Columbia. Currently portions of the leading edge of its wings are missing, but are expected to be replaced before the exhibit opens on December 15. Other portions of the Enterprise has been salvaged for parts for use in the shuttle fleet over the years.

British Fantasy Award Winners
The British Fantasy Awards were presented on November 23 at the British Fantasy Convention in Stafford.
Karl Edward Wagner Award for Best Novel: The Scar, by China Miéville
Best Short Story: "The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke," by Mark Chadbourn
Best Anthology: Keep Out the Night, edited by Stephen Jones
Best Collection: Ramsey Campbell, Probably, by Ramsey Campbell, edited by S.T. Joshi
Best Artist: Les Edwards/Edward Miller Best
Small Press: PS Publishing
Lifetime Achievement Award: Alan Garner

Obituaries
Actress Kellie Waymire (b.1967) died on November 13 of natural causes. Waymire had a recurring role as Elizabeth Cutler on "Star Trek: Enterprise" and also appeared as Lanya in the "Star Trek: Voyager " episode "Muse." She has also made a guest appearance on "X-Files."

Composer Michael Kamen (b.1948) died on November 18 in London from an apparent heart attack. Mr. Kamen's musical scores graced numerous films, including genre movies "X-Men," "Frequency," "The Iron Giant," "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen," and "Brazil." After graduating from Juilliard, where he studied the oboe, he helped found the New York Rock & Roll Ensemble. Mr. Kamen also worked with Pink Floyd on several albums, including "The Wall."

22 November 2003
DreamHaven Buys Stars
Greg Ketter of DreamHaven Books has purchased The Stars Our Destination from Alice Bentley. Bentley and Ketter opened The Stars Our Destination in Chicago in 1988. In 1996, Ketter sold his share to Bentley. Bentley eventually purchased Weinberg Books, a catalog business, which was run from The Stars Our Destination. A full service science fiction and fantasy bookstore, The Stars Our Destination had three locations over the years before Bentley closed the storefront in February 2003 with the intention on focusing on catalog and internet business.

20 November 2003
SESFA Achievement Awards
The Scifi Dimensions website has announced the winners of the 2003 South Eastern Science Fiction Association Achievement Awards. The awards were first presented in 2002 and recognize excellence by authors who have ties to the South Eastern United States. Nominations and voting are performed by anyone who joins SESFA.
Lifetime Achievement Award: L. Sprague de Camp
Best Novel of 2002: Speaks the Nightbird, by Robert R. McCammon
Best Short Story of 2002: The Big Rock Candy Mountain, by Andy Duncan

Writers/Illustrators of the Future Winners
The L. Ron Hubbard Writers and Illustrators of the Future winners for the third quarter have been announced. The awards were established by the late L. Ron Hubbard to help develop science fiction writers.
Writers of the Future Winner: Matt Champine
2nd Place - Roxanne Hutton
3rd Place - Tom Pendergrass

Illustrators of the Future Co-Winners:
Matthew Taggart
Laura Diehl
Beth Zaiken

Obituary
TV writer Margaret Armen (b.1921), who wrote episodes of the original Star Trek, died at her home in Beverly Hills from an heart attack on November 10. Armen wrote "The Gamesters of Triskelion," "The Paradise Syndrome" and "The Cloud Minders" for the original series as well as episodes of the animated Star Trek. In addition to writing for Star Trek, Armen also wrote scripts for numerous Westerns.

19 November 2003
Farscape Flies Again
The cast of show Farscape will assemble in Australia to film a four hour miniseries which will wrap up the cancelled science fiction series. It is not currently known if the series will air on SciFi Channel, where the original show ran, or on a different network. Neither SciFi Channel or Jim Henson Productions, which produced the original show, has commented on the future of the franchise.

King Receives Medal
Horror author Stephen King received the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters on November 19, joining Philip Roth, John Updike, Ray Bradbury and Eudora Welty as a recipient of the lifetime achievement award.

Stalker Faces Deportation
A man accused of leaving bizarre notes for author Stephen King has been arrested while sitting in his car outside King's home. The 38 year old Czech appeared in court on November 17 and is now facing deportation back to his native country.

Impac Nominees Announced
A listing of the nominees for the Impac Award have been announced and can be found at http://www.impacdublinaward.ie/2004%20Award/longlist.htm. The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is the largest and most international prize of its kind. It involves libraries from all corners of the globe, and is open to books written in any language. Some of the nominees of genre interest include:
Iain Banks, Dead Air
Stephen Baxter, Evolution
Carol Emshwiller, The Mount
Zoran Zivkovic, The Library

Obituary
Actor Jonathan Brandis (b.1976) who portrayed Lucas Wolenczek on the television series "SeaQuest DSV" died in Los Angeles on November 19. No cause of death has been released pending an autopsy. Brandis also appeared in "The Neverending Story II," did voice work for Disney's "Aladdin" television series and appeared in the adaptation of Steven King's "It."

18 November 2003
Endeavor Awards Announced
The winners of the 2003 Endeavor Awards were announced at Orycon. The Endeavor Award is given to a writer from the Northwest for a single-author collection or novel. After a panel of seven readers determines the nominees, a panel of judges, which this year included Joe Haldeman, Martin H. Greenberg, and Douglas Smith, determine the winner. The winners received an etched glass plaque produced by Seattle artist Ashley Harper and a grant of $500. This year there was a tie between Steven Barnes for Lion's Blood and Kristine Kathryn Rusch for The Disappeared.

Obituary
British author Vivian Alcock (b.1924) died on October 11 in London, England. Alcock wrote several children's mystery and supernatural fantasy stories. She was the widow of novelist Leon Garfield.

16 November 2003
Obituaries
Comic book illustrator John Tartiglione (b.1921) died in early November following a battle with throat cancer. He began working for Harvey Comics in 1941 running errands and working as a production artist. By 1954, he was doing solo work for Atlas Comics. In 1982, he drew "The Life of Pope John Paul II" for Marvel, which set a single issue sales record. He also worked on daily comic strips including Spider-Man and finished a week's worth of strips the day he died.

British fan KIM Campbell died on November 15 following a four and a half year fight with cancer. KIM (born Katherine Isobel McGregor Campbell) was born in Canada and traveled to England in 1978. She extended her three month holiday there to a lifetime residency. KIM was responsible, in a large part, for the success of the two most recent bids for a Scottish Worldcon, as well as running a Smofcon in York in 2001. Recently, KIM was placed in hospice.

14 November 2003
Gilman Leaves Roc
Longtime Roc editor Laura Anne Gillman has announced her intentions to leave Roc Books on November 21 to pursue a career as a free-lance writer. Jen Heddle will take over the Roc line.

Middle Earth in New York
On Tuesday, November 18 to celebrate the release of the Two Towers extended version on DVD, the Times Square-Grand Central Shuttle will be converted into the Middle-earth Shuttle. From 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM, the subway cars will be decorated with vines, moss, stone, and Middle Earrth creatures. In addition, the stations will be decorated like Middle Earth and creatures from Middle Earth, including Gollum and Ents will wander the station.

Obituary
Actress Penny Singleton (b.1908) died from complications from a stroke on November 14. Singleton, who was best known for her film portrayal as "Blondie" in the 28-film Blondie series, suffered a stroke at the beginning of November. She will be most remembered by science fiction fans, however, for her role as the voice of Jane Jetson on the animated television series "The Jetsons." Singleton got her start in vaudeville, working with Milton Berle and Raymond Guion.

13 November 2003
McMurray Wins GUFF
Pat McMurray has defeated Doug Bell to win the 2003 GUFF race to send a British fan to Australia and/or New Zealand in 2004. The final vote was 35-33 with 8 voting no preference.

Obituary
Author Mark Siegel (b.1949) died suddenly on November 12. Siegel, who worked as a lawyer, had recently published his first novel, Echo & Narcissus, as well as the short story "Atlantis, Ohio," which appeared in Writers of the Future XVI.

11 November 2003
Interzone Changes Schedule
Interzone, which has been a monthly publication for more than a decade, is decreasing its publication schedule to bimonthly. The change unofficially went into effect earlier this year with a delay in production, but has now been made official. Subscribers will receive the correct number of issues, it will just take longer.

Nova Awards
The Nova Awards were announced at Novacon. The award recognizes excellence in British fanzine production and activity.
Best Fanzine: Zoo Nation, edited by Pete Young
Best Fanwriter: Claire Brialey
Best Fanartist: Sue Mason
Best Fan: Ina Shorrock

Brialey Named BSFA Award Admin
Claire Brialey has taken over the administration of the BSFA Awards from Tanya Brown. The British Science Fiction Awards were established in 1969 and are awarded annually at Eastercon to recognize excellence in British SF.

Broderick Receives Australia Council Fellowship
Australian author Damian Broderick has been named one of three recipients of a 2-year, $80,000 Australia Council writing Fellowship for 2004-2005. The grant was given to support him while he writes two novels exploring the social impact of an impending technological singularity during the next half century or so.

Obituary
Chicago area fan Kevin Laughlin (b.1968), known to fandom as Shard, died November 9 from head injuries sustained during a fall earlier in the week. On Saturday night, an auction to help with his medical expenses raised nearly $2000 at Windycon XXX He is survived by his wife Sarah and his two children Wolfgang and Zoe. Some of Shard's friends will be putting together a book so his children can know him better when they are older. Any stories which will explain to his children how many people's lives were enhanced by their father can be sent to Mike Potvin at potvin_m@hotmail.com.

British fan Beryl Mercer (née Henley, b.1924) died on 12 October. She was active and influential in the BSFA and British fandom of the 1960s and early 1970s. She wrote some reviews for the fanzine Vector and con reports, sometimes in conjunction with her husband, Archie Mercer. She handled publications at Briscon in 1967 and was initiated as a Knight of St. Fanthony in 1968 as well as winning a Doc Weir Award.

6 November 2003
Kramer Trial Delayed Again
The trial for Dragon*Con founder Ed Kramer has been delayed again after his attorneys asked for a continuance in light of new charges against their client. Kramer was arrested in August 2000on molestation and sodomy charges, but has yet to go on trial. His case has been postponed several times and Kramer remains under house arrest. No new trial date has been set.

3 November 2003
World Fantasy Award Winners

Life Achievement (two awards): Donald M. Grant and Lloyd Alexander
Novel (tie): The Facts of Life, Graham Joyce and Ombria in Shadow, Patricia A. McKillip
Novella: "The Library", Zoran Zivkovic
Short Story: "Creation", Jeffrey Ford
Anthology (tie): The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest, Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling, eds. and Leviathan Three, Forrest Aguirre & Jeff VanderMeer, eds.
Collection: The Fantasy Writer's Assistant and Other Stories, Jeffrey Ford
Artist: Tom Kidd
Special Award, Professional: Gordon Van Gelder (for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction)
Special Award, Non-Professional: Jason Williams, Jeremy Lassen & Benjamin Cossel (for Night Shade Books)

Ignotus Award Winners
The Ignotus awards recognizing outstanding Spanish achievements in the field of fantasy and science fiction from the year 2002 were presented on Saturday, October 18, 2003 in Getafe, Madrid at Hispacon.
Best novel: Cinco días antes by Carlos F. Castrosín
Best novella: El mito de Er (UPC Awards 2001) by Javier Negrete
Best short story: "Origami" by Santiago Eximeno
Best anthology: El último deseo by Andrzej Sapkowski
Best related book: La ciencia ficción española
Best Article: "Truenos entre las estrellas" by Cristóbal Pérez-Castejón
Best Illustration: Cover from "Muerte de la luz", by Juan Miguel Aguilera
Best Audiovisual : Darkness by Jaume Balagueró
Best comic: Fantastic Four by Rafael Marín/Jesús Merino/Carlos Pacheco
Best Poetic: Desert Mest Magazine: Gigamesh, Alejo Cuervo Editor.
Best Foreign Novel: Juego de tronos (A Game of Thrones) by George R.R.Martin
Best foreign short story: Los músicos by Andrej Sapkowsky
Best Web site : Terminus-Trantor (http://www.trantor.org), Juan José parera.

Black Science Fiction Festival
The Allen Foundation has given a $10,000 grant to the Seattle Central Distrist Form for Arts and Idea in support of "Black to the Future: A Black Science Fiction Festival." The festival will celebrate black science fiction writers who are pushing the boundaries of the genre. It will be held as the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center from June 11-13, 2004. Seattle is also slated to be the home of the Science Fiction Experience, opening in 2004.

Obituary
Publisher Lloyd Arthur Eshbach (b.1911), died on October 29. Eshbach began publishing in 1930 with the story "The Man with the Silver Disc." In 1946, he started up Fantasy Press, publishing works by Jack Williamson, L. Sprague de Camp, Stanley Weinbaum, and others in hardcover. Eshbach also published critical works about the history of modern science fiction. In the 1980s, Eshbach returned to writing, publishing several novels.

2 November 2003
California Fan Status
Michael Siladi and Tony Cratz have posted a web page which allows fans in the southern California areas affected by wildfires to post their status and let others know they are safe. The list, which is by no means complete, can be found at http://www.hematite.com/socal-fires/index.html.

KIM Campbell In Hospice
British fan KIM Campbell, who was instrumental in winning the 2005 Worldcon bid for Scotland, who was diagnosed with throat cancer a few years ago. KIM has been placed in hospice after suffering remission and her doctors believe she only has days or weeks left.

Obituary
Science fiction author Hal Clement (b.1922), who painted using the name George Richard, died in his sleep on October 29. Clement, whose real name was Harry Stubbs, was a grandmaster of the SFWA and perhaps best known for his novel Mission of Gravity. He began publishing with the story "Proof," and went on to publish numerous hard science fiction novels and stories. Clement was a fixture at many science fiction conventions around the country. In 1996, he received a RetroHugo for his story "Uncommon Sense." When not writing science fiction, Clement taught science. His funeral service will be Saturday, November 1, at 10 a.m. at St Michael's Episcopal Church in Milton, MA.

1 November 2003
Tolkien Number Three
Forbes has announced its annual list of the top earners among the deceased. This year, fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien ranks third on the list with estimated earnings of $22 million, just behind Elvis Presley and Charles Shultz and ahead of John Lennon and George Harrison. The only other fantastist on the list of nineteen individuals is Dr. Seuss, who ranked at sixth earning $16 million.

US Representatives Call For End to Space Plane
Two members of the US House of Representatives Science Committee have asked NASA to stop development on a space plane which is supposed to be used by the International Space Station as an escape vehicle. Reps. Sherwood Boehlert (R- NY) and Ralph Hall (D-TX) believe the project may not significantly increase crew safety and support long-term space flight goals. Although currently scheduled to be in use by 2008, NASA has not yet settled on a design for the vehicle.

Shenzhou 5 Displayed
The Shenzhou 5 rocket which carried Yang Liwei into orbit as the first Chinese Taikonaut earlier this month, has been put on display in Beijing. Yang is believed to have attended a private reception before the display opened. He is expected to make his first public appearance in early November in Hong Kong. Zhang Baokun, China's space program's deputy chief designer has stated that China hopes to launch the Shenzhou 6 sometime before the end of 2005 and it may carry two astronauts.

Kramer Faces New Indictment
Only days before SF editor Ed Kramer goes on trial following his August 2000 arrest on sexual molestation charges, a third teenager has come forward accusing Kramer of sexually abusing him. Kramer, one of the founders of Dragon*Con, has maintained his innocence for the three years since his arrest. He is currently under house arrest. His trial is finally scheduled to begin on November 3.

Robot Hall of Fame
Carnegie Mellon University has established a Robot Hall of Fame. The first four robots, two from fiction and two from reality, will be inducted at a ceremony on November 10. The initial thirteen person panel which will vote on the inductees includes SF author Arthur C. Clarke, SimCity creator Will Wright, and International RoboCup Federation founder Minoru Asada. Panelists will serve two year terms.

Copyright © 2003 Steven H Silver

Steven H Silver is a four-time Hugo Nominee for Best Fan Writer and the editor of the anthologies Wondrous Beginnings, Magical Beginnings, and Horrible Beginnings (DAW Books, January, February and March, 2003). In addition to maintaining several bibliographies and the Harry Turtledove website, Steven is heavily involved in convention running and publishes the fanzine Argentus.


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