Norwescon 2 Program Book
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NORWESCON 2
[Art by Bill Warren of a man wearing jeans and a red-and-white striped shirt hanging from a vine over a mountainous landscape.]
March 23–25, 1979
Seattle, Washington
[The Norwescon 2 badge artwork by Vicki Poyser, with a woman looking into a crystal ball with the Space Needle in the background.]
CONTENTS
Copyrighted C 1979 by Northwest Convention Fandom, Inc. for the Contributors
NOTE: An list of emergency phone numbers and other helpful information can be found on page 29.
Main Programming: 3
Film Schedule: 5
Guest of Honor, Philip Jose' Farmer: 7,8
Toastmaster, Elizabeth A. Lynn: 9
Fan Guest of Honor, Loren MacGregor: 11
Our Venerable Guests: 13,14,15
Video Program: 16
The Seacon of '61 by F.M. Busby: 21
History of the Northwest Science Fiction Society: 23
Things to do Instead of Going to Programming: 25
The Round-Robin Conspiracy: 27
The Norwesoon Art Show: 27
Masquerade Information: 27
Emergency Phone Numbers and Restaurant List: 29
Membership List: 31
Discussion Groups: 28
OUR COVER: William Warren’s two-color rendering from Philip Jose' Farmer’s “Wind Whales of Ishmael,” produced in Liquitex Cerulean Blue and Titanium White and Shiva Cadmium Red Medium, reproduced in Pantone PMS Warm Red and Reflex Blue, 100 line photo mechanical transfers, duotone angled, on a base Prime Yellow stock. Techies take note.
THE NORWESCON II COMMITTEE
Executive Committee:
Chairman: Gregory R. Bennett
Business Department: Richard Wright
Registration: Lauraine Miranda
Publications: Bill Warren, Shelley Dutton
Operations: Jack McGillis
Programming: Steve Bard
Public Relations: Melva Lund
Treasurer: Dixie Tourtellot
Security: Linda Hoffer
Art Show: Jane Hawkins
Huckster Room: Bob Doyle
Other Committee Members:
Computer Support: Tony Pepin
Mailing Services: Cliff Wind
V.I.P. Liason: Steve Bard
Stage Management: Shelley Dutton, FutureLove Productions
Gofers: Judy Lorent
Video Program: Dennis Pernaa
Computer Games: Tony Pepin, Richard Wright
Masquerade: Richard Wright, Mary Hamburger
Photo Services: Dennis Pernaa, Tom Walls
Hospitality: Elizabeth Warren
Press Relations: Kathy Selbert
Autograph Party: Dave Bray
[Drawing by Bill Warren of the Seattle skyline with the Space Needle in the foreground and Mt. Rainier in the distance.]
NOTE: If the note from me is called “Chairman Wow says How!”, heads will roll!! There are all sorts of better things you could call it: (such as):
Welcome Two Norwescon To!
– by Greg Bennett
[Drawing of Greg Bennett by Bill Warren]
Eleven months in the planning, with a crew of dozens and a cast of hundreds, Nor.wescon II is here. For the majority of the convention members, Norwescon will be a three-day event –a short interlude in the fannish and mundane lives of those who come to enjoy. But, look around you for people identified as members of the convention committee or staff. For us, the second Northwest regional science fiction conven.tion has been a labor of love since April of last year – working, planning, plotting, and scheming with hopes of making your Norwescon experience a happy milestone in your existence.
Norwescon II will probably be twice as large as the convention from which it draws it’s name – the first World Science Fiction Convention held in the Northwest (Port.land, 1950), drawing dramatic attention to the growth experience in Science Fiction Fan.dom in the past three decades.
This year, our regional is being held at the same site as the first Seattle Worldcon, Seacon (1961). Welcome back to those who attended that poolside convention, and our apologies – Norwescon just won’t fit a.round the Hyatt’s pool this year. In.stead, we’ve taken nearly every meeting room in the hotel, so you have a lot of real estate to explore in search of your niche in fandom.
This convention is the creation of a committee of volunteers, paid only by the fun of creating and the satisfaction of doing it right. So, if you like what’s going on at Norwescon, don’t hesitate to tell us. We need a lot of feedback from you so that we can constantly improve our efforts in future years. On the other hand, also let us know if something goes wrong, because we learn even better from our mistakes than from our successes.
You are undoubtedly aware that the Northwest Science Fiction Society, which sponsors Norwescon, is also bidding to host the 39th World Science Fiction Convention in 1981. That bid often brings up the question: will there be a Nor.wescon next year? The answer is an em.phatic YES'. In fact, we’ve already started tentative plans for Norwescon III and IV, both to be held the last full weekend of March in 1980 and 1981.
The next two Norwescons will be shaped by the outcome of the balloting for the 1981 Worldcon this year. If Seattle wins the bid, then the main thrust of Norwescon IV, which will occur six months before our Worldcon, will be a planning seminar for the Big Event. And, especially if we win that bid, we’ll need help to make it all happen. Where do you volunteer to help? It’s easy – hunt down a member of this year’s convention committee and give him or her your name, address and phone number. We’ll get in touch with you to find out where in the convention you would be happiest, and you will find yourself involved with the best convention committee I’ve seen in action!
[Signature of Gregory R. Bennett, esq. Chairman, Norwescon II, Seattle in 1981]
ORIENTATION INSTRUCTIONS
…or, “What do I do NOW?”
[Map of the Hyatt House hotel showing locations of key convention areas.]
Well, you have arrived at the Seattle Air.port Hyatt House in one piece, you’ve deposited your bags in your room (or found a place to crash) and been through registration. What now? Sit down and catch your breath. Leaf through your program book. Look over your schedule and figure out which of the many interesting programming items you would like to see. Now take a tour of the hotel, wander through the art room and the huckster room; drop by the Hospitality Suite for a little taste of Norwescon hospitality compliments of the Dragon Lady.
This year’s Norwescon has something for every fan. We have computer games, films, a terrific video program, a disco, small dis.cussion groups, panels, a masquerade party, friendly authors and parties every night. The Sunday afternoon banquet promises to be fun and memorable — tickets are still a.vailable at the registration desk for $6.50 and will get you a great meal and a great seat for the speeches and Norwescon’s famous funny awards.
Since our programming rooms are spread all over the hotel, we have provided you with a map. Should you get lost, simply look for moss on the North side of someone in the film room or follow an author and he will lead you safely back to the bar.
Programming:
NOTE: The following schedule delinates “major” programing items only. For detailed schedules of the film program, video program, author’s chain story, etc., please consult the schedules elsewhere in this program book.
The abbrevaitions (A), (B), (C), etc. following the event title denote programing rooms “Phoenix A” or “Phoenix B,” etc.
1. GoTo Thursday
12 noon HOSPITALITY SUITE OPENS
Last minute panic by the ConCom. Early-bird conventioneers summarily enlisted!
7 - 9pm FINAL CONCOM MEETING (Hosp.)
Organized chaos.
9pm … BAR REHEARSAL AND PRACTICE PARTY
2. GoSub Friday
10am HOSPITALITY SUITE OPENS
Hospitality starts being hospitable.
12 noon REGISTRATION OPENS CONFIDENTLY
VIDEO & COMPUTER ROOMS TURN ON
5:30pm FILM: CAPTAIN KRONOS, VAMPIRE HUNTER. (B)
8pm FILM ROOM OPENS
Celluloid addicts rejoice!
8pm CONVENTION OPENING CEREMONIES & GUEST OF HONOR INTERVIEW (B)
Friendly greetings from the Chaircritter. Bob Brown interviews Philip Jose' Farmer.
9:30pm G.O.H. AUTOGRAPH SESSION (Lobby)
Mr. Farmer attempts to mitigate the crush at the Saturday autograph party.
9:30pm STARDANCE (A & B)
Canned disco via Speakerlab and FutureLove Productions. With live rock by John Shirley and the Monitors.
9:30pm OPENING PARTY (Hosp.)
self-explanatory
3. Input Saturday
8am DAWN BREAKS, REGISTRATION DESK AROUSES, CROWS …
9am HUCKSTER ROOM OPENS (D, E, Conf. A)
Dealers wring their hands and cackle evilly amid horde of slavering collectors.
9am SPACE SCIENCES OVERVIEW, PART I (B)
Automated slide show for you early-comers.
10am ART SHOW OPENS (C)
… oohs and ahhs …
10am “I AM JOE’S BEANIE” (A)
“Neofan” presentation and panel discussion for those of you who are not quite sure what all this is about.
10am AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION IN THE COMICS (B)
Colorful slideshow narrated by Dave Bray.
11am CREATE-A-RELIGION (A)
Cliff Wind leads Phil Farmer and others in fabricating a few cults, fannish or otherwise. Cool-aid reception to follow.
11am YOU TOO CAN MAKE A FORTUNE WRITING “SCI-FI!” (B)
Perverse writing habits revealed! Publishers pay six figures! How to befriend editors and influence pub.lishers! Marta Randall, John Varley, Vonda McIntyre, H. Warner Munn and Kate Wilhelm explore the writing and marketing of your story.
12 noon NEW MAPS OF SCIENCE FICTION (A)
Dr. William Bainbridge of the University of Washington Sociology Department reveals the shocking results of those film and author questionnaires you filled out at Iguanacon.
12 noon THE FUTURIANS (B)
Damon Knight takes a nostalgic look at the golden age of science fiction fandom, that breeding ground for many of today’s noteworthy pro’s.
lpm THE NEW COSMOLOGY (A)
University of Washington Astrophysicist Phil Peters charts the grand scheme of cosmological happenstance while neutrino expert Peter Kotzer of Western Washington State College explores the realm of the very, very small.
1pm PLANET BUILDING (B)
Poul Anderson details his recipes for cosmic constructs and, assisted by Mildred Downey Broxon, F.M. Busby, John Shirley and George Guthridge, cooks up a few worlds while you wait.
2:30pm THE FANNISH INQUISITION (A)
Notorious denizens of fandom are interrogated unmercifully.
2:30pm A CANDID ConVERSATION WITH YOUR FAN GUEST OF HONOR (B)
Loren MacGregor and friends contemplate the secrets of the universe.
3:30pm THE PLOT THICKENS! (A)
Orson Scott Card leads Damon Knight, Philip Jose' Farmer and J.F. Bone in some spirited plotting and scheming.
3:30pm GYNANDROCISM IN S.F. (B)
Sexual differentiation in science fiction, or lack thereof …
4:30pm ELIZABETH A. LYNN READING (B)
Toastperson Elizabeth A. Lynn reads from her new novel, WATCHTOWER.
5pm KATE WILHELM READING (B)
Ahh…such a heavenly voice, (sigh).
5:30pm HIGH FRONTIERS - A STATEMENT IN MULTI-MEDIA (A)
The awesome majesty of space exploration in words, music and pictures. Featuring Bill Warren singing “The Wreck of the Apollo XIII.”
7:30pm THE PARTY: PHASE I (A & B) MEET-THE-AUTHORS AUTOGRAPH PARTY
More than a score of famous authors happily sign vast mounds of books for you as long as you continue to ply them with drinks. (Books by attending authors will be for sale during the party.)
8:30pm THE PARTY: PHASE II (A & B) MASQUERADE PARTY
Costume cocktail party with no-host bar, judging and awards. (Information for entrants available at the registration desk.)
10pm … THE PARTY: PHASE III (Hosp.) SEATTLE IN '81 BIDDING PARTY
In keeping with the grand old tradition established last year, the Northwest Science Fiction So.ciety once again attempts to buy your 1981 Worldcon vote with liquor, fast women … and finger-food!
11pm FILM: PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE (A & B)
Paul Williams stars.
[Drawing by Bill Warren of a blonde woman in a tight black top, with the caption, 'This great moment in science fiction has been brought to you by the committee for Seattle in 1981.]
4. Run Sunday …if you can…
8am REGISTRATION OPENS GRUMPILY
9am SPACE SCIENCES OVERVIEW, PART 2 (B)
More canned magnificence ala' slide projector.
10am HOW TO STARVE AS AN ARTIST (A)
Art Show director Jane Hawkins moderates a group of emaciated doodlers.
11am CREATIVE EDITING (A)
Panel of well-known professional editors discuss tact, greed and compromise.
11am YOUR FIRST TIME (B)
Susan Wood and friends conjure fond memories of that first exciting taste of science fiction.
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12 noon IN MEMORIAM, IN ABSENTIA … (A)
Revered dead authors are resurected for a chat with some live ones.
12 noon FIRST ART AUCTION (B)
The irrepressible Jane Hawkins keeps you bidders smiling all the while as she nickels and dimes you to bankruptcy.
1pm AWARDS BANQUET (Satellite Room) (or - The Return of Gnorf ala King)
An incredible edible with oratory by Toastmaster Elizabeth A. Lynn and Guests of Honor Philip Jose' Farmer and Loren MacGregor. Tacky awards distributed by Greg Bennett.
lpm FILMS : THINGS TO COME…and…COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT
In case you don’t like rubber chicken …
4pm SPACE INDUSTRIALIZATION (A)
Representatives of the NW L-5 Society discuss the near-term opportunities for space colonization to pay it’s own way.
4pm CLASSIC NOVELS PANEL (B)
Fans and authors select and defend their nominations for the top ten classic SF novels of all time.
4pm FINAL ART AUCTION (Satellite Rm.)
Collectors squeal while artists grin ridiculously.
5pm KILLER KITE WAR (Poolside)
Bring your own kite.
5:30pm SKIFFY TRIVIA BOWL (Satellite)
Idiot-Savant contestants compare cluttered minds, astounding all with their ability to instantly recollect useless information. (Teams formed from volunteers present at 5:30 sharp!)
7pm ARTISTS IN ACTION (Satellite)
Bill Warren leads a group of attending artists in live demonstrations of technique.
8pm GUEST OF HONOR READING (Satellite)
Our resident Guest of Honor, Philip Jose' Farmer, reads.
8:30pm ROUND-ROBIN STEW (Satellite)
The dreaded chain story, now complete, is read aloud to the populance. Sage remarks provided by our guest editorial staff and the G.O.H. himself, who started the whole thing in the first place.
9pm DEAD SASQUATCH PARTY (Satellite)
Dead Sasquatches boogie quietly.
9pm AN EVENING OF MYSTERY WITH KORLA PANDIT (Satellite)
India’s international guru of music and meditation.
midnight DEAD SASQUATCH CEREMONIES
Cryptic, neo-Druid rites performed on the lawn of the Washington Memorial Cemetary (right across the street North of the hotel.)
CELLULOID CEREMONY MENU
NOTE: All films will be shown in the Continental Room.
Note: All items TENTATIVE!
FRIDAY NIGHT
8:00 Menagerie (Star Trek episode)
10:00 Star Trek Bloopers
10:30 The Lost World (1925 silent version)
11:30 Colossus: The Forbin Project
Excellent SF thriller about a self-aware/self-programming computer designed for complete and total con.trol over the national defense. It lines up with a similar system in the USSR, and together they decide that they have better things to do with their time.
1:30 Film room closes
SATURDAY
10:00 The Crab Nebula (Nova Documentary)
11:00 The Mystery of Stonehenge
12:00 Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter
An intelligent film from Hammer about vampires, a very rare commodity. A young ex-guardsman on a crusade against vampires comes to a village where young girls have been found dead, their youth and beauty sucked dry. An intelligent and witty script that includes different types of vampires and the different ways to kill them.
2:00 Norwescon Animation Festival
Featuring such classics as Evolution (from the National Film Board of Canada), Party Line (stop-motion animated G.I. Joe dolls from the people who brought you Bambi Meets Godzilla), and Closed Mondays (Oscar winning clay animation).
4:00 Moonwalk (Apolla 11 documentary)
5:30 Discovering Electronic Music
6:00 Reflections in Space
Space exploration’s influence on art.
6:30 Colossus: The Forbin Project
8:30 The Lost World
9:30 The Invisible Ray
11:00 Film Room Closes
See Sunday's Dessert Menu on page 29…
[Ad: Ace Books had contacted the Norwescon committee long before our deadline on this Program Book.
They informed us that they wished to reserve three full pages of advertising space to promote their editions of our attending authors' books.
Well, things happened… the ads were prepared in New York, and the package was sent to Seattle via an independent delivery Service.
Only… they lost it. So somewhere between NYC and Seattle are three full page ads showing that Ace Books cared enough about Seattle to support Norwescon.
Let’s return the good will in kind. Thank you Susan Allison & Jim Baen of Ace Books… we appreciate your efforts.
Thc Publications Staff]
[This previously unpublished artwork produced by Victoria Poyser ©1979]
The Guest of Honor Philip José Farmer
By Roger Zelazny
[Photo of Philip José Farmer]
Long have I admired Philip Jose' Farmer, both for his great astonishing imagination and his great stylistic versatility. These two qualities seldom exist in the same writer. There are others who are impres.sively imaginative and some of them also write very well. But few possess the ability to switch styles with the grace and apparent ease that Philip Farmer does. And few of them even approach his range of subject matter.
Fantasy, pure science fiction, mixtures of the two, ranging all over the universe and history … Philip Farmer has written them. Of these, and dear to my heart, are some of the pieces going back to the roots of science fiction itself. Phil is perhaps the only one who can still evoke the lost worlds of Burroughs, Haggard, Doyle, Mundy – not to mention the life and times of Clark Savage, Jr., M.D.
I have always been a sucker for a good story, which I guess is how I got into this business in the first place. I thereby freely confess that my own Amber series owes more than a little to Phil’s World of Tiers and the bickerings of the immortal lords. Also, suppose that instead of all of man.kind assembled along the banks of a great river, it had been a transtemporal super.highway? (That one isn’t out yet.) What I am trying to say, I guess, is that sooner or later everyone, I believe, steals from Phil, and it is nice to have a chance to confess. I guess that makes him an in.stitution. But he doesn’t act like one.
Uniquely, Phil has one foot in the past of science fiction and one in the future. He can turn from the creation of a nine.teenth century sort of adventure and pickup an award for a more radical piece of writing such as “Riders of the Purple Wage”. He is somehow close to the great Victorian adventure writers on the one hand, yet he is the author of the ground and taboo-breaking “The Lovers” on the other. He is connected with the very roots of science fiction and at the same time manages the Janus-trick of also being in its vanguard. It ceases to be para.doxical, however, the moment you admit that it is genius.
He once gave me a business card which I will quote in part: CHOICE LOTS: Ruritania, Poictesme, Ilium, R’lyeh, Barsoom, Middle Earth, Hallamshire, and Oz. HIGH - PREMIUM SHARES: Hidalgo Trading Co. ADDRESS: C/O Lord Greystoke, Nairobi, Kenya.
With no one else would I believe this. But with Phil …
I believe that Philip Jose' Farmer has traveled in lost lands, has heard the wind blow about the topless towers of Ilium, crossed the dead sea bottoms and sailed the canals of Barsoom, made love to Scheherazade, lived through the Night of Light and seen and heard strange things. He could sell me a choice lot in Poictesme, Shangri-la or the World of Tiers. In fact, he already has.
I do not know exactly where he himself fits into certain geneological charts he has constructed and displayed for our edi.fication, but obviously he belongs in the company of those others he knows so well.
There never was another writer like Philip Jose' Farmer and there never will be again. Treasure him.
1957
1
1960
2
3
4
1961
5
1962
6
7/8
9
1964
10
11
1965
12
13
14
1966
15
16
17
1968
18
19
20
21
1969
22
23
1970
24
25/26
27
28
29
30
31
32
1972
33
34
1973
35
36
37
38
1974
39
40
41
1975
42
1976
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
1977
50
51
52
53
54
1978
55
1979 (Forthcoming)
DARK IS THE SUN. Ballantine.
KWASIN OF OPAR. DAW.
RIVERWORLD AND OTHER STORIES. Berkeley.
THE LOVERS. Ballantine. (Hardcover reprint, slightly revised.)
TWO HAWKS FROM EARTH. Ace. (“The Gate of Time” revised and expanded by 10,000 words. New Ending.)
IMAGE OF THE BEAST. Playboy Press. (Includes under one cover: THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST and BLOWN, both slightly revised.)
Note from PJF: Item 12, AS YOU DESIRE, by “William Norfolk” has an unknown history. It was apparently sold by Rubicon Press to the American Art Agency when Rubicon folded. What happened after that has not yet been determined. It was a Gothic, not an SF novel.
Uncollected Stories
AFTER KING KONG FELL. Omega. Walker; New York, 1973. Edited by Roger Elwood.
THE BIOLOGICAL REVOLT. (“The Bite of the Asp”). Science Fiction Plus, March, 1953.
THE DAY OF THE GREAT SHOUT. Worlds of Tomorrow. January, 1965.
THE OOGENISIS OF BIRD CITY. Amazing, Sept., 1970.
THE FELLED STAR. If, July-Aug., 1967
GREATHEART SILVER IN SHOWDOWN AT SHOOTOUT. Wierd Heroes, Volume One. Pyramid;New York, 1975. Edited by Byron Preiss.
HEEL. Worlds of If, May, 1960.
THE JUNGLE ROT KID ON THE NOD. New Worlds, April, 1970.
THE KING OF BEASTS. Galaxy. June, 1964.
THE LOVERS. Startling Stories, Aug., 1952. Expanded to novel length: “The Lovers” Ballantine, 1961.
MONOLOGUE. Demon Kind, Avon; New York, 1973. Edited by Roger Elwood.
MOTH AND RUST. Startling Stories, June, 1953. Expanded to novel length: “A Woman a Day” Beacon, 1960.
MOTHER EARTH WANTS YOU. And Walk Now Gently Through the Fire. Chilton: Radnor, 1972. Edited by Roger Elwood.
O’BRIEN AND OBRENOV. Adventure, March 1946.
OPENING THE DOOR. Children of Infinity. Watts; New York, 1973. Edited by Roger Elwood.
THE PROBLEM OF THE SORE BRIDGE - AMONG OTHERS. Fantasy and Science Fiction, September, 1975. By “Harry Manders.”
THE PTERODACTYL. Fantasy and Science Fiction, July, 1965.
THE RETURN OF GREATHEART SILVER. Wierd Heroes, Volume Two; Pyramid; New York, 1976. Edited by Byron Preiss.
RIDERS OF THE PURPLE WAGE. Dangerous Visons, Doubleday; New York, 1967.Edited by Harlan Ellison.
SAIL ON! SAIL ON! Startling Stories, December, 1952.
A SCARLETIN STUDY. Fantasy and Science Fiction, March, 1975. By Jonathan Swift Somers II"
SESTINA OF THE SPACE ROCKET. Startling Stories, Feb., 1953.
SEVENTY YEARS OF DECPOP. Galaxy, July, 1972.
SKETCHES AMONG THE RUINS OF MY MIND. Nova 3; Walker; New York, 1973. Edited by Harry Harrison.
THE SLICED CROSSWISE ONLY ON TUESDAY WORLD. New Dimensions 1; Doubleday;New York, 1971. Edited by Roger Silverberg.
SOME FABULOUS YONDER. Fantastic Stories, April, 1963.
STRANGE COMPULSION. Science Fiction Plus, Oct., 1953.
STATIONS OF THE NIGHTMARE PART ONE: THE TWO-EDGED GIFT. Continuum 1, Putnam;New York, 1974. Edited by Roger Elwood.
STATIONS OF THE NIGHTMARE TWO: THE STARTOUCHED. Continuum 2; Putnam; NewYork, 1974. Edited by Roger Elwood.
STATIONS OF THE NIGHTMARE THREE: THE EVOLUTION OF PAUL EYRE. Continuum 3;Putnam; New York, 1974. Edited by Roger Elwood.
STATIONS OF THE NIGHTMARE FOUR: PASSING ON. Continuum 4; Putnam; New York, 1975. Edited by Roger Elwood.
THE SUICIDE EXPRESS. Worlds of Tomorrow. March, 1966.
THE WOUNDED, Fantastic Universe, Oct., 1954.
THEODORE STURGEON EXPRESSES SOME HEARTFELT WORDS ABOUT THE TOASTBOSS ELIZABETH A. LYNN
[Photo: Elizabeth A. Lynn]
Photo copyright by Paul Nelson
There are more nicknames for ‘Elizabeth’ than for any other name: Ellie, Liza, Liz, Lizzie, Beth, Bet, Betty, Liz- beth, and even more. There are more facets to Elizabeth A. Lynn than there are nicknames, and they are all good. If you encounter a side that isn’t good, there’s something wrong with you; you are curably stupid (to the incurably stupid she is always kind); you are tasteless, you are greedy, you are prejudiced. If you are any of these things, and you look at Liz Lynn, you will be looking at a granite wall, with thorns.
Once upon a time there was a great big Worldcon in Miami Beach, Dade County, Flori.da; and because of his detestation of a no.torious singer and her works, a great big famous science fiction writer announced that he would boycott that convention. Liz Lynn went down there with a bucketful of big lavendar buttons on which were written: HAPPY GAYS ARE HERE AGAIN and sold them for a buck apiece. With the proceeds she bought cases of beer and soda and lots of munchies, and threw the best party ever at that or any other Worldcon; it went on for days. The protest was clear (including the consumption of a crate of California oranges!) and you know what? Nobody ever asked why that other great big science fiction writer wasn’t there — or even noticed that he wasn’t there.
Stop a second and examine this episode. Liz had a point to make; so had the other guy. Both protests came from an honest con.viction. His came across like a rimless zero. Hers was original, forceful, and above all, noticable, right there in enemy territory. Note especially that it was done without anger or insult, without grim de.clarations or pompous speechifying – and with a huge amount of 'hutzpah. In this episode you have a thumbnail sketch of the person you are priveleged to have as your Toastboss.
There is one more thing that must be said about Liz Lynn. She is a writer. She is a writer’s writer. Anyone who is a student of the craft, or who teaches it, would do well to study meticulously the works of Elizabeth Lynn. She has developed a style that does what the very best fiction aims for; to make the reader feel, not that he has read the narrative, but that it has happened to him. She achieves this by writing in short, clear sentences, each of which is a self-sufficient tile in an over.all mosaic; each sharply focused and beau.tifully designed. Listen: from her new novel WATCHTOWER:
“They rode part of the day. They came out of the fog onto a stony plain, dotted with scrubby trees, covered with ice-scummed snow. The clouds hovered over them like a giant’s hand. The shaggy-coated horses moved stolidly a.cross the steppe. They camped the second night in a stub-filled hollow. Norres lit a fire. The tree-stubs hissed and smoked. The horses munched their feed. Men and beasts crowded close to the scanty heat. The clouds covered the stars. Norres passed the flask around. Ryke took a mouthful of the potent liquor, and rolled up in his cloak while his belly was still warm.”
And this:
“They walked down a street, the only street. The well stood in its center. The village looked deserted. No chil.dren hung about the buildings. There were no women with their spinning wheels sitting in the sun, exchanging stories . .. Chickens cackled from a pen. Ryke glimpsed a stockade and smelled pig. A cat lazed on the roof, licking a paw, stopping now and then to stare with wide eyes into the street. They walked into a cottage. A woman sat at a table. A square window opened at her back. The room smelled of dust and ink and light.”
There is a certainty, a sureness, a deftness about the author. She knows exactly where she is. You will know exactly where you are with her.
At Norwescon, with Elizabeth A. Lynn as Toastboss.
Lucky you.
Elizabeth Lynn is also the author of short fiction and the novel A DIFFERENT LIGHT.
[Ad: This is the way the world ends.
FREDERIK POHL’S
JEM
The Hugo and Nebula award-winning author of Gateway takes you into the future, to a time where the food bloc, the oil bloc and the people bloc warily coexist with each other. Until the discovery of Jem.
Not since On The Beach has a novel created such a vivid, visionary sense of the future. The people are real, every bitas heroic and venal, generous and petty, subtle and stubborn as our own leaders and followers.
Look forward to the best SF view of the future you've ever read. It starts on page one of Frederik Pohl's JEM. $10.00
A Science Fiction Book Club Main Selection. A Literary Guild Alternate Selection.
More SF from St. Martin’s
ANDROMEDA
Edited by Peter Weston $8.95
FUTURE TENSE
The Cinema of Science Fiction
By John Brosnan $15.00
THE BUG WARS
By Robert Asprin $8.95
THE PLANET MASTERS
By Allen Wold $8.95 May
MYSTERIOUS VISIONS
Edited by Martin Greenberg, Joseph Olander and Charles Waugh Foreword by Isaac Asimov
$15.00 June
THE WORLD I LEFT BEHIND ME
By William Walling $8.95 June
ON WINGS OF SONG
By Thomas M. Disch $10.00 July
A PLANET CALLED TREASON
By Orson Scott Card $8.95 July
At bookstores or direct from Dept. NW ST. MARTIN’S PRESS 175 Fifth Ave., New York 10010]
Our Fan GOH
KAUFMAN INTRODUCES THE INIMITABLE LOREN MAC GREGOR ESQUIRE
[Photo: Loren Mac Gregor]
Photo copyright 1979 by Steve Williams
It was a dark and threatening night in 1971. Suddenly the quiet of my New York apartment was shattered by an insistent ringing. The telephone! So black, so small, so menacing. Ready to explode into trouble. I lifted the receiver gingerly, and heard a tiny voice say, “Hello? You don’t know me, but …” It was a forlorn fan, deserted, standing in the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
“Okay, Lornie, or whatever your name is,” I said. “You can stay here. Take the Seventh Avenue Local. But watch your step, the subway can be cruel.”
That was the first time I talked to Loren MacGregor. I didn’t really talk to him a.gain for several years, because he was hardly around during the first visit. He was off in Queens and Brooklyn charming the rest of New York fandom, while I would only see him in the scant moments between his re.turn from expeditions and my lapses into log.like sleep. I had to be exposed to his charm through the mail.
It started with Talking-Stock, a small, frequent and friendly publication full of wit, anecdote, cartoons and a wide selection of co-editors. The exposure was stepped up after several years by Quota: less frequent, fatter, but as charming and witty as T-S. In between issues Loren produced articles and columns for a variety of 'zines. (The most notable column was “37¢ of Wonder,” which appeared in The Spanish Inquisition, and which will recommence with the next issue of Mainstream; at least it was most notable to me, since I generally put it in stencil. His most controversial article was a response to Poul Anderson published in Notes From the Chemistry Department in which Loren defended feminism. “Ms.” MacGregor garnered quite a response.)
Then Loren returned to New York, also showing up in Columbus, Baltimore and other Eastern cities. I began to see other sides of his charm. In Baltimore, as part of fan- nish entertainment, he enthralled an audience with some of his unlikely and unforgettable anecdotes. Loren attracts strange people and events with uncanny regularity, and he tells them with perfect timing. Ask him a.bout the time his apartment wall fell off, or the time a car parked itself on the chair he had just vacated in the laundomat.
In Columbus I watched him and Gordon Dickson trading songs, and found that Loren not only sings and plays pretty well, but also has the largest repetoire (from Hoyt Axton to Dave Van Ronk to Buddy Holly) of anyone I know. He also has a stock of Shakespeare, modern drama, poetry and dog.gerel, all of which he memorizes at a glance and recites with ease. Put a gui.tar in his hands, or simply say, “Now is the winter of our discontent …” and step back. Instant gratification!
All of these talents have kept Loren alive during his peregrinations through Seattle. He’s worked as musician, actor, graphic designer, and, until recently, respiratory therapist. He’s also studied for the priesthood and been the editor of The Pacific Northwest Review of Books, which is on the brink of a triumphant return. He’s also been a writer for as long as I’ve known him, passionately devoted to the art and craft of putting together words on paper. Loren always has a few stories and at least one novel working up in one of his notebooks. Just ask him about them.
In fact, ask Loren about anything. He’s a little shy; you’ll have to say hello first. But just offer him a cup of coffee and extend a few well- (or ill-) chosen words on music, books, feminism, fandom, politics, movies, theater, breathing or the Theory and Practice of Science Fiction, and you’ll find yourself in conversation with one of the most charming, witty, intelligent men you’ve ever met.
But as I said to Lorney (or whatever his name was) all those years ago, “Watch your step.” You might find yourself liking the man.
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Our Venerable Guests
We are proud to welcome and introduce to Norwescon II
POUL ANDERSON
Winner of many Hugo and Nebula awards, Poul Anderson is the author of entirely too many fine science fiction and fantasy works to list here. It is undoubtedly books like BRAIN WAVE, THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS, THE HIGH CRUSADE and TAU ZERO that prompted Harlan Ellison to write “the man is in.capable of writing a dull word.'” Poul An.derson’s most recent books are THE EARTH.BOOK OF STORMGATE and THE AVATAR and another book, THE MERMAN’S CHILDREN will be pub.lished shortly.
VONDA N. MCINTYRE
Photo copyright by Jeff Levin
Vonda N. McIntyre became the youngest Nebula Award recipient with her short story OF MIST AND SAND AND GRASS. Her first novel, THE EXILE WAITING, was a Science Fiction Book Club selection. Her latest novel, DREAM.SNAKE, an enlargement of the Nebula-winning story, has been nominated for this year’s best-novel Nebula and will be available shortly in paperback from Dell. Vonda has recently sold her first story collection, AZTECS.
GEORGE GUTHERIDGE
George Gutheridge lives in McLeary, Washington, and is the author of stories which have appeared in ANALOG, OUR FUTURE YEARS, and F&SF. He has sold additional stories to GALILEO, CHILD LIFE, and F&SF and is currently at work on a historical trilogy set in the seventeenth century.
F. M. BUSBY
F. M. Busby is the author of numerous science fiction stories which have appeared in magazines, original anthologies, and best-of-the-year anthologies. His published novels are CAGE A MAN and its sequel, THE PROUD ENEMY, plus the epic RISSA KERGUELLEN and ALL THESE EARTHS. His next published book will be a spinoff from RISSA entitled ZELDE M’TANA. He is currently working on a sequel to RISSA called ALIEN DEBT. A third book in his CAGE A MAN series, entitled END OF THE LINE, is also planned.
JOANNA RUSS
Currently with the English department at the University of Washington, Joanna Russ has written such novels as PICNIC ON PARADISE, AND CHAOS DIED, THE FEMALE MAN, WE WHO ARE ABOUT TO…, THE TWO OF THEM, and KITTATINNY: A TALE OF MAGIC. She has just recently finished a work entitled GLOTOLOGY, OR HOW TO SUPPRESS WOMEN’S WRITING WITHOUT REALLY TRYING.
DAMON KNIGHT
Science fiction’s master of the surprise ending and inventor of the expression “far out” currently resides in Eugene, Oregon with his lovely and talented wife, Kate Wil.helm. In recent years he has done more editing and nonfiction than fiction, but never fear, the first Damon Knight novel in ten years, called THE WORLD AND THORINN, has recently been bought by Berkeley/Putnam. Meanwhile, ORBIT 21, the last of the land.mark series, will be published by Harper this year.
KATE WILHELM
Kate Wilhelm is the author of over 60 short stories and some 17 books, including THE MILE-LONG SPACESHIP, THE KILLER THING, THE DOWNSTAIRS ROOM, LET THE FIRE FALL, THE INFINITY BOX, THE CLEWISTON TEST and her Hugo and Nebula award winning WHERE LATE THE SWEET BIRDS SANG. Another novel, JUNIPER TIME, will be published in June. She is currently working with a group of Eugene, Oregon artists and performers on a multi.media show called AXOLOTL.
Photo by Richard Wilhelm
WILMAR SHIRAS
Wilmar Shiras is the author of CHILDREN OF THE ATOM, originally published by Gnome Press and currently being reprinted in deluxe illustrated editions by Pennyfarthing Press. Ms. Shiras resides in northern California.
DEAN ING
Dean Ing’s novelette, “Devil You Don’t Know” is a nominee on this year’s Nebula bal.lot. His novel, SOFT TARGETS will be pub.lished by Ace this summer, and another novel, ANASAZI, is in final revision. Dean Ing resides in Eugene, Oregon.
OSCAR ROSSITER
Oscar Rossiter is the pseudonym of a Seattle doctor whose well-received first novel, TET- RASOMY TWO, was a Frederick Pohl selection in paperback. He has completed a second novel entitled THE A.C. SCROLLS.
MILDRED DOWNEY BROXON
Photo by William D. Broxon “Bubbles” Broxon of Seattle has had short fiction published in CLARION III, UNIVERSE 5, FELLOWSHIP OF THE STARS, AURORA, BEYOND EQUALITY, STELLAR III, VERTEX, and ISAAC ASIMOV’S. Additional short works are forthcoming in THE LAST DANGEROUS VISIONS, and CHRYSALIS 2 & 3, and her first novel, TOO LONG A SACRIFICE, will be published soon by Dell.
ALEX SCHOMBURG
Artist Alex Schomberg did his first color magazine covers for Hugo Gernsback in 1925 and continued to work for Gernsback through 1965. He did many black and white story illus.trations for detective, Western, mystery, sports, love and science fiction pulp maga.zines. In the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s he painted covers for such magazines as AMAZING, FANTASTIC, STARTLING, WONDER, GALAXY, FUTURE, FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION, and SATELLITE. Schomberg also illustrated the Winston series of Juvenile science fiction, did over 400 comic book covers, and worked briefly with Stanley Kubrick on the film 2001, A SPACE ODYSSEY. His work is currently appearing in ASIMOV’S S.F. MAGAZINE, FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION MAGAZINE, and ANALOG.
J.F. BONE
J.F. Bone, a professor of veterinary medicine from Corvalis, Oregon, is the author of THE LANI PEOPLE, THE MEDDLERS, LEGACY and CONFEDERATION MATADOR.
JESSE PEEL
Jesse Peel is the pseudonym of Steve Perry, who currently makes his home in Aloha, Oregon. His stories have appeared in ISAAC ASIMOV’S, GALAXY, WINGS, GRIS-GRIS, and has sold more to the same magazines. He has just completed his first novel, SEEK THE MAGICIAN, and is currently at work on another.
GLENN CHANG (Not pictured)
Glenn Chang of Eugene, Oregon, has had stories published in IF and UNIVERSE 6 and has a novella forthcoming in a Silverberg anthology. He is currently working on several novels.
PAUL NOVITSKI (Not pictured)
Seattle’s own Paul Novitski has had stories published in AMAZING, FANTASTIC and ISAAC ASIMOV’S and has sold additional stories for UNIVERSE 9 and WINGS.
TONY SAROWITZ (Not pictured)
Tony Sarowitz, a resident of Eugene, Oregon, has had stories published in GALAXY and ISAAC ASIMOV’S and will have another appearing in Universe 9.
ROBERT WILSON (Not pictured)
Robert Wilson’s first book, TENTACLES OF DAWN, has just been published and the Seattle author is currently marketing three other novels, THE SEVENTH CITY OF STONE, THE PYRAMID MOON and LOTUS WORLD.
EILEEN GUNN (Not pictured)
Eileen Gunn, of Eugene, Oregon, has had one story published in AMAZING and has a.nother due in DESTINIES. She is currently collaborating on a novel with Fax Goodlife.
… Does everyone live in Eugene, Oregon?
JOHN VARLEY
Photo by Susan Wood
Since the publication of his first story in 1974, Oregonian John Varley has become a perennial contributor to best-of-the-year anthologies and Hugo and Nebula ballots, in.cluding another nomination on this year’s Nebula ballot for his novella, A PERSIS.TENCE OF VISION. John’s first novel, THE OPHIUCHI HOTLINE, was the premier selection of the Dial/James Wade Quantum S.F. series. His first magnificent collection, A PERSIS.TENCE OF VISION, was also published by Dial. John Varley’s eagerly awaited second novel, TITAN, has just been re.leased by Berkeley/Putnam and it’s sequel, WIZARD, is currently in work.
JOHN SHIRLEY
John Shirley’s short fiction has appeared in UNIVERSE 6, CLARION III, ISAAC ASIMOV’S, FANTASTIC, AMAZING, NEW DIMENSIONS 7 and EPOCH, with others upcoming in UNIVERSE 9 and FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION. His first novel, THE TRANSMANIACON, has just been published by Zebra Books, who will also publish his second novel, DRACULA IN LOVE. Another book, CITY COME-A WALKIN', will be published by Dell. John Shirley also leads a Portland-based rock band “The Moni.tors” who will be featured at our Friday night dance.
ORSON SCOTT CARD
Orson Scott Card, who makes his home in Salt Lake City, Utah, has had ten stories published in ANALOG, two in OMNI, and others in FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION and DES.TINIES. More are due out soon in these same magazines, and also in NEW DIMENSIONS, THE LAST DANGEROUS VISIONS and CHRYSALIS 4 & 5. His first collection, entitled CAPITOL, has recently been published by Ace Books. His first two novels, A PLANET CALLED TREASON and HOT SLEEP, are due out soon from St. Martin’s Press and Baronet, respectively. His novelette, MIKAL’s SONGBIRD, is on this year’s final Nebula ballot and will be expanded into a novel to be released by Dell next year.
MARTA RANDALL
Marta Randall of Oakland, California, is the author of the novels ISLANDS and JOURNEY and has short fiction upcoming in FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION and UNIVERSE. She is cur.rently at work on a sequel to JOURNEY.
HAROLD WARNER MUNN
Harold Warner Munn’s early work was published in WEIRD TALES magazine in the 1920s, and he was acquainted with many of the other WEIRD TALES authors, including H. P. Lovecraft. His works include THE WEREWOLF OF PONKERT, KING OF THE WORLD’S EDGE, SHIP FROM ATLANTIS, THE BANNER OF JOAN, MERLIN’S RING, and MERLIN’S GODSON. Forthcoming books include THIRTEEN TALES OF THE WEREWOLF CLAN, a historical novel entitled THE LOST LEGION, and a children’s book called THE BABY DRYAD.
VideoShow:
( ROOM 411 )
FRIDAY NIGHT
4:30 The Day the Earth Stood Still
6:00 Outer Space Slide Show
7:15 Rocky Jones, Space Ranger
The Pirates of Prah
8:45 Bananas
10:06 Moon Zero Two
11:45 Flesh Gordon
1:00 Video room closes
SATURDAY
8:00 1940’s Superman cartoons
9:00 Outer Space Slide Show
10:15 The Spy Who Loved Me
12:13 Salvage-1 (pilot)
2:00 King Kong (1933)
4:00 Space Patrol
Mind Pirates
4:30 Space Patrol
Alien Invasion
5:00 Live 1979 Eclipse Coverage
5:30 Moonshadow (eclipse roundup)
6:00 The Prisoner
Fall Out
6:51 Star Trek
Where no Man Has Gone Before
7:45 King Kong (1976)
10:00 Flash Gordon
Rocketship
11:45 Flesh Gordon
12:55 Video Room closes
SUNDAY
7:30 Unannounced
9:00 Hardware Wars
9:15 Barbarella
11:05 Time Machine fantasy bit
11:15 Forbidden Planet
1:00 Pink Panther Strikes Again
2:45 Hardware Wars
3:00 Nova: Space Colonization
4:00 Valley of the Gwangi
6:00 Video Room closes
Thanks to our
PROGRAM BOOK PRINTER:
Satellite Service, Inc.
COMPLETE PRINTING AND BUSINESS SERVICE
808 S.W. 151st
Seattle, Washington 98166
Phone 244–1477
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SCIENCE FICTION RARE AND NEW
PULPS PAPERBACKS HARDBACKS COMICS VINTAGE TOYS IMPORT RECORDS POSTERS
STEP OVER OUR THRESHOLD INTO YESTERDAY-
ALTERNATIVE TODAYS-
OR A MILLION TOMORROWS FROM NOW!
1511 2nd Avenue Seattle Washington 98101
(206)624–7806
…and at Norwescon 2…visit our table!]
[Photo: The Norwescon 2 executive committee photographed gathered in someone’s living room.]
THE NORWESCON EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Dixie Tourtellot Richard Wright Steve Bard Linda Hoffer Melva Lund William Warren
Jane Hawkins Shelley Dutton Jack McGillis Lauraine Miranda Gordon Erickson
(photo by Dennis Pernaa)
This program book is lovingly dedicated to our friends, the members of the Northwest Science Fiction Society, and especially to Elizabeth (Dragon Lady) Warren and Greg (Chair- man Wow) Bennett for their seemingly endless patience, support and good humor. This is all for you.
[Signatures of William R. Warren and Shelley Dutton]
NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION
Unauthorized disclosure subject to criminal sanctions.
Seacon '79
[Logo for Seacon '79, the 37th World Science Fiction Convention in Brighton, England, 23rd–27th August, 1979, with a dragon inside a seal that says “Britian is fine in '79”.]
Well, here you are, at last … NORWESCON II! Our staff and the con committee hope that you have an enjoyable time, and that you feel that our Northwest Regional Science Fiction Conven.tion is a quality product. If you have any comments or suggestions to make, please feel free to do so … after all, this type of input will help us improve future conventions.
And while we’re on the subject of future conventions, we hope by now that most of you have drawn the connection between NORWESCON and the Seattle bid to host the 39th World Science Fiction Convention in 1981. We feel that our bid is without a doubt the most substantial among those vying for the project, and conventions like this one should substantiate our claim.
NORWESCON II, like NORWESCON before it and NWC3 yet to come, are dry-run rehearsals for our Worldcon plans. The con committees overlap to such an extent that by the 1981 date, the Seattle fen will intermesh so smoothly that (I know this is going to sound like famous last words, but it’s true…) NOTHING could possibly go wrong that we couldn’t work out together. We are all very excited about the prospect. If, after seeing our committee at work on NORWESCON II, you find yourself in agreement and wish to support the Seattle World Science Fiction Convention bid, here is what you must do. That’s not, “should.” MUST.
1
You can join SEACON by sending $7.50U.S. to Tony Lewis, P.O. Box 429, Natick, MA 01760, or John Millard, 86 Broadway Ave.nue Apartment 18, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 1T4. Attending memberships are $15.00, and the supporting membership can be credited to this should you discover (joy, oh bliss!) that you can indeed attend.
2
3
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Our first time (blush) here - Seacon 1961
By F.M. Busby
The upstairs banquet hall of the Sea-Tac Hyatt House was full of naked studs. But when a place is still under construction, you can expect a few bare two-by-fours. The manager told us how it was going to look, and spelled out the deal he could give us for our WorldCon. After a little dickering, the deal shaped up a lot better.
“Seacon” wasn’t our first choice of title; it had long been held that any convention occuring on Puget Sound should have a dif.ferent name, and all our early campaigning had been for “PuCon in '61!” But the local SF group blew gaskets, so we gave in and called it Seacon.
Our Committee numbered six. Wally Weber chaired it; I did the outside liason, and everybody else did all the rest. The 19th World Science Fiction Convention had a to.tal membership of 507, with 305 attending (plus or minus four, those two numbers) and 204 at the banquet. Today, to our benefit, you can do it in Moscow, Idaho, on a region.al at short notice. But at the time, we thought we’d done pretty well.
Never before had there been a “pool.side” WorldCon, away from downtown hotels and interminable waiting for crowded ele.vators. Nor a poolside Westercon, for that matter. We were blazing new trails, and a little shaky about doing so. It worked, though.
Well, mostly it worked. Nothing’s per.fect. The very first night we realized that the coffee shop wasn’t going to be big enough; hurridly we arranged for a “coffee shop annex,” and sometimes it got into action at the right times and sometimes it didn’t. That’s fate. But for the most part, we didn’t have to dodge too many thrown rocks.
People didn’t travel as readily then as they do now, but we did attract a fair sam.pling of luminaries in the SF field. Guest of Honor Robert Heinlein, Toastmaster Harlan Ellison, Keynote Speaker Fred Pohl, for starters. Poul Anderson came and re.ceived the first of his impressive col.lection of Hugo awards, that one for “The Longest Voyage.” Algis Budrys came, even though he knew his fine novel ROGUE MOON had been aced out in the Novels category. Other notables included Bob Silverberg, Doc Smith, Alan Nourse – and one after.noon sitting in the audience at a panel I met J.F. Bone, and then didn’t see Jesse again for something like fifteen years; too long. I think he and Poul will be the only Hyatt House repeaters on Norwescon’s list of authors.
My 1961 photos also show some fans who turned pro later, such as Ted White and George Scithers. Well, me too, come to that.
I know I’m missing some folks, here; one always does. Sorry.
Since 1961 a lot of water has been pas.sed under the bridge; the SF field changes and so do cons, and what else is new? On the good side is the proliferation of re.gional Cons; on the bad is having Worldcons so big that you can be there five days and never see some of your best friends who are also there. Win some, lose some.
Our hosts here at Norwescon II are bidding for the '81 Worldcon. I’m not sure what they intend to call it, now that Brighton took the Seacon label without request or acknowledgement. In any case I am backing their play – from a safe and discreet dis.tance, of course. But the name thing in.trigues me, tweaks my curiosity.
Dare I hope – “PuCon in '81”?
AROUND THE HYATT
Our convention hotel offers many diversions for those who may momentarily wish to get away from the excitement. Chief among the attractions is Hugo’s, the hotel’s award.winning dining place. Top of the menu is their roast duck, mouth-watering, delicately sauced. Each of the other menu items is special in its own way. Hugo’s is a real dining treat, though moderately high in price. Reservations are a must.
Next door is the Bistro lounge, always nice for a quiet drink with your favorite friend. Nightly you can be entertained by the versatile Dave Holden, who “keeps 'em hopping” with all kinds of music that sounds as if played by a trio.
The coffee shop is open for feast or snack 24 hours a day. This is a great site for a late night SMOF session, an early breakfast, or a quick lunch. And the food is very good - especially recommended is the Kentucky Jack and the New York Steak dinner.
Weary after a frantic day of convention- eering? Relax your body in the free sauna, open until midnight. Or let the tiredness flow out under the competent fingers of your favorite masseuse. For the brave, take a plunge in the un-heated swimming pool.
If you need a pack of cigs, or a nice present for a new friend, try the gift shop across from the hotel desk. Frazzled? Have your hair frizzled in the beauty/barber shop.
If you have any other needs, ask the hotel desk or a member of the convention staff.
Late checkout note: Though the hotel has promised us late checkout through 6pm Sun.day, you must inform them if you intend to check out after noon on Sunday.
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A pocket history of the Northwest Science Fiction Society
TWO YEARS OF CONVOLUTIONS, CONFUSIONS, SOLUTONS, CONVENTIONS & The UNCONVENTIONAL
[Art by Bill Warren of a spaceship constructed from an asteroid near another ship flying towards a ringed planet.]
How did it happen? Where did Norwescon come from? And, who is to blame? To answer those questions, we delve into Ancient History, some two years ago.
Norwescon is sponsored by the North.west Science Fiction Society, which, itself, is unique among SF organizations in that it grew out of a bid for a World Science Fiction Convention. The Seattle bid for the 39th Worldcon was first announ.ced in late 1976, which drew the attention of a few fans in the Seattle area.
In the early days of the bid, when Dave Bray and I were helping with an odd local convention, SeaCon '76, I received a call from Jane Hawkins, who had just moved to Seattle from the East Coast. Jane inquired about organized SF fandom in the Northwest, and I found myself at a loss to cone up with much in our area except for the venerable Nameless Ones and the Puget Sound Star Trekkers. The idea was born - the Northwest needed a counterpart to both those organizations, more organ.ized than the Nameless, and more dedicated to literary science fiction than PSST.
In late January of 1977, NWSFS published its first newsletter, and since March of the same year, that newsletter hasn’t missed a month as it has grown into the WESTWIND you see today. Northwestern fandom owes a special thanks to Kipy Peyser, now assistant editor for WESTWIND, for his guidance in creating a slick fanmag out of our little newsletter.
Our convention-sponsoring experience started with Seacon '77, where we invaded an existing comic con with a full SF program provided by Dave Bray and Steve Bard, and an art show directed by Becky Bennett. Then, on to planning our first regional, Norwescon I, where Steve became the chairman of the program committee for the entire convention, Jane tock over the art show, and Becky shouldered the responsibility of being a one-woman secretarial staff, treasurer, and director of operations.
Many of our committee for Norwescon I came from people who attended Seacon '77, including our major department heads: business, Richard Wright; registration, Lauraine Miranda; and our chief huckster, Bob Doyle. It was here that we realizedthe value of the regional convention in making new friends and finding potential concom personnel, both for the growth of Norwescon and for our planned Worldcon. The other prime source for convention- experienced people was PSST, from whose ranks have come our film program chairman, Gordon Erickson; publications co-chairmen, Shelley Dutton and Bill Warren; heads of operations and security, Jack McGillis and Linda Hoffer; and the inimitable Dragon Lady, Elizabeth Warren, who runs our hospitality suite in such a delightful manner that NWSFS has become most famous for the parties it sponsors.
With Norwescon II coming upon us, we’ve found the Society providing new members for our committee just as they are needed. I net Melva Lund, who runs our Public Relations department, at Iguanacon. Computer genius Tony Pepin came on board at Norwescon I, as did our treasurer, Dixie Tourtellot, and Gofer squad leader, Judy Lorent.Thanks to Melva, Kathy Selbert now handles our press relations.
It’s hard to guess how many new faces will be on our committee next year, thanks to Norwescon II. If you’d like to be one of those faces, just volunteer. We need you and you’ll love it!
Along with its monthly newsletter, the Society’s monthly social meetings have grown to the point where it’s no longer feasible to hold them at member’s hones.But, happily, their mood hasn’t changed - the parties are bigger, and a bit more raucous at times, but they still provide a place for lovers of literary science fiction to gether, to communicate, and to have fun.
Predicting the future of NWSFS could involve speculation wilder than an Amtrak timetable, but there are some good omens: Hopeful plans include (of course) a World Science Fiction Convention, expanding WESTWIND into a more complete magazine on literary SF, a permanent meeting place (perhaps even a clubhouse!) , and most inportant of all - the continued fellowship of SF lovers as we nurture our growing organization.
This history wouldn’t be complete without an ad from our sponsor, so here it is: annual dues in the Society are only $7.00 per year, so sign up today at the Norwescon registration desk or nail your dues to NWSFS, P.O. Box 24287, Seattle, WA 98124.
[Art by Bill Warren of the Discovery spaceship from the film 2001.]
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705 Commerce
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So What’s To Do In Seattle if You’ve Already Seen"Moon Zero-2" Thirty seven Times….?….or, What To Do Instead of Programming By Anna Vargo
[Art by Bill Warren of Bigfoot standing with a walking stick in front of the Space Needle and with the Seattle skyline in the distance.]
This is a list of downtown Seattle sights to see, so the first step is getting downtown. If you have a car, head north to Seattle and turn off at signs saying Washington State Ferries and park downtown for the day. If you’re taking mass transit, call 447–4800 for the schedule, and ask the driver to tell you when you’ve reached 4th and Pike.
Walk downhill to the waterfront. The newly painted Pier 59 is the home of the Seattle Aquarium, open 10 a.m. to dusk, daily, and marine biology is stranger than science fiction It’s $2.50 for admission. If, like Jack Chalker, you can’t pass up a ferry, the ferries run 24 hours a day from the Washington State Ferry Terminal. Ferry rides are pleasant for throwing popcorn to the sea gulls, or for two hours of misty moonlight for thinking or snogging. (Call 464–6400 for schedules.)
From the water front it is uphill to the PikePlace Market, a farmers market open 9–6, Monday through Saturday. As well as the local farmers there are craftworkers with belts, jewelry, and stained glass, butchers, spice shops, fishmongers (if you didn’t go to the aquarium, here is a chance to see the eight pounds of limp obscenity called a geoduck) , and a magic shop too. There is a state liquor store along Pike Place, although wines are in most supermarkets. In the area, at 1503 First Avenue, is the Crumpet Shop, an appointment with fate to get honey on one’s face. It’s open 9:30–5, Monday to Friday, and till 5:30 on Saturday. If it’s too late for crumpets, the Kaleenka Russian Cafe is at 1933 First Avenue, with a dill- spiced borscht, pieroch with meat or cheese filling; it’s a small pleasant cafe open 10–8, Monday through Thursday, 10–10 Friday and Saturday.
You might have made reservations that morning for the underground tour of old Seattle. After the fire of 1889, the streets were raised and the old buildings build over. That number is 682–4646, tours at noon, 2 and 4, with additional tours on Saturday at 6 and 7:30 (7:30 tour — over 12 only). It’s $2 for adults, $1.25 for children?
Again, uphill on Pine to the monorail (20¢) out to the Pacific Science CenterFoundation at the Seattle Center. One regionally oriented exhibit is the volcano watch on Mt. Baker. They are also updating the eclipse shew at the planetarium to include observations from the recent solar eclipse as well as material on the upcoming lunar eclipse in September. Admission to the Science Center is $2.50 for adults, $1.00 for children. As there is limited seating one must ask for (free) tickets to the planetarium: shews are at 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 3, 4, and 5. Doors are open 10–4, 10–6 Saturday and Sunday, and the buildings close an hour later. Tickets to the top of the Space Needle for observation are $1.50 for adults, $.75 for children 12 and under, and it’s not for acrophobes. There is the Center House with small restaurants and shops, a number of other museums and a fairway, but I don’t ever stop there; I just go back downtown.
On 4th and Pike take the #10 bus (40¢ exact change) to the Seattle Art Museum in Volunteer Park (15th Ave. E. and Prospect). They hold a wide Oriental colletction as well as hosting a Nubian art exhibit. (10–5 Tues. — Sat., noon to 5 Sun.; $1.00 for adults, $.50 for children and senior citizens.)
Or, if the #11 bus (also 40¢) comes first, take it to the Arboretum. The winter garden of flowering shrubs still has some jasmines in bloom, while the bulbs and rhododendrons are starting to flower. And, if the weather continues warm, there will be flowering plums and apricots, and perhaps even flowering red currants. The Japanese tea garden is open 10–4, and maps are available outside of the information building.
Remember, new, that there is still a convention going on and get back in time for the parties.
[Ad: Saturday Matinee, the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
SPECIAL SATURDAY MATINEE SHOWING OF “THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW”
SATURDAY, MARCH 31st, 3PM, at the NEPTUNE THEATRE
NE 45th & Brooklyn NE, Seattle
TICKETS $3, AVAILABLE IN ADVANCE
From the University District Ticket Center
4315 University Way NE, Seattle, 632–7272
Or by mail from Special Event Services
Box 5599, Seattle, WA, 98105
Call 522–9392 for further information
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO RECEIVE INFORMATION ON FUTURE "ROCKY HORROR" EVENTS, SIGN UP FOR OUR MAILING LIST AT THE PUGET SOUND STAR TREKKERS' TABLE NEXT TO THE REGISTRATION DESK, OR AT THE TIME TRAVELERS TABLE IN THE DEALER ROOM.]
The Round Robin Conspiracy
Most of the attending authors at Norwescon II will be collaborating (to use the term loosely) on a chain story, or “round robin,” during Saturday and Sunday of the convention.
Guest of Honor Philip Jose' Farmer ahs written the exposition of the story prior to the convention, and our other authors will finish it (one way or another) in one-hour shift at a typewriter in the North upper lobby.
| SATURDAY | SUNDAY | |
|---|---|---|
| 9am | Dean Ing | Wilmar Shiras |
| 10am | Elizabeth A. Lynn | J.F. Bone |
| 11am | Orson Scott Card | H. Warner Munn |
| noon | John Shirley | Jesse Peel |
| 1pm | John Varley | (banquet) |
| 2 pm | Marta Randall | (banquet) |
| 3pm | F.M. Busby | (banquet) |
| 4pm | Poul Anderson | Vonda N. McIntyre |
| 5pm | Oscar Rossiter | TBD |
| 6pm | Mildred D. Broxon | Editorial Purusal |
| 8:30pm | \-\-\-\-\- | Reading & Discussion |
NOTE: While you are encouraged to quietly observe the authors at work, please do not attempt talk to them while they write. Even the most domesticated have been known to bite when aroused.
Even as the manuscript of this master.piece is exuded from the typewriter, it will be posted page by page on a bulletin board in the upper lobby for all to behold and ad.mire. The finished story will then be read aloud at 8:30pm Sunday evening (immediately following the Guest of Honor reading), com.plete with editorial comment.
Masquerade
Our gala masquerade party will commence about 8:30pm Saturday, flowing onward from the Meet-the-Authors party. Everyone is encouraged to wear a costume to the party, whether for judging or not. A no-host bar will add to the festivities.
Persons who wish to have their costume judged must pre-register at the registration desk. There will be a brief walk-through in Phoenix A at 6:30pm Saturday. Contestants may show off their costumes at the party, then there will be a judged parade about 9pm. Awards will be presented immediately afterward.
Norwescon 32 Art Show
This year’s Norwescon Art Show should not be missed. If you haven’t been to a good SF Art Show, you are in for a treat. The best part is that most of the art is for sale. Nowhere but an SF convention art show can you hope to carry home original art for such modest prices.
There are three ways to buy art. First, sketch table art is sold for a flat rate. Pay your money and you can take it with you immediately. Secondly, regular art show items have bid sheets beside them. If you want one of these, write your name and a bid greater than the minimum bid. If you’re lucky, no one will outbid you and the piece will be yours.
The third way to buy art at a conven.tion is the voice auction. Any piece of art with multiple bids will be auctioned off. Even if you don’t want any art, you should go to the auction. It’s fun to watch bidders agonizing and re-counting their money as they try to decide how much they can spend.
So, come to the art show and come to the auction! You’ll enjoy yourself.
SPONTANEOUS art contest
At strategic locations around the hotel you will find “canvases” to doodle on.
RULES:
- Paint or draw any kind of SF or fantasy art, cartooning or grafitti.
- Finished art will be sold at the final art auction with pro.ceeds to go to the Seattle in '81 bid.
- A winner will be selected to receive a free membership to Nor.wescon III.
NOTE: Murals painted on the hotel walls will be judged by the hotel security staff.
[Art by Vicki Poyser of a bearded wizard with tall hat reading from a large tome.]
[Ad: Even the planets are lining up for Seattle in 1981, over art of planets lined up behind the Space Needle.]
RESTAURANTS NEAR THE HYATT ON PACIFIC HIGHWAY SOUTH:
VIP’s Restaurant (across the street)
South of the Border (1/10 mile south)
Holiday Inn; coffee shop, lounge and restaurant (2/10 mile south)
13 Coins; restaurant and lounge (6/10 mile south)
Gregory’s; restaurant and disco (7/10 mile south)
My Place; topless tavern and cardroom (8/10 mile south)
Red Lion Motor Inn; restaurant, coffee shop and lounge (9/10 mile south)
Denny’s; restaurant and lounge (9/10 mile south)
GROCERIES – LIBATIONS:
*Stop n Go Grocery (across the street)
State Liquor Store (9/10 mile south, behind Denny’s)
Sea-Tac Beverage (9/10 mile south, benhind Denny’s)
Tradewell (6/10 mile north)
G. O. Guy Drugs (6/10 mile north)
* open 24 hours
FAST FOODS:
Pizza Hut (9/10 mile south)
*Jack in the Box (1 mile south)
Taco Time (6/10 mile north)
Just a Burger (6/10 mile north)
HANDY PHONE LIST
King County Sheriff’s Department: 344–4080
Fire Department: 242–1919
Aid Car: 242–1919
Poison Control Center: 634–5252
Crisis Clinic: 325–5550
Metro Transit Rider Information: 447–4800
Seattle Public Library Quick Information Center: 625–2665
Time: 844–1111
Pacific Science Center: 624–3724
KZOK Radio Entertainment Guideline: 223–3944
UFO Reporting Center: 722–3000
Whale Reporting Center: 1–800–562–8832
Dial a Story: 625–4858
Dial a Prayer: 325–4445
Dial a Meditation: 624–8985
[Ad: Four Ups Restaurant. Serving breakfast anytime, lunch and dinner, family style dining. Their steaks and seafood are delicious — hickory bar-b-que too! Suns–Thurs 6 a.m.–11 p.m., Fri. & Sat. open 24 hrs. 19204 Pacific Hwy. S. 878–7191]
[Ad: VIP’s Restaurant. Right across the street from the Hyatt House. Open 24 hours.]
[Ad: South China Doll Restaurant. 19222 Pacific Highway South, Seattle, Washington 98188, 824–2340. For your luncheon and dining pleasure. Hours: Monday–Thursday 11 a.m.–2 a.m., Friday 11 a.m.–3 a.m., Saturday 3 p.m.–3 a.m., Sunday 3 p.m.–11 a.m.]
[Ad: Just-A-Burger, 15859 Pacific Highway South, 248–2250. Hours 11 a.m.–11 p.m. daily.]
CRITICAL NUCLEAR WEAPON DESIGN INFORMATION
[Ad: Stardance audiovibratory generation electronics and peripherals graciously provided by Speakerlab. Puget Sound’s original speaker stores, specializing in raw speakers, speaker kits, speaker repair and accessories. Also fine electronics by names such as Thorens, Sansul, LUX, Audio-Technica, B-I-C, JVC, Shure, AR, Connoiseur, dbx, SGW, Marantz and Stanton. Many thanks!]
films
(continued from page 4)
SUNDAY
10:00 Menagerie
12:00 The Crab Nebula
1:00 Film room closed until 4:00
4:00 The Mystery of Stonehenge
5:00 Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter
7:00 Phantom of the Paradise
Superb satire of both rock music and horror films, incorporating three classic horror themes: Faust, Phantom of the Opera and the Pic.ture of Dorian Gray. Pock Mogul Swan (Paul Williams) steals the music of struggling composer Wins.low Leach (Bill Finley) and has him framed. Winslow tries to avenge himself but is disfigured in a re.cord press and returns as the Phantom. Written and directed by Brian De Palma (Carrie).
9:00 Film room closes.
[Ad: Art by Victoria Poyser of a woman wearing jeweled arm bands with fancy birds perched on her hand and shoulder.
Feathers and Swirls by Victoria Poyser. Limited edition of 100. Prints available for $4.00 in the Norwescon art room, or by mail from: 503 S. Sawyer, Olympia, WA 98501.]
NORWESCON II…Members…
(as of 3/7/79)
[Membership list redacted here]
[Ad: JOIN US NOW!
FOR THE NEXT V-CON
V-Con 7 logo with text that says I’m committed to V-Con 7.
VANCOUVER FANDOM IS DELIGHTED ONCE AGAIN TO BE ATTENDING NORWESCON. OUR COMMITTEE FOR THIS YEAR’S V-CON IS OFFERING A SPECIAL EXTENSION OF OUR ADVANCE REGISTRATION COST TO NORWESCON MEMBERS. THE PRICE CHANGED TO $8.00 AS OF MARCH 18, HOWEVER YOU MAY RECEIVE YOUR MEMBERSHIP FOR ONLY $6.00 SIMPLY BY ASKING ANY OF OUR COMMITTEE MEMBERS (IDENTIFIED BY THE BADGE AT LEFT) WHO ARE ATTENDING NORWESCON.
GUEST OF HONOR Jack Vance
TOASTMASTER Frank Herbert
MAY 25–27, 1979
GAGE CONVENTION CENTRE, UBC
(IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT YOU CAN’T FIND ANY OF US, MEMBERSHIPS AND INFORMATION MAY STILL BE OBTAINED BY WRITING: V-CON, P.O. BOX 48701, BENTALL STATION, VANCOUVER, B.C. V7X 1A6. PRICE IS $8.00 AFTER NORWESCON.)]
FANNISH I.Q. TEST
DEVELOPED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF POLAND
DIRECTIONS: DEFINE THE FOLLOWING:
[Grid of 29 boxes with word puzzles.]
SCORING:
ALL CORRECT = SMOF
28 CORRECT = TRUEFAN
27 CORRECT = READER
26 CORRECT = MENTAL DEFECTIVE
25 CORRECT = MUNDANE
LESS THAN 25 = DECEASED
NOTE: ANSWERS AVAILABLE IN HOSPITALITY SUITE
DISCUSSION GROUPS
For the convenience of special interest groups, we have provided a “circle of chairs of one’s own” at the South end of the upper lobby wherein you may “lobby” as you will for that particular passion.
As this is intended only as a focal point for folks with common interests to meet and share, no further organization or mod.eration has been provided. In other words, you are on your own …
Where timeslots in the following schedule are marked “TBD,” (to be determined), invent your own topic and add it to the master schedule in the upper lobby.
FRIDAY
8am - 2pm TBD
2pm Video tape
3pm Book collecting
4pm Home Computers
5pm - 8pm Filk Songs
9pm - 11pm TBD
llpm Fooling around*
SATURDAY
8am - 10am TBD
10am Darkover
11am SF Films
noon Works of P.J. Farmer
1pm Herbangelism
2pm Wargaming
3pm S.C.A.
4pm Costuming
5pm Art Collecting
6pm Warrior Women
7pm Rocky Horror
8pm Star Wars
9pm TBD
10pm Filk Songs
llpm Fooling around*
SUNDAY
8am TBD
9am Future Weaponry
10am Home Computers
11am TBD
noon Fanzine Production
lpm Mind Control
2pm Star Trek
3pm Video Tape
4pm Book Collecting
5pm - 9pm TBD
9pm Seattle in '81
10pm Filk Songs
llpm Fooling Around*
*consenting adults
We gratefully acknowledge the invaluable time, effort and help of the many people without whom this convention would not be possible. Among those we wish to thank are:
Paul Kline & Pat Daley of Speakerlab Photo and Sound
Barbara Campbell, Catering, the Airport Hyatt House Satellite Services
John Shirley and the Monitors
N.A.S.A.
King County Library System
Al Betz
Seattle Convention Bureau
Greg McDonald
The British Columbia Science Fiction Association
Kipy and Vicki Poyser
The Puget Sound Star Trekkers
Fred Niederman
Susan Allison, Ace Books
We also express our gratitude for the heartwarming support given us by authors, artists, panelists and volunteers on this, our second Northwest Science Fiction Convention.
NORWESCON 2 IS SPONSORED BY THE NORTHWEST SCIENCE FICTION SOCIETY
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[Continuation of the front cover artwork.]