Westwind #30 July 1979
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WESTWIND July 1979 No. 30
[Photo of the Red Lion hotel as seen from across the lake.]
Special Issue: Seattle In 1981 Progress Report
[Ad: Science Fiction, New & Rare pulps, paperbacks, hardbacks & etc., comics, vintage toys, import records, posters. Time Travelers. [REDACTED] Seattle, WA 98101 Tel. [REDACTED] Monday–Saturday 10 to 6]
CONTENTS
ConCom 4
Red Lion Inn: An Ideal Facility 6
So What’s to Do in Seattle if You've Already Seen “Moon Zero-2” Thirty Seven Times? by Anna Vargo 8
The Great Nuts and Berries Scandal by Greg Bennett 9
Name the CONtest 12
Portfolio of Seattle in 81 Advertising 13
Inverted Flight by Greg Bennett 18
A Different Kind of Pollution 19
Cinemaa by Dennis Pernaa 20
Serpent’s Tooth by Jon Gustafson 21
Meetings 23
Directory by Kipy Poyser 24
Our First Time Here…Seacon 1961 by F.M. Busby 25
Advertisers
Time Travelers 2
F.A.N. 4
Gemini 5
Noncon 17
Escape Velocity 20
Orycon 21
Sample Bookshop 22
Moscon 23
Heritage 24
Norwescon 2.5 26
Norwescon 3 26
Golden Age Collectables 27
Horizon Books 28
WESTWIND - Number 30, July 1979 Contents copyright (c) 1979 by Gregory R. Bennett, for the contributors. Westwind, the newszine of the Northwest Science Fiction Society, is mailed monthly to all members. Annual dues $7 to NWSFS [REDACTED], Seattle, WA 98124.
Editors: Greg Bennett and Kipy Poyser. Layout: Kipy Poyser, Greg Bennett, Michael Brocha and Melva Lund. Printing: Michael Brocha. Mailing: Cliff Wind. Computer Support: Tony Pepin. Production: Olympia Chapter, NWSFS.
ADVERTISING: Page-$15, 1/2-$8, 1/4-$5. Deadline: 10th of preceding month. Circulation: average 300/issue.
The Cover
The Red Lion Inn, the “Seattle in 81” site choice for the 39th World Science Fiction Convention.
Art Credits
Bill Warren 2 8, 9, 12 13—16, 18, 19
John Barnes 26
Victoria Poyser 26
PRESUPPORTING MEMBERSHIPS
SEATTLE IN 1981
39th World Science Fiction Convention
Help Seattle bring you another Great Moment in science fiction– the 39th Worldcon.
Presupporting members get a “Seattle in 1981” button (Bill Warren art) and publications such as this one.
NOTE: If you’re already a pre-supporting member and haven’t received a button, write Lauraine Miranda, c/o NWSFS, P0 Box [REDACTED], Seattle, Washington 98124.
[Bigfoot leaning on a walking state.]
Make checks or money orders payable to Northwest Conversion Fandom.
Hey, Seattle! I want my fair Share of Great Moments!
Enclosed Is $1.00. SIGN ME UP!
NAME
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CONCOM:CORPORATE STRUCTURE OF THE SEATTLE WORLDCON
The bid for the 39th World Science Fiction Convention in Seattle in 1981 is sponsored by the Northwest Science Fiction Society. However, should we win the bid, the Worldcon will be a separate corporation in the organizational tree of Northwestern fandom.
The Northwest Science Fiction Society is a unit of an umbrella corporation, SF Northwest. It has its own subsidiary groups, which include its local chapters and a production company, FutureLove Productions.
SF Northwest’s other unit is a corporation named Northwest Convention Fandom. NWCF is actually responsible for conducting the bid for the 35th Worldcon, and funding for the Seattle bid comes from its treasury. NWCF has as its subsidiaries our Northwest annual regional SF convention, Norwescon, and our relaxacon, Norwescon X.5. If Seattle wins the bid for the 39th Worldcon, that convention will also become a subsidiary of SF Northwest, enjoying all the advantages of non-profit status and tax exemption of its parent.
The officers of the Northwest Science Fiction Society are elected by the NWSFS membership, and appoint the various committee heads within NWSFS. They also appoint the Executive Committee of Northwest Convention fandom and its subsidiary conventions, and serve as the officers of SF Northwest.
These committees work closely together and are very open to new inputs from new members. With all that’s going on in NWSFS-sponsored events, you will surely find lots of opportunities to vent your fannish creativity in the Northwest Science Fiction Society and the 1981 Worldcon.
Since 1976, the Seattle committee has been doing their homework in preparation for the 1981 World Science Fiction Convention. All but one member of the top three levels of our committee have hands-on working experience in past Worldcons, and we have been gatheringdata on programming and facilities requirements by investigating those Worldcons and larger regionals.
We’ve tested our committee structure at our own regionals, and are fine-tuning the organization to best serve you.
Their are six major departments in addition to the Executive: Business, Registration, Publications, Operations, Programming, and Public Relations.
The Business department is responsible for handling all the legal and financial work of the convention. They manage the budget and the books, take care of contract negotiation and compliance, and handle the legal papers such as filing Articles of Incorporation and securing licenses.
[Ad: [Fantasy Artists Network logo]
[REDACTED]
SHERMAN OAKS, CA
91413
Fantasy Artists Network, an organization dedicated to communication between artists in the SF&F field. Beginners, pros, collectors and admirers of fannish art are all invited to join. Fantasy, the network's quarterly zine, provides a forum and showcase in which to exchange ideas, concerns and artwork.
$4.00 membership includes 4 issues of Fantasy.
Name
Address]
The Registration department is your first contact with the committee - they will log you onto the membership rolls and keep track of you during the years to come. They also provide membership information services, and are responsible for maintaining the computer files andsoftware to support the rest of the committee’s needs for mailing labels and membership data.
The Publications department produces our progress reports, flyers, newsletter, stationery, and other printed matter from the committee. They will be the folks you talk to when you want to purchase advertising in publications from the convention.
Operations runs the convention services, security, gofers, and stage management crew. They are responsible for set-up and tear-down at the various programming items during the convention. The Operations staff interface with the hotel’s maintainance and facilities crew to ensure that the convention runs on time and that all the properties are available for the program when and where they’re needed.
The Programming department takes care of planning all the phases of programming at our conventions. In addition to the regular array of panelsand discussion groups, the Programming department has several sub-committees which are responsible for the Art Show, Huckster Room, Film Program, Banquet, Awards Ceremonies, Video Program, and so on. In this way, we ensure that all these functions work together in the time and space available to allow you to enjoy the convention with a minimum of hassles from an uncoordinated program.
Public Relations has several functions, all of which relate to dealing with the attending fans and the mundane public in general. They handle advertising the convention, information services before and at the con, press relations, and similar services.
With a committee experienced in working together on our regional conventions, and with experience in working on past Worldcons, we’re sure we can bring you the kind of World Science Fiction Convention you want in Seattle in 1981!
[Ad: Gemini Book Exchange & Comic Center. Just off Roxbury on 16th in White Center. Large modern store. Books, new, used, comics. Over 45,000 paperbacks & 20,000 collector comics. Specializing in science fiction & fantasy. Buy, sell, trade. [REDACTED]
Here’s what the Seattle’s Super Shopper says about the Gemini Book Exchange: “No dusty bins or rickety shelves here! This used bookstore stands out compared to many, because it is a spacious, new looking, modern, clean shop.”
We have perhaps 8,000 science fiction & fantasy books arranged alphabetically by author and title. Many of our buyers say that we have the largest supply of used science fiction and fantasy in the Seattle area?
We exchange SF books on a one-to-one basis, sometimes two-for-one plus 10¢, for equivalent trades, depending on the quantity and condition, supply and demand. We believe that our cash purchase prices are as high or higher, than most of the other stores around Seattle.
The store is located just south of the Seattle City limits (SW Roxbury St.), in White Center………. sandwiched by West Seattle, Burien and South Park. We have free parking spots in the rear of the store.
There are two Metro bus routes from Seattle’s downtown area, with nearby stops. Take the #20 or the #136 bus. If you are driving, and don’t know the area, call us. The area is awkward to reach, traveling from the west. Our hours are from 10:30 AM to 5:30 PM Tue. thru Fri.]
RED LION INN SEA TAC: an Ideal Facility
[Red Lion Inn logo]
The Seattle in 1981 committee is currently holding all meeting space at the Red Lion Hotel in Seattle. In addition, we are holding meeting space at several other hotels on the airport strip which we may use should the need arise. However, we currently do not forecast a need for meeting space outside the Red Lion.
HUCKSTER ROOM: Typically, Worldcons have allocated a lot more space to the huckster room than we are planning. The result has been cavernous huckster rooms with more dealers than the Worldcon attendance can properly support. We have found, by observing the huckster room traffic at several regionals and the past three Worldcons, that the “ideal” number of attending fans per huckster table lies between 30 for a regional convention (where the huckster room is open for two or two and half days), and 60 for a Worldcon (where the hucksters are selling for five or six days).
ART SHOW: Art shows seem to be the one to suffer when the committee runs out of large meeting rooms. They often wind up in an unwieldy arrangement of small rooms, or tucked into a dimly-lit, low-ceiling room with garish appurtenances. Rather than subject our art show to such indignities, our art show director has elected to hold the art show all in one room, with one section of the show partitioned off (with a separate entrance) used as an art huckster room.
BIG EVENTS: Studying the crowd patterns of the past three Worldcons reveals that the two big events - the masquerade and the Hugo Awards - are attended by approximately 40 - 50% of the attending membership of the convention. Based on this statistic, theUniverse Ballroom of the Red Lion should be more than adequate for the 1981 Worldcon.
WORLDCON ATTENDANCE: One of the most interesting statistics about the World Science Fiction Convention is the number of people who attend the conventions after they are over. This must be the explanation of how the attendance figures for the four past U.S. Worldcons have grown so dramatically since they closed their registration tables at the end of the convention.
Listed below are the best figures we have been able to determine for actual attendance at the past four Worldcons held in the United States. Except for the figure for Iguanacon, these are the attending, rather than total, memberships. Listed after each attendance figure is the popularly-quoted attendance for that convention. The next number, in square brackets, is the attendance figure being broadcast by a group of fans who are currently attempting to make a case for a professional Worldcon committee.
DISCON | 3600 | (4400) | [5000] |
---|---|---|---|
MIDAMERICON | 2600 | (2800) | [2500] |
SUNCON | 1800 | (2000) | [2000] |
IGUANACON | 4600* *total membership |
(5000) | [7000] |
Based on the above figures, and taking into consideration the advertising methods used by the larger of these Worldcons (DISCON and IGUANACON), our current working estimate of 4500 for the maximum size of the Seattle Worldcon may actually be quite high. However, our current plans allow for the expansion of Worldcon attendance to go that high.
[Map of the Red Lion Inn showing ballrooms, meeting rooms, and other features.]
We have already gone through the process of determining a tentative allocation of facilities for the Red Lion at the 1981 Worldcon. Here is the plan, as it stands today, as shown in the hotel diagram above:
The UNIVERSE BALLROOM will house the first three tracks of the main program, as well as the masquerade and awards banquet. Two of the rooms of the GALAXY BALLROOM will house the Art Show, and the third will house the Film Program. In addition to the the celluloid, we will have a continuous video program broadcast throughout the hotel to guest rooms and to strategically-located monitors in lounges, offices, and meeting rooms.
The MERCURY rooms will house the Trivia Bowl, a special room for techhies and space enthusiasts, and the esoteric small functions. These rooms will also serve for larger meetings, our print shop, a Neofan room, wargamers, computer enthusiasts, storage, the Green Room, and the convention committee offices.
An additional small office is located near the Galaxy Ballroom for the stage manager and Information Booth.
The APOLLO rooms will be used for discussion groups, small panels, workshops, smaller meetings, the Blood Room, and the Treasury.
Our Meet-the-Pros Party will be held in the courtyard between the Galaxy and Universe Ballrooms.
One of the Red Lion’s Presidential Suites will serve as the Con Suite, and additional hotel guest rooms will be used for such closed-area functions as voting and auction administration. The Program staff will be in a strategically-located guest room above the committee offices, with Photo Services headquarters next door. The Transportation Committee will use a guest room in the wings, located next to a convenient drive-thru underpass for maximum convenience.
Babysitting services will be located in guest rooms in the wings, away from the hectic pace of the main convention facilities.
The Red Lion is built with convenient alcoves for our Registration tables right in the main lobby. These alcoves are located a short distance from our Treasury Room, so that handling the ongoing business of the convention should be accomplished with a minimum of hassles and gofer transit time.
Hucksters will find a happy home in the SATURN ROOMS, which open up into two large rooms with a central hallway.
So What’s To Do In Seattle if You’ve Already Seen"Moon Zero-2" Fifty seven Times…?….or, What To Do Instead of Programming
By Anna Vargo
[Drawing of Bigfoot standing and leaning on a walking stick in front of the Space Needle, the Seattle skyline, and Mt. Rainier 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 waterfront 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 Crunpet 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 oldSeattle. 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 Center Foundation 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: shows 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, now, that there is still a convention going on and get back in time for the parties.
The Great Nuts & Berries Scandal
[Ad: There is no truth to the rumor that Seattle would be a pad place to hold the World Science Fiction Convention in 1981 because there’s bigfoots in the basement. ¶ You see, in 1889, Seattle had a fire so big, it made the little thingie that Mrs. O’Leary’s cow started in Chicago look like a weenie roast. They decided to clean up the mess by burying the old city and starting again, from the ground up. ¶ Well, somebody’s been spreading stories that there’s a race of troglodyte inhabitants in the famous Seattle Underground who come out at night to forage for nuts and berries, and that they are responsible for the numerous Sasquatch sightings of late. ¶ They’re probably spreading these rumors because they dan’t find anything else negatory to say about Seattle’s bid…with a better-than-adequate site reserved, con-committee experience on no less than eleven previous Worldcons at this writing…and we do not have Bigfoots in the basement! ¶ But we do have a good convention in planning. Write to: Worldcon Seattle 1981, [REDACTED], Kirkland, Washington 98033 for more information. SASE’s are nice. ¶ Pre-supporting memberships $1.00 or 6,000 lbs. of nuts and berries.]
Our mischevious Bigfoots first made their basement-haunting debut when we published the ad for SEATTLE IN 1981 shown above in Iguanacon’s fourth Progress Report. We little expected at that time that Bill Warren’s creative genius would lead to one of the greatest fannish hoaxes in history!
After vehemently denying that we in Seattle have any problem with Bigfoots living in our famous underground city, we humbly suggested that fans might send three tons of nuts and berries in lieu of the customary $1.00 for a pre-supporting membership in our Worldcon bid.
That seemed like a safe bet - at theprices of nuts and berries these days, we doubted that anyone would consider taking us up on the offer, so we sent this ad off to Phoenix with the assumption that we would have to look elsewhere for the goodies we need to placate our furry friends.
This ad drew more response than any other that we’ve published. One fan wrote to ask, “What are you going to do with six thousand pounds of nuts and fruits … throw a Worldcon?” Another Louisiana fan offered to ship us a truck full of pecans (which never showed up, much to our chairman’s disappointment - he’s addicted to pecan pie). But theultimate in calling our bluff came with this letter and the accompanying documentation from Bjorn Vermo and the the Aniara Science Fiction Club in Norway.
The Committee for Seattle in 1981 Oslo 1978–08–08
Dear Fen, you are now about to learn that one fannish idea may easily lead to another. We have read your advertisements in the Iguanacon progress reports with interest. As we are starting to attend Worldcons, we might as well partaxe of the selection, too. As Seattle is more easily reached from here than many other places in the U.S., nothing speaks against it as a convention site from our point of wiew. And those furry friends looked rather interesting - so the following 10 of us will join you as presupporting members:
Johannes Berg
Oystein Sorensen
Gunnar Norby
Bjorn Vermo
Trond Jansen
Oyvind Myhre
Torun Myhre
Per G Olsen
Hans Christian Nilsen
+ one more at the clubs discretion.I must add that what made us decide to join was a little brainstorm on my side concerning your terms of payment.
Of course, I easily value a membersnip with you at 6000lbs of nuts and berries. However, at the current price level that is equivalent to quite a lot of the local currency. Then I remembered something told me by my maternal uncle. It appears that when the Russian Steam Roller forcibly de-nazified the northmost part of Norway in the winter of '45, they were rather short of supplies. In fact, a not unimportant part of the food the Red Army supplied the starved Norwegian civilians with was dried blueberries from which a reportedly quite nourishing soup was made. After the German capitulation, however, the Russians retired, leaving some of their exotic supplies behind. The situation of the populace rapidly improved, and the dried berries were stored in ex-german bunkers together with some other non-perishable foods on behalf of the Norwegian Civil Defence for use in an eventual future crisis.
Now, during the years, the Civil Defence has become a little better equipped to cope with whatever might come our way, and the old bunkers have been sold to a major Norwegian company in the explosives business for use as storage space.
For some reason, nobody believed the dried blueberries stored there to be of any value. The same applies to some 1950 wintage hazelnuts. They were, in fact, willing to pay in order to nave the stuff removed! (Or, to be quite formalistic, the price we had to pay was lower than the sum of our allowance pr kg for transporting the stuff away, the discount and the bonus for cleaning the place out.) The next problem was getting the stuff to you. But then a friend who is well versed with business solved that. He pointed out that in international trade it is the documents of ownership that are exchanged for money, not the goods themselves. Obviously, you will want the nuts and berries in Seattle, but that is actually your problem. To help you with the technicalities, however - not to mention that we had no place to store more than 20 tons of non-weatherproof goods - we have arranged to have all of it sent to you.
Our terms, of course, are FOB Oslo - and we had quite a job just getting it down to the harbour - but I’m convinced that you’ll find the merchandise worth the freight and insurance. By the way, we had it insured at todays market walue for similar new goods, so if the ship sinks we feel entitled to a persentage of the profits.
You will probably have to go through some red tape in order to get the nuts and berries ashore in your end, but I send you enclosed some papers so that you can be prepared in time.
You will have to pay freight and insuranee in order to take possession of the merchandise, and it is advisable to do that immediately upon arrival, as they will be liable to charge you per diem for storage. The blueberries ar in some shoddy cardboard boxes of 1kg each, packed 12 to a somewhat fragile snipping case (Remember - they are OLD). The nuts are in a container. The container and the pallets for the berries are rented.
We will send you the Through Bill of Lading as soon as we receive it - that is the document which which entitles you to take possession of the goods. In the meantime we enclose the Bill of Lading for the first leg of the transport.
With all the best wishes (and good appetite to your pets)
Worldcon subcomittee
ANIARA Science Fiction Club
Postboks 93 Blindern
OSLO 3 NorwayBjorn Vermo
[Photo of a receipt from Dyno Industrier A.S. for several thousand pounds of dried Russian blueberries and Norwegian hazelnuts.]
Our first reaction, of couse, was not to take the letter seriously. We did enroll Bjorn and friends as PSM’s, though, since the entertainment we had in reading his letter in the middle of one of our more intense planning sessions was worth far more to us than the ten dollars we would have received for those presupporting memberships.
But, then, we did some checking… The Bohemund was a real ship, owned by the Fred Olson lines. It did, indeed, dock in Hamburg on the correct dates, and cargo matching the description of the crates in the Bill of Lading was transferred to the California Star bound for Seattle.
Still, most of us were skeptical; until we met Bjorn at Iguanacon and suffered through five days of his incredible deadpan about the whole scheme. Bjorn was relentless, telling the story in painful detail of how difficult itwas to organize the bodies they needed to move those ancient blueberries and hazelnuts from their cache.
[Photo of a bill of lading for Fred Olsen lines for a 40-foot container of nuts and 19 pallets of blueberries, shipping on the California Star from Hamburg to Seattle.]
[Photo of export paperwork from Dyno Industrier A.S. for the nuts and berries.]
We started making plans - blueberry wine, blueberry soup, hazelnut bread. Our resident gourment cook, Cliff Wind, took great delight in coming up with exotic recipes which might be used to consume thirty tons of nuts and berries.
While we were sweating away in the fair city of Phoenix (both from the heat and from Bjorn’s ceaseless deadpan), the California Star was steaming her way through the Panama Canal. The Bigfoots back home, who had gotten wind of the scandal, were slavering with eager anticipation. (Bigfoots are not known for being picky eaters - we’ve often speculated that they are the true source of that picnic basket-thieving denizen of Jellystone Park, Yogi Bear.)
The first weekend after Iguanacon, the California Star made her way from the Pacific through the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and docked alongside the largest cargo cranes at the Port of Seattle’s freight facilities.
[Photo of the California Star at its dock.]
New plans were made. We would arrange for our cargo to be stored in a Seattle warehouse until we could figure out what to do with it, and how to pay for shipping and storage. The crates alone would be worth more than the shipping fees - they were, after all, World War II museum pieces. Or, perhaps, we should just ignore the shipment. Then, the nuts and berries would become the property of the Port of Seattle, andthe problem of dealing with a horde of hungry Bigfoots would fall into the capable hands of the city fathers.
An envoy was sent down to the freight office with the Bill of Lading. Yes, it appeared to be genuine. No, we can’t be sure until the ship has docked and gone through customs inspection. The Bill of Lading wasn’t in the dockmaster’s book, but… there’s a page missing.
So, on September 11, 1978, about a dozen members of the Northwest Science Fiction Society met the California Star at its dock. We were prepared with all the excuses: unsolicited merchandise, it wasn’t our fault, we can’t afford to pay the shipping charges… But, when the crates were all unloaded, the nuts and berries were nowhere to be found.
The mystery of the disappearance of thirty tons of Norwegian blueberries and hazelnuts has yet to be solved, but we’ve uncovered some rumors… trouble aboard ship while passing the San Juan Islands; furry creatures in the shipmates' dreams coming aboard from floating logs; and the Bigfoots weren’t seen in Seattle for months afterwards.
We have yet to consult with King Bigfoot about the issue, since he has refused to grant us an audience since the night before the fateful arrival of the California Star. But, if while you are hiking through the North Cascades on your vacation here just before the 1981 Worldcon, you happen to detect the aroma of hazelnut bread, or if you find an inebriated sasquatch with the taint of blueberry wine on his breath, you’ll know.
[Cartoon of Bigfoot with his head in his hands, thinking, ‘Well, hell, how come nobody’s asking me what I think about all this?’]
Name The CONtest
[Drawing by Bill Warren of a bigfoot wearing a Greek kilt holding the Space Needlie like a javelin, next to the word ‘Olympicon’ with the first ‘O’ as one of the five Olympic logo rings.]
The first Worldcon to be held in Seattle in 1961 was called “Seacon”. Now, twenty years later, we’re faced with the puzzle of what nickname to choose for our Worldcon.
Historically, subsequent Worldcons held in the same city repeat the name of the first, but we have found ourselves in a unique situation: the convention where the balloting will be done for the 1981 Worldcon has already taken the name “Seacon”. In order to avoid confusion, we want to avoid using that name for the 39th Worldcon.
So, we’ve decided to run a contest to name the 39th World Science Fiction Convention if it’s held in Seattle.
The reward: a full membership in our Worldcon will go to the first fan who suggests the name we decide on.
The illo by Bill Warren suggests one of the most popular names that has come up so far, “Olympicon”. That name reflects not only the fantasy aspects of Greek mythology, but also will remind fans of the view of the beautiful Olympic Mountains that fans who stay on the west side of the Red Lion will have.
Can you do better? Send your suggestions to Seattle in 1981, C/0 Northwest Science Fiction Society, P.O. Box [REDACTED], Seattle, WA 98124.
Portfolio of Seattle in 1981 Advertising
[Art by Bill Warren of Bill, sitting cross-legged and floating above the ground, holding a sketchbook in one hand, a pen in the other, and a pencil in his mouth, surrounded by floating art supplies and a sign saying ‘Caution: Science fiction artist at work’.]
One of the outstanding characteristics of the Seattle bid for the 1981 World Science Fiction Convention has been the entertaining quality of our advertising. For this we owe a great debt of thanks to the artist who is responsible for executing most of these ads, William Warren.
Bill Warren’s incredible versatility and outrageous imagination has provided us with an attention-getting thematic ad campaign that has never failed to draw praise from fandom each time another of his works appeared.
Seattle in 1981 advertising has followed three major themes of artwork since the first ad appeared in Suncon’s fourth progress report. First, there is the ubiquitous Space Needle, that 600-foot monument to the future which was originally built for the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle.
Next came the bigfoots, King Bigfoot and La Contessa di Sasquatch, who seem to take a dim view of the idea of importing sf fans from all over the world to their quiet stomping grounds behind theEvergreen Curtain.
Finally, our artistic ads reached their peak with Warren’s incomparable “Great Moments in Science Fiction” series, which featured some of the most memorable scenes from both the literary and media facets of science fiction. But, always, somewhere in the picture was Seattle’s proud symbol, the Space Needle.
The bigfoots theme, with its offer of a presupporting membership in SEATTLE IN 1981 in exchange for three tons of nuts and berries, led to some surprising results. You can read all about it in “The Great Nuts and Berries Scandal” article, beginning on page 9 in this issue of Westwind.
This portfolio of SEATTLE IN 1981 advertising is provided so that those of you who have enjoyed these themes so much during the past three years can have another look at the ad campaign that is leading to one of the greatest moments in science fiction of all–the 39th World Science Fiction Convention in Seattle in 1981!
[The Space Needle in the center of the Death Star vertical shaft as stormtroopers fire at Luke and Leia.]
[Alex from A Clockwork Orange holding the Space Needle like a knife.]
[Jane Fonda from Barbarella wearing the Space Needle as a necklace.]
[Klaatu and Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still, with Klaatu gesturing while holding the Space Needle.]
[The Statue of Liberty from the end of Planet of the Apes, hodling the Space Needle aloft instead of her torch.]
[Bigfoot holding the Space Needle over one shoulder, as a female bigfoot stands looking over one shoulder and saying, ‘Still think Seattle doesn’t have Bigfoots in its basements?’]
[Jack Holloway, surrounded by Little Fuzzies, holding the Space Needle.]
[The creature from Forbidden Planet flanked by two Space Needles.]
[From the film 2001, five space suited astronauts look into an excavation on the Moon with the Space Needle at the bottom.]
[Paul Maud D’ib summons a sandworm with a thumper shaped like the Space Needle.]
[A TIE fighter over the Death Star blasts at an X-Wing with Space Needles on the tips of its wings.]
[A space suited figure walks around the circular ring of the Discovery One from the film 2001, but the Space Needle is at the hub of the ring.]
[A half-completed sketch of Bigfoot on top of the Space Needle, flicking at small UFOs buzzing around him, and saying, ‘I ain’t no gorilla, Bennett’.]
Not all Great Moments were accorded equal treatment. Our illustrious chairman Greg Bennett, on a suggestion from Ross Pavlac, asked Bill Warren to depict King Kong atop the Space Needle batting down airplanes. Bill was reluctant to do the piece, and was even more reluctant when Greg insisted that instead of King Kong he use King Bigfoot fighting flying saucers. Bill did a couple of quick sketches to demonstrate his disdain for the idea, but Greg pilfered one and published it in NWSFS newsletter #13 Westwind’s predecessor).
[Ad: [A cat wearing a suit jacket with its arms crossed on top of a brick wall.]
WE HAVE SOMETHING HAPPENING-A GREAT TIME!
NONCON II
Pro GoH:GORDON R. DICKSON
Fan GoH:ELI COHEN
PUN CONTEST - WARGAMING - HUCKSTERS' ROOM - PANELS - FILMS COSTUME BACCHANAL - BANQUET - COMICS PROGRAMMING - BLOG THE FAMOUS DEAD CAT PARTY - SHORT STORY WORKSHOP - TRIVIA QUIZ ART SHOW AND AUCTION - PLUS MUCH MORE!
OCTOBER 5,6,7,1979, at the EDMONTON INN, Edmonton, Alberta
Memberships $8 each till Sept/79, $10 thereafter
Children 12 years and under 1/2 price
For further information, contact NonCon, Box [REDACTED], Edmonton, Alberta, Canada]
Inverted Flight
Barnstorming the Worldcon Organization
by Greg Bennett
A movement is afoot these days to establish a permanent professional organization to run the World Science Fiction Convention. The argument for a professional Worldcon committee is that the convention is growing too large to be handled by a group of volunteers.
Let’s try to figure out whether or not a professional committee is really necessary, and what it would mean to the Worldcon if one were established. Some careful consideration of the proposal, and the tactics being used in its support, is required before deciding whether or not to support the establishment of a professional concom for the largest and most glamorous of Science Fiction Conventions.
Worldcons are getting bigger, to be sure. As pointed out in the article on how the Seattle committee made its decisions on real estate allocation, the Worldcon isn’t nearly as big as some are claiming it to be. However, even with a conservative estimate of growth, the task of hosting a World Science Fiction Convention does require a conscientous, businesslike committee to handle myriad tasks of organizing an event which could have a budget in excess of $100,000.
(Of course, with its committee of people who are professionals in their daily lives and who have hands-on experience in running past Worldcons, the Seattle group leaves me no doubt that they are equal to the task; but that isn’t our concern here.)
A lot of turmoil seems to have surrounded the past three Worldcons, at least in the fan press. But, in spiteof that, all three happened as most successful and enjoyable events. So, we can’t use them as examples when looking for a reason to predict future disaster.
The committee for SeaCon seems to be doing quite well in serving fandom, and I’ve yet to talk to anyone who holds any doubts for the Noreascon committee and next year’s Worldcon. With our Seattle committee bidding for 1981, and two very strong bids for 1982, we have to look forward in time as far as 1983. Can we expect the task to overburden those Australians who want to hold the 41st Worldcon?
It’s unlikely that an Australian Worldcon would be nearly as large as one held in North America, so we’ll dismiss that spectre as well. Now, in 1984, we have bids from Los Angeles, Washington, and Vancouver coming up. The least experienced of these is the Canadian group, who haven’t failed us yet with their V-Con and Westercon efforts.
Now, we’re up to 1985, where speculation on Worldcon size and who will be bidding is a most risky business, indeed. But, suppose by then a professional committee comes to be. What happens?
In order to forecast the impact of “going pro” sometime in the future, we can look at existing professional conventions in other fields.
The first characteristic we notice is that they cost more - LOTS more!While Worldcons today have ranged in door prices from $25 to $50, professional conventions costs tens times that much, and more, even in advance. Amembership cost of $300 certainly would dramatically change the make-up of Worldcon attendance, and undoubtedly would also change the mood of the convention to a formal , stuffy atmosphere.
Along with higher prices, we would lose the friendly, cooperative feeling of the Worldcon committee. Instead, teams of businesspeople, professional security, and production managers, and the like, would be sweating it out to make a buck. For me, one of the great rewards of chairing a convention committee is the comradeship of a volunteer committee who are working together to make our brainchild work. While I’ve often envied the ability that the professionals have to drive their organizations with the almighty paycheck, I would not look forward to carrying that atmosphere into my hobby.
Now, it could happen. Someday, there may be a group of professional producersrunning something called the World Science Fiction Convention. But, we don’t need it now, and won't for years to come. And, I will mourn the passing of that wonderful feeling that comes from working in a group dedicated to a project which yeilds only a bit of egoboo and the satisfaction of a job well done - a group bound together by love for each other and a common love for literary Science Fiction and the Worldcon.
Vaya con Dios, querida.
[Sketch of Greg Bennett by Bill Warren.]
A DIFFERENT KIND OF POLLUTION
Around Denver, it isn’t always raining rain, you know. Or, maybe you didn’t know. When a leak develops in an airplane’s plumbing system, ice forms which is usually frozen human waste that has been treated with a blue chemical. The liquid collects and freezes on the outside of the plane and then during a plane’s descent to warmer altitudes, it warms up enough to break up and drop - sometimes through roofs. The “blue ice bombs” can weigh from 30 to 100 pounds and were first reported five years ago. Since then, there have been eight incidents in the Denver area and several more scattered around theUnited States. It is speculated that there are frequent occurences of this around Denver because the path from the West Coast to Denver requires flying over the Rockies and then making an abrupt descent over heavily populated areas. The latest Denver victims were sitting in their living room when a 50 pound “bomb” hit and left a foot-wide hole in their roof.
For two years now, we've been marvelling that the oompetition between Seattle and Denver for the 1981 Worldcon has been one of the cleanest bids in fannish history. The committees for these two bids have always been cordial toward each other - even helpful, such as the time that the Seattle committee ran a bidding party at a Denver convention.
Then, we saw this article, which is attributed to the Denver Post, and remembered that well over half the commercial airplanes in the world are manufactured by the Seattle-based Boeing Company.
Gosh! It looks like we've been slinging shit at Denver for five years!
(Apologies to Don C. Thompson & Co. for printing this -it was just too tasty to resist!)
Cinemaa
by Dennis Pernaa
The Pumaman - A combined ripoff of Star Wars and Superman.
Two in the Stars - This Italian film will star Bo Svenson and Arthur Kennedy.
James Bond of the Secret Service - Sean Connery will be back as Bond. This film will not be done under the auspices of United Artists and the usual Bond crew.
The Fog - Hal Holbrook and Janet Leigh star in this tale of unknown, unnatural, unnerving terror.
Superman II - Richard Donner was trying to start production on the sequel, but there are rumors of contractural quarrels with Christopher Reeve, that both Richard Donner and Pierre Spengler have been given the axe, and that Richard Lester will take over as producer.
Patrick - a tale of the power of the mind.
Up from the Depths - A prehistoric terror of the sea returns from the past.
Meltdown - A story of the nuclear nightmare from The Prometheus Crisis.
The Phoenix - Richard Kiel stars in this spectacle packed with special effects.
The Quartermass Conclusion - A story about Stonehenge and a summons from the stars.
S*H*E - This movie features the female James Bond. It stars Omar Sharif, Cornelia Sharpe, and Robert Lansing.
Monster - James Mitchum, John Carradine, Keenan Wynn, and Diane McBain star in this thriller about a giant slithering repti1e.
[Ad: ESCAPE VELOCITY
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Serpent's Tooth
Jon Gustafson
From the cover painting by Alan Daniels to the last work by George Underwood, Robert Sheckley's Futuropolis (A&W Visual Library, $7.95) is a fascinating volume about the growth and evolution of one of man's greatest and most complex inventions: the city. Heavily laced with paintings and drawings by such diverse-artists as Frank R. Paul (who, after all, started out as an architect), Robert McCall, Ed Emshwiller, Corbusier, Angus McKie, Druillet, Paolo Soleri, Buckminster Fuller and Pieter Breughel the Elder, Sheckley takes the reader through a brief explanation and history of cities, then leaps with great abandon into possible citiesof the future. The writing is fascinating, the illustrations are very good and the overall design is excellent. This is an excellent coffee-table book and should even be considered as a source for sf writers. I would definitely recommend this book.
The Gentle Giants of Ganymede, by James P. Hogan, is the sequel to Inherit the Stars and is published by Del Rev (#27375, $1.75). As with the first book, this one is splendidly scientific, richly written and a delight to read. After 25,000,000 years, the remnants of a Minervan expedition return to our Solar System to find their planet reduced to the Asteroid Belt and an “alien” race busily exploring and colonizing the remaining planets. After a period of lionization by Terrans, the Minervans (called Gany- means because of a wrecked spaceship found on Ganymede) decide to depart for a nearby star which might now be the home for their race. (I realize that I'm not putting a whole lot of the plot down, but if you want a blow-by-blow account of what happens, you'd be better off buying and reading the whole book… and this is a book I'll recommend highly for any reader of sf and particularly those who, like me, like plausible science in the story.) Very enjoyable.
[AD: [Orycon logo]
NOVEMBER 9–11, 1979
SHERATON PORTLAND-HOTEL, portland. Oregon
MEMBERSHIP—$6 until Oct. 1; $8 thereafter
DEALERS' TABLE—$20 includes one membership
ROOM RATES-$29 single, $37 double
WRITE TO:
ORYCON
P.O. BOX [REDACTED]
BEAVERTON, OREGON 97005
GUEST of HONOR-JOHN VARLEY
TOASTMASTER-STEVE PERRY (JESSE PEEL)
non-participating
FAN GUEST of HONOR RICHARD GEIS
SPECIAL GUESTS MILDRED DOWNEY BROXON-F.M F.M. BUSBY-URSULA K. LE GUIN VONDA McINTYRE ALEX SCHOMBURG JOHN SHIRLEY
US funds, please.
Make cheque or money order payable to OryCon.]
I enjoy stories that have an upbeat ending (not a fatal flaw, I think), so whenever I want to read something sight unseen and know I'll be, at the least, vastly entertained, I'll pick up a novel by Poul Anderson. His World Without Stars is an excellent example of just such a book. Although the story is written through the eyes of Felipe Argons, captain of the trade vessel Meteor, the real protagonist is Hugh Valland, a tall, blond, blue-eyed… I think the only word that would really fit here is “Viking”. The man, if I may be allowed a bit of hypothesizing, the author would most like to be, if given the chance. It is written very well (of course!) and, though rather short for a novel, allows plenty of space for the characters to develop and for the flavor of the two alien races to come to the fore. It comes from Ace Books, #91706–2 (remember when all you had to do was think ofthe right number in the D-series Doubles?), and costs $1.50; well worth it, in my estimation.
There are very few authors who can do a really good job where the descriptions of aliens races are concerned. Poul Anderson is one, Hal Clement is another and seldom-discussed James White is one of the very best. His All Judgement Fled (Del Rey, #23925, $1.75) is an excellent first-contact yarn, full of suspense and delightful detective work as two teams of Terran astronauts try to fathom an alien vessel filled with rather deadly creatures. Unlike many such stories, the astronauts suffer several fatal casualties and the characters undergo the traumas that such happenings would certainly bring on. White is, in my opinion, a very underrated author and deserves more acclaim. Read this and find out why.
By the way, the artists for these last three books are H.R. Van Dongen, Michael Whelan, and Wayne Douglas Barlowe (a new-comer, I think), in that order.
[Ad: LARGEST SELECTION OF NEW HARDCOVER SCIENCE FICTION IN THE SEATTLE AREA….
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MEETINGS…
JULY 4–8: Westercon. Sherton Palace, San Francisco. Memberships $10 to: [REDACTED], San Francisco, CA 94123.
JULY 14: Puget Sound Star Trekkers Fourth Annual Shore Leave Picnic. Games, food, costumes, etc. (Tentative date) Call Pat at: [REDACTED].
JULY 21: Olympia Chapter, NWSFS. Kipy Poyser’s house at 7:30 pm, ing [REDACTED] ([REDACTED]).
JULY 28: NWSFS MEETING. Business at 3:30; social beginning at 7:30.David Bray’s place, [REDACTED], Riverside Apts. Park around back, enter back door to downstairs rec room. Billiards and pool (the wet kind); bring suits if weather is good. (Skinny-dipping after 10:00pm OK.) [REDACTED].
[Hand-drawn map to David Bray’s home.]
AUGUST 23–27: SEACON, the 37th Worldcon. Brighton, England. Memberships: $20 to Tony Lewis, PO Box [REDACTED], Natick, MA 01760. Join Seacon to vote for Seattle in 1981.
SEPTEMBER 22–23: The Indefinable Event. Puget Sound Star Trekkers.
SEPTEMBER 29- October 1: MOSCON. Best Western University Inn, Moscow, Idaho. Memberships $6 to: P0 Box Moscow, Idaho 83843.
OCTOBER 6–8: NONCON II. Write ESFCAS, PO Box [REDACTED], Edmonton, Alberta T6E 4S8.
NOVEMBER 9–11: ORYCON. Sheraton Portland Inn. Sponsored by the Portland Science Fiction Society. Memberships $6 to: Orycon, PO Box [REDACTED], Beaverton, Oregon 97005.
[Ad: MosCon 1
September 29 & 30, 1979
Guests of Honor:
Verna Smith Trestrail
Alex Schomburg
Fan Guest of Honor:
Jessica Amanda Salmonson
Distinguished Guest:
Robert A. Heinlein
It is, indeed, a rare convention that has such a stellar cast for its first outing: Verna Smith Tres- trail (E.E. "Doc" Smith's daughter), Alex Schomburg (sf artist since 1925!), Jessica Amanda Salmonson (already a fan legend), and the Dean of Science Fiction, Robert A. Heinlein (who has confirmed that he will attend, health permitting). Add to that a number of other noted guests, such as F.M. Busby and Vonda McIntyre and Fred Pohl, plus (note this, art fans!) a special, numbered and signed art print from Alex Schomburg for the first 150 members, plus a fine assortment of programming… well, you can see that this is going to be a fine convention! Memberships are $6.00 until 9/1/79: send check or money order to MosCon 1, P.O. Box [REDACTED], Moscow, ID 83843. For hotel reservations, send an SASE.]
Directory
ALBERTA - The Edmonton Science Fiction and Comic Arts Society, PO Box [REDACTED], Edmonton, Alberta T6E 4S8. Meets 7–9 pm Thursdays on the 14th floor of the Tory Building on the U of A campus. Publishes Neology, a bimonthly newsletter, which is free to members of ESFCAS. Membership: $5 per year.
BRITISH COLUMBIA - British Columbia Science Fiction Society, PO Box , Fentall Station, Vancouver, BC V7X 1A6. Vancouver is inhabited by scores of interesting fans, who recently conspired together to host V-Con 7 (a very good con with 700+ members.) They are bidding for another Westercon and a Worldcon in the near future.
IDAHO - Moscow is the site of the state’s first SF con (Moscon in Sept.); the Palouse Empire SF Association (PESFA) meets regularly with a group from across the border (i.e. from Pullman, WA) every Thurs. at 8:00 pm at the Paperback Exchange in Moscow.
OREGON - Portland Science Fiction Society, PO Box [REDACTED], Beaverton, OR 97005. Meets every other Saturday (the next meeting appears to fall on July 7, which is during Westercon, so check ahead to make sure the group is meeting that afternoon) at 2 pm at the downtown branch of the Portland Public Library. Publishes PorSFiS Newsletter ([REDACTED], Portland OR 97202 - [REDACTED]) and will hold Orycon in November.
Council of the High Cascades, Friends of Darkover. Portland. Next scheduled meeting is Thurs. July 12th at 7:30 pm. Call Bryce Walden at [REDACTED] for information.
Salem - every third Monday at 7:30 pm Bldg 32D, Chemeketa Community College.
Winston - Puget Sound Star Trekkers Outpost #10, PO Box [REDACTED], Winston OR 97496. Contact Richard Bergen.
WASHINGTON - Northwest Science Fiction Society, PO Box [REDACTED], Seattle WA 98124. Meets the last Saturday of the month in member’s homes. The Society is headquartered at the Greater Pocatello Spaceport, wherein dwells Gregory Bennett the chairman ([REDACTED] Kirkland, WA 98033 - [REDACTED]). Thereare over 200 members– membership is $7 per year and includes Westwind, the Society’s monthly newszine. The annual event is Norwescon and the group is bidding for the Worldcon in 1981.
The Nameless - Seattle’s oldest fan group meets every second Friday at Horizon Books, [REDACTED]. Meetings start about 9 pm and fanzines are a primary interest.
Puget Sound Star Trekkers - They host an open house on the first Saturday of the month which starts at approximately 8 pm.
Society for Creative Anachronism - The local SCA group encompasses a lot of territory (An Tir), with Principality officers scattered from Oregon to British Columbia. The Crier, their monthly newsletter, is published in Seattle at [REDACTED]. Subscriptions ($6/year) are available from: Chamberlain, An Tir, PO Box [REDACTED], Seattle, WA 98105.
Olympia - NWSFS Chapter meets the third Saturday of each month at 7:30 pm. Contact Kipy Poyser, [REDACTED].
Olympia - Puget Sound Star Trekkers, Outpost #8. Call Mike Citrak at [REDACTED] for further information.
Pullman - Contact Steve Fahnestalk, [REDACTED], Pullman WA 99163.
NWSFS MEMBERSHIPS
Send to: NWSFS, PO Box [REDACTED]
Seattle, Washington 98124
Name
Address
Phone
Rates: $7–00 per year.
Make all checks payable to NWSFS.
[Ad: Heritage Bookshop logo
OVER 1200 SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY TITLES IN STOCK
RENTON SHOPPING CENTER
IN THE MALL
RENTON, WASHINGTON 98055]
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 different 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 total 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 regional at short notice. But at the time, we thought we’d done pretty well.
Never before had there been a “poolside” WorldCon, away from downtown hotels and interminable waiting for crowded elevators. 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 perfect. 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 sampling of luminaries in the SF field. Guest of Honor Robert Heinlein, Toastmaster Harlan Ellison, Keynote Speaker Fred Pohl, for starters. Poul Anderson came and received the first of his impressive collection 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 afternoon 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 onlyHyatt 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 passed under the bridge; the SF field changes and so do cons, and what else is new? On the good side is the proliferation of regional 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 distance, of course. But the name thing intrigues me, tweaks my curiosity.
Dare I hope – "PuCon in '81?
Reprinted from Norwescon II Program Book
[Ad: COMING THIS FALL
[A dwarf wearing furs and horned helmet, holding a spear, saying, ‘No bigfoot’s gonna scare me away from Norwescon 2.5!’]
NORWESCON 2.5
ANNUAL NORTHWEST RELAXACON
For details write: Jane Hawkins, c/o NWSFS, PO Box [REDACTED], Seattle, WA 98124.]
[Ad: [Drawing of two unicorns in woods with the Space Needle in the background, with the text, ‘Norwescon 3 March 28–30, 1980. Where fantsies become reality’.]
Send to: NWSFS
P.O. Box [REDACTED]
Seattle, WA 98124
NAME
ADDRESS
PHONE
Rates: $7.00 until Norwescon 2.5. ($5.00 for NWSFS members).
Make checks payable to NORWESCON 3.]
[Ad: [A scattering of classic comic books.]
Golden Age Collectables
“FIRST & BEST FOR THE GREAT NORTHWEST”
Located in Seattle’s Historic Pike Place Market • Lower Level
Seattle, Washington 98101
Rod Dyke — John Walston
Proprietors
- Marvels
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Pat Shaughnessy. Proprietor]
[Ad: Horizon Books, [REDACTED], Seattle, WA 98112, [REDACTED]. Alien stuff.]
A Westwind subscription is included in NWSFS membership, at $7.00 per year. Westwind is mailed on the 15th of each month.
Changes of address should be sent to: NWSFS, P.O. Box [REDACTED], Seattle, Washington 98124. Contributions of graphics, reviews, articles, etc., are welcome. Send to: Gregory Bennett, [REDACTED], Kirkland, WA 98033. Reports on submissions in three weeks; include SASE. Deadline is the first of the month of issue.
Advertising is accepted — write for rates.