Cat-Man_America Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 Anyway it was quite an experience. I'd love to hear some stories about the earlier Worldcons. From what I've heard the ones in the 60s and 70s were crazy. This does bring back memories. I've attended many SF conventions over the years in various capacities, as fan, panelist and occasionally, featured guest. Alas, I missed WorldCon this year due to scheduling conflicts. I did attend the San Antonio WorldCon back in '97 participating as panelist and main auctioneer. I've known Harlan for many years. We aren't close friends by any means, but have hung out at several cons and shared a stage as auctioneers at Aggiecon (Texas A&M, College Station) back in 2000. I've always admired his writing and communication style (stagecraft). Just for fun I'm going to post an image from awhile back (more than awhile, actually) and see what additional info, if any, I can obtain about it. I don't recall posting this one in the FANDOM thread, but if you're experiencing deja vu, it's entirely possible... The snapshot above was taken at a Houston area convention (circa 1980-82). If anyone would would like to take a stab at filling in names of the three folks in the photo, have at it. I know two of the names which I'll share later on, but recalling the specific convention is a bit dicier. Have fun, and good hunting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Calhoun Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 you, femme, and Wilson 'Bob' Tucker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Mentallo Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 you, femme, and Wilson 'Bob' Tucker I assume the femme is something of a writer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Calhoun Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 All that sf talk got me going, so shall post 2 latest mushroom jungle arrivals: Zenith-D is by John Glasby (with Arthur Roberts) a prolific author who wrote well in all genres, but particularly SF as he was trained as a chemist and was also an avid astronomer. Witness the opening line: “The dark endless night that pressed around the curving hull of the Exploratory Ship, Canopus, whispered with a timeless, threatening sense of evil.” December 1952 with cover by Gordon Davies. Another Space- Another Time by HJ Campbell- another chemist- puts an ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ plot together with a scientific dystopia. Panther issued their books (as did Curtis Warren- Zenith-D etc) in HB & PB, and I remember well receiving a copy on 1/27/62. Wish I still had it, especially as my brother Alex inscribed it: “Happy Birthday number ten, I’m writing this with John C.’s pen” Well, the PB can tide me over until I find that elusive HB copy. July 1953, cover by John Richards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted December 7, 2013 Author Share Posted December 7, 2013 When i got to San Antonio the first thing I did was meet up with Patrice (Xaltotun here on the boards). Patrice is the editor of the Del Rey Conan books and if you've seen him posting in the pulp thread you know what great books he has. We hooked up Bill Cavalier from REHupa and the three of us went out to dinner with local San Antonio boardie Roger (Weird Paper). roger took us to a great little tex-Mex joint far away from the tourist trap we were stuck in, and then we all went back to his place to ogle his insane art collection. Sorry for the awful cell phone pics: This is BWS Conan page: And a Thunda 1 page! Jeff, thanks so much for posting all those con photos!!! It looks like you had a terrific time. Did you purchase anything for your collection? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted December 7, 2013 Author Share Posted December 7, 2013 Great Stuff, Jeff. They had a Westercon in San Diego in 1966. Harlan Ellison was Guest of Honor. He was walking around quizzing people, and he approached 14-year-old Pat. As I recall he was stunned by my knowledge and devotion. Can't recall which con it was when I rode in an elevator with Philip K Spoon (I was still quite young)- I smiled at him, he smiled back at me, and the metal box we were in blasted through the hotel roof and headed out into space, but not a word was said as none were needed. thanks for sharing and pulling the memory trigger. Pat The only personal experience I ever had with Harlan Ellison is when he called me up sometime in the late 1970's to inquire about a Zorro serial in Argosy I was selling. He'd seen an ad I was running in TBG and he wanted to know if I would sell it at a discount to him. As I recall, he had quite the reputation of pressing for special deals and I was reluctant to give him too big a discount since the ad had just been printed. I can't recall any more specifics than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted December 7, 2013 Author Share Posted December 7, 2013 you, femme, and Wilson 'Bob' Tucker Back in the 70's when I first started to actively collect vintage paperbacks, one of the very first paperbacks I purchased was Tucker's, "The Chinese Doll" Wilson Tucker Dell Mapback #343 (1946) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sacentaur Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 Great Stuff, Jeff. They had a Westercon in San Diego in 1966. Harlan Ellison was Guest of Honor. He was walking around quizzing people, and he approached 14-year-old Pat. As I recall he was stunned by my knowledge and devotion. Can't recall which con it was when I rode in an elevator with Philip K Spoon (I was still quite young)- I smiled at him, he smiled back at me, and the metal box we were in blasted through the hotel roof and headed out into space, but not a word was said as none were needed. thanks for sharing and pulling the memory trigger. Pat The only personal experience I ever had with Harlan Ellison is when he called me up sometime in the late 1970's to inquire about a Zorro serial in Argosy I was selling. He'd seen an ad I was running in TBG and he wanted to know if I would sell it at a discount to him. As I recall, he had quite the reputation of pressing for special deals and I was reluctant to give him too big a discount since the ad had just been printed. I can't recall any more specifics than that. My only meeting with Harlan was back in the late 80's when he was one of the featured guests at a classic book convention where I was working. I was concerned that hardly anyone was visiting his table, and he started getting very fidgety. I felt bad for him, so I approached and started to relate how much I respected his work. He was briefly acerbic while brushing me off, then he went back to whatever busy work he was doing. It isn't easy being a celebrity, especially when you're Harlan Ellison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Calhoun Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 From 1952, a popular post-holocaust novel... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamstrange Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 Jeff, thanks so much for posting all those con photos!!! Ditto! (thumbs u Did you purchase anything for your collection? I would love to purchase a page or 20 from Roger's walls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBedrock Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 And a Thunda 1 page! If you look close you can see Roger's reflection in the glass above the art. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamstrange Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 If you look close you can see Roger's reflection in the glass above the art. A fleeting glimpse of the collector in his native habitat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted December 8, 2013 Author Share Posted December 8, 2013 Great looking books, Pat. Your collection of British paperbacks is much larger than I imagined. Do you have any idea how many you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted December 8, 2013 Author Share Posted December 8, 2013 I don't know if the artwork of Tony Fleecs is already known to everyone here, but in case you haven't seen any examples of it, here are a few of his imagined paperback covers. Tony Fleecs Gallery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Calhoun Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 had 3 as of beginning of binge in May. have bought 31 more (3 big $s on ebay today from UK) of which have 26 in hand. so 2 above 24 below (all the newbies) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamstrange Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 I like the retro aspect of his design but I think I would like to have seen what they looked like with the heroines drawn in the same 50s style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Calhoun Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 started with these Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weird Paper Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 If you look close you can see Roger's reflection in the glass above the art. A fleeting glimpse of the collector in his native habitat! I'm always watching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theagenes Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 If you look close you can see Roger's reflection in the glass above the art. A fleeting glimpse of the collector in his native habitat! I'm always watching. Roger was the best host ever! Thank you so much! Sorry I don't have better pics. Maybe when Patrice sees this he can post some too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theagenes Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 Jeff, thanks so much for posting all those con photos!!! It looks like you had a terrific time. Did you purchase anything for your collection? Not this time. I was broke from the cost of attending. It was well worth it though. A great experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
