The WSFA Journal

THE WSFA JOURNAL

June 1984

Volume 8   Number 1

WSFA Minutes

(The following minutes courtesy of Joe Mayhew.)

Meeting of May 4, 1984, at Gillilands'; Alexis Gilliland presiding.

The meeting was called to order at 9:15. In lieu of the secretary being absent, the minutes were waived. The treasurer, although also absent, left word that the treasury stood at $5,062.97.

Committees

MEMBERSHIP: Zip!

PUBLICATIONS: Ditto!

ENTERTAINMENT: Brings you chocolate cheese and the annual elections! (An Italian Flic?)

DISCLAVE '84:

Chairwoman Jane Wagner reported registration had reached around 500. There will be a committee meeting at the New Carrollton Sheraton on Saturday, May 19th at 1:00 P.M.; all department heads and staff, please attend. The hotel is being very cooperative. Doll Gilliland announced that the ICC would be secret this year so everyone should bring homemade cookies.

DISCLAVE '85: Zip!

OLD BUSINESS: Ditto!

NEW BUSINESS:

  1. Joe Mayhew moved that WSFA donate its ray gun and rocket bank to the ConStellation bail-out. Final decision was tabled pending the next meeting. The bank and ray gun will be brought to the meeting.
  2. Joe Mayhew then moved that WSFA purchase 5,000 con badge covers to take advantage of the price break ($87.00 per 1,000). The motion was passed.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

  1. Cat Slusser announced that if all goes as planned, a public service announcement featuring Harrison Ford telling folks NOT to emulate Indiana Jones -- it's not just a bad idea, it's against the law to steal antiquities -- will be released during the week of May 21-25, just before the new Indiana Jones film appears. Tune in for it.

The meeting adjourned at 9:35.

Address Correction

Terry L. McCune
[censored]
Sterling, VA 22170
(703) 444-2016

Annual Elections

(The following minutes courtesy of Joe Mayhew and Dave Hastie.)

The meeting was called to order by Trustee Steve Smith at 9:36. As Trustee Wayne Dionne was absent, Trustee Alan Huff (and Steve) were assisted in the counting of the ballots by Barry Newton and Walter Miles. The trustees did not present a slate. The following people were elected to office:

    PRESIDENT: Alexis Gilliland (Unopposed!)
    VICE PRESIDENT: Joe Mayhew (over Jane Wagner and Jack Heneghan)
    SECRETARY: Beverly Brandt (Unopposed!)
    TREASURER: Bob Oliver (Unopposed!)
    TRUSTEES: Barry Newton
              Ginny McNitt
              Walter Miles
    (Over: Doll Gilliland, Jack Heneghan, Judy Newton, Eva Whitley)

Alan Huff and Steve Smith, believing in error to be constitutionally ineligible for a third term, declined nominations.

The meeting adjourned at 10:36.

More Minutes

Meeting of May 18, 1984, at Olivers'; Alexis Gilliland presiding.

The meeting was called to order at 9:17. It was agreed to waive the reading of the minutes. The treasury stood at $4,630.04.

Committees

MEMBERSHIP: Zip!

PUBLICATIONS: The May WSFA Journal was available.

DISCLAVE '84:

Chairwoman Jane Wagner noted that there would be a 1:00 meeting tomorrow (May 19th) at the Sheraton New Carrollton Hotel in Room 1009. If you're on the committee, please attend. She also reported that Peggy Rae Pavlat had checked into a hospital that afternoon with some type of an infection. She won't die of it, but she'll be unable to perform all of her programming duties at the convention.

ENTERTAINMENT:

Alexis Gilliland, speaking for Doll, announced that the Air and Space Museum is having a celebration for the 15th Anniversary of Apollo 11 on Friday, July 20th until 11:00 P.M. There will be an "Apollo Legacy symposium" from 10:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. Also, a panel of astronauts will be at the Langley Theater and there will be a Lunar Landing Party that will go from 7:00 until 11:00 P.M. Check it out.

OLD BUSINESS:

Joe Mayhew again moved that WSFA donate its ray gun and rocketship bank to the ConStellation bail-out. After much discussion, the motion passed with only one "Nay" and one abstention.

NEW BUSINESS:

  1. Alexis Gilliland presented a card with a photo of Craig and Marsha Glassner's newly arrived daughter: Margaret Donna Glassner; weight: 7 lbs., height: 21 inches. Congratulations!
  2. The June 5th Friday Party - unless someone else volunteers - will be at the Olivers'.
  3. Who'd like to host the 4th of July picnic? Any takers?
  4. The 1st Friday July meeting will be held at the Olivers' as the Gillilands will be attending Westercon at that time. The Gillilands will host the 3rd Friday July meeting (at UniCon?). RESULT: The order of locale is switched for July!!!
  5. Bob Oliver pointed out that a list is available upon which you may check your financial standing (dues-wise) in the club. If you owe money, Pay Up!!!!!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

  1. Eva Whitley announced that there will be a baby shower for Judy Newton at Disclave in Rm. 1009 at 3:00 on Saturday. A gift would be greatly appreciated and volunteers to help with the party are needed.
  2. Joe Mayhew Is starting work on a history of WSFA's officers. If anyone can remember the various people who held offices BEFORE 1978, and knows the years in which those people held same, please get in touch with Joe.
  3. Rosa Oliver reported that her son's soccer club is selling candy. She has brochures for interested people.
  4. Lee Smoire related that she hopes to have slides of her trips to England, Germany and of the conventions there at the next meeting. Also, she is Hugo lobbying for fan writer Dave Langford and his fanzine, "Ansible". If you re undecided, please vote for them.
  5. Jack Chalker noted that his new book, "Demons of the Dancing Gods" is due out shortly. Congratulations!
  6. Lee Shehr has a new technical manual out. Congratulations.

The meeting self-destructed at 9:45.

FIRESTARTER

Summer Films Start With a Hot One

Movie Review

- Geoffrey L. Gould

Out of the deluge of films based on the novels of Stephen King, one now stands alone as the most faithful: FIRESTARTER, even more close to its source than the underrated DEAD ZONE.

Scriptwriter Stanley Mann and director Mark L. Lester have obviously read the novel and have captured its fiery flavor.

This summer will make box office history, and FIRESTARTER works wonderfully as the introduction. Drew Barrymore's the pyrokinetic character Charlie McGee created by King. Even better than her performance in E.T., she never becomes too cute, nor does she ever overact.

The casting is near perfect. David Keith, for once out of a naval uniform, plays Andrew McGee, Charlie's father, possessing the psi-ability to make others obey him or to hallucinate. He and his wife Vicky had been subjects in an experiment with a mind-expanding drug from which Charlie was the genetic result.

The Shop, the CIA-like government agency that had produced the drug, now wants Charlie with whom to experiment and develop her powers for possible military purposes.

Martin Sheen, in his second King film, plays Capt. Hollister, obsessed with the recovery of Charlie and her father. Hollister's No. 1 hit-man, John Rainbird, is played with relished menace by George C. Scott.

The film follows the book as faithfully as possible in an hour and fifty minutes. Art Carney was a good choice for Irv Manders, but Louise Fletcher - portraying his wife - is terrible. She isn't on the screen very long - only a bit longer than Heather Locklear as a matter of fact - but she says her lines stiltingly.

The blazing climax is wonderful, although at times the film takes upon itself a bit of cinematic license. We see her power wave (as fireballs) when she really gets "hot". Although these are impressive, on occasion they come across humourous, though with obvious intention (at one point an agent is blasted 30 feet up into a tree).

HUGO NOMINATIONS

The following are this year's Hugo nominations.

NOVELS

Millennium by John Varley
Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov
Startide Rising by David Brin
Tea with the Black Dragon by R. A. MacAvoy

NOVELLAS

"Cascade Point" by Timothy Zahn (Analog, 12/83)
"Hardfought" by Greg Bear (IASFM, 2/83)
"Hurricane Claude" by Hilbert Schenck (F&SF, 4/83)
"In the Face of My Enemy" by Joseph H. Delaney (Analog, 4/83)
"Seeking" by David Palmer (Analog, 2/83)

NOVELETTES

"Black Air" by Kim Stanley Robinson (F&SF, 3/83)
"Blood Music" by Greg Bear (Analog, 6/83)
"The Monkey Treatment" by George R. R. Martin, (F&SF, 7/83)
"The Sidon In the Mirror" by Connie Willis (IASFM, 4/83)
"Slow Birds" by Ian Watson (F&SF, 6/83)

SHORT STORY

"The Geometry of Narrative" by Hilbert Schenck (Analog, 8/83)
"The Peacemaker" by Gardner Dozois (IASFM, 8/83)
"Servant of the People" by Frederik Pohl (Analog. 2/83)
"Speech Sounds" by Octavia E. Butler (IASFM, Mid-Dec., 1983)
"Wong's Lost and Found Emporium" by William F. Wu (Amazing, 5/83)

NON-FICTION

Dream Makers, Volume 2 by Charles Platt
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Volume 3 by Donald Tuck
The Fantastic Art of Rowena by Rowena Morrill
The High Kings by Joy Chant
Staying Alive: A Writer's Guide by Norman Spinrad

BEST PROFESSIONAL EDITOR

Terry Carr
Edward Ferman
David Hartwell
Shawna McCarthy
Stanley Schmidt

BEST SEMIPROZINE

Fantasy Newsletter/Fantasy Review
Locus
SF Chronicle
SF Review
Whispers

BEST PRO ARTIST

Val Lakey Lindahn
Don Maitz
Rowena Morrill
Barclay Shaw
Michael Whelan

BEST FAN ARTIST

Brad Foster
Alexis Gilliland (Congratulations!)
Joan Hanke-Woods
William Rotsler
Stu Shiffman

BEST FAN WRITER

Richard Geis
Mike Glyer
Arthur Hlavaty
Dave Langford
Teresa Nielsen Hayden

BEST FANZINE

Ansible
File 770
Holier Than Thou
Izzard
The Philk Fee-nom-ee-non

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION

Brainstorm
Return of the Jedi
The Right Stuff
Something Wicked This Way Comes
War Games

JOHN CAMPBELL AWARD

Joseph H. Delaney
Lisa Goldstein
R.A. MacAvoy
Warren Norwood
Joel Rosenberg
Sheri S. Tepper

Upcoming Cons

June 1 - 3:
SONUVACON located at Sheraton Laconia in Laconia, N.H. GOH: Alan Dean Foster, Artist GOH: Jane T. Sibley, Fan GOH: Hal Clement. With: Jack Dann, Janet Morris, Barry Malzberg, Craig Shaw Gardner & others. A "relaxacon" with workshops. Memb.: $25 at the door ($15 on Saturday only; $10 on Sunday only). Write to: Steve Morris, 114 Messer St.. Laconia, N.H. 03246
June 1 - 3:
CONJURATION located at the West World Inn in Tulsa, OK. Room rates: S/D: $26.40, T/Q: $31.90. GOH: Jack L. Chalker, Fan GOH: Doug Wilkey, TM: Warren Norwood. With: Ed Bryant, Glen Cook, Mike Resnick. Guest Luncheon: $8.50, Writers' workshops: $5 each. Masquerade & Ball. Memb.: $10 at the door. Write to: Box 690064, Tulsa, OK 74169
June 8 - 10:
CONQUISTADOR located at the Quality Royale Hotel in San Diego, CA. Room rates: $48/58 +10. GOH: Theodore Sturgeon. FGOH: Fred Patten. Memb.: $15 to 4/15. Write to: Box 15471, San Diego, CA 92115
June 8 - 10:
X CON 8 located at the Olympia Resort & Spa in Oconomoc, WI. Room rates: $56/60. GOHs: Robert Asprin, Bob Tucker, Jo Clayton. Fan GOHs: Marilyn & Harry Alm, Bob Cornet, Kevin Wrangell, AGOH: Rowena Morrill. Memb.: $17. Write to: P.O. Box 7, Milwaukee, WI 53201-0007. (414) 483-0708
June 15 - 17:
HATCON II located at the Ramada Inn in Danbury, CT. I-84 Exit 8. (203) 792-3800. Room rates: $49/59. GOH: Peter Straub. With: Tom Doherty, Shawna McCarthy & others. Memb.: $35. Attendance limited to 350. Champagne brunch, tickets: $12; limited to 100. Write to: Hatcon c/o Kennedy Poyser, 108 Park Avenue, Danbury, CT 06810 (203)
June 21 - 24:
DEEPSOUTHCON 22 located at the Read House Hotel in Chattanooga, TN. (800) 572-7304. Room rates: $41/48 +6 GOH: Joan Vinge. FGOH: Jerry Page. TM: Karl Edward Wagner. With: Somtow Sucharitkul, Tim R. Sullivan, Michael Bishop, Theodore Sturgeon, Alan Ryan, Charles L. Grant, Allen Wold. Memb.: $20. Banquet, tickets: $10; limited to 100. Write to: Irvin Koch, 835 Chattanooga Bank Bldg., Chattanooga, TN 37402. (404) 767-7360
June 23 - 24:
DIMENSION CONVENTION located at the Sheraton Centre Hotel in New York City. GOH: Harlan Ellison. With: Isaac Asimov, Samuel Delany, George Takei, Stan Lee & others. Memb.: $18. Write to: Dimension Conventions, P.O. Box 400, Bronx, N.Y. 10471
June 29 - July 1:
INCONJUNCTION 4 located at the Airport Hilton in Indianapolis, IN. Room rates: $36/42. GOH: Joe Haldeman, AGOH: Rick Sternbach, FGOH: Fred Prophet, Roger Sims, TM: Bob Tucker. Memb.: $15. Write to: Inconjunction 4, P.O. Box 24403, Indianapolis, IN 46224
June 29 - July 3:
WESTERCON 37 located at the Marriott Hotel in Portland, OR. Room rates: $37/42/45. GOH: Harlan Ellison, AGOH: Alex Schomburg. FGOH: Elinor & F.M. Busby, TM: Ed Bryant. Memb.: $30 to 6/15, $40 at the door. Write to: Westercon 37. P.O. Box 16155, Portland, OR 97216

The WSFA Journal is the temerarious monthly newsletter of the Washington Science Fiction Association. Editor-in-Chief: Beverly L. Brandt, 3326 Lauriston Place, Fairfax, VA 22031. Telephone No.: (703) 573-8230

WSFA BIRTHDAYS!

6/3 Elaine Normandy
6/9 Tim R. Sullivan
6/13 Jack Heneghan
6/16 Terry L. McCune
6/16 Thomas Schaad
6/16 Cat Slusser
6/17 Samuel Schwartz
6/27 Shirley Avery

Artist's Corner

If you've read your H.G. Wells, you will have heard of "Wings Over the World". This month's lead art is Charles Gilliland's version of same in a fantasy motif.

Charles' art is also on Pages 1 and 4 along with Warren Rodgers' on Pages 3 and 4. C'mon people, let's see some art from new folks and give these two a rest. OK?

June's New Books

Anderson, Poul & Gordon R. Dickson: Hoka - $2.75 (P)
Anthony, Piers: Bio of a Space Tyrant, Volume 2: Mercenary - $2.95 (P)
Asimov, Isaac w/Martin H. Greenberg & Charles G. Waugh (Eds.): Isaac Asimov's Wonderful Worlds of SF #2: The Science Fictional Olympics - $2.95 (P)
Bellairs, John: The Dark Secret of Weatherend - $11.95 (H)
Brust, Steven: Yendi - $2.75 (P)
Busby, F.M.: The Alien Debt - $2.75 (P)
Carr, Terry (Ed.): Universe 14 - $11.95 (H)
Carter, Lin: Down To a Sunless Sea - $2.50 (P)
Chandler, A. Bertram: The Last Amazon - $2.50 (P)
Cohen, Barney: Blood On the Moon - $2.95 (P)
Davies, W.X. & the Strategic Operations Group: Countdown WWIII: Operation Black Sea - $2.95 (P)
Disch, Thomas M.: The Businessman: A Tale of Terror - $13.95 (H)
Drumm, D.B.: Traveler #1: First You Fight - $2.25 (P)
Flint, Kenneth C.: The Riders of the Sidhe - $2.95 (P)
Foster, Alan Dean: The Last Starfighter (Movie Tie-in) - $2.95 (P)
Gentle, Mary: Golden Witchbreed - $16.95 (H)
Gibson, William: Neuromancer - $2.95 (P)
Grant, Charles L.: Night Songs - $3.95 (P)
Irwin, Walter & G.B. Love: The Best of Trek #7- $2.75 (P)
Klein, T.E.D.: The Ceremonies - $17.95 (H)
Lake, David J.: The Ring of Truth - $2.95 (P)
Lindholm, Megan: The Limbreth Gate - $2.75 (P)
Lupoff, Richard A.: Circumpolar - $14.95 (H)
McIntyre, Vonda N.: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock - $2.95 (P)
McNelly, Willis E.: The Dune Encyclopedia - $9.95 (T)
Niven, Larry (Ed.): More Magic - $5.95 (T)
Sheckley, Robert: Is THAT What People Do?: The Selected Short Stories of R.S. - $19.95 (H)
Silverberg, Robert: The Conglomeroid Cocktail Party - $16.95 (H)
Sleator, William: Interstellar Pig - $11.95 (H)
Spinrad, Norman; Riding the Torch - $5.95 (T)
Sturgeon, Theodore: Alien Cargo - $14.95 (H)
Tilley, Patrick: Cloud Warrior - $14.95 (H)
Trainor, Joseph; Twilight #20: Family Crypt - $2.25 (P)
Vardeman, Robert: Cenotaph Road #5: Fire and Fog - $2.75 (P)
Varley, John: Demon - $6.95 (T)
Wollheim, Donald A. (Ed.): The 1984 Annual World's Best SF - $2.95 (P)

Important Notices!

Dave Bischoff is going to England for four weeks at the end of July, though he'll be back in time for WorldCon. He has an extra ticket available for $375. Does anyone know of anyone interested? You needn't tour with Dave. Please get in touch with him ASAP.

Lee Smoire has information on L.A. plane fares. If you're planning on attending the L.A. WorldCon and haven't yet made your ticket reservations, see Lee ASAP.