From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom


ANSIBLE(R) 457
AUGUST 2025

From DAVID LANGFORD, 94 London Road, Reading, Berks, RG1 5AU, UK. Website news.ansible.uk. ISSN 0265-9816 (print); 1740-942X (e). Available for SAE
or sf magazines published by Eustace Snarge.

[NET NOTE. See https://news.ansible.uk/a457.html for the nice HTML version; https://news.ansible.uk/pdf/a457.pdf for a printable PDF. Mailing list subscribe/unsubscribe information appears below -- please don't send such requests to my own e-mail address. DRL]


### WITH MY BOPAMAGILVIE ###

ROBERT ENGLUND -- Freddy Krueger in the _Nightmare on Elm Street_ films --
gets his Hollywood Walk of Fame star on Halloween. [F770]

JACK KIRBY of comics fame was remembered by the renaming of a Manhattan
street corner (Essex St and Delancy St) with his name and a relevant Marvel Universe location: Jack Kirby Way/Yancy St. The new sign includes the
Fantastic Four logo. (Gamesradar.com, 10 July) [F770]

DEAN KOONTZ is the sole genre writer to appear under 'Authors and Thought Leaders' in a lengthy magazine supplement describing over 200 'US Catholic Leaders'. (_Catholic Herald_, July/August) [DVB]

KRISTINE KATHRYN RUSCH blew the whistle on the new-deal contracts at the various sf and mystery magazines acquired this year by Must Read Magazines: _Analog_, _Asimov's_, _F&SF_, _Ellery Queen's_ and _Alfred Hitchcock's_.
The (unchanged) editors are still wonderful people, she wrote; but despite
a past reassurance that any dubious contract clauses were sort of
accidental and could be negotiated away (see _A455_), there were indeed
snags: 'As in, the contract was _awful_. As in, the negotiation went
poorly. As in, I had no choice but to walk away, taking all of my current stories with me.' (Kriswrites.com, 13 July)
Earlier in July, the Submission Grinder market website removed
_Analog_ from its listings because the new contract demands 'a wider-than-normal range of rights and the waiving of an author's moral
rights.' (APHowell.com, 9 July) [F770] SFWA also intended to delist
_Analog_ as a qualifying market, but was told that the moral rights waiver
is to be dropped and hoped that other rights-grabbing legal boilerplate
would also vanish. (SFWA, 14 July) General scepticism was soon confirmed by
a further report from Rusch: 'The new clause in place of their moral rights waiver is worse.' (Facebook, 17 July) The saga continues with a further
SFWA press release (23 July) and Writer Beware examining the objectionable clauses in some detail (25 July).


### CONEMAUGH ###

2-3 Aug [] SURREY STEAMPUNK CONVIVIAL, Stoneleigh, Epsom. See bumpandthumper.wixsite.com/steampunkconvivials.

8-10 Aug [] TFNATION (_Transformers_), Hilton Birmingham Metropole near the NEC. Variously priced day tickets at tfnation.com/2025.

9-10 Aug [] DUBLIN COMIC CON, Convention Centre, Dublin. Various ticket
prices (extra for early entry, etc.) at dublincomiccon.com.

9 Aug [] NORTHERN HORIZON (_Blake's 7_), Tyneside Irish Centre, 10am-4pm. GBP20; VIP GBP75. See tinyurl.com/nhb7con.

13-17 Aug [] SEATTLE WORLDCON 2025, Seattle, WA, USA. $300 reg; concessions $175; under-25s $100; under-18s $75; under-13s free; virtual $85; WSFS only $50. See seattlein2025.org.

16-17 Aug [] CAPTION (small press/comics), Seacourt Hall, Botley, Oxford,
OX2 9TH. GBP30 reg. See captionfestival.co.uk.

16-17 Aug [] FOR THE LOVE OF FANTASY, ExCel, London. Tickets GBP53.90; under-10s GBP24.20; under-5s free. See fortheloveoffantasy.com.

16 Aug [] STARS OF TIME (comics), Winter Gardens, Weston-super-Mare.
GBP11.55; concessions/under-14s GBP7.21. See www.starsoftime.co.uk.

21-25 Aug [] FRIGHTFEST (film), Odeon Luxe, Leicester Square, London.
Tickets awaited at www.frightfest.co.uk/filmsandevents/.

22-25 Aug [] ASYLUM XIV (steampunk), The Lawns and other Lincoln venues. Tickets awaited at www.ministryofsteampunk.com.

30 Aug [] WHOOVERVILLE 16 (_Doctor Who_), QUAD Centre, Derby. From 10am. Tickets GBP60 ; concessions GBP40; accompanied under-13s GBP15. Guests and other details at derbyquad.co.uk/events/whooverville16/.

18-19 Oct [] TOLKIEN SOCIETY SEMINAR: 'Arda's Entangled Bodies',
Glasgow/online _(new dates)_. Free. See www.tolkiensociety.org/events/.

24-26 Oct [] STEAMPUNK HALLOWEEN, County Assembly Rooms, Lincoln. See www.ministryofsteampunk.com/halloween-2025.

1 Nov [] SONIC CON UK (Sonic the Hedgehog), Novotel London West. Adult
tickets GBP35.37 inc fee; various other rates at www.sonicconuk.com.

22 Nov [] CYMERA WRITERS' CONFERENCE, Edinburgh/online. Details awaited at www.cymerafestival.co.uk.

29 Dec - 1 Jan [] STEAMPUNK NEW YEAR, Belmont Hotel, Leicester. See www.ministryofsteampunk.com/steampunknewyear2025.

14 Feb 2026 [] WREXCON (comics), Wrexham University, LL11 2AW. 10am-5pm.
See www.ljeventsentertainment.com.

5-7 Jun 2026 [] CYMERA: Scotland's Festival of SF, Fantasy & Horror
Writing, Edinburgh and online. See www.cymerafestival.co.uk.

6-7 Jun 2026 [] HORRORCON UK, Magna, Sheffield. Ticket prices and sales
awaited at horrorconuk.com.

13-14 Jun 2026 [] EM-CON (media), Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham. Tickets
GBP36 (11am entry) or GBP48 (10am). See www.em-con.co.uk.

17-19 Jul 2026 [] FANTASY FOREST (cosplay), Sudely Castle, Cheltenham.
Ticket sales awaited at fantasyforest.co.uk.

7-10 Aug 2026 [] DISCWORLD CONVENTION, Leonardo Hotel, Hinckley Island, Leicestershire. GBP120 reg; GBP65 concessions including under-18s; GBP40
(GBP35 concessions) supporting; under-13s free. See dwcon.org.


### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###

THE CRITICAL HERITAGE. The enigmatic William Blake is explained at last:
'He's the Willy Wonka of art, our golden ticket to other worlds.' (Philip Hoare, _William Blake and the Sea Monsters of Love_, 2025)

AWARDS. _Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery:_ Kris Neville. [RH]
_DAG Prize_ (inaugural $20,000 award for US creators, literature category): _The Lost Book of Adana Moreau_ by Michael Zapata. [F770]
_Prometheus_ (libertarian). NOVEL _In the Belly of the Whale_ by
Michael Flynn. HALL OF FAME _Orion Shall Rise_ by Poul Anderson.
_Seiun_ (Japan) long fiction: 'Ascendance of a Bookworm' series by
Miya Kazuki. TRANSLATION _System Collapse_ by Martha Wells.
_Shirley Jackson_ novel winner: _Curdle Creek: A Novel_ by Yvonne Battle-Felton. [F770]
_Sidewise_ long-form finalists: _Westfallen_ by Ann and Ben Brashares, _Sargassa_ by Sophie Burnham, 'The Pandominion' series by M.R. Carey, _The
Last Rival_ by Kyle Palmer. For the short-form list see www.uchronia.net/sidewise/.
_World Fantasy_ novel finalists: _The Tainted Cup_ by Robert Jackson Bennett, _The Fox Wife_ by Yangsze Choo, _The Bog Wife_ by Kay Chronister,
_The Bright Sword_ by Lev Grossman, _The Wings Upon Her Back_ by Samantha Mills. Full list at
locusmag.com/2025/07/2025-world-fantasy-awards-finalists/.
_World Fantasy_ lifetime achievement: Juliet Marillier and Michael
Whelan.

WE ARE NEARLY EVERYWHERE. The Girl Guides' achievement badge for 'Fandoms'
-- one of 72 newly introduced -- does not apparently cover smoffing, Worldcon-running or addiction to Rob Hansen's fan histories, but may be
awarded to Rangers (ages 14-18) 'for sharing their enthusiasm for things
like Taylor Swift or Harry Potter.' (BBC, 21 July) [AC]

DAYSPRING MISHANDLED. The academics have been rethinking _The Song of
Wade_, a lost mediaeval tale known from allusions in Chaucer and a tiny fragment quoted in an old sermon discovered by M.R. James in 1896.
Apparently that sermon's transcriber had trouble forming certain letters:
words misread as 'elves' and 'sprites' that led past scholars to classify _Wade_ as a heroic fantasy epic are (metaphorical) wolves and sea-snakes, moving it into the genre of chivalric/courtly romance and making more sense
of the Chaucerian context. (Phys.org, 16 July) [SF2C] Gosh!

AS OTHERS SEE US. 'Ray Bradbury's _The Martian Chronicles_ [...] is not
what genre obsessives call "hard sci-fi", with yawn-inducing disquisitions
on the technicalities of space flight and the scientific challenges of terraforming an inhospitable landscape.' (_The Week_, August 2024) [PL]

R.I.P. _Alon Aboutboul_ (1965-2025), Israeli actor in _The Dark Knight
Rises_ (2012), died on 29 July aged 60. [AIP]
_Allan Ahlberg_ (1938-2025), popular UK children's author whose work includes such supernatural tales as _My Brother's Ghost_ (2001) and _The Improbable Cat_ (2003), died on 29 July aged 87. [AIP]
_Charles Augins_ (1943-2025), US choreographer and actor whose credits include _Blake's 7_ (1981), _Labyrinth_ (1986) and _Red Dwarf_ (1988,
1999), died on 19 July aged 81. [NF]
_Kenneth Colley_ (1937-2025), UK actor in _Monty Python's Life of
Brian_ (1979), _The Empire Strikes Back_ (1980), _Return of the Jedi_
(1983) and others, died on 30 June aged 87.
_John Conklin_ (1937-2025), noted US theatre designer who created sets
and costumes for many opera productions including _The Ghosts of
Versailles_ (1991), _The Turn of the Screw_ (1992) and _Don Giovanni_
(1995), died on 24 June aged 88. [AIP]
_Helgi Davis_ (1949-2025), Icelandic/US dealer, long-time owner of the Myth Adventures comics and games shop in Texas, died on 29 June aged 76.
[AIP]
_Scott Haring_, US games designer and editor long associated with
Steve Jackson Games -- where he worked on _Car Wars_, _Ghostbusters_,
_GURPS_ and others -- died on 1 July aged 67. [MR]
_Gerald Harper_ (1929-2025), UK actor who starred in _Adam Adamant
Lives!_ (29 episodes 1966-1967) and was in other genre tv series, died on 2 July aged 96. [SJ]
_Hulk Hogan_ (1953-2025), US wrestler and actor in _Gremlins 2: The
New Batch_ (1990), _Suburban Commando_ (1991) and _Muppets from Space_
(1999), died on 24 July aged 71. [LP]
_Jimmy Hunt_ (1939-2025), US actor who co-starred in _Invaders from
Mars_ (1953, with a cameo in the 1986 remake) and _Close Encounters of the
4th Kind: Infestation from Mars_ (2004), died on 18 July aged 85. [SJ]
_Martin Izquierdo_ (1942-2025), Mexican costume designer who created spectacular angel wings for _Angels in America_ (1991 play; 2003 tv) and
harpy wings for _The Tempest_ (2010), died on 25 June aged 83. [AIP]
_Paulette Jiles_ (1943-2025), noted US historical novelist whose occasional sf included _The Late Great Human Road Show_ (1986) and
_Lighthouse Island_ (2013), died on 8 July aged 82. [AIP]
_Yuri Kara_ (1954-2025), Russian film-maker who directed an adaptation (1994, released 2011) of Mikhail Bulgakov's _The Master and Margarita_,
died on 16 July aged 70. [AM]
_Tom Lehrer_ (1928-2025), famed US satirical singer-songwriter, much
loved in fandom (not only for his ditties with sf-adjacent themes) since
the 1950s, died on 26 July aged 97.
_Judy Loe_ (1947-2025), US actress in _Ace of Wands_ (26 episodes 1970-1971), _Space Island One_ (25 episodes 1998), _Doomwatch: Winter
Angel_ (1999) and others, died on 15 July aged 78. [AIP]
_Julian McMahon_ (1968-2025), Australian actor in _Charmed_ (47
episodes 2000-2005), _Fantastic Four_ (2005 plus 2007 sequel, as Doctor
Doom), _Runaways_ (19 episodes 2017-2018) and others, died on 2 July aged
56. [SG]
_Michael Madsen_ (1957-2025), US actor in _WarGames_ (1983), _Species_ (1995 plus sequel), _Vampires Anonymous_ (2003), _CobraGator_ (2015) and others, died on 3 July aged 67. [LP]
_Aleksandr Mitta_ (1933-2025), Russian author/director who wrote the children's sf novel _Prileteli marsiane_ (_The Martians Have Arrived_,
1960) and scripted and directed the fantasy _Skazka stranstviy_ (_The Story
of the Voyages_, 1983), died on 14 July aged 92. [AM]
_Yuri Moroz_ (1956-2025), Russian film-maker who directed the science-fantasy _Podzemelie vedm_ (_The Witches' Cave_, 1990), died on 14
July aged 68. [AM]
_Bruce Newrock_ (1941-2025), long-time US fan who was on the '7 in 77' bidding team for the 1977 Worldcon in Miami, and with his wife Flo worked
on registrations, died on 1 July aged 83. [FN]
_John Michael 'Ozzy' Osbourne_ (1948-2025), noted and notorious UK
heavy metal singer/songwriter with Black Sabbath and solo, whose genre
credits include _Little Nicky_ (2000), _Austin Powers in Goldmember_
(2002), _Gnomeo & Juliet_ (2011) and _Trolls World Tour_ (2020), died on 22 July aged 76. [LP/MR]
_Velu Prabhakaran_ (1957-2025), Indian Tamil-language filmmaker who directed _Nalaya Manithan_ (_The Man of Tomorrow_, 1989, which he also
wrote), _Adisaya Manithan_ (_Mysterious Human_, 1990) and others, died on
18 July aged 68. [AM]
_Peter Henry Schroeder_, US actor in _Journey to the Center of the
Earth_ (1988), _Argo_ (2012) and genre tv series, died on 7 June.
_Martin Cruz Smith_ (1942-2025), US author best known for political thrillers, whose sf novels include _The Indians Won_ (1970) and _Nightwing_ (1977), died on 11 July aged 82.
_Mark Snow_ (1946-2025), US composer of theme music for _The X-Files_ (1993-2018), _Smallville_ (2001-2007), _Ghost Whisperer_ (2005-2010) and
many more, died on 4 July aged 78. [F770]
_Andrey Sokolov_ (1974-2025), Russian animation director, screenwriter
and production designer whose animated series include _Space
Archaeologists_ (2010) and _Planet Ay_ (2014), died on 14 July aged 51.
[AM]
_Tom Troupe_ (1928-2025), US actor in _Psi Factor_ and genre tv series including _Star Trek_ (1967), died on 20 July aged 97. [LP]
_Lyn Venable_ (1927-2025), US author whose 1953 story 'Time Enough at Last' became a famous _Twilight Zone_ episode, died on 31 March aged 97.
[JAS]
_Malcolm-Jamal Warner_ (1970-2025), US actor in _The Real Story of
Itsy Bitsy Spider_ (1991) and genre tv series including _The Magic School
Bus_ (41 episodes 1994-1997) and _Jeremiah_ (35 episodes 2002-2004), died
on 20 July aged 54. [LP]
_Kenneth Washington_ (1936-2025), US actor in _Westworld_ (1973) and
genre tv series including _Star Trek_ (1969), died on 18 July aged 88. [KF]
_Tess Williams_ (1954-2025), UK-born Australian author and academic
whose sf novels are _Map of Power_ (1996) and _Sea as Mirror_ (2006), and
who co-edited the anthology _Women of Other Worlds_ (1999) with Helen
Merrick, died on 15 July aged 70. [MM]
_Dimitar Zapryanov_, Bulgarian author of the award-winning fantasy _Krastopat_ (_Crossroads_, 2016), died in a mountain-climbing accident on
June 21 aged 33. [AM]

THE WEAKEST LINK. _Ben Shephard:_ 'In Scotland the River Moriston flows
into which loch, famous for its legendary monster?' _Contestant:_ 'Loch Lomond?' (ITV, _Tipping Point_) [PE]

RANDOM FANDOM. _WSFS Online Business Meetings._ Constitutional amendments
from 2024 that were ratified at July's virtual meetings included doing away with the Retro Hugos and restoring the phrase 'supporting membership'
instead of the confusing-to-some 'WSFS membership' (plus 'attending
supplement' entitling you to go to the Worldcon). It was only then noticed
that this global change affected an older constitutional use of 'WSFS
members' to cover both supporting and attending members, so one key line
about the Hugos became 'Only Supporting Members may vote' -- neatly disenfranchising everyone who pays the extra to attend Worldcon either virtually or in person. (Nicholas Whyte blog, 24 July) This unfortunate
motion was reconsidered at the next meeting, and duly voted down.
Among the new changes that need 2026 ratification are: requiring Hugo ballot processing to use open source software; adding a permanent Hugo for poetry; and removing all North American SF Convention (NASFiC) provisions
from the constitution.

SECRETS OF SELF-PROMOTION. A Russian author on his contemporaries: 'P.G. Wodehouse and Tolstoi not bad. Not good, but not bad. No novelists any good except me.' (P.G. Wodehouse, 'The Clicking of Cuthbert', 1921).
'Men like Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, John E. Muller, Karl Zeigfreid, Fanthorpe, and their contemporaries put forward as fiction a number of brilliantly imaginative schemes, which have since come to pass as fact.'
('Leo Brett', _Power Sphere_, 1963)
A critic sends a fan letter to the author-protagonist John Tunnock:
'I've read nothing so good since Alasdair Gray's _Lanark_.' (Alasdair Gray, _Old Men in Love_, 2007)

RANDOM FANDOM II. _Cheryl Morgan_ received an honorary Doctorate of Laws
from Exeter University on 14 July. (Blog, 15 July)
_Tom Whitmore_ is Official Editor of this year's WOOF, the Worldcon
APA: 25 copies required, to be delivered to a WOOF box in Seattle's Fanzine Lounge before noon on Saturday, for collation at 3pm. Jerry Kaufman can
accept printed copies by mail or PDFs at littlebrooklocs [at] aol [dot]
com. [JK]

THE DEAD PAST. _70 Years Ago_, hopes were high: Alfred Bester visited the
UK and 'passed on to Ted Carnell the news that he could be in England until
the New Year and hopes to visit the GLOBE regularly during that period. He
is working on the script of _The Demolished Man_ for filming and there is a strong rumour that Humphrey Bogart is to play the lead. This will be a must when it is eventually screened.' (_Science Fantasy News_, August 1955)
_60 Years Ago_, Edmund Crispin (Bruce Montgomery) replaced Brian
Aldiss as BSFA president. (_Skyrack_ 82, August 1965)
_30 Years Ago_, Channel 4 irresistibly invited your editor to a press launch for their imminent 'Sci-Fi Weekend': 'Channel 4 hits Warp Factor
Nine this August bank holiday with a celebration of the weird and wonderful world of science fiction. This outlandish weekend will unzip the anorak and explore ...' (_Ansible_ 97, August 1995)
_20 Years Ago_, J.K. Rowling told the _Sunday Times_ that she hadn't realized she had written a fantasy until after her first was published: 'I really had not thought that that's what I was doing. And I think maybe the reason that it didn't occur to me is that I'm not a huge fan of fantasy.'
Terry Pratchett observed: 'Well, of course not: that's the stuff with all
those wizards and witches and magic schools and wands and other such
nonsense ...' (_Ansible_ 217, August 2005)

THE TOLKIEN SOCIETY approached the Bank of England, which is currently consulting on themes for new bank notes, to argue that JRRT is worthy to
appear 'alongside other authors who have also featured on bank notes:
Austen, Dickens and Shakespeare.' (Press release, 31 July)

BIRDBRAINS. A musical researcher has successfully saved data to a starling
-- that is, encoded into sound an image (of a bird) which the test starling listened to and correctly reproduced. _The Register_ story (30 July) asked
the inevitable next question: 'But can you play _Doom_ on a pigeon?

MAGAZINE SCENE. The SFWA blog has been rebranded as _Planetside: The Online Magazine of SFWA_; the old URL redirects to www.sfwa.org/planetside/.
_Amra_, the 1955-1982 George Scithers sword-and-sorcery fanzine that
won two 1960s Hugos, is being revived by Wildside Press as an annual
anthology edited by John Betancourt. The first issue's fiction inventory is full, but there's a call for nonfiction (1 cent per word rounded up to $25 minimum) at wildside.moksha.io/publication/1. [SB]

THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _Double Vision Dept._ 'Andrew sat at the wheel, one eye
on the road ahead, and one on the rear mirror.' (George Hay, _Man, Woman --
And Android_, 1951) [BA]
_Future Invective Dept._ 'I'll bust the bubble of any son of a space sausage who laughs!' ('Blake Savage' [Harold L. Goodwin], _Rip Foster Rides
the Gray Planet_, 1952 -- described in Project Gutenberg's AI-generated
summary as 'a science fiction novel likely written in the early 21st
century.') [PDF]


### GEEKS' CORNER ###

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More details, and an ALTERNATIVE LIST subscription form for those averse to Google, on this page (which is also where to unsubscribe from the
alternative list, hosted at ansible.uk):
https://news.ansible.uk/asubs.html
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Email the editor -- https://news.ansible.uk/contact.php
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CONVENTION AND EVENT LINKS
British Isles -- https://news.ansible.uk
London -- https://news.ansible.uk/london.html
Overseas -- https://news.ansible.uk/conlisti.html [no longer updated]


### ENDNOTES ###

PAYPAL TIP JAR THINGY. Donate to support _Ansible_, cover website costs and keep the editor happy! Or just buy his books.
https://ansible.uk/paypal.html
https://ae.ansible.uk/
https://ansible.uk/books/index.html

GROUP THEORY.
21 August 2025, evening: London Zoom meeting, third Thursday of each month. 'Please share this with people who you know typically come to the Bishop's Finger, but aren't on Facebook.' https://bohemiancoast.medium.com/first-thursday-london-sf-fan-virtual-drinks-5232021e961f

EDITORIAL. My web hosting service tells me that for mere wads of money, I
can own the coveted 'premium' domain taff.eu. As a miserable Brexited UK resident I'm not allowed to register .eu domains, but why should that stand
in the way of a good sales pitch?
Paul Di Filippo kindly pointed out a review that cites an old story of mine: 'As far as we know, basilisks aren't real, but the concept is an increasingly fascinating one. Science fiction author David Langford created
the idea in his short story BLIT ...' (_New Scientist_, 25 June) Better research needed: the _SF Encyclopedia_ entry for Basilisks in this
particular sf sense does indeed mention my story, but only after nearly a thousand words on previous examples dating back to the nineteenth century. https://archive.ph/J0lFr

RUMBLINGS. _Milford UK 2025_ is full up; for the 2026 writers' retreat
(May) and workshop (September) bookings, see www.milfordsf.co.uk.
_Tommy Ferguson_ is still bubbling with enthusiasm in the wake of the
2025 Belfast Eastercon (Reconnect) and hopes to hold a non-Eastercon in the same city some time in 2026. Volunteers are sought: email tommy [at] easterconbelfast [dot] org if interested.

R.I.P. II -- LATE AND LAST-MINUTE REPORTS. _David Argue_ (1959-2025), Australian actor in _The Return of Captain Invincible_ (1983),
_Pandemonium_ (1987), _Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left_
(1993-1994), _On the Beach_ (2000 remake), _Astro Loco_ (2021) and others,
died on 30 July aged 65. [GC]
_Alan Huff_ (1947-2025), US fan who was president of the Washington
(DC) SF Association 1978-1979 and 1985-1986, and chaired its convention Disclave in 1979 and 1983, died on 16 June aged 77. [F770]
_Kathleen Bartholomew_, Kage Baker's sister -- who completed their
novel _Nell Gwynne's On Land and at Sea_ (2012) after Baker's death -- died
in April 2024. [PS-P]

SOME LINKS from the _Ansible_ home page.
2025 ESFS Awards
https://file770.com/2025-esfs-awards/
Seattle Worldcon Business Meeting Agenda and Recaps https://seattlein2025.org/wsfs/business-meeting/agenda-and-information/
Worries about the 2027 Montreal Worldcon bid; 'Don't Panic!' say the co-chairs' ; What about 2028? https://file770.com/op-ed-the-worldcon-is-in-trouble/ https://file770.com/op-ed-looking-forward-to-a-great-worldcon-2027-in-montreal/ https://file770.com/things-also-dont-look-great-for-worldcon-2028/

THOG'S GOLDEN OLDIES from _Ansible_ 217, August 2005. _Dept of Hot Bosom Action._ 'Her tits were like smoke detectors and it looked like the little
red lights were flashing.' (Paul Meloy, 'Dying in the Arms of Jean Harlow
(The Coming of the Autoscopes)', _The 3rd Alternative_, Summer 2005)
_Dept of In Space No One Can Hear Your Castrophony._ 'Then there came
a sound, distant at first, that grew into a castrophony so immense it could
be heard far away in space.' (Gorillaz, _Demon Days_, 'Fire Coming out of a Monkey's Head' lyrics)
_Spare Parts Dept._ 'Botha slipped out of his chair. It rocked briefly
in his absence, then steadied to await the next set of perambulating
buttocks.' (Alan Dean Foster, _Diuturnity's Dawn_, 2002)


_Ansible_(R) 457 (C) David Langford, 2025. Thanks to Brian Ameringen,
Anonymous Claire, David V. Barrett, Sandra Bond, Gary Couzens, Paul Di
Filippo, Nic Farey, _File 770_, Keith Freeman, Steve Green, Rich Horton,
Jerry Kaufman, Steve Jones, _Locus_, Pamela Love, Murray MacLachlan, Bill Mallardi, Andrey Meshavkin, Flo Newrock, Lawrence Person, Andrew I. Porter, _Private Eye_, Dave Rowe, Marcus Rowland, Jessica Amanda Salmonson, _SF2 Concatenation_, Phil Stephensen-Payne, Nicholas Whyte, and as always our
Hero Distributors: Durdles Books (Birmingham SF Group), SCIS/Prophecy, and
Alan Stewart (Australia).

1 August 2025
--
David Langford | http://ansible.uk/ | http://news.ansible.uk/
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