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Kim
Stanley Robinson to appear at The Spaced Out Library
The Friends of the Spaced Out Library Are Alive
and Well
Business Meetings of the Friends
Welcome
Canadian Fantastic Quotations
Electronic SF: Science Fiction, Fandom and the
Wired World
A Conversation With John Millard
Diana Wynne Jones: A Review
Canadian Fiction 1988
Obituaries
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Kim Stanley
Robinson to appear at The Spaced Out Library
Science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson will be
making a personal appearance at The Spaced Out Library at 40 St. George St. in Toronto on the evening of July 27.
Robinson, the author of such books as The
Gold Coast, Memory of Whiteness,
The Wild Shore, Icehenge, The Planet on the Table (collection)
and many shorter works, will give a reading and will answer questions.
Admission to the event will be free of charge to
members of The Friends of The Spaced Out Library. Admission price for non-members
will be $10.00 per person at the door.
Members may also help fund this and other programs of
The Friends by contributing an additional $5.00. Members whose
contributions are received at The Spaced Out Library by closing time on
July 13 will be invited to a special "Meet the Author" session
one hour prior to the regular program on July 27.
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The
Friends of the Spaced Out Library are Alive And Well
The Friends of The Spaced Out Library is for the first time
actively soliciting new members.
The Spaced Out Library was established in 1970 by the Toronto
Public Library Board with a donation from sf
writer Judith Merril. The collection currently holds approximately 20,000
monographs and short story collections, 14,000 periodicals and over 1,200
fanzine titles in the reference collection. The reference collection
includes complete sets from such specialty publishers as Arkham House, Cheap Street and Gnome Press.
The Friends is officially a citizen advisory group to
the Toronto Public Library Board. It is not a fan organisation.
Its main objectives are to promote The Spaced Out Library in particular, and science fiction in general within Toronto and to promote The Spaced Out
Library within the science fiction community. It is the organisation's
intention to make The Spaced Out Library the best public collection of
speculative fiction in the world.
The two main means of accomplishing this task are by
publishing the semi-annual newsletter, Sol
Rising, and by sponsoring appearances at the Library by prominent
people in science fiction, fantasy and related fields. Three appearances or
other programming are scheduled quarterly with the fourth quarter being
devoted to the annual membership meeting and informal get-together.
The Friends of The Spaced Out Library has been in
existence since February 1981 and has sponsored programming at The Spaced
Out Library since then, as well as publishing two previous issues of Sol Rising (issue #2 was published
in the summer of 1987). However, no serious attempts have been made so far
to increase the membership of The Friends beyond those who showed interest
at the inception.
But that has now changed.
At the annual membership meeting in April, an
Executive Committee was elected and empowered to increase the membership of
The Friends.
The Executive has assembled an attractive list of
benefits to members and has begun work on an exciting lineup of programming
for the coming year.
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Annual Membership Meeting
The Friends of
The Spaced Out Library held its annual membership meeting on April
11, 1989
in order to elect a new Executive Committee and to discuss matters relating
to The Spaced Out Library. This was the first meeting held in several
years.
Lorna Toolis, head librarian
for The Spaced Out Library reported that major donations to the collection
had been received from Mr. John Flint Roy, Mr. Robert Bruce Robbins and Mr.
Jon Lomberg. The Robbins bequest consisted of 115
boxes of science fiction, fantasy and fanzines. Many of these items were
reference books and volumes of interest to collectors; library staff particularly admire the set of chapbooks published
by Mr. Roy Squires. As this donation is quite large, library staff are integrating it slowly with the rest of the
collection, due to constraints on both staff time and shelving space.
Mr. Lomberg's donation of
scripts, storyboards, sketches and working notes from the various
television and radio series he has worked on will be held separately as the
'Lomberg Donation'.
Members elected to the Executive Committee were:
Professor Peter Fitting (Chairman), Ms. Doris Bercarich
(Treasurer), Mr. Larry Hancock, Mr. Keith Soltys
and Mr. Robert Hadji (all as Members-at-large).
Past chairman Mr. John Millard remains a member of the Executive as does
Ms. Judith Merril who was voted an Honourary member of the Executive Committee for Life.
Three major concerns were discussed at the meeting:
the need for a newer, more active Friends organisation
and the best means for bringing this about; concerns that the new building
is still in the planning stages after the better part of a decade of
discussion; and, a new name for the library.
The members discussed regular programming as a method
of reaching the public and attracting new members. Mr. Kim Stanley Robinson
has been invited as a guest for the Summer Program and Mr. Joe Haldeman as a guest for the Winter Program. The Friends
will program for three consecutive Saturdays in the fall, but speakers are
not yet determined. The Friends are able to invite these speakers through
the funds made available in memory of Mr. Robert Bruce Robbins by his
family and friends.
SOL RISING, the newsletter, was also discussed as a
method of reaching the Library's patrons in the academic community and
elsewhere. Mr. Larry Hancock offered to edit the newsletter and Mr. Arthur
Wharton and Ms. Alison Knight agreed to assist with the publication.
The lack of progress in finalizing a new building for
the Library was discussed at considerable length. Members were invited to
write, expressing their concern about the lack of a new facility, to: Ms.
Joanne Doucette, Chairman, Toronto Public Library Board, 281 Front St. E., Toronto, Ontario, M4R 1B9. A copy of such
correspondence should also be sent to Mr. Peter Fitting, 73 Delaware Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M6H 2S9.
Members were all agreed that a new name for the
Library was highly desirable, as the purpose and function of the Library
are not apparent from is name. Concern was raised about the wishes of Ms.
Merril whose original donation formed the basis of the Library and who
actually named the Library, but Ms. Merril expressed her consent.
Considerable discussion and ingenuity was expended in
this discussion though no agreement on a new name was reached. Members
thought it appropriate to honour Ms. Merril in
the re-named library but she emphatically declined. Discussion revolved
around the comparative merits of "Speculative Fiction" as opposed
to "Science Fiction" with most members favouring
the former. The name change is not planned to take effect until the Library
moves to the new building.
Members were enthusiastic about the attendance at the
meeting and the renewed interest in making The Friends an active organisation
once again. However, it was noted that such enthusiasm had been exhibited
in past, but The Friends had
dropped into inactivity each time. Therefore, the members approved a motion
requiring the Executive Committee to convene a meeting at least once every
three months, even if no items would be on the agenda prior to the meeting.
It is hoped that regular meetings will ensure continued dedication to the organisation.
Executive Committee Meeting
The Executive committee held its first meeting in
early May at which several matters were discussed and approved.
Membership fees were discussed and decided upon. The
Executive also approved the regular admission price to programming
sponsored by The Friends and the
fact that all members would be admitted free to such programming. Other
membership benefits (such as discounts from Bakka
bookstore) were approved.
Programming for the next year was discussed in
general. Mr. Joe Haldeman has been confirmed as a
guest, appearing at the Library on December 2,
1989.
Possible guests were discussed for the three successive weekends of
programming planned for autumn, but nothing has yet been finalized.
Lifetime memberships to The Friends were recommended
and approved for Mr. John Millard, Mr. John Robert Colombo, Ms. Judith
Merril, Ms. Doris Mehegan and Mr. John Rose.
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Welcome
Welcome to the third issue of SOL RISING, the
newsletter of The Friends of The Spaced Out Library. It has been two years
since we published our previous issue, but we don't intend for such time to
slip by us again; The Friends is back on its feet and rededicated to its
objectives of promoting The Spaced
Out Library in specific and science fiction in general.
Each issue of SOL RISING will keep readers informed as
to the activities of The Friends of The Spaced Out Library, both in regards
to business conducted at membership and Executive meetings and in regards
to reporting upon past programming and advising readers of upcoming
programming.
We will also feature articles and interviews of
interest to our members; this issue's articles by John Robert Colombo and
Keith Soltys and the interview with John Millard
are excellent examples of what can be expected in the future.
We have also included as complete a list as we could
compile of Canadian speculative fiction printed in 1988, and hope to make
this an annual occurrence.
We will be publishing a minimum of two issues of SOL
RISING each year, perhaps more. All members of The Friends will receive
copies of the newsletter as part of their membership.
We invite all contributions of articles for
consideration of publication, but we do not pay for contributions. If there
is a specific topic you would like to see covered or special projects that
you feel that the Library or The Friends would be best suited to undertake,
please let us know.
We also invite your letters of comment on the
newsletter, on The Friends organisation and on
The Spaced Out Library.
‑Larry Hancock, editor
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Canadian
Fantastic Quotations
by John Robert Columbo
It's always a distinct pleasure when areas of interest
overlap. I experienced that pleasure a year ago when I selected the
contents of Colombo's Canadian
Quotations. I found that I could combine with ease two long-time
interests of mine: Canadiana and fantastic
literature.
Perhaps I should explain that I have, filed away in my
study in North
York,
some 20,000 3x5 cards. Typed on each card is a "quotable quote"
made by a Canadian (say, media pundit Marshall McLuhan)
or made about Canada by a foreigner (say, British
travel writer Jan Morris on the Canadian "genius" for
compromise). As I do a lot of reading in the area of Canadiana
and a fair amount in the area of fantastic literature—by which I mean
science fiction, fantasy fiction, and supernatural fiction—it is not
surprising that quotations about Canada made by foreign fantastic
writers have found their way into my files. Once in the files they run the
risk of being recycled in one of my books.
About one hundred "quotable quotes" made by
foreign fantastic writers about Canada have been worked into my
latest compilation: Colombo's New
Canadian Quotations published by Hurtig
Publishers in Edmonton. One hundred quotes sounds
like a lot, but that number vanishes in the shadow of the book's
contents—4,000 new quotations plus 600 old "touchstone"
quotations by 1,500 authors and others arranged under 800 topic headings.
So the representation given to foreign fantastic authors is not all that
large.
Which authors are included? What do they have to say
to readers of Canadiana? Good questions. Foreign
authors are intrigued by our cities. Vancouverites will especially enjoy
the passage by Robert A. Heinlein from his novel Time Enough for Love, in which he refers interestingly to an
event that took place in that city from the vantage-point of the year 4272:
"That must have been late in the twentieth century and in Vancouver,
as I recall. Vancouver was a part of the United States where the people were so
clever that they never paid taxes to Washington."
Everybody hates Toronto, I suppose. Thus it was a
delight to come upon Ray Bradbury's off-the-cuff remark about my adopted
city. Bradbury told an interviewer: "Toronto, Canada, is the most perfect city in
the Western
Hemisphere." (I am not giving the full sources for these quotations, to
save space, but that one comes from a Vancouver publication.)
It was with special, patriotic pride that I noted the
reference to Montreal in the most famous radio
broadcast of all time. I am referring to the 1938 radio dramatization by
Orson Welles of H.G. Wells's
The War of the Worlds. Listeners
that Hallowe'en night heard the following mock
announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen, here is the latest bulletin from
the Intercontinental Radio News, Montreal, Canada: Professor Morse of
McGill University reports observing a total of three explosions on the
planet Mars, between the hours of 7:45 P.M. and 9:20 P.M., eastern standard
time." There is no Intercontinental Radio News and no Professor Morse,
but there is a McGill University and it is located in Montreal, A fine mixture of fact and
fiction.
H.G. Wells was not neglected, for there is a longish
passage from his short story "The Star" which describes the
changes to the planet resulting from the birth in the heavens of a new
star. It brings about the greening of Iceland, Greenland, and the region identified as
"the shores of Baffin's Bay". There is a second quotation from Wells
from a 1906 article about a visit to Niagara Falls. He found that "the real
interest of Niagara for me was not in the waterfall, but in the human
accumulations about it ...." Little has changed since then.
Wells is not the only science fiction writer who has
been drawn to the Falls. Isaac Asimov, a poor traveller
at best, made one of his few trips out of New York City in April 1963 to view the
cataracts. He waxed eloquent about them in his memoirs In Joy Still Felt: "I rather lost my breath, for the Horseshoe Falls are extraordinarily
beautiful." Jules Verne also paid them a visit. "I marvelled at the Niagara Falls from the top of Terrapin Tower with a lunar rainbow showing
in the spray of the falls, and crossed the Suspension Bridge into Canada. And then came home."
The afternoon of April 19, 1867, he spent one hour on
Canadian soil. Like Asimov and even Bradbury, Verne was not much of a traveller.
Creative use of a Canadian motif was made by Philip
Jose Farmer in his well-known novella The
Lovers. This novella is notorious as the work that introduced sex to
science fiction. It's a tame read today but in 1952, when it was first published,
it was hot stuff! Readers will recall that the action takes place so far in
the future that the things we take for granted are but memories. "Then
there was North
America,"
Farmer wrote, "where American was the native speech of all except the
twenty descendants of French-Canadians living on the Hudson Bay
Preserve." The French-Canadians—oops, the Quebecois—play a pivotal role in the novella's plot. The
hero marries one—and dies.
Likely the most creative use of a Canadian locale in a
foreign author's fantastic work is the use John Wyndham made of Labrador in his post-holocaust novel The Chrysalids.
Labrador is certainly isolated.
"For a long time it had been disputed whether any parts of the world
other than Labrador and the big island of Newf were populated at all,"
he wrote. "They were thought to be all Badlands which had suffered the full
weight of Tribulation, but it had been found that there were some stretches
of Fringes country in places."
I could continue to single out these writers and their
quotations but I would rather make a distinction. There is a difference
between passages from fiction and passages from articles and interviews.
The former are generally more imaginative than the latter, but they are
seldom self-standing and they need to be explained. I am collecting
references to Canada in fantastic literature.
Readers who know about passages in well-known or little-known stories and
novels could send them for a future column. You will receive gratitude!
Readers new to science fiction often blurt out,
"Where do these authors get such ideas?" Spider Robinson gave
Phil Milner of Books in Canada
the ideal answer to that question. "I get my ideas from Schenectady, New York. That is the official Science
Fiction Writers of America answer to the question, 'Where do you fellows
get your weird ideas?' We all say Schenectady." Now, Spider may be a
Yankee by birth, but he has been in Canada since 1973, and that is long
enough for him to come up with a new, Canadian answer to that question.
Where does the Canadianized Spider get his
"weird [Canadian] ideas"? No doubt they come from Halifax or Medicine Hat or Moose Jaw or Vancouver—the city he now calls
home.
John Robert
Colombo has written, compiled, and translated 77 books. A collection of
poems, Off Earth, was his 76th book; Colombo's New Canadian Quotations is his 77th. He plans to
stop—or at least pause—at 100.
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Electronic
SF: Science Fiction, Fandom and the Wired World
by Keith Soltys
"Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination
experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by
children being taught mathematical concepts... A graphic representation of
data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system.
Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace
of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city light, receding
..."
William Gibson
Neuromancer
Computers and SF in the Real World
The direct mind to computer link envisioned by William
Gibson may be some time in coming but electronic communication has already
reached the stage of "unthinkable complexity"—at least for
some computer users if the advice columns of computer magazines are any
indication. But the majority of science fiction authors, readers and fans
have always been quick to embrace new technologies (even if they haven't
always fully understood the implications) and computers are no exception.
According to a recent Locus ("The Newspaper of the Science Fiction Field") poll,
54% of that magazine's readers own a computer. That's about 5,000 people, a
small fraction of the half-million or so who use the major data-nets, but
it does indicate that many people are interested in both sf and electronic communications.
This article is a guide to some of the services
available through your computer and modem—more specifically those
related to science fiction. There's too much variety in hardware and
software to go into much technical detail here but I will mention some
general guidelines that might be helpful if this is new to you.
What's Out There?
In general there are two types of services available
to you if you have a computer and a modem ‑those you pay for and
those you don't. National services like CompuServe and The Source charge by
the hour for connect time. Most local bulletin boards are free (though some
may charge an initial registration fee). As with most things in life you
tend to get what you pay for—the massive investments in hardware and staff required for a large commercial service don't come
cheap.
The Big Three: CompuServe, The Source and Genie
With over 375,000 subscribers, CompuServe is the
largest of the public information networks. Although its 40 mainframe
computers are located in Columbus, Ohio, the network has nodes that
allow access via a local phone call from most major metropolitan centres in the United States and Canada.
There are two other services in direct competition
with CompuServe. The Source is smaller with about 60,000 subscribers, but
cheaper and with many of the same features. GEnie,
an offshoot of General Electric, uses the night-time spare capacity of the
company's data network. It has the advantage of being the cheapest of the
three systems.
The Local Guys
A BBS or Bulletin Board Service is a smaller version
of the commercial data networks. Most are set up by hobbyists on their home
computers and can be reached only through a single phone line. BBS's are notorious for their short lives, because of
both equipment failure and burnout on the part of the operators (who are
also known as sysops). Although some have defied the odds and been around
for several years the average lifetime is probably less than a year.
BBS's tend to offer similar
services to the larger systems, primarily electronic mail and file
uploading and downloading, but of course on a much smaller scale. (There
are some commercial BBS's, like PC Canada, that
charge for connection and offer more services than the typical home BBS.
Most specialize in file uploading-downloading and computer related topics
and are out of the scope of this article.)
The Ontario Science Centre in Toronto maintains a popular board
with a large sf section. In Minneapolis the board started by the Scribbly writers' group was the inspiration for the
Bunch board. Ottawa's Pagan SF Net specializes in
sf.
What Good Is It?
All this may sound interesting and even a little far
out, especially if you've never tried it, but what practical benefits are
there—especially if you're going to spend money on it?
Electronic mail may be the most useful capability even
though it's probably not the most glamorous. It's faster and more reliable
than the post office. For short messages it's cheaper than long distance
phone calls and can be competitive with the mail. It's possible to send two
or three messages on CompuServe in two minutes for a cost of less than $.50
per message. Fidonet (a linked network of local
bulletin boards) echomail messages cost about the
same.
CompuServe's Science Fiction Forum provides a good
example of what's available on the larger systems. The sf
forum is divided into 18 areas. There are sections on Science Fiction, Star
Trek, Dr. Who, SF in the Movies/TV, Pern,
Conventions, Fanzines, Writing, etc. Each area includes an area for
messages and a data library for file upload-download. CompuServe's software
allows messages to be linked to earlier messages, thus creating a
"thread". Some have spanned hundreds, if not thousands, of
messages. Many authors (David Gerrold, Raymond E.
Feist, Mike Resnick to name a few) are regular users.
Sf fans are gregarious by nature
and the message oriented format of the computer forums don't always provide
the sense of contact that users crave. Conferences, basically the
electronic equivalent of a CB channel, have grown up on the larger systems
to fill this need.
In conference mode many users can "chat" to
each other in real time. Several conversations may be going simultaneously
with messages scrolling off the screen at a rate that novice users may have
trouble following. A special syntax and etiquette have evolved around
conferencing so that users can communicate in the least confusing manner.
Some conferences are more formal than others. On
CompuServe, for example, there are frequent moderated conferences with
special guests. Users register in advance and the sysop for the forum
controls the flow of questions. Many sf authors (Cherryh, Bova, Haldeman and recently Anne McCaffrey from her computer
in Ireland) have participated in these
conferences.
Transcripts are stored in the forum's data libraries
along with other topical files. There can be hundreds of files in a forum
library. Book and film reviews, interview transcripts, articles and stories
can all be downloaded.
The electronic magazine is a new variation on this
theme. There are at least two fanzines (Other Realms and TORUS) whose text
is distribute in electronic format. Once uploaded
the distributions is out of control of the editors—which is part of
the attraction as one never knows where the magazine may end up.
Most smaller boards will have areas
devoted to file upload and download which often include programs that can
be useful to BBS users, text files about various subjects and games. Not
all boards offer this and uploads are usually checked by the sysop due to
the proliferation of dangerous "trojan
horse" programs; anti-social creations which appear to be legitimate
until they take control of a system and destroy its data.
Connecting with an on-line service doesn't require a
great investment in hardware or software. You need a computer (it is
possible to use a dumb terminal but I'm going to ignore that option here),
a modem, a connection to a phone line and software. It doesn't require much
computing power and there are many good, free, public-domain programs
available for almost every brand of computer. Magazines, computer clubs and
local dealers are good sources of help and information.
Looking Ahead
Electronic bulletin boards and their larger cousins
like CompuServe and the Source are the first wave in a new medium of
information storage and exchange. Over the coming years more and more
information will be available on-line. If the past few years are any
indication science fiction readers, fans and authors will be among the
first and foremost users of the new systems and among the first to reap
their benefits.
Technical Tips—SF related BBS's
Ontario Science Centre, Toronto (416) 429-1700
The Pagan SF Net, Ottawa (613) 875-2032
Terraboard, Minneapolis (612) 721-8967
To connect to most BBS's set
your communications software to either 300 or 1200
baud (few BBS's support 2400 baud), 8 bit words,
no parity and one stop bit. If that doesn't work try 7 bit words, even
parity and one stop bit. And if that confuses you don't worry, once you've
set it and it works (and it probably will) you can forget about it.
CompuServe, The Source and Genie
These services have local phone numbers in most major
cities in the United States and Canada. They can be accessed through
packet switching networks like Datapac and Tymnet outside of those areas. This adds an extra cost
to the connection but it's still cheaper than a long-distance call to the
nearest node.
Connect rates vary from US$5.00/ hour for GEnie to US$12.50/hour for CompuServe. Rates may vary
depending on modem speed and time of day. Starter kits with an instruction
manual are available at some computer stores.
Anyone contemplating using one of the major services
should look for software specific to that service. On CompuServe, for
example, programs like AUTOSIG or TAPCIS allow you to read and reply to
messages off-line, saving vast amounts of money in connect charges. Also
they are easier to use than the sometimes cryptic command syntax of the
major services. They can usually be downloaded from one of the computer-oriented
forums and are well worth the cost of the download.
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A
Conversation With John Millard
John Millard is Toronto's "Old Man of SF Fandom".
A member of First Fandom, John was the chairman of both of the World
Science Fiction Conventions that have been held in Toronto. In this interview, conducted
in the spring of 1988, he shares his memories of the beginning of Toronto fandom and of the WoridCons he has attended over the years.
MICHAEL SKEET: To start off John, when did you first discover science
fiction?
JOHN MILLARD: Sometime in the early
thirties. I'm not exactly sure when.
MS: You moved to Toronto in the mid 40's, right?
JM: Well, first let's get back to
the beginning. I was born here in Toronto—I'm a Canadian by birth—in
'17, at the end of November. Sometime in the fall of '19, my family moved
to Jackson, Michigan, about 75 miles west of Detroit. That's where I was brought
up and went to school. I graduated from high school in '36, returned to Canada in 1942 and joined the Air
Force for the duration.
MS: When you discovered science
fiction, did you discover science fiction fandom at the same time?
JM: Back in my high school days,
I was very big reader. I read everything l could get my hands on. Of
course, in those days the pulp magazines were THE thing! You could buy them
for ten cents or twenty cents. The most you ever had to pay was a quarter.
But I read everything, including science fiction …mystery stories,
western stories, anything. In one of the magazines in … I guess it
was the early forties … in an issue of Astonishing Tales, there was a bit at the bottom of one story …
I guess you'd call it a filler … about a science fiction convention.
The second World Science Fiction Convention was to be held in Chicago on the Labour
Day weekend of 1940. So I decided I wanted to go.
MS: So your first introduction
to fandom was at a convention?
JM: Yes, at the convention.
That's the first time I ever knew anything about it, although I had been
reading science fiction for quite a while.
MS: What did you see there, in Chicago?
JM: Well, I met a number of people who seemed to be interested, and
the main thing that struck me was that everybody was publishing a fanzine,
or what they called "fan mags" in those
days. Aside from reading the stuff and talking about it, everybody wanted
to publish a magazine.
MS: How did you meet up with the
science fiction fandom community in Toronto after the war?
JM: I went to the second
convention and I also went to the third convention which was held in Denver
in '41 …came back here in '42 …spent about a year or more here in
Canada doing some training, then I went overseas. I spent almost three
years in England. I came back and stayed on
for awhile and I discharged in '46. At the end of '46 I started a course at
Ryerson—what is now Ryerson but was then the old Rehab school—studying
electronics. In September of that year, the Worldcon
was being held in Philadelphia, so I took sometime off and
went. At that convention I met a couple of guys from Toronto, who I didn't know before:
Ned McKeown and Joe Taylor. Ned McKeown was gungho about the
convention and wanted to put a bid in for the 1948 convention, which we
did. We had some competition from a guy from Milwaukee but his … it was an ad
hoc thing, it wasn't like it is today. It wasn't highly organized, just a
spur of the moment thing. We got the bid for it and held the convention in
1948. That's where I really began to know people in fandom in Canada.
MS: How exactly did you go about
bidding for the 1948 WorldCon?
JM: We just started a little
promotion right there in the convention, did whatever we could to let
people know that we were interested in doing it. And of course you had to
make a small presentation, give some ideas what the city was like. It was a
voice vote, there were no ballots.
MS: Do you remember how many
people were involved in the voting?
JM: Oh, I'd say maybe a hundred
and twenty-five, a hundred and fifty at the most.
MS: Out of … what was the
attendance at the convention?
JM: Well, I don't think the
attendance was more than two hundred and fifty at any one time.
MS: How many people worked on
the organizing committee for the '48 WorldCon?
JM: Well, Ned and I did most of
the work, but other people came around and helped when we needed it.
MS: Where was the convention held?
JM: It was held in a small
auditorium called Rai Purdy Studio. It was an
auditorium in a commercial building on Queen Street near St. Michael's Hospital.
It's no longer in existence today. The building's been torn down. There's a
skyscraper in its place today. But it was the only place we could get. The
convention was held on the July 1st holiday because back in 1948 the Labour Day holiday included the Canadian National
Exhibition and you couldn't get hotel space if you tried. So we held it in
July. We tried a couple of hotels but they weren't interested in our
business, so we went to the convention bureau and they told us about this
place.
MS: Was the convention spread
out?
JM: People were staying in
different hotels but hotel space was kind of tight after the war. There
weren't too many around. There was the Royal York and the King Edward. Some
people stayed at the King Edward. The King Edward was closest.
MS: What was the social scene
like? Was there a lot of partying?
JM: Partying had just started at
the conventions. There were some parties in Philadelphia | 
