Friday, April 22, 2005

Aggiecon

In mere moments, Judy and I will be leaving for lovely and scenic College Station, Texas, home of Texas A&M University and the Texas Aggies. We'll be attending Aggiecon 36. Aggiecon, for those of you not in the know, is a small regional science fiction convention. Judy and I went to our first in 1980, and we've missed only one in the years since. At Aggiecon, I've seen writers like Theodore Sturgeon, L. Sprague de Camp, Harry Harrison, Roger Zelazny, Harlan Ellison, and a lot of others. I've seen artists like Boris, Michael Whelan, Frank Kelly Freas. And I've made a few friends, too. I met Joe Lansdale in 1980, and we've been pals ever since. Scott Cupp and Willie Siros, who always have a table in the dealers' room have sold me books ever since 1980 and been friends as well. And let's not forget fellow blogger Jayme Blaschke.

For me, spring doesn't really begin until I've been to Aggiecon, so spring is coming late this year. Every other year since 1980, the convention's been held on the last weekend of March, but this year Easter fell on that weekend and the con was postponed. The guests of honor this year are Michael Moorcock and Elizabeth Moon, so I'm hoping for a good crowd. I'll give you a report when we get back home.

2 comments:

David J. Montgomery said...

Hope you have a great trip, Bill!

I miss Roger Zelazny's writing keenly.

Unknown said...

There were great days for finding old paperbacks at some of those AggieCons. Ardath still attends most years, and I'll be going in March. Maybe she'll be there this time, too. But there won't be any old paperbacks.