ANSIBLE(R) 409
AUGUST 2021

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,
the pointless sea, or any lugubrious lake there was.

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### THE FRIVOLOUS CAKE ###

FRANK DARABONT, who developed the AMC cable tv series _The Walking Dead_
(2010-current) and was its executive producer until fired as a
budget-cutting exercise in July 2011, has now -- along with his agents
Creative Artists Agency -- settled the ensuing lawsuit for $200m plus
future royalties to be paid by AMC. (Deadline.com, 16 July) [F770]

MARY ROBINETTE KOWAL, a day after finishing her term as SFWA president,
became the new chair of DisCon III (Worldcon 2021).

CHRISTOPHER PRIEST broods on the passing of time, in particular the eight
months between sending his usual publisher a new novel and the arrival of a
contract; not to mention the further fifteen months before the book will
appear. 'Advice to aspiring novelists: live long.' (Blog, 24 June)

JOHN SCALZI was unmoved by hints of plagiarism from the lesser-known author
Jason Cordova, an alleged smoking gun being that Scalzi's latest novel and
one published by Cordova in 2015 both have the totally unprecedented word
'Kaiju' in the title: 'If you're an author who wishes to imply I stole some
book ideas from you, please be assured and comforted that I only steal book
ideas from hugely popular authors with a proven track record of sales.
Steal up, never down is my sacred motto. Your ideas are safe from me,
friend.' (Twitter, 15 July)

JODIE WHITTAKER and the showrunner Chris Chibnall will both step down from
their _Doctor Who_ roles in Autumn 2022. (BBC, 29 July)

### CONLANG ###

Until 3 Jan [] FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE WONDER OF NATURE (exhibition), Natural
History Museum, London. _Extended dates._ GBP22. See
www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/fantastic-beasts-the-wonder-of-nature.html.

ONLINE. 5 Aug [] VIRTUAL FIRST THURSDAY, 6-10pm, instead of the Bishop's
Finger London pub meeting. See tinyurl.com/uow6hqn. The pub has however
booked physical meetings for 2 September, 7 October, 4 November, 2 December
and (the usual additional Christmas meeting) 16 December. [RR] Updates may
follow at news.ansible.uk/london.html.

CANCELLED. 6-9 Aug [] CONTINUUM (RPG), John Foster Hall, Manor Road,
Leicester University, Oadby. 'Insufficient enthusiasm' for a virtual 2021
event; the next will be in 2022. See continuumconvention.co.uk.

CANCELLED. 20-22 Aug [] REUNICON (celebrating ConFiction 1990), The Hague.
To be replaced by a get-together party at Glasgow in 2024 if that bid wins,
or at some other convention. See confiction1990.com.

HYBRID? 20 Aug [] TITANCON, Hilton Hotel, Belfast. Perhaps a free
limited-numbers 'moot' with readings broadcast online; see titancon.com.

HYBRID. 26-30 Aug [] FRIGHTFEST (film), Cineworld, Leicester Square,
London. Tickets from www.frightfest.co.uk/filmsandevents.html.

28-29 August 2021 [] EM-CON (media), Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham. Tickets
GBP30, or GBP40 early entry; other rates at www.em-con.co.uk.

29-30 Aug [] STARS OF TIME (media), Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare. 10am-5pm.
GBP8.50; under-12s, OAP and disabled GBP4.50; under-4s free. Family of 2+2
kids GBP20; 2+3 kids GBP22. See www.starsoftime.co.uk.

HYBRID. 2-5 Sep [] OXONMOOT (Tolkien Society). GBP95 reg; GBP45 online;
members GBP10 less: www.tolkiensociety.org/events/oxonmoot-2021.

4 Sep [] WHOOVERVILLE 12 (_Doctor Who_), QUAD Centre, Derby, DE1 3AS.
Tickets GBP50; concessions GBP33; under-12s GBP10; online booking at
www.derbyquad.co.uk/whats-on/events/whooverville-12.

23 Oct [] TR25 'celebrating 25 years of _Tomb Raider_', QUAD Centre, Derby.
From 11 am. Tickets GBP25. See www.derbyquad.co.uk/TR25.

8-11 June 2023 [] KONFLIKT (Eurocon), Uppsala, Sweden. Euro60 or 600 SEK
reg; accompanied under-12s free. See eurocon2023.wordpress.com.

### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###

AS OTHERS SEE US. Nostalgia for the Tupperware Age of SF in a
75th-anniversary catalogue: 'A Look Back at the Year 1946: Each day, a
fantasy from the pages of science fiction became a reality -- some trivial,
some astonishing. Tupperware and bikinis! Microwave ovens and electric
blankets!' (Vermont Country Store catalogue, Volume 75, #16) [PL]

AWARDS. _Bisexual Book_ (sf category): _The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue_
by V.E. Schwab.
_Branford Boase_ (debut children's novel): _Orphans of the Tide_ by
Struan Murray; shared with his editor at Puffin, Ben Horslen. [L]
_ESFS Awards European Grandmaster:_ Maurizio Manzieri (Italy). For
other categories see www.esfs.info/2020-2/.
_Kitschies:_ NOVEL _Piranesi_ by Susanna Clarke. DEBUT _The Space
Between Worlds_ by Micaiah Johnson. COVER Allison Saltzman (des) and Dexter
Maurer (illus) for _The Arrest_ by Jonathan Lethem.
_Prometheus_ (libertarian): _The War Whisperer, Book 5: The Hook_ by
Barry B. Longyear. HALL OF FAME 'Lipidleggin' by F. Paul Wilson (1978
_Asimov's_); Rudyard Kipling's 'As Easy as A.B.C.' has now been shortlisted
sixteen times running without a win.
_Rhysling_ (sf poetry): LONG 'Eleven Exhibits in a Better Natural
History Museum, London' by Jenny Blackford (14/9/20 _Strange Horizons_).
SHORT 'Summer Time(lessness)' by Linda D. Addison (_Star*Line_ 43.4). [L]
_Seiun_ (Japan) best translated novel: _The Dark Forest_ by Cixin Liu.
_World Fantasy:_ LIFE ACHIEVEMENT Megan Lindholm, Howard Waldrop.
NOVEL SHORTLIST _Piranesi_ by Susanna Clarke; _Trouble the Saints_ by Alaya
Dawn Johnson; _The Only Good Indians_ by Stephen Graham Jones; _Mexican
Gothic_ by Silvia Moreno-Garcia; _The Midnight Bargain_ by C.L. Polk. Full
listing at www.worldfantasy.org/world-fantasy-awards%e2%84%a0-2021.

AS OTHERS INVOKE US. 'I am intrigued by Carrie Johnson's choice of clothes;
a mixture of Stepford wife and human sacrifice. She did recently don a blue
trouser suit, but she rather resembled one of the victims of Carousel in
_Logan's Run_.' (Petronella Wyatt, 'The Prince Harryfication of Boris
Johnson', _The Spectator_, 10 July) [DA]

R.I.P. _Rick Aiello_ (1955-2021), US actor in _Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with
Me_ (1992), died on 26 July aged 65. [LP]
_Paul Alexander_ (1937-2021), US artist who painted many sf covers for
Ace, Baen and other New York publishers from 1977 to the late 1990s, died
on 14 June aged 83. [L]
_Sid Altus_ (1949-2021), US fan and publisher who with Alex Berman
founded the small Phantasia Press (active 1978-1989), died on 13 July aged
71. [PDF]
_C. Dean Andersson_, US horror and fantasy author active since 1981 --
also writing as Asa Drake -- died on 5 July. [F770]
_Pilar Bardem_ (1939-2021), Spanish actress in _Exorcism's Daughter_
(1971), _The Mummy's Revenge_ (1975), _Lilly the Witch: The Journey to
Mandolan_ (2011) and others, died on 17 July aged 82. [SJ]
_Rick Boatright_ (1955-2021), US author who contributed to the
'1632/Assiti Shards' sf shared world with several short pieces and _1636:
The Chronicles of Dr. Gribbleflotz_ (2016 with Kerryn Offord), died on 22
July aged 66. [EF]
_Raffaella Carra_ (1943-2021), Italian singer, dancer and actress in
such films as _Atlas Against the Cyclops_ (1961) and _Mole Men Against the
Son of Hercules_ (1961), died on 5 July aged 78. [AIP]
_Judi Beth Castro_, US contributor to the spoof novel _Atlanta Nights_
(2005) and collaborator on short fiction with her husband Adam-Troy Castro
-- to whom all sympathy -- died on 15 July aged 58. [A-TC]
_John Cornell_ (1941-2021), Australian producer/director best known
for _Crocodile Dundee_, whose genre film was _Almost an Angel_ (1990), died
on 23 July aged 80. [GC]
_Roger Cudney_ (1936-2021), US actor whose many films include
_Computercide_ (1981), _Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell_ (1988),
_Total Recall_ (1990) and _Soul Walker_ (2012), died on 5 July aged 85.
[SJ]
_Mike Don_, UK fan and book dealer who was in the collective that ran
the radical Manchester bookshop Grass Roots from 1974 and launched his own
mail-order sf business as Dreamberry Wine in 1982, has died aged 77
(_Guardian_, 4 July). [MS]
_Richard Donner_ (1930-2021), US director/producer whose films include
_The Omen_ (1976), _Superman_ (1978, plus uncredited work on _Superman II_
before being replaced as director), _Ladyhawke_ (1985), _Scrooged_ (1988)
and _Timeline_ (2003), died on 5 July aged 91. [LP]
_Robert Downey Sr._ (1936-2021), US director of _Greaser's Palace_
(1972, which he also wrote) plus 3 _Twilight Zone_ segments (1985-1986),
and actor in _From Other Worlds_ (2004), died on 7 July aged 85. [LP]
_David Dukas_ (1970-2021), South African actor in _Merlin: The Return_
(2000), _Blood of Beasts_ (2005), _District 9_ (2009) and _Bloodshot_
(2020), died on 29 July aged 51. [SJ]
_Anthony Kevin 'Tony' Ellis__(1959-2021), Australian fan, died on 19
July aged 62. [MD]
_Kate Ferguson_, Australian actress in _Spaced Out_ (1979, aka _Outer
Touch_), died on 2 July aged 66. [SJ]
_Bryn Fortey_ (1937-2021), long-time Welsh fan (fanzines included
_Relativity_ 1967-1977 and various one-shots), sf/fantasy/horror author and
poet with many professional sales since 1971 -- his latest collection is
_Compromising the Truth_ (2018) -- died on 21 July aged 83. [AH]
_Sally Miller Gearhart_ (1931-2021), US academic and gay/lesbian
rights campaigner who wrote _The Wanderground_ (1980) and other strongly
feminist sf, died on 14 July aged 90. [EJ]
_Leon Greene_ (1931-2021), UK actor in _The Devil Rides Out_ (1968),
_The Thief of Baghdad_ (1978) and _Flash Gordon_ (1980), died on 19 June
aged 89. [AIP]
_Fernand Guiot_ (1932-2021), Belgian-born French actor in _Nemo_
(1970) and others, died on 26 June aged 88. [SJ]
_Stephen Hickman_ (1949-2021), US artist and sculptor who painted
hundreds of sf/fantasy covers -- winning the first Jack Gaughan Award, a
1994 Hugo for his US Postal Service _Space Fantasy_ commemorative stamp
booklet, and six Chesley Awards including the life achievement honour for
2000 -- died on 16 July aged 72. [RM]
_Dusty Hill_ (1949-2021), US ZZ Top bassist with soundtrack credits
for _Armageddon_ (1998) and _Ghost Rider_ (2007) plus a cameo in _Back to
the Future III_ (1990), died on 28 July aged 72. [LP]
_Andrew (Andy) Hopkinson_ (1966-2021), UK artist and cover designer
for the _Doctor Who_-related Faction Paradox and Kaldor City audio CDs,
died on 7 July aged 55. [AS]
_Paul Huntley_ (1933-2021), UK wigmaker and hair designer for _The
Exorcist III_ (1991), _The Addams Family_ (1991), _101 Dalmatians_ (1996),
_The Cell_ (2000) and others, died on 9 July aged 88. [SJ]
_Larry Don Johnson_ (1944-2021), US actor in _Sugar Hill_ (1974) and
_Street Tales of Terror_ (2004), died on 26 June aged 77. [SJ]
_Patricia Kennealy-Morrison_ (1946-2021), US author and rock critic
whose 'Keltiad' sequence of Arthurian space operas began with _The Copper
Crown_ (1984), died on 23 July aged 75. [LW]
_Milan Lasica_ (1940-2021), Slovakian director and actor in _The False
Prince_ (1985), _Frankenstein's Aunt_ (1987), _Freckled Max and the Spooks_
(1987) and others, died on 18 July aged 81. [SJ]
_Joe McKinney_ (1968-2021), US author in various genres including sf
and the supernatural, whose _Dog Days_ (2013) won a YA Bram Stoker Award,
died on 13 July aged 52.
_Biz Markie_ (1964-2021), US rapper and actor in _The Meteor Man_
(1993), _Men in Black II_ (2002), _Sharknado 2_ (2014) and others, died on
16 July aged 57. [LP]
_Jackie Mason_ (1928-2021), US comic actor whose films include
_Sleeper_ (1973) and _History of the World: Part I_ (1981), died on 24 July
aged 93. [LP]
_Ed Meskys_ (1936-2021), long-time US fan since 1955 whose fanzine
_Niekas_ ran from 1962 to the 2000s and won a 1967 Hugo shared with the
then coeditor Felice Rolfe, died on 25 July aged 85. [FL] Ed was a founder
of international Tolkien fandom, editor of several related zines, President
of the Tolkien Society of America 1967-1972, and one of the original
rotating editors of _Locus_. He is survived by his wife Sandy, to whom much
sympathy.
_Mike Mitchell_, Scots actor and stuntman in _The Planet_ (2006),
_Apocalypse Z_ (2013), _Legend of the Red Reaper_ (2013), _Dragon Kingdom_
(2018) and others, died on 23 July aged 65. [SJ]
_Jane Morpeth_, UK publisher with Headline since 1986 (as managing
director 2009-2016, then group chair) whose authors included Neil Gaiman,
Deborah Harkness, Dean Koontz and James Patterson, died on 17 July aged 61.
[JF]
_William F. Nolan_ (1928-2021), US author active in fandom in the
early 1950s and professionally since 1954 -- publishing his first
collection _Impact-20_ in 1963 and being best known for _Logan's Run_ (1954
with George Clayton Johnson) and its sequels plus film and tv adaptations
-- died on 15 July aged 93. [F770] For his long career he was honoured with
the International Horror Guild Living Legend Award (2001), made SFWA Author
Emeritus in 2006, and given Bram Stoker Awards for life achievement in 2010
and as Grandmaster in 2014.
_Clare Peploe_ (1941-2021), British East Africa-born director of
_Rough Magic_ (1995) -- which she also co-wrote -- died on 24 June aged 79.
[SJ]
_Kumar Ramsay_ (1936-2021), Indian Bollywood screenwriter whose
supernatural horror films include _Aur Kaun?_ (1979), _3D Saamri_ (1985)
and _Dak Bangla_ (1987), died on 8 July aged 85. [PDF]
_Charles Robinson_ (1945-2021), US actor in _Sugar Hill_ (1974),
_Project: ALF_ (1996), _Heaven Sent_ (2015) and others, died on 11 July
aged 75. [SJ]
_Robson Rocha_, DC Comics artist who worked on _Aquaman_, _Justice
League_ and various New 52 titles, died on 11 July aged 41. [PDF]
_William Smith_ (1933-2021), US actor with many genre credits from
_Atlantis: The Lost Continent_ (1961) via _Invasion of the Bee Girls_
(1973), _Red Dawn_ (1984) and _Manosaurus_ (1994) to _Island of Witches_
(2014), died on 5 July aged 88. [LP]
_Anne Stallybrass_ (1938-2021), UK actress in _Countess Dracula_
(1971) and _Knights of God_ (1987), died on 3 July aged 82. [SJ]
_Kartal Tibet_ (1938-2021), Turkish actor/director who played the
titular barbarian hero in _Tarkan_ (1969) and its sequels, with director
credits including _Turks in Space_ (2006), died on 2 July aged 83. [SJ]
_Bill Tortolini_ (1974-2021), US comics designer and letterer for
multiple publishers and genre series, including _The Wheel of Time_, died
in mid-July aged 46. [PDF]
_Nikki Van der Zyl_ (1935-2021), German actress who provided
uncredited voice dubs for 'Bond girls' and others from _Dr No_ (1962) to
_Moonraker_ (1979) -- likewise for Ursula Andress in _She_ (1965) and
Raquel Welch in _One Million Years B.C._ (1966) -- died on 6 March aged 85.
[HB]
_Chick Vennera_ (1947-2021), US actor with voice credits for
videogames and animated series including _Animaniacs_ (1993-1998) and _The
Real Adventures of Jonny Quest_ (1996-1997), died on 7 July aged 74. [MMW]
_Henri Vernes_ (Charles-Henri-Jean Dewisme, 1918-2021), Belgian author
of the 'Bob Morane' pulp adventures -- 200+ volumes since _La Vallee
Infernale_ (1953), many of them sf, with a regular supervillain modelled on
Fu Manchu -- died on 25 July aged 102. [SJ]
_David Von Ancken_ (1964-2021), US director/producer whose tv credits
include _Salem_ (2014-2017), _Ghost Wars_ (2017-2018), _The InBetween_
(2019) and _The Order_ (2019-2020), died on 26 July aged 56. [SJ]

In article <ru78gglbmmumkmhdvb0unvhgu3b7ogjv3o@4ax.com>,
David Langford <ansible@cix.co.uk> wrote:
>
>ANSIBLE(R) 409
>AUGUST 2021
>
>
>JOHN SCALZI was unmoved by hints of plagiarism from the lesser-known author
>Jason Cordova, an alleged smoking gun being that Scalzi's latest novel and
>one published by Cordova in 2015 both have the totally unprecedented word
>'Kaiju' in the title: 'If you're an author who wishes to imply I stole some
>book ideas from you, please be assured and comforted that I only steal book
>ideas from hugely popular authors with a proven track record of sales.
>Steal up, never down is my sacred motto. Your ideas are safe from me,
>friend.' (Twitter, 15 July)

Not to mention that titles are not subject to copyright.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/