![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lillian13Jack Williamson, one of the true Founding Fathers of science fiction, passed away today. He was 98.
The second time I ever impressed my mother was all because of Jack Williamson. (The first time was because of Kelly Freas. Both times were due to SF fandom.)
My mom was the person who got me hooked on SF in the first place; she'd been reading it since the early 40's. I dragged her to a small SF convention in Lubbock TX. StarCon? It was probably 1981 or thereabouts--I'd only recently discovered con fandom and was going to anything remotely resembling a convention. This one was very good, despite it's small size--Bob Asprin, Marion Zimmer Bradley---and Jack Williamson. My mother wasn't very impressed with the convention--in a small Holiday Inn, none of the panels interested her--but we were walking down the hall when she stopped short. "That was Jack Williamson."
"Yes, Mama."
"That was Jack Williamson." I had never seen her this starstruck. (I would again, later, when she met Kelly Freas.)
"Yes, Mama. Do you want to meet him?" I was already kind of blase about meeting writers. I had discovered pretty quickly that I was as completely unfazed by them as I was anyone else, including movie actors. Kinda nice.
"Do you think he'd mind?" She looked longingly at the smoky hotel bar, where he was sitting down.
"Mama, just tell him how long you've been reading his work. He'll be thrilled." I think I kind of pushed her towards the entrance.
Kids, they talked in there for three hours. He was, as I said, thrilled to meet someone who had been reading him literally since he started publishing. Plus my mother was about 20 years younger, redheaded, smart, etc. They had to practically drag him out of the bar to make his panel. She was on Cloud Nine for days. I was so proud.
So, goodbye, Jack, we'll sorely miss you. I know Bob Heinlein, Kelly Freas, Isaac Asimov, etc. are holding a place for you in the bar. I personally am very glad it took you this long to make their party.
The second time I ever impressed my mother was all because of Jack Williamson. (The first time was because of Kelly Freas. Both times were due to SF fandom.)
My mom was the person who got me hooked on SF in the first place; she'd been reading it since the early 40's. I dragged her to a small SF convention in Lubbock TX. StarCon? It was probably 1981 or thereabouts--I'd only recently discovered con fandom and was going to anything remotely resembling a convention. This one was very good, despite it's small size--Bob Asprin, Marion Zimmer Bradley---and Jack Williamson. My mother wasn't very impressed with the convention--in a small Holiday Inn, none of the panels interested her--but we were walking down the hall when she stopped short. "That was Jack Williamson."
"Yes, Mama."
"That was Jack Williamson." I had never seen her this starstruck. (I would again, later, when she met Kelly Freas.)
"Yes, Mama. Do you want to meet him?" I was already kind of blase about meeting writers. I had discovered pretty quickly that I was as completely unfazed by them as I was anyone else, including movie actors. Kinda nice.
"Do you think he'd mind?" She looked longingly at the smoky hotel bar, where he was sitting down.
"Mama, just tell him how long you've been reading his work. He'll be thrilled." I think I kind of pushed her towards the entrance.
Kids, they talked in there for three hours. He was, as I said, thrilled to meet someone who had been reading him literally since he started publishing. Plus my mother was about 20 years younger, redheaded, smart, etc. They had to practically drag him out of the bar to make his panel. She was on Cloud Nine for days. I was so proud.
So, goodbye, Jack, we'll sorely miss you. I know Bob Heinlein, Kelly Freas, Isaac Asimov, etc. are holding a place for you in the bar. I personally am very glad it took you this long to make their party.
