The SHUTTLE August 2001 The Next NASFA Meeting is 18 August 2001 at the Regular Time and Location Con Stellation ConCom Meeting 16 August 2001 at Mike KennedyÕs House { Oyez, Oyez { Movie News

The next NASFA meeting will be 18 August 2001 at the The name of the next Star Wars movie, has been an- regular time (6P) and the regular location. Call BookMark at nounced: it will be known as Star Wars: Episode II Ñ Attack 256-881-3910 if you need directions. The August program is of the Clones. Meanwhile, the original Star Wars trilogy has not set at press time, but may be the DUFF report delayed from found a new life on stage. With George LucasÕ blessing, last month. students from the University of Southern California School of Contrary to earlier plans, the August After-The-Meeting Theater are presenting a condensed, tongue-in-cheek version Meeting will be at Mike KennedyÕs house. (Russell McNutt is of the entire trilogy. It is currently being staged at the Ed- recovering from cataract surgery.) Call Mike at 256-883-5922 inburgh Fringe Festival and has previously seen runs in Paris if you need directions. and Los Angeles. Props include trash cans, milk cartons, and We hear from Samanda Jeude that she has a Philadelphia upturned chairs, while Luke Skywalker is armed with a plastic Worldcon membership for sale for $175. You can contact her light saber. at . The news for Steven SpielbergÕs A.I. is not so cheerful. Due to the length and time-sensitive nature of some of the Censors in Sweden have applied the highest available rating, submissions we received, this issue does not have an episode barring anyone under 15 from seeing the picture. They cited a of No Need for a Dragon. We will resume NNFAD in the scene in which the young robot-boy is abandoned by his September or October issue (depending on the length of our mother in a forest and expressed concern that it could upset Worldcon coverage next month.) children. An executive of the film distributor disagreed and The September meeting will be subsumed by the annual announced that they would appeal. Spielberg and the Swedish NASFA cookout, which will take place starting at 1:00P at board of censors have a history of conflicts going back to E.T. Robin RayÕs house. Stay tuned for more details. which was given an 11-rating because the censors thought some scenes were scary and presented the adult world in a hostile way. The distributor then also fought for a lower rating, Con Stellation ConCom but lost.

The next Con Stellation XX con committee meeting will be on Thursday 16 August 2001 at Mike KennedyÕs house Ñ 7907 Charlotte Drive in Huntsville. Call him at 256-883-5922 if you need directions. This is an eating meeting, with the food theme being Òhorny food.Ó Eating starts at 6:30P with the meeting proper afterwards.

Inside this issueÉ World Fantasy Awards Nominations...... 3 NASFA Calendar...... 2 Two Sides of a Coin: A Review of Planet of the Apes ...4 Minutes of the July Meeting ...... 2 NASFA Receivables ...... 5 Award News Roundup...... 2 Essay: Pandora's Box Revisited...... 5 Obituary: Poul Anderson ...... 3 Letters of Comment ...... 9

Deadline for the September 2001 issue of The NASFA Shuttle is Friday, 31 August 2001. 1 we usually hold the meeting on the second or fourth weekend.) NASFA Calendar The regular meeting location is the upstairs meeting room at BookMark on South Memorial Parkway. The Executive AUGUST Committee meeting (if scheduled) is at 5P. The business 08 BD: Jim Woosley. meeting is at 6P. The program is at 7P. Anyone is welcome to 10Ð12 ConGlomeration 2001 Ñ Clarksville IN. attend any of the meetings. There is usually an after-the- 14 BD: Edward Kenny. meeting meeting with directions available at the program. 16 Con Stellation ConCom Meeting Ñ Mike KennedyÕs house. Food theme: Òhorny food.Ó 16 BD: Zachary Mitchell. 18* NASFA Meeting Ñ 6P Business, 7P Program, at July Minutes BookMark. ATMM Ñ Mike KennedyÕs house. by Samuel A. Smith, PEI-Man 19 BD: Ariane Mitchell. 21 BD: Deborah Denton. The July meeting of the North Alabama Science Fiction 30Ð03 The Millennium Philcon/Worldcon 59 Ñ Philadel- Association was called to order on Saturday, July 21, 2001 in phia PA. the upstairs meeting room at BookMark at 6:16:47P by Presi- 31Ð03 DragonCon 2001 Ñ Atlanta GA. dent Mary Ortwerth, who once again had the crickets, but did not use them. SEPTEMBER OLD BUSINESS 03 Labor Day. Now the crickets come out. 09 BD: Mike Cothran. NEW BUSINESS 09 Grandparents Day. Randy C.: There will be a substitute program tonight Ñ 11 BD: Ray Pietruszka. Craft night, with dinosaurs and insects. 15* NASFA Picnic Ñ 1P at Robin RayÕs house. Stay tuned Randy also has a house, near Jim and Tracey. for more details. Randy also announced that the annual NASFA Auction 17 Citizenship Day. will be coming Real Soon Now, so ÒBring our yer books!Ó 18 Rosh Hashanah. Ray P.: I need authorization to open a DSC bank account. 26 BD: Jenna Victoria Stone. A motion was made for Ray to open the account, with Ray and 27 Yom Kippur. Sam authorized to sign checks. The motion was seconded, 29 BD: Nelda Kathleen Kennedy. voted, and passed many to one. Question: NASFA picnic? After much discussion it was OCTOBER decided to have the NASFA picnic on Saturday, September 08 Columbus Day (Observed). 15th at 1:00P at RobinÕs cat house. (It was several days later that 12 Columbus Day (Traditional). we realized that this represents a potential conflict with the 13* NASFA Meeting Ñ 6P Business, 7P Program, at annual Virgo party at Nancy and RayÕs house. Stay tuned...) BookMark. ATMM TBD. NOTE change of date Russell McNutt will be having cataract surgery on August due to Con Stellation. 13th and will not be able to host the August After-The-Meeting 15 BD: Robert Buelow. Meeting, as was previously announced. 19Ð21 Con Stellation XX: Camelopardalis Ñ Huntsville AL. CONVENTION BUSINESS 24 United Nations Day. None. (Actually, I forgot to read the number of hits, er, 25 BD: Marie McCormack. visitors each web site had in June. 456 for Con Stellation and 26Ð28 2001: A Necronomicon Odyssey Ñ Tampa FL. 80 for DeepSouthCon 40.) 27 Gabrielle Mitchell. ANNOUNCEMENTS 28 Daylight Saving Time ends. Just lots of discussion, mainly about RandyÕs lack of 31 Halloween. furniture. The meeting was adjourned at 6:34:17P. The program was NOVEMBER Craft Night with Insects and Dinosaurs. The After-The-Meet- 01Ð04 World Fantasy Convention Ñ Montreal. ing Meeting was a pool party held at Russell McNuttÕs place. 06 Election Day. 11 VeteransÕ Day (Traditional). 12 VeteransÕ Day (Observed). 17* NASFA Meeting Ñ 6P Business, 7P Program, at Awards News Roundup BookMark. ATMM Ñ Mike KennedyÕs house. 22 BD: Nancy Renee Peters. HUGO VOTING SNAFU 22 Thanksgiving Day. This yearÕs Worldcon (The Millennium Philcon¨) slightly 23 BD: Michael D. Kennedy. extended the deadline for submitting Hugo ballots, either 23 BD: Wilson ÒBobÓ Tucker. electronically or as indicated by postmark, from July 18 to July 29 BD: Howard Camp. 25. They also admitted that some online votes were lost due to 30 BD: Richard Gilliam. a technical problem and advised anyone who submitted online votes on or before July 12 to cast another ballot. [Speaking as someone who did vote online, I had no idea this had happened OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO until after the extended deadline has passed. It sounds like my The North Alabama Science Fiction Association meets on vote may have been lost and I am not pleased! -ED] the third Saturday of each month. (Unless there is a large MYTHOPOEIC AWARDS ANNOUNCED nearby convention being held that weekend Ñ in which case The 2001 Mythopoeic Awards were announced at a ban- 2 New Planet,Ó produced by The One Act Players Ogle Gold Award ...... The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Passing of a Legend adapted and directed by David Ossman, produced by Other- world Media for the ChildrenÕs Museum of Los Angeles Science fiction legend Poul Anderson died at his Ogle Silver Award ...... The Soul Patrol, Episode 6: home in Orinda CA near midnight, Tuesday 31 July ÒBridge of Indecision,Ó produced by David Koenigsberg 2001. He had come home that day to receive hospice Additional links and past winners are available on the care after kidney failure brought on by prostate cancer. awardsÕ website . friends. A memorial gathering and wake were planned CANADIAN AWARD NEWS for Saturday 4 August. Mr. Anderson was 74 at the time The shortlist for the first annual Sunburst Award, for best of his death and is survived by his wife and writing novel-length Canadian literature of the fantastic, has been partner Karen, his daughter Astrid, brother John, grand- released. Jurors for the award are John Clute, Candas Jane children Erik and Alexandra, nieces Janet and Cathy, Dorsey, Phyllis Gotlieb, Monica Hughes, and Leon Rooke. and son-in-law Greg Bear. The award, which consists of a cash prize of $1000 and a In his career Anderson won almost every award bronze medallion of the ÒSunburst,Ó crafted by Linda Carson imaginable Ñ including three Nebula Awards, seven (from a design by Marcel GagnŽ), is tentatively scheduled to be Hugo Awards, SFWAÕs Grandmaster Award, induc- presented on 28 September 2001 at the Winnipeg International tion into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, Writers Festival. The nominees are: and most recently the John W. Campbell Memorial Before Wings, Beth Goobie (Orca Book Publishers) Award for the best science fiction novel of 2000 (for The Black Chalice, Marie Jakober (Edge Science Fiction and Genesis). He was also a former President of the Science Fantasy Publishing) Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and was Guest Galveston, Sean Stewart (Ace) of Honor at the World Science Fiction Convention in Lord of Emperors, Guy Gavriel Kay (Penguin Books Canada) 1959. Midnight Robber, Nalo Hopkinson (Warner Aspect) Anderson published around 50 novels and about Monkey Beach, Eden Robinson (Alfred A. Knopf Canada) that same number of collections of short fiction, as well COMPUSERVE HOMER AWARDS as numerous essays and several poems. His career Winners of the HOMer Awards, voted by member of spanned from 1947Õs TomorrowÕs Children series to the CompuServeÕs Science Fiction and Fantasy Forums, have novel Mother of Kings due to be published in September been announced. The winners are: 2001. In a 1997 interview in Locus, he said the works Novel...... Calculating God, Robert Sawyer (Tor) that he would like to be remembered for are Tau Zero, Novella...... ÒA Roll of the Dice,Ó Catherine Asaro Midsummer Tempest, The Boat of a Million Years, (Analog July/August 2000) Three Hearts and Three Lions, The Enemy Stars, and Novelette ...... ÒThe Taranth Stone,Ó Ron Collins Brain Wave. (Analog October 2000) The family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, Short Story ...... ÒThe Elephants on Neptune,Ó donations be made to the SFWA Emergency Medical Mike Resnick (AsimovÕs May 2000) Fund c/o Chuck Rothman, SFWA Treasurer, 1436 Dramatic Presentation..Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Altamount Avenue, PMB 292, Schenectady PA 12303- SAY IT WITH POETRY 2977. Winners of this yearÕs Rhysling Awards for best sf poems published in 2000 have been announced by the Science Fiction quet during Mythcon XXXII in Berkeley CA, on August 6. The Poetry Association. The winners (and runners-up) are: winners are: Long Poem Winner ...... ÒJanuary Fires,Ó Fantasy Award, Adult Literature ...... The Joe Haldeman (AsimovÕs January 2001) Innamorati, Midori Snyder (Tor) 2nd place (tie) ...... ÒMaya,Ó James Dorr and Fantasy Award, ChildrenÕs Literature ...... Aria of ÒValley of Years,Ó David C. Kopaska-Merkel the Sea, Dia Calhoun (Winslow Press) 3rd place (tie) ...... ÒEvent Horizons,Ó Gene Van Troyer and Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies .....J.R.R. Tolkien: ÒThe Lesions of Genetic Sin,Ó Author of the Century, Tom Shippey (HarperCollins UK) Bruce Boston (Miniature Sun Press) Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies ...... Short Poem Winner ...... ÒMy Wife Returns As She King Arthur in America, Alan Lupack and Would Have It,ÓBruce Boston (AsimovÕs March 2000) Barbara Tepa Lupack (Boydell and Brewer 1999) 2nd place (tie) ÒOf Dance Steps and Distances,Ó G. O. Clark The complete list of finalists plus acceptance speeches by and ÒReflections In A Fading Mir,Ó Ann K. Schwader the winners, are on the SocietyÕs website . LISTEN UP The Mark Time and Ogle Awards (for best SF and fantasy audio productions) were presented in July 2001 at CONver- World Fantasy Nominations gence in Bloomington MN. The winners are: Mark Time Gold Award ...... Tread Softly Bill Lizard, The final ballot for the 2001 World Fantasy Awards (for written and produced by Roger Gregg publications in the year 2000) has been released. Winners will (Crazy Dog Audio Theatre) be announced at the World Fantasy Convention in Montreal, Mark Time Silver Award (tie) ...... Patch and Click, 1Ð4 November 2001. Judges for this yearÕs awards are Steven written and produced by Ed Lehmann (WMNF, Erikson, Paula Guran, Diana Wynne Jones, Graham Joyce, and Tampa, FL) and Flash Gordon, Episode 1: ÒThe Jonathan Strahan. The nominees are: 3 NOVEL and David Sutton, eds. (Gollancz) Declare, Tim Powers (Subterranean Press; Morrow 2001) Shadows and Silence, Barbara Roden and Christopher Roden, Galveston, Sean Stewart (Ace Books) eds. (Ash-Tree Press) The Grand Ellipse, Paula Volsky (Bantam Spectra) Vanishing Acts, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Tor) His Dark Materials 3: The Amber Spyglass, Philip Pullman whispers from the cotton tree root: caribbean fabulist fiction, (Knopf; Scholastic UK) Nalo Hopkinson, ed. (Invisible Cities Press) Lord of Emperors, Guy Gavriel Kay (Viking Canada; Harper- The YearÕs Best Fantasy and Horror: Thirteenth Annual Prism; Earthlight) Collection, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, eds. (St. Perdido Street Station, China MiŽville (Macmillan; Del Rey MartinÕs) 2001) COLLECTION NOVELLA Beluthahatchie and Other Stories, Andy Duncan (Golden ÒBlue Kansas Sky,Ó Michael Bishop (Blue Kansas Sky) Gryphon) ÒChip CrockettÕs Christmas Carol,Ó Elizabeth Hand (Sci Blackwater Days, Terry Dowling (Eidolon Books) Fiction, serialized 6Ð27 December 2000) Magic Terror: Seven Tales, Peter Straub (Random House) The Man on the Ceiling, Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem Perpetuity Blues and Other Stories, Neal Barrett, Jr. (Golden (American Fantasy) Gryphon) ÒMr. DarkÕs Carnival,Ó Glen Hirshberg (Shadows and Si- The Perseids and Other Stories, Robert Charles Wilson (Tor) lence) Travel Arrangements: Short Stories, M. John Harrison ÒMr. Simonelli or the Fairy Widower,Ó Susanna Clarke (Gollancz) (Black Heart, Ivory Bones) ARTIST ÒPelican Cay,Ó David Case (Dark Terrors 5) Jim Burns Kinuko Y. Craft Les Edwards ÒSeventy-Two Letters,Ó Ted Chiang (Vanishing Acts) Daniel Merriam John Jude Palencar Shaun Tan SHORT FICTION SPECIAL AWARD, PROFESSIONAL ÒDown Here in the Garden,Ó Tia V. Travis (Horror Garage Ellen Datlow (for editing Sci Fiction and anthologies) #1, May 2000) Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner (for Spectrum 7: The Best in ÒIs There Anybody There?,Ó Kim Newman (The New Eng- Contemporary Fantastic Art) lish Library Book of Internet Stories) William K. Schafer (for Subterranean Press) ÒLincoln in Frogmore,Ó Andy Duncan (Beluthahatchie and Tom Shippey (for J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century Other Stories) (HarperCollins UK; Houghton Mifflin 2001)) ÒThe Pottawatomie Giant,Ó Andy Duncan (Sci Fiction, 1 Gary Turner and Marty Halpern (for Golden Gryphon November 2000) Press) ÒThe Raggle Taggle Gypsy-O,Ó Michael Swanwick (Tales of SPECIAL AWARD, NON-PROFESSIONAL Old Earth) Benjamin Cossel, Jeremy Lassen, and Jason Williams (for ÒThe Saltimbanques,Ó Terry Dowling (Blackwater Days, Nightshade Press) Eidolon 29/30) Peter Crowther (for PS Publishing) ÒShoe and Marriage,Ó Kelly Link (4 Stories) Philip J. Rahman and Dennis E. Weiler (for Fedogan and ANTHOLOGY Bremer) Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the Barbara Roden and Christopher Roden (for Ash-Tree Press) African Diaspora, Sheree R. Thomas, ed. (Warner As- Raymond Russell and Rosalie Parker (for Tartarus Press) pect) Bill Sheehan (for At The Foot Of The Story Tree: An Inquiry Dark Terrors 5: The Gollancz Book of Horror, Stephen Jones into the Fiction of Peter Straub (Subterranean Press))

Two Sides of a Coin A Review of Tim BurtonÕs Planet of the Apes by Pat Brooks

Planet of the Apes; directed by Tim Burton; produced by Ross probes (which look very cool) out into space and back again. Fanger (associate producer), Ralph Winter (executive pro- Suddenly, an unknown gigantic magnetic storm arrives and ducer), and Richard D. Zanuck (producer); novel written by they send a chimp piloted ship out. (I read too much Ñ Pierre Boulle; screenplay written by William Broyles Jr., suddenly in the vast reaches Lawrence Konner, and Mark Rosenthal; staring Mark Wahlberg, of space a magnetic storm Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, and Michael Clarke Dun- creeps up unawares?) Chimp can. PG-13. and ship promptly disappear. [Warning, spoilers galore. -Pat] Leo steals a probe ship and As the time grew near for Planet of the Apes to be released, departs the station against the talk shows were full of guest actors appearing almost every orders to Òsave the chimp.Ó night. The more I saw the clips and heard about the ÒapeÓ ÒUh oh,Ó this reader of SF school everyone attended, the more hesitant I was to go see it. thinks, Òwho does he think he I did go with friends to a matinee today, the Monday after the is?Ó Why, just a means to release, and this evening feel compelled to write a review. achieve an end, of course. Mark Wahlberg portrays the human astronaut Leo Naturally, Leo also disap- Davidson stationed on a homo sapien-run space station. Here, pears. The audience knows humans use chimpanzees like guinea pigs to pilot small space where this will end Ñ crashed 4 on an ape-run planet and no bananas to hand out. Leo gets captured rather quickly as you might imagine. NASFA Receivables ÒWell, here is where the interesting part starts,Ó I think. So far by Randy B. Cleary the costuming is great, the make-up fantastic (every ape is highly individualized), the acting good, and atmosphere inter- Here are the latest items received by NASFA. esting, and here comes the ape society Ñ only it never arrives. ConNotations, Volume 11, Issue 3, June/July 2001, Stepha- Apes dress like humans, have a government which mimics nie L. Bannon, Central Arizona Speculative Fiction Society, humans, get their hair cut and styled as humans, adopt human P. O. Box 62613, Phoenix AZ 85082; Ñ utensils and furniture in their homes, and even ride horses This newszine had 24 newsprint pages of SF media news, (although no base was laid for their appearance). reviews, and convention listings with a special obituary feature Where oh where is C. J. Cherryh when you need her? What on Douglas Adams. she could have done with their society! Instead, I found hairy De Profundis 341, May and 342, June 2001, Marty cookie-cut humans. The only thing going for them seems to be Cantor, c/o The Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, 11513 their hatred?, fear?, taboo? of technology. Burbank Boulevard, North Hollywood CA 91601; Ñ This club zine (May) had 10 blue pages. Carter), a female ape (human-lover from childhood), power June had 10 blue pages plus the LASFS Fandom Directory. hungry General Thade (Tim Roth), and his first in command, Derogatory Reference 97, Arthur D. Hlavaty, 206 Valen- Captain Attar (Michael Clarke Duncan), a religious silverback tine Street, Yonkers NY 10704-1814; 914-965-4861; gorilla. These are well acted three-dimensional characters, Ñ This personal zine had six white unlike the human, Leo, who only wants to (a) look out for pages with a report on the International Conference on the number one and (b) go home. Fantastic in the Arts. Speaking of which, I can only hope a very rich and DNA Publications, P. O. Box 2988, Radford VA 24143- powerful someone on Earth black-balled Leo to the space 2988 Ñ They sent subscription flyers for SF Chronicle and all station. How could someone with so little empathy (disrespect of their other publications. to animals), so much ego (IÕll save the chimp), and such small- FOSFAX 203, June 2001, Timothy Lane and Elizabeth mindedness (I donÕt care that slavery is common, I just want to Garrott, The Falls of the Ohio Science Fiction and Fantasy get home) get assigned to a space station? Could it be that Association, P. O. Box 37281, Louisville KY 40233-7281 Ñ someone who pilots a space probe has never watched or read This club-sponsored serious general zine had 74 pages of SF? ShouldnÕt he have known that when the chronometer races essays, articles, reports, reviews, and letters of comment. forward (shades of Star Trek!) you are not going to end up Memphen 272, June, and 273, July 2001, Greg Bridges, where you began? ShouldnÕt he know that time travel is tricky The Memphis Science Fiction Association, P. O. Box 820534, and you canÕt go home? Memphis TN 38182-0534; 901-664-6730; Ñ This June club zine had seven pages. July had it suited the character perfectly. Leo has a noticeable lack of likewise. Both had neat Tom Foster covers. humor and no sense of adventure. He never changed, never OASFiS Event Horizon 167, June and 168, July 2001, grew, never intentionally touched or allowed himself to be Leslie R. Hammes, The Orlando Area Science-Fiction Soci- touched by anyone or anything. He is much better suited to the ety, P. O. Box 940992, Maitland FL 32792-0992; 407-263- role of a fictional SF villain. And maybe this is what Tim 5822 Ñ This June club zine had four pages. July arrived as one Burton had in mind all the time. Is Planet of the Apes really a very mangled page. film ahead of its time? Will high school teachers of the future Rolling Plunder Review, July 2001, Lord Ambassador have classes of students pull the film apart piece by piece with KÕJarg, Diplomat Emeritus (Lewis Murphy), 4237 Rocky critical, analytical eyes? Does Leo represent our society of Ledge Way, Snellville GA 30039; Ñ This first issue was a 2 page personal zine with film thinking of oneself is badÓ? After all, it didnÕt help Leo did it? and book reviews. (If youÕve not seen the movie Ñ no it didnÕt.) SFSFS Shuttle 144, April/May 2001, South Florida Sci- Needless to say, I was left feeling annoyed and angry. I felt ence Fiction Society, P. O. Box 70143, Fort Lauderdale, FL set up and betrayed to discover that our human hero was as 33307-0143; Ñ This club zine had 12 unsympathetic a character as IÕve ever come across. When pages. looked at from a distance, he has no heroic social redeeming Southern Fandom Confederation Bulletin, April 2001, qualities at all. HeÕs just a man, stuck out of his time, trying to Julie Wall, 470 Ridge Road, Birmingham, AL 35206; ; 205-833-8635 Ñ This organizational general zine does the film in. had 22 pages of fannish information, such as a list of Southern Ari, the female ape, is the true hero of the film. Not only SF authors. is she empathetic (humans are not just animals), she also has a healthy ego, seeks to better herself as well as others (donÕt kill him or youÕll put yourself on his level), and possesses a keen mind (she wishes to know the truth however horrible that might PandoraÕs Box, Revisited be). Was this BurtonÕs intent all along? by Jim Woosley A sense of subtlety was never developed in Tim BurtonÕs Planet of the Apes as was in Edward Scissorhands. Both Well, the year 2000 has come and gone, and to the best of achieved atmosphere, Planet of the Apes never achieved feel- my knowledge nobody has gone back to review HeinleinÕs ing. I felt especially cheated by the tacked on Òjust one more infamous prediction of things to come, ÒWhere To?Ó Origi- surpriseÓ ending. Instead of adding depth, it cheapened the nally published in 1950 with the alternate title ÒPandoraÕs movie. If you want action, go see the new version. But if you Box,Ó and updated for The Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein in want something to feel about, go buy or rent the original. 1965 and Expanded Universe in 1980, this essay describes the 5 Grand MasterÕs attempt to actually predict the way of the Mr. Heinlein; the timing of some of President ClintonÕs actions future, as it would occur in real life, not in SF. against Iraq and Bosnia suggest that the only interest served In the version printed in Expanded Universe (New Hein- was his personal political interest. However, none of these lein Opus Number G.085b, ÒWhere To?Ó updated version for cases can be argued to be a clear change in the U.S. strategy Expanded Universe, 1980 Ñ entries from the New Heinlein against Òfirst strike.Ó It will be necessary to watch future Opus List ©2000 James Gifford, used with permission), Hein- developments, not just in this administration but in future lein claimed a 66% success rate for his predictions. I thought opposition administrations to see if these trends develop into a it would be worthwhile, and I hope amusing, to review his strategic policy of preemptive warfare. predictions twenty years later and see how things still stack up. 5. Breakthroughs in technology will make housing much The referenced version is of course copyrighted, and safer and more affordable. By 1980, Mr. Heinlein noted that further contains considerable detail, particularly in the later the technology was available, but that building codes and other descriptions. I have elected to print paraphrases/summaries political and economic interventions were blocking the tech- (italicized) of each item rather than copy them in detail. The nologies from widespread use. The situation has not substan- interested reader is directed to the original publication for tially changed. HeinleinÕs original words. 6. Food shortages should be anticipated. By 1980, Mr. Ñ O Ñ O Ñ O Ñ O Ñ Heinlein noted that oil (or, more specifically, energy, fertilizer, 1. Lunar and interplanetary travel will be commonplace, and pesticides) was a more significant factor than population, if not yet so routine as to be inexpensive. In 1980, Mr. Heinlein and that the U. S. should not experience any significant food was evidently distressed that this prediction had not come to shortages by 2000. Over the past few years, agricultural/ pass. veterinary medicine has become more of a controlling factor, 2. Medical advances related to contraception and con- with the onslaught of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and trol of disease would radically change the relationship be- more recently the outbreak of foot-in-mouth disease. Com- tween the sexes. In 1980, Mr. Heinlein considered this fait bined with recent increases in petroleum costs, the economics accompli. Clearly, he did not anticipate HIV; not surprising, of food production may be changing again. At least, our since the first connection to be drawn between a particular rare grocery bill seems to be creeping up faster than the acknowl- form of skin cancer and male homosexuality was in the future. edged Òconsumer price index.Ó Though most readers may not realize Ñ or remember Ñ that 7. ÒModernÓ art, or Òthe cult of the phony in art,Ó as it was only a couple of years in the future at that point. Still, at defined in 1950, was expected to disappear. However, by least within Western societies, AIDS remains a disease primar- 1980, Mr. Heinlein concluded that the ÒCrazy YearsÓ were in ily of the gay community. Meanwhile, statistics quoted widely fact occurring and that art would continue getting worse, rather at PTA meetings IÕve attended in the past few years suggest than better. Mapelthorpe. ÒPiss Christ.Ó Jesus as a nude black that the age of first intercourse for females has shifted, on woman. The Virgin Mary painted in elephant dung. ÕNuff said? average, down to around 15 and that teenagers in general retain Actually, no. IÕve always thought the MapelthorpeÕs a casual disregard for the risks of even the routine STDÕs Ñ $40,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant for homoau- much less AIDS. And letÕs not forget Ms Lewinsky and the toerotic photography was a sign of laziness on his part; there man she once professed to love; most significantly, for the are vast commercial markets for that sort of thing, and he could polls surrounding their activities which showed that ÒGenera- have made much more money targeting those markets. As for tion XÕersÓ do not consider oral sex to be an activity of the other items listed, in addition to being ÒphonyÓ in the infidelity. And letÕs not forget the rise of cybersex; or, unfor- definition of the times, they are also structured to be intention- tunately, the ease of availability of child pornography, both on- ally offensive to select religious/cultural groups Ñ which line and off-line (both developments which are clear confirma- makes things worse, rather than better. tion of Mr. HeinleinÕs speculation about the role of the com- 8. Freud will be classified as a prescientific pioneer, and puter in the development of gender relations in 1980). rigorous science based on developments in the knowledge of However, Mr. Heinlein has apparently missed on his brain structure will create a more rigorous science of psy- specific suggestion of the development of extended families chiatry, and a more rigorous therapy. This is happening more tied by legally enforceable contracts emphasizing the care of slowly than Mr. Heinlein anticipated in 1980, but it is clearly children, except to the extent that prenuptial agreements are happening. becoming more commonplace and do often specify child-care 9. Medical science will cure many of the common ill- provisions. And to the extent that homosexual ÒmarriageÓ is nesses, including the common cold, tooth decay, and cancer. becoming more common and acceptable. Medical research will be focused on regeneration of lost Come to think of it, maybe he hasnÕt missed at all. Who limbs and individual organs. Curative therapies are lagging knows where the present cultural current will draw us. Mr. HeinleinÕs predictions, as he noted in 1980; new concerns 3. Militarily, the Òhigh groundÓ of outer space is of (e.g., the ebola virus, necrolyzing bacterial infections, hanta- paramount importance. Anyone who believes that the Soviet virus, etc. Prion-based infections, of which the most famous Ñ Union folded in part (large part?) due to the U.S. development but not only Ñ example is the so-called Òmad cowÓ disease) as of ReaganÕs SDI has to agree that Mr. Heinlein was correct. well as the evolution-in-action of ÒsupervirusesÓ are making Stay tuned for further details. infectious disease a greater problem than anyone would have 4. The U.S. will not start a preemptive war, but will believed fifty years ago. Regenerative therapies Ñ usually respond when the countryÕs interest or allies are threatened. gene based Ñ are inhibited in their development because of By 1980, Mr. Heinlein was no longer confident of the latter. widespread public fears of the larger consequences of gene- The hole left by the Soviet Union has, in my opinion, left Mr. based therapeutic technologies; more specifically, human Heinlein somewhat high and dry on this one. The ongoing war cloning. IMHO, these therapies will become available over the of attrition against Iraq is at least a borderline preemptive war. next thirty years Ñ people want all the advantages medicine Military interventions in the form of Òpolice actionsÓ in Somalia can give them, and even if public funding is inhibited by the and Bosnia are arguably preemptive in the sense implied by fears of the naysayers, private funding will give us human 6 cloning and gene-based therapies Ñ because the rich will want capable of reaching 400 mph on 15 mpg. (See, e.g., the air taxis the conveniences of cloning and gene therapy, and will then in Stranger in a Strange Land.) Such a technology is advanta- want to profit from their inventions. geous because it minimizes the requirements for new infra- As Mr. Heinlein notes, the problems are not unrelated. structure. Hybrid technologies which use current highways for However, I suspect that infectious disease will be a continuing local transport but which permit individuals to drive their area of research for decades to come, because the idea of one personal autos, e.g., onto light rail cars which can then ÒferryÓ Ñ or even a few Ñ general cures currently seems to me to be the autos long distances at two to three times highway speeds out of reach. IÕd love to be proven wrong on this one. for not much more than twice the cost of automobile gas also Also note the rise of theories that even systemic problems represent a solution to the conundrum, but at the cost of an Ñ cancer, heart disease, ulcers, etc. Ñ may have their basis in extensive duplicate infrastructure. So do automated controls part in infectious agents. for autos which would permit safe driving at higher speeds on 10. Wide-spread solar system exploration; the first probe ordinary highways. However, we have about reached the limits to another star will be under construction. In 1950, Heinlein of expanding conventional highways outward; at some point, clearly meant manned exploration; by 1980, he had hedged his tiered expressways will be required to meet the volume and bet and accepted robotic exploration, and by that measure, he speed of traffic required. was certainly correct, with probes to every planet except Pluto, 14. Physicists will be working to control gravity. This is probes at the edge of the heliopause (the boundary at which the coming true, in a number of experiments in a number of solar wind vanishes into the background of the galaxy), and different fora (check the Internet, including our friends at probes to observe the solar system from far above the ecliptic. UAH). Note however that weÕre not there yet, and that most of So what has happened has been exciting Ñ but far short of the positive results are controversial. HeinleinÕs specific projections. (This is the section which, in Although IÕve not been active in gravitation since my Expanded Universe, includes the famous discussion of con- graduate school course, nor much in particle physics since my stant-boost orbital transfer). dissertation, I believe that a number of the current paradigms The dominant factor in not being there is, IMHO, the are inadequate at best. Most specifically, both general relativ- launch cost factor. Once launch costs are reduced by a factor ity and quantum field theory spend tremendous effort to find of 10, the rest will follow within 50Ð75 years; if launch costs computational techniques which justify the assumptions that are reduced by a factor of 50 or more, the rest will follow within calculations can be carried out from a geometrical point (of 20Ð30 years. However, reductions of this scale will require zero radius, leading to problems with division by zero), when, new technologies Ñ and nuclear boost, which forty years ago e.g., the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle limits the minimum was considered the most viable option for low-cost propulsion, ÒradiusÓ of the problem to some density function of width h/ is not politically possible within this country and will likely not Dp, where h is PlanckÕs constant and Dp is a function of the be considered seriously until other countries pave the way momentum. While this greatly oversimplifies the problem (which they undoubtedly will, unless the U.S. Ñ or some other (although most readers probably donÕt see this as an sort of country Ñ discovers a non-nuclear propulsion technology simplification), I hope it does show that a paradigm shift is with equivalent performance). required. This shift is taking place in part, with the work on so- 11. Cell telephones and Internet telephony. ÕNuff said? called ÒsuperstringÓ and ÒsupermembraneÓ theories being lead 12. The discovery of intelligent life on Mars. In 1980, by Ed Witten, but my readings in that area so far suggest that Heinlein admitted that it no longer appeared likely Ñ and more the models are being constrained to recreate the old paradigm, recent developments (discounting the Òface on MarsÓ crowd) and that the basic assumptions do not yet fully reject the have not proven him wrong. Except possibly about intelligent problems which limit further rigorous development of the life in Tokyo (he was dead accurate about the state of intelli- theory. gent life in Washington DC). There are other points where my personal opinions (based 13. Routine, inexpensive supersonic transit, 1000 mph at on intuition and not honed by rigorous analysis) differ from less than $10.00/hour/person (in 1950 dollars), including conventional theory. I would be delighted to be proven wrongÉ supersonic subterranean transport systems. While speed has 15. There will be no World State, and Communism will not kept up with the projection, and the subterranean railroads disappear. In 1980, Heinlein ÒhedgedÓ that there was no state have never come to pass, routine transit at about 400 mph takes calling itself communist that bears any resemblance to the place at a normal cost of about $50Ð100/hour for coach, well ÒutopiasÓ of Marx, although went on to say that he was very within the cost prediction. dissatisfied with developments between 1950 and that point. I personally believe that this has fallen flat through regu- The last twenty years have seen the collapse of the War- latory pressures and the simply huge investment in infrastruc- saw Pact, the balkanization of the Soviet Union (albeit with ture represented by modern highway, rail, shipboard, and air many of the same faces at the top of the various independent transport. The costs and time of building new infrastructure states which formerly formed the USSR), the genesis of the (e.g., R&D of safe supersonic aircraft, regulatory pressures for ÒRussian MafiaÓ and similar organizations within the former noise suppression, longer runways to accommodate super- Soviet states, and ultimately (in Russia, at least) a return to a sonic transport, tracks and guideways for high-speed light rail fairly authoritarian regime to offset the lawlessness associated or Maglev, etc.) is prohibitive compared to the costs of simply with the ÒRussian Mafia.Ó China, of course, remains the ideal maintaining the infrastructure we have. Òcommunist workerÕs paradise,Ó except that their economy is Cracking the transportation ÒnutÓ will require completely fueled by the sale of commercial products to the West and they new paradigms. The mostly likely thing on the books is the maintain a strongly repressive, ostensibly Communist, leader- development of computer-controlled and stabilized personal ship. helicopters, with costs of ownership within a factor of two or In other words, I doubt HeinleinÕs opinion would have three of automobiles and with streamlined shapes incorporat- ultimately changed much if he were looking into events now. ing ducted rotors. I recall an article from 1985 or so in Discover 16. Societal mobility will disenfranchise a large propor- which claimed such systems within the decade (clearly wrong) tion of the population, and federal growth will all but eradi- 7 cate the powers of the state. In 1980, Heinlein said that this space is compressed by the presence of matter; Rµv is the Ricci prediction was wrong in detail (see his precise wording) but curvature tensor, and R a corresponding scalar, which de- that it appeared to be happening differently than he predicted. scribes how this compression of space affects the pathways of That trend has solidified since 1980 Ñ and while formal, legal particles moving through space2, Tµv describes the mass which disenfranchisement has not occurred, voter apathy created at is causing the gravitational field, G is the gravitational con- least in part by the other changes has created a nation where less stant, and c is of course the speed of light). The Alcuberri than 50% of the population of registered voters (which is itself solution shows that for certain unusual (and not natural but only a fraction of the population of eligible voters) routinely perhaps not impossible) distributions of matter, it is possible to goes to the polls. create a solution of the Einstein equation which acts like a Which, if you read the detailed discussion in To Sail water wave and can be ÒsurfedÓ by a spaceship to move faster Beyond the Sunset (no, not the ÒincestÓ scenes, the other part) than light. There are other hints that this barrier may not be of the chain of events which discriminate the different time- impenetrable; researchers have broadcast Beatles music across lines of HeinleinÕs ÒMultiverse,Ó means we are moving in admittedly short distances in the laboratory at speeds from 3 to range of a ÒNehemiah Scudder/First ProphetÓ coming to the 11 times the speed of light Ñ and listened to the product at the presidency. end.3 17. Centralized national air traffic control using com- While none of this is any guarantee that we are about to puters. Although Heinlein had given up on this prediction in penetrate the speed-of-light barrier any time soon, the hints 1980, I would say that the state of air traffic control day is that it may be possible are tantalizing. beginning to reach that objective. WeÕre not quite there, yet Ñ Transporters. At the time The Cage and Where No Man but the declining cost of computers has finally brought it into Has Gone Before were being filmed by an up-and-coming realization in an evolutionary fashion, rather than the revolu- director and featuring a well-known young actor with ear tionary fashion Heinlein hoped for and expected. prostheses, HeinleinÕs prediction that transmission of matter 18. Our diets will be modified by population pressure, would perhaps never come was over fifteen years old, and had with fish and yeast becoming the main sources of protein, and been repeated in his review of the essay in 1965 for The Worlds beef effectively disappearing. By 1980, it was becoming clear of Robert A. Heinlein. Even the Josephson Junction, the device that the population was moderating, and that the US population which depends on quantum tunneling of an electron through a today would be about half of that Heinlein anticipated in 1950. wall, was unknown until 1962. And when Krauss wrote The That has certainly come largely true. However, our diets have Physics of Star Trek in 1995, he was perhaps the most critical become vulnerable in ways Heinlein never expected Ñ the of the transporter of any of the advanced technologies therein. fisheries are becoming depleted through, in some cases, poor However, there have been tantalizing hints Ñ mostly in management techniques and, some people believe, through advertisements (the famous ÒLet me telephone you a bowl of pollution. Beef does remain available and relatively inexpen- soupÓ ad in the late Õ90s), but with a few papers to back them sive (although the costs have grown more in the past year than up Ñ that IBM laboratories may have made some break- the previous five, probably because of the abrupt increase in throughs in this area. I wonÕt say yeah, I wonÕt say nayÉ IÕll gas prices last summer). However, beef prices are set by the say, letÕs keep an eye on Big Blue. large western herds who graze on subsidized government- Androids, or artificial constructs almost indistinguish- owned grasslands; the small beef farmer is being priced out of able from humans. Heinlein was careful to distinguish the market. Other meats have not disappeared as projected, ÒmanlikeÓ robots from the array of automated machinery either, but there has been no large scale replacement. And yeast which currently performs an increasing proportion of our culture Ñ long presumed within SF to be an essential element industrial processes. And despite the popularity of SpielbergÕs of nutrition in a world of explosive population growth Ñ has recent movie A.I., or the lesser regarded Robin Williams take not come close to matching projections, although soy is be- on the good DoctorÕs novel The Bicentennial Man, true an- coming accepted, particularly among vegetarians and vegans, droids appear to be a long way off. as a primary source of protein. I canÕt say where this trend is Creation of life in the laboratory. In this case, Heinlein going here Ñ except that, as Heinlein suggests, a major war Ñ or a takeover of the U. S. Ñ could cause a very abrupt change 1 For the sake of argument, a ÒtensorÓ is a quantity which measures in U. S. dietary habits. The same is also true of various effects in more than one dimension. For example, if you squeeze a ecodisaster scenarios being discussed seriously by scientists rubber ball, the ball gets smaller around in the middle and longer at the and SF writers. ends because of the rubber that is pushed away from the center of the 19. No matter what happens, mankind will survive. On ball. A tensor is required to describe this type of action, because the that optimistic Ñ and true Ñ note, Heinlein closed his list of push (around the middle of the ball) causes an effect in a different principle predictions. HeÕs right so far Ñ and I think we all direction (the movement of rubber to the ends of the ball away from believe heÕll be right for a long time. the push). The basic tenant of general relativity is that gravity Ñ O Ñ O Ñ O Ñ O Ñ ÒstretchesÓ space and time together in a similar fashion. And, of course, there is HeinleinÕs list of items that Òwe 2 If the metric determines how the overall shape of the ball changes wonÕt get soon, if ever.Ó as is squeezed, the Ricci tensor describes, for example, how the paths Travel through time. I donÕt believe that any serious that would be followed by a person walking around on the surface of physicist disputes this. the ball would be changed as the ball is squeezed. Faster-than-light travel. On this point, Mr. Heinlein 3 I donÕt have all these references in front of me. Much of this would probably find himself pleasantly surprised. Recent information is summarized in the articles that Dr. John G. Cramer has developments such as the ÒAlcuberri Warp Drive,Ó a solution published in Analog over the past fifteen or so years. These articles to the Einstein Field Equations (to a physicist, EinsteinÕs have been reproduced at Dr. CramerÕs web site at the University of equation is not ÒE = mc2,Ó instead, it is written as: Washington (state) and can be looked up there amid a myriad of other µv 1 µv 2 µv R - /2 W g R = -(8PG/c )T fascinating facts, and provide literature references to these and other where gµv is the so-called metric tensor1, which describes how findings. 8 didnÕt mean manipulation of material taken from living beings, person who invented ÒThe Crazy Years,Ó I have to say that his as in cloning or separation of stem cells for ParkinsonÕs negative predictions have the same force of his positive predic- patients, but the actual process of moving from inorganic tions. components (water, ammonia, carbonate, methane, a few other But ultimately of course, no matter how things go, man- compounds) to self-replicating assemblies capable of further kind will survive. And thrive. After all, Òthe last thing to come evolution. This one is hard to classify; certainly the way fluttering out of PandoraÕs Box was Hope.Ó Heinlein intended it in 1950, I think weÕre a long way away from this. However, many features of nanotechnology may, once successfully developed over the next few years and decades, meet any definition of life that Mr. Heinlein may have Letters of Comment wished to apply. IÕd have to say that the jury is out on this one, and in this case the decision may be a hair splitter, not cut and LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC dry. Understanding of ÒthoughtÓ and how it is related to Sheryl Birkhead 21 July 2001 matter. How do those lumps of gelatin known as human beings 25509 Jonnie Court manage to get up out of bed, move around, talk, love, think Gaithersburg MD 20882 abstract thoughts, and create things? Is it an accident of electrochemistry? Or is there something else Ñ a soul, whether Ah, ah upcoming DUFF report! it be an electromagnetic construct which is built on the electro- How about a run ÒdownÓon what made ÒupÓ the tall food?! chemical matrix of the brain, or something perhaps indescrib- David Robinson is kinder to A.I. than I would be Ñ the last 1 1 able forever to the mankind it shapes and defines which entered /3Ð /2 should either not have been shot, or been totally rewrit- the First Man in a breath from his Father? There is no more ten. It reminded me of many novels which start out doing an fundamental question, no matter how much we chose to ignore okayÐgood job then suddenly seem to realize they are already such mysteries, or accept the advice of ancient sages that the novel length and had better get busy. For a movie I donÕt think question has no answer or perhaps should never even be asked. that should happen Ñ you have too many critics before it gets After all, if mankind were not here to frame that question, the that farÉ or should. whole rest of it would be moot anyway. However, nobody Because there is no way I can access artwork I did last year seems to be giving this question any fundamental scientific (zines still in a couple of piles of boxes) I am trying to figure study (or, if they are, itÕs bypassed me Ñ which isnÕt difficult out how to save whatever I do using the new computer and the these days). So donÕt look to me for answers, only more scanner. IÕm still in shock from seeing the size of files Ñ on the 1 questions. old LC they were about /10 of what I have now. Since I never Scientific evidence of personal survival after death. had a scanner I had no idea the size of those files Ñ and all of These questions are obviously related. I can only note that, to this really stunned me. So Ñ since I am afraid of simply storing the best of my knowledge, the issue has only been addressed everything on the hard drive, I am negotiating for a Zip drive. three times. Once in an essay, ÒThe Physics of Ghosts,Ó in I will figure it out. Analog in the late Õ70s or early Õ80s; once in a Spider Robinson RandyÕs dragon looks ready to wink Ñ then take a chunk story reprinted in Time Travelers Strictly Cash and perhaps out of some poor unsuspecting prey. Let me know if you want elsewhere. Both of these offered suggestions for the conse- fillos Ñ but the Shuttle always appears full and thought out. quences of personal survival of a spirit, and included sugges- You donÕt tell me, I donÕt know. tions (e.g., the precision weighing of the person during the Anyone seen Jurassic Park III yet? The spots IÕve seen instant of death, based on the essayÕs assertion that, for spirits make it appear a lot more violent than the first two. On TV to have the properties popularly ascribed to ghosts, the spirit today there was a Òdinosaur specialistÓ who said the film was should weigh 10 grams, more or less) for verifying both true to the appearance but not the behaviorÉ in fact, the guy personal survival and reincarnation. said if Hollywood had made them behave realistically, the film The third item is a book by physicist Frank Tipler of would have been 15 minutes at most since all the characters Tulane University of a few years ago, The Physics of Immor- would have been killed off fast. In fact, he likened the Holly- tality, which I have not read (and have not been able to find in wood mold to that of wolves Ñ and they tried to force the dinos the bookstores recently), which supposedly proved that there into that niche. IÕll see it eventually. is an immortal soul. I remember that the reviewers at that time were skeptical of his proofs, but have not yet reviewed it for [Unfortunately the DUFF report didnÕt happen Ñ Patrick had myself. to be out of town on a family matter so it was delayed. I saw In summary, the jury must remain out on this one as well, Jurassic Park III last weekend. I have no idea if the expert you until someone actually describes experiments which verify the quote is right, but the movie was an enjoyable action-adventure existence of some fundamental feature which survives death, tale (that did cop out a little at the end). I never saw the second something that cannot be dismissed as wishful (hopeful) think- movie and the first movie is too far in the past for me to compare ing, or the effects of a positive (or negative) mental outlook on the level of violence. Would any of our readers care to com- life. ment? As for illustrations Ñ now that I have a scanner I hope There will be no permanent end of war. Unfortunately, to use them a little more than in the past. I have a long way to enough said. go, though, to find optimal ways of doing that. -ED] In conclusion, HeinleinÕs remaining discussions remain interesting, and it is astonishing that one from among us could LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC so accurately have his fingers on the pulse of the world fifty years ago. I can only hope that some of his other predictions Harry Warner, Jr. 24 July 2001 (e.g., religious dictatorship, the smothering of earth through 423 Summit Avenue overpopulation, etc.) fail to come through. However, as the Hagerstown MD 21740 9 P. O. Box 4857 Huntsville AL 35815-4857

***************************************************************************************************************** The NASFA Shuttle is the newsletter of the North Alabama Science Fiction Association, Inc. This is the August 2001 edition (Volume 21, Number 8). NASFA Officers for 2001: President Mary Ortwerth; Vice President Mike Kennedy; Secretary Sam Smith; Treasurer Ray Pietruszka; Program Director Randy Cleary; Publicity Director Karen Hopkins. Shuttle Editor Mike Kennedy. Comments, inquiries, and contributions of writing by email to: [email protected] Ñ EDITORIAL ADDRESS (EMAIL) Comments, inquiries, and contributions of writing by snailmail to: Mike Kennedy, 7907 Charlotte Drive SW, Huntsville AL 35802-2841 Ñ EDITORIAL ADDRESS (SNAILMAIL) Dues ($), subscriptions ($), and Official Mail to: NASFA, Inc., P. O. Box 4857, Huntsville AL 35815-4857 Ñ OFFICIAL ADDRESS Contents Copyright, © 2001. All rights revert to contributors. All opinions are those of the individual authors and do not reflect club policies other than by coincidence. LoCs subject to edited printing. NASFA Dues = $15/year (Family rates available) Subscription only = $10/year Single copy = $1.50 each. ***************************************************************************************************************** The temperature in this room is 89¡ as I type and itÕs at Of course, IÕm glad you enjoyed the baseball jaunt and least a half-dozen degrees hotter upstairs. So IÕll have to sleep were able to see the Famous Chicken. I think the Phillies on the sofa tonight, if I live through the expenditure of energy Phanatic puts on a better show nowadays, but he doesnÕt seem that this loc will require. to travel outside Philadelphia. So the July Shuttle gave me new information on the IÕm too pooped from the heat to write more. I must get out Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame honorees for this of this run IÕm in, always writing locs to you when the heat is year. I couldnÕt quarrel with the choices of Bester, Leiber, the worst. Vance, and Le Guin, except for the fact that a couple of them should have received this honor several years earlier. [I hope you survived the recent heat wave with sanity and The skeletonized release of a new Doctor Who adventure health intact, Harry. I donÕt think there are any plans to further from the BBC seems odd. I wonder, does this mean that the develop the new Doctor Who project mentioned in the last adventure exists only in the form of stills plus audio and the issue. I have a vague memory that a US television version of film version may never come into being? I speculated recently Doctor Who was in development (and fell thorough) but I may in an apa that if the United States television industry created a be getting that confused with the persistent rumors of a feature new Doctor, it would be female, black, and homosexual, to go film version. Rumors on the film side have cropped up as along with current efforts to be different at all costs. recently as this summer. -ED] 10