i l MOSCON VII JOHN VARLEY, RICK STERN­ BACH, RICHARD WRIGHT, GROVER KRANTZ Table of Conten·ts: Page Chairman's Message ••.••...••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 2 Voice of the Vice Chair •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 2 Hotel Map •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 2 GUESTS OF -HONOR John Varley -­ biography by B cky Bryant ••••••••••••••••••••••• 3 Rick Sternbach biography b y Asenet h Hammond ••••••••••••••••• 3 Richard Wright biography by Judy Suryan ••••••••••••••••••••• 4 Dr. Grover Krantz autobiography by Grover Krantz, Ph.D •••••• 5 SPECIAL GUESTS Verna Smith Trestrail -- bio by Beth Finkbiner ••••••••••••••••• 6 John Dalmas -- autobiography by John Dalmas •••••••••••••••••••• 6 A.J. Budrys -- biography by Mike Finkbiner ••••••••••••••••••••• 7 Michael and Lynne .Anne Goodwin -- autobio by Goodwins •••••••••• 7 F.M. Busby -- biography.•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••8 Wi 11 i am R • Warren , Jr • - - biography • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 8 SPECIAL FEATURES Beauty, Gender, and Pretense -- by George Barr ••••••••••••••••• 9 The MosCon Towel Strikes Again •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 11 Swecon '85 Report -- by ill Johns •••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 11 DEPARTMENTS Programming ••••• • ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 13 MosCon Momentoes, Hospitality ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 15 Be Kind to the Hotel •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 15 Operations •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 16 Gophers and Security, Art Show and Auction •••••••••••••••••••• 17 Writer's Workshop, MosCon VII Da es •••••••••••••••••••••••••• 17 Weapons Policy •••••••••••••••••• •• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 17 Dealers' Rooms, Video Room, Masquerade •••••••••••••••••••••••• 18 Trivia Contest •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 19 Fannish Armada •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 20 Restaurant Guide••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••20 Idaho's Drunk Driving Laws •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 22 In Memoriam: Ellen Marie Dyke ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 23 Our Members (to Date) ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 23 Special Thanks To: •••• • • ••••••••••••••••••••••• Inside Back Cover Art Credits ••••• • • • ••• • • ••••••••••••••••••••••• Inside Back Cover Co nts of t he MosCon VII Program Book are Copyright 1985 by Moscow Science Fiction Conventions, Inc., and may not be reproduced without written permission. Copyrights are returned to the individual contributors. Chairman's Hotel Map Message by Jon What's-His-Name Welcome to MosCon VII. When we started all 4 this in... 1979? good grief!... we had no idea that we would not only be having seven conventions, but would in fact be planning Programming for a tenth anniversary con! It is as much a Upper Level surprise to us as, I am sure, it is to many ---------- of you. After all, Moscow, Idaho, is not ex­ actly what one would think of for the loca­ 6 tion for a science fiction convention. 5 Be that as it may, I think MosCon will be one of our best conventions ever. With guests Programming such as John Varley, Rick Sternbach, Richard Wright, and Dr. Grover Krantz, a splendid (if somewhat small) con hotel, and a great con­ committee .•• well, how can anything go worng? And with the special guests we have, such as authors Algis Budrys, John Dalmas, Dean Wes­ ley Smith, N. K. Hoffman, and M.J. Engh, and artists like Steve Gallacci and William R. Warren, your weekend is a guaranteed success. This is meant to be a convention for both learning and relaxing, so be sure to do plen­ ty of both. Welcome. 1 Voice of the Vice 7 Chair Chris Nilsson Hello to fandom and con .•. goers. There are a couple of things that, because of my posi­ tion (in charge of vice--a rather lofty posi­ tion at a Moscon) I feel I must comment upon. ..... First of all, in order to make your con­ =0 vention pleasant, we have several vices re­ CJ..- Rooms 102-104: Art Show presented: Rooms 105-107: Dealers -The jacuzzi is available for warm water Rooms 202-203: Hospitality a nd friendly company, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. (or so). The official White Tie and Towel party is Friday night at 8:00 p. m., with "ties" available in the hospi­ t a lity suite on Friday. 11 -The hospitality suite, with both smok­ 10 ing a nd non-smoking a reas: for hospitali­ Lower ty, conversation, munchies, and drink. Level -Two (count them two!) dances. One on Friday night-a sock hop, and one on Satur­ day night after the masquerade. -We have a video room that will be open long hours and have~veral movies and TV episodes playing. See the schedule posted MAP LEGEND: on the door for which movies are playing when. 1. Registration 12 2. Stairs to Convention Center Lower We also condone, if not sponsor, room par­ 3. East Entrance Level ties throughout the course of the convention. 4. Lewis Room Unfortunately, there are those among us 5. Clark Room 19 ...,.......,......,....._. who put a damper on good feelings and simple 6. No-host Bar (Masquerade) vices. We have had, in the past, real prob­ 7. Restaurant lems with one or two couples being too obvi­ 13-17 ous in their affection for each other. In 8. Stairs to Ground Floor other words, please do not have sex in the 9. Stairs to Second Floor jacuzzi. There will be an active Cold Water 10. Hotel Lobby Patrol carefully asking people to please ad­ 11. Film Room journ to a hotel room. Please keep such ac­ 12. Jacuzzi tivities in private. 13- So much for unpleasant topics. Have a won­ 17. Various Levels­ derful convention! Hospitality ~ Art. Dealers Chris Nilsson (Kitten) 18. Outside Door 2 19. Stairs to Guest Rooms OUR GUESTS OF · HONOR: o! his release at hand. He learned quickly, and he learned well, to use this new Gift in a way unsurpassed by those Jho had developed it. He soon became the most highly acclaimed story-teller in all of Conland. As the residents of Con land . •dispersed, they spread their tales of enchantment and their Gift of Writing to other lands and other peoples. But they don't forget the great ones. They come together frequently in gatherings large and small, to celebrate their special Gifts, and those Specially Gifted among them, of whom John Varley is the greatest. John Varley grew up in Texas. He has lost more Hugo and Nebula awards tan anyone but Robert Silverberg. However, he won both the Hugo and Nebula awards for h is novella, "The Persistence of Vision", the Hugo for "The Pusher", and the Nebula for "Press Enter. " His hobby is reading. He has held about four jobs in his life, none of them interest­ ing, and never for more than 3 months. A writer is all he has ever wanted to be. He currently lives in Eugene, Oregon, hav­ JOHN VARLEY: ing never been a logger or shipped out on a tramp steamer or spent a year on the Greek Islands. He likes to read and write and tra­ ·A Poetic vel when possible. He is the author of THE OPHIUCHI HOTLINE, THE PERSISTENCE OF VISION, MILLEN I UM, PICNIC and Possibly True ON NEARSIDE (formerly titled THE BARBIE MUR­ DERS), and the popular trilogy, TITAN, WIZARD Biography -- AND DEMON. by Becky Bryant Long ago, in a faraway land, a child was born to a man known as Varley, a son named John. This was not an ordinary child, but one RICK ERNBACH granted a marvelous Gift, that of imagination and story-telling. But, as is the way with by Asenath Hammond Gifts, it you receive a special one, then one is taken away. The Gift taken from this child was the Gitt of Gab. This was a sorry plight The first time I met Ri ck Sternbach, he !or a storyteller, as he had many wonderful stepped on me. It was the beginni ng of a visions to relate but no way to tell them. beautiful relationship. For despite h i s prac­ But, nonetheless, John was a happy child. tical talents--gourmet cooking, underwater He had imaginary friends (by the score) to photography and dishwashing, to name a few-­ keep him company. He frolicked the green Rick's head is frequently in the clouds. fields of his homeland with colourful, song­ Rick was raised in Connecticut, where he filled centaurs and, as he grew, he enter­ used to hang out at the local train station. tained visions of beautiful, heroic maids. When he was four, a passing adult asked him Time passed, and the quiet child grew to if he liked the nice choo-choo. "That's not manhood. But he yearned to share the wonder a choo-choo," sneered the young artist. he had held inside these many years. So he "Tha t's a GP-40 Diesel Traction Unit." Even left Texarse, his beloved homeland, and ven­ a t tha t tender age, he had developed a pas­ tured forth to discover a way to communicate sion for technical a c uracy. his delightful tales. Rick at tended the ' i versi ty of Connect i­ After searching for many years, John dis­ cut (Storrs), and t ~i er School of Art. He covered a new land. Known as Conland, it was majored in art and m 1e biology, a combina- populated by a marvelous people who suffered tion which has provec ful, given his habit the same curses as John. And among them, of painting dolphins s pacesuits. His style those who also lacked the Gift of Gab had has been described a s ystic realism." Ref­ created a new Gift, to relate to others the erences have been made i n the past to "Stern­ magic and delights hidden within them, a Gift bach purple," a colour Rick maintains is only they called Writing. John's heart filled with dioxazine or purple lake ••• joy and tears. At long last, he had the means 3 Life with Rick is--well , interesting. He has a garageful of model airplanes, which he is hoarding in case of a plastic shortage. He has been known to complain about the colour RICHARD WRIGHT values of his dinner, and, after a particu­ larly "good" party, has attempted to retouch the night sky. He has ridden in the Goodyear by Judy Suryan blimp and would trade not only his airbrushes but his wife & the family cat for a seat on JUDY: "Just can't keep your hands out of space shuttle.