![[September 6, 1969] A hot time in the old town (Worldcon in St. Louis!)](https://i0.wp.com/galacticjourney.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/690904book.jpg?resize=603%2C372)
by Gideon Marcus
What an idea to have the 27th World Science Fiction Convention in crummy St. Louis in summer! It was hot. It was muggy.
From Fanac
And it was glorious. Thanks, Ozark SF Assn., particularly co-chairs Ray and Joyce Fisher, for your bid and your hard work. Apparently, the bid traced its beginnings all the way back to the Room 770 con party at Nolacon I (New Orleans 1951), the last of the small Worldcons—under 200 attendees.
What a contrast, St. Louis! This was the biggest, longest Worldcon ever held, with a reported attendance of 1534. Partying began Tuesday evening in the con committee suite, registration for the con began Thursday, programming ran to Monday, and the parties were still going the following Tuesday night. "Night", of course, is an arbitrary designation: Joe Haldeman was tending bar for the WSFA through 7:30AM on Friday.
Because the con was longer than ever, the price went up accordingly: $4 to show up, $3 to vote.
Registration. From Calisphere
Aside from the slow elevators, one couldn't fault the facilities. The Chase Park-Plaza, billed as "the biggest and best con hotel west of the Mississippi", charged prices to match: $13 single, $18 double, suites starting at $35. That's if you could get in—the hotel oversold 20% on their reservations but only got 5% cancelations. Hundreds were turned away.
From Fanac
As you can see from the program, there were lots of interesting panels in addition to the permanent fixtures: the dealer room, the art show (10th annual International Science-Fantasy Art Exhibition) run by Bjo Trimble with Bruce Pelz, and (in a new addition) all night movies. Vern and Rita Coriell hosted the "Dum-Dum" of the Burroughs Bibliophiles. Janie Lamb supervised the N3F Hospitality Room.
Dealer hall. From Calisphere
Art show. From Calisphere
From Calisphere
Art auction. From Calisphere
Larry Niven and Robert Silverberg. From Calisphere
Lexy Panshin. From Calisphere
Audience. From Calisphere
Bar con: Sidney Coleman, Evelyn del Rey, Judy-Lynn Benjamin, Edna Budrys, and unidentified. From Calisphere
Room party. From Calisphere
Jack Gaughan was the first artist since Frank Paul in '56 to be the convention Guest of Honor. Harlan Ellison was the toastmaster, a job he's quite good at. A little longwinded, but always funny. On Friday, he auctioned off Bob Silverberg for $66 before Silverbob, in turn, auctioned Harlan off for $115 to a bunch of young ladies wearing Roddenberry sweatshirts.
Harlan at the auction. From Calisphere
Ellison took that opportunity to plump for "Clarion", a school for S-F authors, and since he had driven the bids up so much, he asked if the auction proceeds might be split, half to the con, half to Clarion. Ray Fisher said sure.
Later, Ellison said he was planning on leaving cons and the fan scene to focus on writing.
The Costume Ball on Saturday night was momentous for several reasons. First, a sample of the contestants:
Grand Prize and Judge's Choice went to Karen Anderson and her daughter, Astrid. The former turned the latter into a vampire, complete with gory, dripping blood. It was possibly the best performance at the Masquerade ever.
From Fanac
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro won Honorable Mention Most Beautiful as "Ilmatar" of Finnish legend. Co-winner was Dilip Cowlage as Nimue the Enchantress.
From Fanac
The Carters, Lin (pro and fan) and Noel, came as Ming the Merciless and Princess Aura of Flash Gordon fame. They won Popular Vote #3.
From Fanac
The Keeper and the Houris won Honorable Mention Best Group.
From Fanac
Most humorous went to Rick Norwood, who went as Charlie Brown (of Peanuts fame, not the famous fan). And thereby hangs a tail. A kite tail.
See, Rick was stumbling around a lot as part of his shtick. Near the end of the event, while folks were waiting for the results, he fell off the runway and plunged into the movie screen the con was renting from the hotel for $40 a day.
Rick Norwood as Good Ole Charlie Brown, just before he fell through the movie screen. Good grief, indeed. From Fanac
Harlan jumped into the fray, asking how much it would cost to replace the screen. $250 was the answer. So he walked the floor, soliciting donations so the convention wouldn't have to cop the bill. He collected $600! Then and there, he suggested that the excess go to Clarion. Ray countered with the proposal that the money buy a beer bust on Monday. The latter went over well.
Sunday night was the Awards Banquet, with a paid attendance of 660 (would have been more except that tickets were only sold until Saturday noon.) Dinner was great, as was the service, and Harlan did a bit of pre-show gab to get everyone in the mood.
Out of nowhere, Ellison announced (not proposed, not suggested) that the excess funds collected earlier were going to Clarion. The audience was not keen on this, especially since rumor had the screen repair going for $36 and the collection take $800. Harlan went on, belatedly, to justify the move, saying that the State of Pennsylvania was about to withdraw financial support for the workshop.
Elliot Shorter, a huckster from New York, drew himself up to his full eight feet (well, that's how he looked compared to Harlan) and said "Now, wait just one goll-darned minute, Harlan." He and Bruce Pelz led the protest. Ray Fisher tried to bail Harlan out, but Ellison's pride was wounded, and he called the crowd "stingy bastards." Ray tabled discussion until the business meeting the next day (it was decided that the extra money would establish a Worldcon Emergency Fund—just for things like emergency screen repair.)
Ellison and Fisher. From Calisphere
At the banquet Lester Del Rey eulogized Willy Ley, who passed away in June. L. Sprague de Camp then read the text of a special plaque given by First Fandom to Willy's wife, Olga, in place of the First Fandom Award which Willy was slated to get this year.
Jack Gaughan spoke about his work in the art field, and Englishman Eddie Jones, winner of the Trans Atlantic Fan Fund (TAFF) this year, also gave a speech.
And then the Hugos were announced…
Robert Bloch presents Hugos. From Calisphere
Best Novel
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner [Doubleday]
Nominees
Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin [Ace]
Nova by Samuel R. Delany [Doubleday]
Past Master by R. A. Lafferty [Ace]
The Goblin Reservation by Clifford D. Simak [Galaxy Apr, Jun 1968; Putnam]
Not too much dissent here given the amount of overlap with our Stars picks. Indeed, we both picked the Brunner for the top spot (though, truth be told, I personally didn't get past page 100—I like my books short. Maybe I'm just old.) The Panshin is great, and the Delany is worthy, though some murmur under their breaths that it is more impressive than good. I can't comment on the Lafferty, as we didn't cover it. The Simak didn't get a Star or even an honorable mention, but it's a fine book. Indeed, it's possibly my favorite Simak novel.
Best Novella
“Nightwings” by Robert Silverberg [Galaxy Sep 1968]
Nominees
“Dragonrider” by Anne McCaffrey [Analog Dec 1967, Jan 1968]
“Lines of Power” by Samuel R. Delany [F&SF May 1968]
“ Hawk Among the Sparrows ” by Dean McLaughlin [Analog Jul 1968]
Novellas are rare in SF and good ones even rarer, so it's not surprising that we at the Journey and those at the Worldcon liked much the same stuff. What's strange, however, is that the nominators chose two novellas that were later expanded to full serials—to wit, the Silverberg and the McCaffrey. "Sparrows" was on our Honorable Mention list.
Best Novelette
Best Novelette
“The Sharing of Flesh” by Poul Anderson [Galaxy Dec 1968]
From Calisphere
Nominees
“Total Environment” by Brian W. Aldiss [Galaxy Feb 1968]
“Getting Through University” by Piers Anthony [If Aug 1968]
“Mother to the World” by Richard Wilson [Orbit #3, 1968]
Three hits and a miss—the Anthony is good…for Anthony, and the Wilson was roundly panned when Kris reviewed it. It's really a shame that so few slots are devoted to this length at the Hugos because there are so many stories to choose from.
Short Fiction
Best Short Story
Winner: “The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World” by Harlan Ellison [Galaxy Jun 1968]
Nominees
“All the Myriad Ways” by Larry Niven [Galaxy Oct 1968]
“The Dance of the Changer and the Three" by Terry Carr [Farthest Reaches]
“The Steiger Effect" by Betsy Curtis [Analog Oct 1968]
“Masks" by Damon Knight [Playboy Jul 1968]
Harlan and Larry made the Dean's list again, but not for the stories we'd have chosen. It's neat to see that fans are choosing tales from beyond The Big Five, although the Knight is weak. As for the Curtis, I have no idea how that one made the cut, especially given just how many great stories came out last year.
Best Dramatic Presentation
Winner: 2001: A Space Odyssey [Paramount] Directed by Stanley Kubrick; Screenplay by Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick; based on the story “The Sentinel” by Arthur C. Clarke
Nominees
Yellow Submarine [Apple/Hearst/King Features] Directed by George Dunning; Written by Al Brodax, Roger McGough, Jack Mendelsohn, Lee Minoff and Erich Segal
Charly [ABC Pictures/Selmer] Directed by Ralph Nelson; Screenplay by Stirling Silliphant; based on the short story and novel Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Rosemary’s Baby [Paramount] Directed by Roman Polanski; Screenplay by Roman Polanski; based on the novel by Ira Levin
The Prisoner – “Fallout” [Everyman/ITC] Written and directed by Patrick McGoohan
For the first time Star Trek didn't make the ballot—not even with a single episode! That's a shame as there was plenty of good Trek last year, particularly "Is There in Truth No Beauty." 2001 was no surprise, but Rosemary's Baby is horror, and Charly was underwhelming. Interestingly, we picked an episode of The Prisoner ("The Schizoid Man") but not the last one, which was rather incomprehensible.
Best Professional Magazine
Winner: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction ed. by Edward L. Ferman
Nominees
Analog Science Fiction and Fact ed. by John W. Campbell, Jr.
Galaxy ed. by Fred Pohl
New Worlds ed. by Michael Moorcock
IF Science Fiction ed. Fred Pohl
This year is just a reshuffling of last year's picks. I suppose they were somewhat starved for choice, as usual. One wonders if they might open up the selection to anthology series like Orbit.
Best Professional Artist
Winner: Jack Gaughan
Nominees
Frank Kelly Freas
Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon
Vaughn Bodé
I'm not sure why Jack keeps winning. Perhaps it's because he hobnobs with the fans more than the rest. Bodé is the newcomer, and his whimiscal style is charming. You mostly saw him around the Pohl mags. Freas, of course, does almost every Analog cover (which makes it surprising he didn't win). The Dillons do a lot of Ace covers, so they get a lot of eyeballs on their work. It's interesting because they have to fit their work in these small boxes due to the domino layout of the covers.
Best Fanzine
Winner: Science Fiction Review ed. by Richard E. Geis
Nominees
Riverside Quarterly ed. by Leland Sapiro
Trumpet ed. by Tom Reamy
Warhoon ed. by Richard Bergeron
Shangri L’Affaires ed. by Ken Rudolph
It's interesting that Trumpet got nominated on the strength of just one issue—but it is a highly professional fanzine. I expect they'll get nommed again this year (Niven has a great piece in the latest one).
Riverside Quarterly, like Science Fiction Review (né Psychotic) is an excellent literary criticism mag, and its pages are largely filled by pros. Warhoon, a similar, if less attractive 'zine, I avoid because they publish Walter Breen. Shangri L’Affaires is the house organ for the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society.
Best Fan Writer
Warner at Discon ('63). From Calisphere
Winner: Harry Warner, Jr.
Nominees
Richard Delap
Banks Mebane
Walter A. Willis
The hermit of Hagerstown has jumped from nominee to winner, and no surprise. His perzine Horizon has been a staple of FAPA (Fantasy Amateur Press Association, natch) since the '40s.
I see Richard Delap all over the place, mostly reviewing books. Banks Mebane runs the Washington (D.C.) Science Fiction Association. Walter A. Willis is a well-known Irish fan.
Best Fan Artist
Winner: Vaughn Bodé
From Calisphere
Nominees
George Barr
William Rotsler
Tim Kirk
Doug Lovenstein
Vaughn's stuff was at Worldcon's art show this year. Like Gaughan, he has feet firmly in both the pro and fan worlds. He also did a cute comic that came out at the convention. Barr does cover art and also the comic "Broken Sword", which appears in the fanzine, Trumpet. Bill Rotsler, "The Amiable Bulldozer", has been everywhere and seen everything. He's also been doing covers since the '40s. Tim Kirk specializes in fantasy, particularly Lord of the Rings. I don't know Doug Lovenstein.
There was a pair of informal awards presented as well:
BIG HEART AWARD:
Presented to Harry Warner Jr. by Forry Ackerman (accepted by Bob Bloch)
and
The FIRST FANDOM AWARD:
presented to Murray Leinster by last year's winner, Jack Williamson (accepted by Judy Lynn Benjamin)
Jack Williamson. From Calisphere
Where next?
This year, Worldcon moved to a two-years-in-advance bidding tradition, which was actually convenient since next year, the event will be in Heidelberg, West Germany, which could have made the bid for 1971 difficult. As it turns out, '71's con (Noreastcon) will take place in Boston.
Noreastcon bid table. From Calisphere
And that's that! I think we all deserve a rest after all of that drama. Time to crack into all of those great science fiction books that have been recommended by our pals at the World Science Fiction Society!
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