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Mantis gave me permission to reproduce his account of the weekend in<br />
Seattle. Wish I'd been there!<br />
<br />
Nigel<br />
<br />
-------------------------------------<br />
<br />
Hello there Nigel,<br />
<br />
>How was Seattle? Did you get to talk to Wolfe at all?<br />
<br />
It was wonderful!<br />
<br />
There was some stress in getting there (we left immediately from the<br />
last day of school, with heavy road traffic and unexpected road<br />
construction--we had all but given up on making it to that flight,<br />
but by running through the airport, and the public address system<br />
urging us on by name, we managed to get there after all) and some<br />
tedium in getting back, but the part in the middle was magic.<br />
<br />
Gene Wolfe had told me in a letter that they would be at the hotel at<br />
around one and I should contact him as soon as we arrived. I wasn't<br />
sure what day he meant, but I dutifully called, and finding they had<br />
arrived, I left a message for them at around 7:30. (Turns out that<br />
they were at the museum's costume event, which we had originally<br />
wanted to keep as an open option, explaining why we had booked such a<br />
razor-close flight, but we had not RSVPed for the event, we hadn't<br />
gotten costumes for the girls, and we were frazzled by the day--Cordy<br />
had the ceremony of leaving elementary school, on top of the purely<br />
travel stuff.)<br />
<br />
We slept in late. On the way down to breakfast, I saw a man<br />
coming towards us with a bucket of ice. It was, of course, Gene<br />
Wolfe. I tried to take the bucket from him. He took it back. He<br />
apologized for not returning the call the night before, explaining<br />
that they had gotten back from the museum at around midnight. I<br />
introduced my wife and children. He said we should have breakfast<br />
together downstairs. And so we did.<br />
<br />
It lasted for a wonderfully long time. Gene's daughter Terri, whom I<br />
had never met in person, came over. Gary K. Wolfe, the _Locus_<br />
reviewer, came over for a while. Katherine Cramer and David Hartwell<br />
came over. Laura took the kids away to the museum when they were<br />
done. We were late in getting away to the first of two panels.<br />
<br />
After the second panel I met up with family again and we had lunch.<br />
Then we tried for a nap. I set the alarm and fell right asleep, but<br />
then the girls woke me up fifteen or twenty minutes later and I<br />
couldn't go back, even as they conked out.<br />
<br />
I finally gave up and got up, then I realized that the book signing<br />
was going on downstairs--might even be over. It was around 4<br />
o'clock, I think, when I rushed down there. There was just the tail<br />
end of a line. David Hartwell said someone was looking for me,<br />
Michael Straight (from the list), and I found him quickly, or he<br />
found me right there. I was happy to meet him in person and asked if<br />
there were any others from the list around. He said James Wynn was,<br />
but he hadn't seen him. I admitted that I had seen a James Wynn in<br />
the audience at the panel and thought the name was familiar, but I<br />
didn't have a name tag myself at that point.<br />
<br />
Gene was just sitting there by himself, so I got Michael to buy the<br />
Dreamhaven chapbook and get it autographed, then we sat there and<br />
chatted with him until he had to leave. Astrid Anderson Bear (whom<br />
I'd never seen in person) drifted over and sat with us but said<br />
nothing. First she was drinking a red beverage in a martini glass,<br />
and when that was done she took up some knitting.<br />
<br />
It was time for dinner and Michael didn't have any plans so I invited<br />
him to join me and my family for sushi. We puzzled over how to find<br />
James Wynn. As we were walking to the restaurant, Laura used her<br />
cell phone, which reminded Michael that he had James's cell phone<br />
number (but no cell phone of his own), so right there we called him<br />
up and invited him over.<br />
<br />
Dinner was a lot of fun but suddenly it was time to go get ready for<br />
the big event!<br />
<br />
Michael Straight and the couple Wynn went ahead. They thoughtfully<br />
saved places for us at their table.<br />
<br />
Gene Wolfe's part was the last segment of the event, and I found it<br />
very moving, to the point of shedding happy tears.<br />
<br />
Afterward we were all hanging around in the area where the museum<br />
wanted to take photos of the inductees, but where was Gene Wolfe?<br />
Well, it's like that's my "Bat Signal" or whatever, so I left<br />
everything to lend assistance. I looked where the Wolfes had been<br />
before, and I looked around from there. I didn't do much in that<br />
mazy place, but then they appeared at the end where I'd expected them,<br />
and then I jumped into action, clearing chairs from their path<br />
like an icebreaker and opening the doors for them.<br />
<br />
My point is that I was only gone for a minute or two, and when I came<br />
back, Michael Straight had somehow found another member from the<br />
list! So there were three from the list.<br />
<br />
The Wolfes left shortly after the photos.<br />
<br />
The next morning on our way to breakfast we saw Gene sitting by<br />
himself in the lobby, so we stopped to talk with him. Gene<br />
Rodenberry, Jr., who was waiting for a cab, joined in. Laura said<br />
later it was like matter and antimatter--not that they exploded or<br />
anything, it was all friendly talking--just that Wolfe's philosophy<br />
is largely the opposite of Star Trek's.<br />
<br />
That's it in a nutshell. I should try to write down at least an<br />
outline of what was said. Already I can't remember who was there<br />
when Gene told one story or another--I'll say something to Laura,<br />
assuming she had been there, and find out she hadn't.<br />
<br />
Of course there's also the problem of interpretation!<br />
<br />
When I tried to take the bucket from him, I heard him say, "Oh, Ma!"<br />
like I was trying to take the kid's load from him before he dropped<br />
it.<br />
<br />
Laura heard, "Oh, now!"<br />
<br />
And look how simple =that= is, with us being located in a quiet<br />
corridor! Contrast with the Hatter's Tea Party of breakfast.<br />
<br />
=Michael=<br />
<br />
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