Date: Sun, 31 Mar 2002 23:51:03 -0500
From: Ted White <tedwhite at compusnet.com>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Interesting Inventions
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

Steve Smith wrote:

> [...]
>
> To bring a SF note to the discussion, at Iguanacon II in 1978 in
> Phoenix, Harlan Ellison was the GoH.  When he found out that Arizona
> hadn't ratified the Equal Rights Amendment, he talked about doing all
> sorts of nasty things to let people in AZ know what assholes they were
> (he used stronger language, of course).  One of them was to have as many
> people as possible avoid staying in the hotel and camp in the desert.
> Now, desert camping is no more dangerous than any other form of camping
> -- if you know what you're doing.  Fortunately, the locals talked him
> out of it -- not only does it get cold at night, Labor Day is right
> about at the beginning of thunderstorm season ...

Harlan supposedly boycotted the hotel by living in a RV out front.  But in
actual fact he slept in a hotel room most nights.  It may get cold at night
in the desert -- particularly at higher altitudes -- but in Phoenix it went
*down* to 95 at night...after daytime highs in the 110-115 area.

--Ted White