Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2002 15:50:15 -0400 From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at mail.press.jhu.edu> To: <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net> Subject: [WSFA] Fan Writer Hugo Enlightenment - Long Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net> >tedwhite at compusnet.com 04/19/02 03:51PM [deletia occurs] >The notion that *anyone* could be nominated to the Hugo ballot who is so >little known that there might be two of him (or her), each with his (or = her) >own partisans, says something scary about modern-day "fandom." > >*Sigh*.... > >--Ted White I did receive this regarding Mr Berkwits, via Criag Miller. mjw It was pointed out on Timebinders that a letter exchange between Jeff Berkwits and artist Frank Wu appears on Wu's website <http://www.frankwu.com/ >. Here is that exchange. (I've heard, but have no evidence, that Mr. Berkwits sent similar letters to a number of other people. >From Jeff Berkwits Feb. 5, 2002 > >Dear Frank: Hello! > >Jeff Berkwits here: you probably don't remember me, but I >believe we met briefly at the Writers of the Future Awards >Ceremony in 2000, which I covered for the late, lamented >GalaxyOnline.com. Anyhow, I hope that you are doing well >and that your art is coming along nicely. (I can tell that it is >from your Website updates -- congratulations!) > >I know that now is the time for Hugo nominations, so I was >wondering if I could ask a two-part favor from you (for which >I, of course, will reciprocate). Last year was a banner year >for me in terms of SF writing: I had a few items posted at >GalaxyOnline.com before they went bust, along with my >various commentaries at Locus Online (in case you did not >see them, here are links to two of them... >http://www.locusmag.com/2001/Commentary/Berkwits0514.html, >http://www.locusmag.com/2001/Commentary/Berkwits08.html), >my work at SciFiNow.com (before they too went bust), my >contributions to the Argentus fanzine, interviews with Algis >Budrys (at Science Fiction Weekly -- >http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue209/interview.html) and Frank >Kelly Freas (in Outr=E9 magazine) plus, of course, my usual >Science Fiction Weekly writing. So I figured this is the year >to at least try to get nominated in the _Best Fan Writer_ >category. So... > >Would you mind nominating *me* for _Best Fan Writer_ this >year (if you in fact do Hugo nominations, which you'd be >eligible for if you were a member of last year's Worldcon in >Philadelphia or this year's Worldcon in San Jose)? > > and > >Would you mind asking/suggesting to as many of your World >Con-going friends, colleagues, relatives, etc. as possible to >also nominate me? I am happy to nominate them too (in >their respective categories :-) ) if they'd like. > >Of course -- and here's the reciprocal part -- I intend to >nominate you in the _Best Fan Artist_ category (if you would >like), and similarly suggest the same to my friends! In re- >reading my WotF volume recently, (for which I am definitely >nominating Melissa Yuan-Innes, Michael Jasper and Toby >Buckell for the Campbell Award), I also enjoyed your >illustration for "Guildmaster," which led me, in part, to your >Website, which led me to writing this letter. > >Regardless, I am really trying to get onto the ballot, as last >year was a crucial year for me in terms of the breadth and >depth of my critical SF writing. As you may know, the voting >in this particular category can be very tight, so every vote >counts in the nomination process! > >Anyhow, I would very much appreciate your support and vote >in the _Best Fan Writer_ category in this year's Hugo >nomination process, and you certainly have my vote this >year for a _Best Fan Artist_ nomination. All the best, and I >look forward to hopefully hearing from you. > >Jeff Berkwits > >My reply: > >Hey, Jeff. Thanks for your note. I will definitely nominate you >in the best fan writer category - no problem, and certainly I >appreciate the nod for myself! > >I visited the articles you sent. I think you're right that the >internet is a flood of information, a final encyclopedia, but >perhaps there is a glut of misinformation. Perhaps the >analogy is the library that Italo Calvino wrote about in >"Numbers in the Dark", which contains every book ever >written - but also contains slight variations thereof, i.e., right >next to the correct book is another book with one sentence >wrong, and the book next to that has two sentences wrong, >and so forth - so it's almost impossible to find the exact right >book among the background buzz. I find the Internet >particularly worthless in finding out about anything that >happened before, oh, 1991. > >Well, you get what you pay for. > >Anyway, Jeff, nice to hear from you, and I will nominate you, >and I also nominated Toby and Jeff and Mike, but also >Carrie Vaughan and Ken Wharton. > >Are you, in fact, coming to WorldCon? I imagine you would >be, if you're on the final ballot. But, if so, I'll see you there. >(My con schedule is: Boskone (yikes- really soon, better get >ready), Norwescon in Seattle, BayCon here in the bay area, >the L.A. con over fourth of July, and WorldCon. Maybe >Loscon in Nov. You going to any of those? > >Frank > >P.S. I found it interesting when you commented that you are >unlikely to find a bad review of an author's work on his >website. So... if you want to same something less-than- >glowing about any of my artwork (like you didn't particularly >care for one piece or other - and that's cool, because they're >all pretty different and some are intentionally ugly or >repulsive), go ahead, I can take it, and I will post that so all >opinions get equal airtime.