Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2004 12:09:09 -0400
From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at press.jhu.edu>
To: <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: As Others See Us
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

> twhite8 at cox.net 10/21/04 12:02:10 PM >>>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at press.jhu.edu>
>To: <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
>Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2004 9:53 AM
>Subject: [WSFA] As Others See Us
>>
><http://www.riverfronttimes.com/issues/2004-10-
>20/news/feature_print.html>
>>
>> The headline:
>>
>> "Geeks Gone Wild
>> If you can't get laid at a science-fiction convention, you
>can't get
>> laid!
>> BY MIKE SEELY"
>
>"Owing largely to the tumultuous political terrain of the late
>'60s, the
>St. Louis WorldCon proved to be a raucous event that saw
>thousands of
>counterculture types overwhelm the posh Central West End
>hostelry and its
>facilities.
>
>""There was very little alcohol and huge quantities of pot and
>acid,"
>recounts Brock "Dev" Hanke, a medieval enthusiast (and
>former Riverfront
>Times contributor) in his fifties who attended the '69 debacle
>and recalls
>thousands of participants camping out in Forest Park rather
>than booking
>rooms. "The poor wedding parties at the Chase were trapped
>in their
>ballrooms. They had no idea what was happening."
>
>"Chase brass promptly swore to never again allow St. Louis'
>sci-fi
>community to use its facilities. But thanks in no small part to an
>appearance by Stephen King, the hotel played host to Archon
>6 in 1982,
>attracting a record 1,750 participants."
>
>What nonsense!   St. Louis's 1969 Worldcon had an
>attendance of just over
>1,500.   Ol' "Dev" must've been tripping his brains out,
>because his
>memories are totally false.  And the 1980 Archon, which I
>attended, was
>also in the Chase Park Plaza -- one of the most miserably
>uncomfortable
>hotels I've ever been in.   I wrote a letter of complaint to its
>manager.
>The maid staff short-sheeted the beds (bottom sheets stopped
>two thirds of
>the way to the foot of the bed) and the "air-conditioning" was
>so humid
>that it left the beds *damp*.   But then, when did reporters
>*ever* write
>up SF cons accurately?

As for the description of Archon, it would appear to be accurate, just
not the whole story.  Cons can be a target rich enviroment such
"reporting".  Fair & Balanced it ain't.

mjw

>
>--Ted White
>