I had been invited a number of times to attend Context, a small literary convention similar to Readercon, held in Columbus Ohio (incidentally, at the same hotel where the Gathering of Friends takes place.) They were good enough to invite me as a special guest to their 20th convention in 2007, where Tim Powers was Guest of Honor. Tim and I have crossed paths many times and I am a huge fan of his work.
The primary instigator of my invitation was a wonderful fan, Liz Gross, whom I had met at several previous conventions, and who died suddenly and tragically in June 2007, just a few months before my attendance at this convention. Dr. Gross – who was the retired director of the Department of Biophysics at Ohio State – was much loved, and in my brief acquaintance with her I found her interesting and engaging. I wish I'd known her better.
Tim's arrival was delayed also by a personal issue that caused him to arrive early Saturday (instead of Friday), so the rest of us picked up the slack. I enjoyed the convention and would be happy to attend again – though I wish it were a few states closer to me.
Met and Greeted
- Samuel T. Clemmons. What a fun guy. Maybe his real name (I doubt it, though – he described himself as "an author, lecturer, philosopher, time traveler, public nuisance, and sometime ne'er-do-well". We enjoyed a couple of panels together.
- John Dalmas. A distinguished author of many books, still on my list of writers to read. His first book was serialized in Analog when I was in elementary school. (That's getting harder and harder to say.)
- Jim Hines. Fantasy author. We did a panel together.
