This
will be my last issue as editor of The F.A.C.T. Sheet. No,
I'm not being done in by fandom politics, or weariness, or a
sudden need to travel the world and reevaluate my life: I just
have too much work to do. I'm not complaining, but I do have to
give up something.I'll
miss invading your mailboxes once a month. And who knows,
perhaps at some future date I'll be able to batter my workload
down to a manageable size and will return.Wish
me luck...
(This column is for news about FACT members, their
friends, Texas writers, and important events in the SF&F
community. If you have any such news, please contact the editor of The F.A.C.T.
Sheet.)The
Annual Meeting of the FACT membership is to take place on
Sunday, April 13, at the FACT offices (1204 Nueces, Austin), at
2:00 p.m., immediately following the last meeting of the
outgoing Board of Directors. If you can't be there, be sure to
send in your proxy (included with the Election Supplement in
your January-February issue of The F.A.C.T. Sheet) to get
your vote counted anyway.LoneStarCon 2 has entered into an agreement with American
Airlines, which will provide convention attendees with a
discounted air fare. Residents of the U.S. and Canada should
mention Star File number S1187MJ, while residents of European
nations should use Star File number S9687AB. Discounts are not
available for fares outside of the U.S. and Canada, but use of
the European Star File number will cause American to offer the
lowest available standard rates. American's reservations number is
1-800-433-7300; their web site is
http://www.americanair.com/.Austin's Mojo Press has announced that it will publish a
limited run of Joe R. Lansdale's Bad Chili, fourth in the
Hap & Leonard series, in June; the limited edition will be
signed both by Lansdale and the artist and will cost $47. The
Mysterious Press trade edition will be issued a month later.Dead Heat, by Del Stone, Jr., a Mojo Press
release, has been nominated for the Bram Stoker Awards final
ballot for best first novel of 1996.The
Philip K. Dick Award winner for 1996 was announced at Norwescon
20. The winner was The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter;
At the City Limits of Fate, by Michael Bishop, also
received special recognition.
(In
addition to individual meetings listed below, the FACT/LSC2
offices, at 1204 Nueces [472-9944], are open on Wednesday,
Thursday, and Sunday nights from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. These are
work-session nights; volunteer help is appreciated. Wednesday is
Karen Meschke's night, focussing on LoneStarCon 2 registration
data entry; Thursday is Fred Duarte, Jr.'s night; and Sunday is
Debbie Hodgkinson's night, focussing on LSC2 programming. Sunday
graduates into an informal socializing event, with viewing of
King of the Hill, X-Files, and Babylon 5
available, plus "cracker barrel philosophizing about FACT, LSC2,
ArmadilloCon, and fandom in general" sometimes well after the
alleged 9 p.m. closing time.)
(This list provides release dates on upcoming SF&F
movies in case FACT members wish to organize group outings.
Please confirm dates and times with your preferred theaters;
dates and times are often subject to change.)
| 4/11: | Anaconda (Jon Voight and Ice Cube vs. a preposterous CGI snake) |
| 4/11: | The Warrior Of Waverly Street |
| 4/25: | Volcano (Tommy Lee Jones protects L.A. during inexplicable volcanic eruption) |
| 5/2: | Warriors Of Virtue (Boy swept to alternate world, aided by cute Kung Fu kangaroos) |
| 5/9: | The Fifth Element (Bruce Willis as a cab driver of the future) |
| 5/23: | The Lost World (Jeff Goldblum and Julianne Moore directed by Spielberg in this sequel to Jurassic Park) |
| 6/20: | Batman and Robin (George Clooney as Batman, Chris O'Donnell as Robin, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl, Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy) |
| 6/27: | Hercules (the Greek demigod gets the Disney treatment) |
| 7/2: | Men in Black (Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith defend the world from aliens; directed by Barry Sonnenfeld of Addams Family) |
| 8/1: | Alien 4: Resurrection (Sigorney Weaver, Wynona Rider) |
| 8/1: | Mortal Kombat 2: Annihilation (Christopher Lambert in this mystical martial-arts sequel) |
| 8/22: | Spawn (John Leguizamo, D.B. Sweeney, based on comic book) |
| 8/29: | An American Werewolf In Paris (Tobey Maguire and Julie Delpy) |
| 8/29: | Kull The Conqueror (Kevin Sorbo and Tia Carrere in a movie about Robert E. Howard's #2 barbarian) |
| 11/7: | Starship Troopers (Adaptation of the Heinlein novel, starring Neil Patrick Harris, directed by the ultraviolent Paul Verhoven) |
(This list provides details on conventions that FACT
members, associates, and Favorite Authors will attend.)Project: A-Kon #8. May 30-June 1, 1997: Dallas, TX (The Harvey Hotel, Addison). Anime convention.
The
Board of Directors (the "Board") of the Fandom Association of
Central Texas, Inc. ("FACT") convened in a regular meeting at
the Lisa Greene Building located at 1204 Nueces, Austin, Texas
(the "FACT Office") at 12:45 p.m. on the 9th day of March, 1997,
and the following duly constituted officers and members of the
Board were in attendance, thus constituting a quorum:
Judith
Ward, Chairman
Aaron
Allston, Director
A.T.
Campbell III, Director
David
Berry, Director; MIS; and Social Director
Fred
Duarte, Jr., Director (early departure)
Earl
Cooley III, Director and Vice President
Randy
"Bear" Philley, Director and Treasurer
C. Dan
Tolliver, Director and Secretary (late arrival)
Also
in attendance were FACT members Shirley Crossland and
(intermittently) Lori Wolf. Also in the building were Terry
Berry and FACT member Lynn Ward. The minutes of the February
meeting were not approved as the March edition of The
F.A.C.T. Sheet had not yet been published.
I. Reports of the Officers of FACT
a.
Chairman's Report. Chairman Ward had nothing to report.
b.
President's Report. President Taylor was not in attendance.
Mr. Duarte relayed Mr. Taylor's regrets that he had been unable
to attend for the last few meetings. Chairman Ward inquired
after the Gannett money, and Mr. Duarte reported that it had not
yet been delivered to FACT.
c.
Vice President's Report. Vice President Cooley had nothing
to report.
d.
Secretary's Report. The Secretary having not yet arrived at
the meeting, his report was temporarily deferred.
e.
Treasurer's Report. Mr. Philley reported that Mr. Taylor had
called him with bank statement information. FACT ended the
previous month with an account balance of $360.40; a check for
just over $140 had arrived subsequently, and a bank service
charge of $10 had been assessed subsequently. The ArmadilloCon
account had slightly over $400, had been assessed a $10 service
charge subsequently, and $300 from a check from Baen Books had
been deposited subsequently. Mr. Campbell reported on the
arrival of another $300 check, this one from Tor Books. Mr.
Philley reported that the Gannett money had not yet been
delivered to FACT owing to a paperwork problem at the Gannett
end. There was no state sales tax information to report. Mr.
Duarte mentioned that the FACT table would be in the AggieCon
dealers' room.
f.
MIS Report. Mr. Berry had nothing to report.
g.
Social Director's Report. Mr. Berry had nothing to
report.
h.
Historian's Report. Ms. Steele was not in attendance.
II. Committee Reports
a.
ArmadilloCons 19 and 20. No one could report on any formal
applications for the convention chairman positions for
ArmadilloCons 19 or 20, though Mr. Berry reiterated his interest
in them.
b.
Publications. Mr. Campbell reported that Brad Foster's
Texas SF Inquirer had been well-received, though a minor
controversy had erupted over one contribution to the issue. The
contribution, written by a Bay Area writer not named at the
meeting and illustrated by Brad Foster, had been submitted to
Mr. Foster several years earlier; the writer had subsequently
moved, and the piece had subsequently appeared in another
magazine. A friend of the writer's, seeing the Texas SF
Inquirer publication of the piece, took exception to the
fact that the writer had not yet received a contributor's copy
and that the Inquirer's publication of the piece did not
cite its other appearance in print. This individual contacted
Mr. Foster and fanzine publisher Andy Hooper with his
objections; Mr. Hooper subsequently decided not to publish
correspondence regarding the incident until all parties had been
notified and had had a chance to respond.
III. Old Business
The
major piece of old business concerned an effort made between
this Board meeting and the previous one to change the date of
the Annual Meeting, and the ongoing consequences resulting from
that effort.
The
Board members synopsized the situation before (and during)
discussion; the synopsis is presented here, before notes on the
discussion, for clarity's sake.
At the
last Board meeting, the Board, owing to FACT's failure to
publish the list of members eligible to serve on the Board in
time for it to reach members 50 or more days before the default
date of the Annual Meeting (March 9), voted to change the date
of the 1997 Annual Meeting to Sunday, March 30. Subsequently, in
e-mail, member Robert Reedy notified Director Allston that March
30 was Easter and pointed out that this date was not optimal for
a FACT membership meeting.
In
e-mail correspondence with the other Board members, Mr. Allston
proposed changing the date of the Annual Meeting (again), this
time to April 13, the default date of the April Board of
Directors meeting. Analysis of the FACT Bylaws indicated that
the Board could make such a change between Board of Directors
meetings only if they had unanimous consent from the Board
members. The Board members involved in the e-mail discussion all
indicated consent. Unfortunately, those members did not
constitute all Directors of the Board. Secretary Tolliver, under
the mistaken belief that the vote had been unanimously approved,
generated postcards for the membership describing the date
change as an approved action of the Board and distributed them.
Subsequently, Mr. Berry, who had been aware of the e-mail
discussion but who had not participated or offered his approval,
informed Mr. Tolliver that he had not voted in favor of the
date-change resolution and consequently the approved date of
March 30 was still in effect. Mr. Tolliver subsequently sent
e-mail to all on-line members of FACT with known e-mail addresses
to inform them that the meeting date had been restored to March
30.
That
being the situation leading up to the Board meeting, the
Directors discussed the situation to try to sort it out.
(Chairman Ward relinquished control of the meeting to Mr. Cooley
so she could participate more freely in the discussion phase.)
It became clear that members of FACT were confused by the
situation and that it was imperative that the date issue be
resolved immediately.
Mr.
Allston mistakenly proposed that the current approved date
(March 30) was unchangeable without Mr. Berry's approval and Ms.
Hayden's vote, and therefore unchangeable at this meeting
because neither Ms. Hayden nor her proxy was present. This
impression was corrected by other Board members, who pointed out
that this was a standard Board meeting, requiring only a
majority vote, not a unanimous vote, of Directors to take such
action.
Mr.
Berry protested that changing the Annual Meeting date to April
13 invalidated Article II, Section 9 of the Bylaws, which reads,
"Except as otherwise provided by the Certificate of
Incorporation, whenever the vote of members at a meeting thereof
is required or permitted to be taken in connection with any
corporate action by any provisions of the statutes or the
Certificate of Incorporation or of these Bylaws, the meeting and
vote of members may be dispensed with, if all the members who
would have been entitled to vote upon the action if such meeting
were held shall consent in writing to such corporation action
being taken." His argument was that if a subset of the Board
attempted and failed to enact a resolution between meetings, and
if the identical resolution were brought up and approved at a
subsequent meeting, the situation was indistinguishable from a
situation in which the subset of the Board pushed through a
resolution between meetings without the written approval of all
members of the Board.
Mr.
Allston said that he appreciated but did not agree with this
interpretation, and objected that the between-meetings resolution
changing the meeting date to April 13 had failed, that only the
premature distribution of notification cards by the Secretary
gave the situation its current ambiguous appearance. He stated
also that it was also inappropriate for a failed between-meeting
attempt at resolution action to prevent the Board, at a normal
meeting, to reevaluate the circumstances leading to the action
and vote thereupon.
Further discussion advanced both positions and aired
other individual opinions. Mr. Duarte was forced to leave due to
time constraints.
Mr.
Allston moved that (a) the Board recognize that an action by
some members of the Board between meetings to move the Annual
Meeting date from March 30 to April 13 had failed, and (b) that
the date of the Annual Meeting be moved to April 13. Mr.
Campbell seconded the motion.
Discussion followed. It was pointed out that most FACT
memberships expire on April 1, so a further motion would be
necessary to allow those members to vote on April 13. Chairman
Ward recommended against the motion for simplicity's sake: The
meeting could take place on March 30, but would, owing to
holiday conflicts, probably be so ill-attended that no quorum
would be present; the Board could subsequently reschedule for
April 13 or another date. Mr. Allston objected that this could
have a bad effect on the morale of FACT members. At the end of
discussion, Mr. Berry obliged Mr. Cooley to rule on whether the
motion were in order, and Mr. Cooley determined that it was.
Before
the vote could take place, Director Tolliver arrived. He read a
Secretary's Report synopsizing his perspective of the failed
attempt to move the date and apologized for the premature
distribution of notification postcards.
The
directors voted five for, one against, one abstaining on the
motion to move the Annual Meeting date to April 13. Chairman
Ward regained control of the meeting and directed the Secretary
to make appropriate notification to the membership of FACT.
Mr.
Allston moved that all FACT memberships currently expiring on
April 1, 1997 be extended to April 13, 1997, so that those
members would be able to vote at the Annual Meeting. Mr.
Tolliver seconded. In discussion, Mr. Cooley cited a precedent
in FACT's history. Mr. Philley recommended amending the motion
so that those extended memberships only go to 4:00 p.m. on the
afternoon in question; that proposal was greeted with
considerable humorous commentary but little actual support.
The
directors voted seven for, none against, none abstaining on the
motion. Chairman Ward directed the Secretary to append mention
of that motion's effects to the Annual Meeting notification.
In
other old business, Mr. Tolliver mentioned that the Convention
Oversight Committee had voted to authorize FACT's co-sponsorship
of the 1999 International Space Development Conference with the
Clear Lake branch of the National Space Society.
IV. New Business
Member
Shirley Crossland indicated that she had learned of a group that
bestowed grants upon organizations involved with literary
concerns, particularly those involving author readings, and
asked for advice on approaching them for a grant for FACT. Mr.
Philley indicated that such a grant would allow FACT to sponsor
more book-signings and readings. Mr. Allston recommended that
Ms. Crossland form a committee to determine the best way to go
about this process; Mr. Berry recommended that it be an informal
committee for the time being. Chairman Ward received Board
consensus on that matter, though it did not require a motion or
vote.
Mr.
Philley proposed that April 12 be set aside as a Clean Up the
Office day in preparation for the next day's meeting. The motion
was duly seconded. The vote passed with a vote of four for, two
against, one abstaining.
As
there was no further business to come before the Board, the
meeting adjourned at 1:49 p.m.
After
several months of discussing books by new writers, in March we
turned to books by authors whose work we've discussed and liked
before: Steven Gould and Tim Powers.On
March 4, eight of us met at the FACT Office to discuss Steven
Gould's Wildside. It's a coming-of-age science fiction
story in which a group of Texas teenagers discover a gateway to
a world filled with saber-toothed tigers, wooly mammoths, and
other supposedly-extinct creatures. We found Gould's prose style
quite readable, and we admired the author's intent for the book
to be read both by adults and younger readers. The novel
features extensive aviation scenes, which the private pilot in
our group pronounced generally accurate. The characters were
multidimensional and easy to tell apart, and their relationships
seemed real. While we all found the basic concept fascinating,
many of us wished the author had explored his world more. As one
person put it, "it's like making Jurassic Park with the
dinosaurs offscreen." Overall we liked the book, and we're
looking forward to what Gould writes next.Seven
of us met at Adventures in Crime and Space on March 18 to
discuss Expiration Date by Tim Powers. The novel is a
dark fantasy set in Los Angeles, featuring the ghosts of Thomas
Edison and Harry Houdini. We all liked many of the ideas and
elements of the book, but we were divided about how successfully
the story was told. Two of the group found the writing style
"wonderful," while most of the rest found that the story started
very slowly and took a couple of hundred pages to pique our
interest. One person had nightmares while reading the book, so
obviously the writing style was effective for her. One member
who'd also read the British version of the book, which differed
substantially, felt that the American version seemed "padded."
Powers's ideas and unique points of view are always
interesting, and we never know what he'll do next.According to our group's traditions, we now owe each of
these twice-discussed authors dinner. Since neither Steve nor
Tim lives in Texas, we'll see if we can get together with them
when they come to San Antonio for LoneStarCon 2.
FACT's
Sales to Members manager has stepped down to work on other
projects (LSC2) and the organization needs a volunteer to take
this position.The
Sales to Members duties are similar to running a bookstore from
your home and managing or participating at a dealer's table at
several conventions. The manager is in charge of purchasing
stock, keeping a current inventory, and generating sales reports
for FACT's board of directors and treasurer. Proof of household
insurance to cover said stock is a must.Sales
to Members also attempts to keep in stock books by Texas writers,
include Bruce Sterling, Elizabeth Moon, and Howard
Waldrop.Other
duties include arranging signings -- dealing with publishers,
authors, and bookstores -- and actually organizing and executing
the autographings.Sales
to Members has only one annual purchase, a membership to the
American Booksellers Association. Their weekly 'zine and other
publications help to keep us up to date with all the news of
publishing, authors, and bookstores around the country.Benefits of the Sales to Members position include free
memberships to conventions (paid for by FACT as part of the
dealer's table cost) and the opportunity to learn a lot about
the book industry from authors and publishers.Recommending new authors and series is a great gift to
share. In addition, you always have a place to be during a
convention and you get to meet lots of interesting fans and
authors.Interested applicants should contact Karen Meschke at
(512) 835-9304 or at meschke@io.com.
The
FACT Secretary needs a person with a willingness to show up for
Board Meetings and take notes/supervise the tape recorder when
the Secretary cannot attend. Will probably be forced to generate
Minutes if the notes are illegible and the tape indecipherable.
Please contact Dan Tolliver.
FACT
is now seeking chairmen for ArmadilloCon 19 (a relaxacon to take
place in 1997) and ArmadilloCon 20 (a full-sized ArmadilloCon
taking place in 1998).Job
requirements for the position of chair of ArmadilloCon 19
include:
ArmadilloCon
20's requirement are more stringent, and include the following:
(Required)
(Preferred)
It may
be that some of the requirements are negotiable, particularly if
the applicant has similar experience with other
convention-running groups.
Interested applicants should contact any of the Board members.
| 4/17: | Dennis (Big Trouble in Little China) Dun Birthday |
| 4/19: | Dick (Bewitched) Sargent Birthday (1933) |
| 4/20: | George (Star Trek) Takei Birthday (1940) |
| 4/22: | Brooks Griffith Birthday |
| Jack Nicholson (Wolf, Shining) Birthday (1937) | |
| Catherine Mary (Last Starfighter) Stewart Birthday | |
| 4/23: | Ngaio Marsh Birthday (1899) |
| Avram Davidson Birthday (1923) | |
| Lee (Six Million Dollar Man) Majors Birthday (1940) | |
| 4/26: | A.E. Van Vogt Birthday (1912) |
| 4/27: | Frank Belknap Long Birthday (1903) |
| 4/29: | Jack Williamson Birthday (1908) |
| Kate (Star Trek: Voyager) Mulgrew Birthday (1955) | |
| 4/30: | Al (Munsters) Lewis Birthday (1923) |
| 5/1: | Cindy Foster Birthday |
| 5/7: | Darren (Night Stalker) McGavin Birthday (1922) |
| 5/8: | Stephen (Babylon 5) Furst Birthday |
| Peter Benchley Birthday (1940) | |
| 5/9: | James Barrie Birthday (1860) |
| 5/13: | Daphne du Maurier Birthday (1907) |
| 5/14: | George Lucas Birthday (1944) |
| Skylab Launched (1973) | |
| 5/15: | L. Frank Baum Birthday (1856) |
The
Fandom Association of Central Texas, Inc. (FACT) is a 501(c)(3)
non-profit literary/educational corporation.
| Judith Ward, Chair | ChiliMomma@aol.com |
| (210) 691-1554 | |
| Aaron Allston | allston@fact.org |
| David Berry | dwb@greenwing.com |
| (512) 990-8831 | |
| A.T. Campbell III | atc@arlut.utexas.edu |
| (512) 833-5269 | |
| Earl Cooley III | shiva@io.com |
| (512) 454-3295 | |
| Fred Duarte, Jr. | f.duarte@genie.com |
| Dee Hayden | (512) 328-4643 |
| Randy "Bear" Philley | philley@io.com |
| (512) 834-7787 | |
| Dan Tolliver | (512) 331-8703 |
(No collect calls, please)
| President: | Robert Taylor |
| Vice President: | Earl Cooley III |
| Historian: | Sandra Steele |
| MIS: | David Berry |
| Social Director: | David Berry |
| Treasurer: | Randy "Bear" Philley |
| Mailing Address: | PO Box 9612 |
| Austin, TX 78766-9612 | |
| Street Address: | 1204 Nueces |
| Austin, TX 78701 | |
| (Note that this is a mixed-use building. When stopping by, please be considerate of those who live and work here.) | |
| Phone: | (512) 472-9944 |
| Fax: | (512) 472-4290 |
| WWW: | http://www.fact.org/ |
FACT
membership benefits include regular issues of The F.A.C.T.
Sheet, occasional issues of the Hugo-winning Texas SF
Inquirer, and the opportunity to participate in many social
events (see the "Upcoming Events" column).To
become a member, please send membership dues to the FACT address
at left. The time of year in which you pay for membership
determines the amount, so that on subsequent years your
membership will come due in April or October.
| If you join FACT in: | Your first dues will be: |
| May or November | $29.75 (17 months) |
| June or December | $28.00 (16 months) |
| July or January | $26.25 (15 months) |
| August or February | $24.50 (14 months) |
| September or March | $22.75 (13 months) |
| October or April | $21.00 (12 months) |
The
F.A.C.T. Sheet is the monthly newsletter of the members of
the Fandom Association of Central Texas, Inc.Editor: Aaron Allston
Contact Information
| Mailing Address: | The F.A.C.T. Sheet |
| c/o Aaron Allston | |
| PO Box 564 | |
| Round Rock, TX 78680-0564 | |
| E-Mail: | allston@fact.org |
| WWW: | http://www.fact.org/fact-sheet/ |
| (The current edition of The F.A.C.T. Sheet appears here in HTML, ASCII, and .PDF format.) |
This Issue's Credits and Notices
URL: http://www.fact.org/fact-sheet/current.html and http://www.io.com/~allston/fact/current.html. Optimized for Netscape 2.0. Maintained by Aaron Allston (allston@fact.org). |