Boskone 39 Report

Boskone 39: February 15-17, 2002
The New England Science Fiction Association
Con Report by Ernest Lilley

Guest of Honor: Neil Gaiman
Official Artist: Stephen Hickman
Special Guest: Marv Wolfman
Featured Filker: Tom Holt (unable to come, but celebrated nonetheless)
Chair: Pam Fremon

Official Con Site: www.boskone.org
Hotel: Sheraton Framingham Hotel, Framingham, Mass., 508-879-7200

We arrived early Friday afternoon, and after we registered, EJ McClure and I went off to our first panel, "Women Warriors." Along with EJ, who's a Naval officer, there was Katya Reimann, Tamora Pierce, and Barbara Chepaitis to consider the issue of women in warfare, with me moderating. I'm happy to report I survived, and we had a pretty good discussion too. (cont.)

Boskone 39 -
Photos and Comments by Ernest Lilley and Sharon Archer.

We started Boskone off with a Fannish Wedding Reception for yours truly (SFRevu Editor - Ernest Lilley) and his bride of a month and a half (LCDR EJ McClure). The Con threw in a cake (and very nearly hit me with it) Bob Devney (in the middle on the last picture) confessed to having introduced EJ and me at an earlier Boskone, and friends and fellow SFReviewers Dave Goldfeder, Barbara Chepaitis, and Steve Sawicki reprised their roles from the wedding.

What comes after a Fannish Wedding? A Fannish Garage Sale, naturally. Books, books, and more books. One of them by Will Shetterly, as he happily points out.

EJ surrounded herself with Devneys (L-Robert, R-Michael) at her Kaffeeklatsch, Neil Gaiman absolutely packed them in as GOH everywhere he went, and Walter Hunt edges Dave Hartwell out of the picture to pose with Dark Wing, his first novel. (see our Dark Wing review in this issue and you'll see what he has to be happy about.)

There were plenty of panels for those so inclined, and I moderated four of them. including the "Odd America" (L, with Neil Gaiman, Michael Swanwick, Alex Irvine, and Will Shetterly) and "Warrior Women" (M- with Barbara Chepaitis [not shown], EJ McClure, Katya Reimann, and Tamora Pierce [not shown]). Much to my regret I didn't ride chair on the mob to the right, some of my favorite folks. (L-R Daniel Dern, Keith DeCandido, Teresa Nielsen Hayden and Pam Fremon [Con Chair])

There was music aplenty, with Famed Filkster Filthy Pierre on piano in the hall, Joe and Gay Haldeman at the Saturday Night Cabaret and Emma Bull with Patrick Nielsen Hayden. The Cabaret was a tremendous success, and if there is a tape, you should get it.

What would a Con be without dancing, parties and Bob Eggleton surrounded by women? Wait a minute, that's my wife (EJ McClure) on the left and Michaela on the right. What's Bob got that the rest of us don't? Besides the hair and the Hugos?

Kids in the Hall, L-R, Gadabout Darrell Schweitzer, Famous Editor David Hartwell, Author/Statistician Mike Flynn, Authors Katya Reimann and Jeffrey A. Carver, SF and Tech Journalist Nancy Hanger and Saul Jaffee.

(cont. from above...) Then it was off to a "Fannish Wedding Reception" for EJ and myself, held only a few feet and half a dozen years from where I actually met her...at the 1996 Boskone where Lois Bujold was GOH.

Then off to dinner with friends, and up again the next day where we were kept busy with panels and huckstering. Having married another voracious reader, someone's books had to get reduced...and mine were closer at hand.

Between panels and other duties, I didn't see as much of the con as I'd have liked. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, the parties were well attended and well stocked with munchables, the Con Suite was really well managed...and if I'd been able to get back there, I'm sure the Chowder at Molly Malone's (the restaurant/bar at the hotel) would have been as good as in years past.

One food note, while I'm on the subject. A mile or two east of the Con on Route 9, there's a great Chinese/Japanese restaurant that I've taken friends to several times over the years. Mr. Gary, our waiter, remembered me, fondly, I thought...though my friends said they saw fear in his eyes. There's great food on both sides of the place. You turn left for the Japanese Steak house or right for the Chinese...but you can get sushi anywhere.

The weather at Boskone is always interesting. Usually it rains, snows or freezes at various times during the weekend, but this year it was clear sailing all the way. Weather reports kept threatening a winter storm, but it kept getting pushed back further into the weekend. Finally it was promised for Sunday afternoon, and as we had a 6 pm flight out of Newark, EJ and I beat an early retreat and drove off in our rented SUV, now empty of books. A swirling snow-storm on the Mass. Turnpike provided some amusement and anxiety, but by the time we made New York state, the sky was clear and all we had to do was make it through airport security to safely return to our current base of operation in northern Florida.

It was a fantastic weekend in the North, and both of us had a great time. I'm under the impression that lots of other folks did as well.