August 2011 Editorial: Two Days Off

    Right after Kevin Maroney and I finished laying out this issue

in a rare mid-week Work Weekend Session, I took two days off

with friends and family, the first to attend the Pleasantville Music

Festival and the next to have my seventieth birthday party. Those

of you who attend Readercon know that there is often a birthday

cake for me on opening night. The reason for that tradition is that

in the 1980s, when Readercon moved to the weekend nearest July

10, it moved into conflict with my annual birthday party, to which

I usually had fifty or so of my friends, many from the sf community.

Readercon wanted those fifty friends, and me, to attend Readercon

instead, so they made me an offer I did not want to refuse: a

birthday celebration. Readercon has on rare occasions moved to a

different weekend, and when it did so this year, I decided to have

my party again.

    This time, I was able to have several people come a day early

and stay over, to see my son Geoff and his band at the festival the

day before. Geoff’s band played twice on Saturday, and in between

Geoff got to jam onstage with his friend Sonny Landreth. In Geoff’s

first set, his band was joined by Andy Aledort (formerly of Dicky

Betts’s band) and my favorite piece was a really smokin’ version of

Chuck Berry’s “Maybelline.” Then the party on Sunday: Dr. Jen

Gunnels (who does our theater reviews) is also a professional belly

dancer and agreed to dance—which she did, quite spectacularly.

Many friends came by, and some stayed later than I could last, but I

sure had fun. I do regret all the old friends who couldn’t make it.

—David G. Hartwell

and the editors

 

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A PDF copy of the NYRSF issue in which this editorial first appeared is available for purchase at Weightless Books.