The New England Science Fiction Association

Proudly Sponsors

Boskone 35

Walter Jon Williams

Guest of Honor

Omar Rayyan

Official Artist

Stanley Schmidt

Special Guest

Joe Ellis

Featured Filker

February 13-15, 1998
Sheraton Tara Hotel
Framingham, Massachusetts



Table of Contents

Our Acknowledgments and Contributors
Boskone 35 Committee and Staff
The Chairs Speak
Meet Walter Jon Williams...
Walter Jon Williams Bibliography
Omar Rayyan: A View Into
Stan Schmidt...Selling to the Godfather: How to join the Analog MAFIA
Selected Stan Schmidt Bibliography
The Titillating Tale of Joe Ellis & His Music
What Is NESFA?
NESFA Founders, et al
The Skylark
The Jack Gaughan Award
NESFA Press: A Brief Overview
History of Boskone


Our Acknowledgments and Contributors

The editors thank all those who helped us obtain and correct material for this book, OSFCI for the use of its laser printer, and apologize to our cats, Telzey and Sassy, for our recent lack of attention.

Jane Lindskold is the author of the novels Pipes of Orpheus and Smoke and Mirrors, co-author (with Roger Zelazny) of Donnerjack, and author of the critical biography Roger Zelazny.

Rae Montor is Chair of Viable Paradise II: SF on Martha's Vineyard, October 2-4, 1998. This interview was originally published, in somewhat different form, in the VP 1997 program book. Info about VPII can be found at: http://www.sff.net/paradise/.

Advertisers List

HarperPrism, Boston for Orlando in 2001, Tor, Philadelphia in 2001, Avon, Baen, The New York Review of Science Fiction, Bucconeer, NESFA Press, Arisia, Balticon 32, Albacon '98, San Francisco in 2002, Boskone 36

Art & Photo Credits

Omar Rayyan, Larry Gutierrez


All by-lined articles are copyright by their authors and printed here by permission. Boskone is a registered service mark of the New England Science Fiction Association, Inc., a non-profit corporation registered under IRS section 501(c)(3). Worldcon, NASFiC, and Hugo are registered service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society.

Editors: John Lorentz & Ruth Sachter. Apologies in advance for any of our errors of omission or commission; please note that we decided not to standardize the bibliographic information provided.

Production neepery: Editing & layout in Portland, Ore. (because they asked & we're crazy), using Corel WordPerfect®8 on PCs & an HP LaserJet 5MP. Major fonts used are Bitstream Cooper, Impress & ZapfHumanist 601. Printed by Goodway Graphics, Mass.

Boskone Policies

Please wear your badge. You will need it to get into all convention activities. If you lose your badge, and it does not turn up at Information, a replacement badge will cost you $20, if you have your receipt. If you lose your badge a second time, you must re-register at $45.

No weapons (or anything that appears to be a weapon) are permitted at any time! If you violate this rule, you will be asked to leave the convention.

Please remember, if in doubt, ask us.

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Boskone 35 Committee and Staff

Chairs - Bonnie & Ted Atwood

Art Show - Mark Hertel
Chief Assistant (Pre-Con) - Deb Geisler
Chief Assistant (At-Con) - Karl Wurst
Staff - B. Shirley Avery, Martin Deutsch, Winton Matthews, Andrea Senchy, Tracy Symolon, Jim Symolon, Amy West, Nicholas Karl Wurst
Auctioneer - jan howard finder
Construction - Ted Atwood
Print Shop - Paul Giguere
Sales - Deb Geisler
At-Con Registration - Davey Snyder & Deb Geisler
Staff - David Ayer, Dave Cantor, Elisabeth Carey, Gary Feldbaum, Alan Dashoff, Jared Dashoff
Boskone History Exhibit - Claire Anderson
Club/Bid Tables - Laurie Mann
Con Suite - Sue Kahn
Staff - Beth MacLellan, Joe Rico
Dead Dog Dinner - Gay Ellen Dennett
Den - Debbie King
Staff - Josh Katzman, Paula Lieberman, Charlie Seelig
Dragonslair - Joni Brill Dashoff & Leslie Mann
Foreign Liaison - Ben Yalow
Game Room - Joe Rico
Gaughan Award
Judges - David Cherry, Bob Eggleton, Ron Walotsky
Helmuth - Lisa Hertel
Staff - Bob Devney, Mike Devney, Mark Dulcey, Paul Giguere, Elka Tovah Menkes
Hotel Liaison - Gay Ellen Dennett
Suite Allocation - Ben Yalow
Security Liaison - Mike Benveniste
Huckster's Room - Joyce & Peter Grace
Assistant (At-Con) - Rick Katze
Information - Tony Lewis
Assistant - Kelly Persons
Hotel Maps - Claire Anderson, Lisa Hertel
Insurance - Davey Snyder
Logistics - Michael & Nomi Burstein
Staff - Woody Bernardi, Cindy Lazzaro, Joe Lazzaro
Mailroom - Sharon Sbarsky
Meetings Scribe & Mimeography - Claire Anderson
NESFA Sales Advance - Gay Ellen Dennett
NESFA Sales At-Con - Dave Anderson
Office - Kevin Allen & Mike Benveniste
Staff - Judy Bemis, Ira Donewitz, Brendan Quinn
On-Line Liaison - Sharon Sbarsky
Party Board/Freebie Table - Pam Fremon
People Mover - Tony Lewis
Assistant - Kelly Persons
Plaques - Mark Olson
Pocket Program - Allison & Mike Feldhusen
Porffreader - George Flynn
Pre-Registration - Paul Giguere
Press Relations - Elisabeth Carey
Program - Sharon Sbarsky & Jim Mann
Staff - Fred Duarte, Saul Jaffe, Laurie Mann, Christine Schulman, Mary Tabasko
Events - Priscilla Olson
Banquet - Gay Ellen Dennett
After Banquet Event - Priscilla Olson
Meet-the-VIPs - Priscilla Olson
Dealers - Dave Cantor, Kevin Hall, Rick Katze
Regency Soirée - Suford Lewis
Dance Mistress - Crystal Paul
Filk - Gary McGath
Kaffeeklatches - Kathei Logue
Assistant - Gloria Lucia Albasi
Video - Christine Carpenito, Ed Dooley, Tim Roberge
Program Book - John Lorentz & Ruth Sachter
Advertising - Ben Yalow
Progress Reports - Paul Giguere & Tim Szczesuil
Publicity - Elisabeth Carey
Restaurant Guide - Mark Olson
Ribbons - Sharon Sbarsky
Assistant - Nomi Burstein
SBOF - Pam Fremon
Short Story Contest - Michael & Nomi Burstein
Judges - Ian Randal Strock, Walter Jon Williams, Jane Yolen
Skylark Award - Michael Burstein
Souvenirs - Fo’ Paws (Scott & Jane Dennis)
Space Cadets - Joyce Carroll Grace
Technical - Woody Bernardi
Travel Arranger - Joe Siclari
Treasurer - Ann Broomhead
Staff - Dave Cantor, Dale Farmer
Webmaster - Ben Yalow
Williams Book - Tim Szczesuil
Writer’s Workshop - David Alexander Smith

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The Chairs Speak

(no surprise there!)

Bonnie remembers a small room with many "famous" people in it and a booth outside where someone from MIT was demonstrating a mechanical hand/arm; Ted remembers sitting behind and listening to Isaac Asimov, Judy-Lynn Benjamin, Lester del Rey, Fred Pohl, and others, and buying at auction two pieces of artwork which were interior illustrations by Wallace Wood from Galaxy magazine. The auction, talks, and everything else seems to have taken place in that one room. Times sure have changed!

That small beginning started us on our way to becoming members of the family of fandom, which just happens to be the theme of this Boskone.

We thought this was a fitting theme, in the light of events past, present, and future. At that first (for us) Boskone we were expecting our first (and only) child. We pretty much dropped out after that until Noreascon II, which we attended for a day. From then on it was all downhill. In addition to creating us as fans, we also corrupted our poor baby. She in turn corrupted her friends, and our fannish family grew. As we became more and more involved in conventions, first as volunteers and later as part of various committees, our family continued to grow as more and more "relatives" were added. We have arguments, make up, help each other, and stand up for each other as more conventional (no pun intended) families will. Our baby grew up, corrupted a nice young man, got married (had a reception at L.A.con III) and is, at the time of this writing, expecting her own baby. So, we hope, the family will continue to grow.

We've had a lot of fun with this convention. We're looking forward to having you have fun, too. As part of our fannish family we hope you'll let us know what we've done right and also where we've made mistakes.

We're trying a few new ideas (stolen from other cons, of course; but since we're one big family we believe in sharing) and hope you enjoy them. We'd like to thank our committee, staff, and volunteers for making this convention work. Without our family, it just wouldn't happen. Hope you've all had fun too.

Bonnie and Ted Atwood

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Meet Walter Jon Williams...

by Jane Lindskold

Walter (that's what you call him, not "Walter Jon" and never "Walt") also has a taste for the dangerous. Scuba diving. Martial arts. (He has a third degree black-belt in kenpo). Mowing his lawn. (Really! Ask him about the adventures of Tractor Beam on the prairies of Belen, New Mexico, where the goatheads grow thorns two inches long.)

One of Walter's interests even combines the dangerous and the quirky. He loves those super-naturally flavored Hong Kong martial arts films, the kind where Taoist monks soar through the air to battle the spirits of evil trees--films that make the situations that Jackie Chan gets into seem tame and ordinary. You can see the influence of these films, and Walter's larger interest in Chinese mythology, in the fine novella "Broadway Johnny" (in the anthology Warriors of Blood and Dream) as well as in the geomantic magic used in his novels Metropolitan and City on Fire.

However, lest Walter Jon Williams seem too fearsome a being to approach, let me hasten to add that he moderates his passions with a fine rationality. For example, he chose to pursue scuba diving rather than sky-diving upon reflecting that in a scuba emergency he could always get to the surface--whereas in sky-diving one didn't always reach the surface intact. Anyway…the obituary columns in the scuba magazines were shorter than those in magazines devoted to sky-diving.

This then is the author of such fine novels as Days of Atonement, Hardwired, Aristoi, the Nebula Award-nominated Metropolitan, and the recently released sequel to Metropolitan, City on Fire.

Walter's award nominations, especially for his short fiction, have been numerous. They include Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award nominations for "Wall, Stone, Craft"; Hugo and Nebula nominations for "Surfacing"; and many others. In fact, Walter is the current "Bull-Goose Loser"--a term coined by editor Gardner Dozois for the person who accumulates the most major award nominations without garnering a single win. As of the 1997 Nebula awards banquet, where Walter lost the Nebula for Metropolitan, Walter tied actress Susan Lucci for the dubious honor of being a persistent "also ran."

Walter's early life didn't reveal the master of the strange and wonderful that he would become, although the elements were certainly in the genes. (His grandmother was a practicing witch; two other grandparents belonged to a cult that masqueraded under the respectable name of "The Old Apostolic Lutheran Church".)

Born in Duluth, Minnesota, the only son of Finnish-American parents, Walter Jon Williams moved to New Mexico at the age of thirteen. Perhaps the transition from Minnesota's frigid winters to New Mexico's torrid summers worked the charm. Perhaps it was something in the air (or the water) of those days in the late 1960's and early 1970's, but by high school Walter was already showing a talent for writing exceptional stories. His instructor, Mr. Mensch, singled out one piece for mention to the students in another class--a story about a toy tank that took over the room of the boy who owned it.

Following high school, Walter entered the University of New Mexico where he double-majored in English and History. Emerging from this, he went to grad school at UNM, working on a master's in English for a year. Then, while developing his writing, he worked at a variety of "disgusting" part-time jobs. Finally, he sold his first novels, a series of stirring sea sagas.

Yes, unknown to many of his fans, Walter has a double identity. Under the name "Jon Williams," he published five novels of the sea, including The Privateer and Cat Island. In these novels, Walter honed the acute attention to detail and the sense of sweeping action that would later give his science fiction and fantasy stories a firm grounding in reality. Steeped in the intricacies of the Age of Sail, Walter then wrote and designed the well-received role-playing game Privateers and Gentlemen which was published by Fantasy Games Unlimited.

Although we are both writers and I was familiar with his works (I'd even included Hardwired as a selection in a college- level science fiction course I'd taught), I really came to know Walter through another medium, that of role-playing games.

When I moved to New Mexico in 1994, I was lucky enough to join the gaming group responsible for the Wild Cards stories. A few characters in the stories are directly adapted from characters played in the game. A few incidents also made the transition--for example, Modular Man first sang "I'm a Little Teapot" in a game.

The gaming group has also been used to play-test (or just plain play) situations later destined for publication. Walter ran an adventure loosely based on his story "Broadway Johnny." He has also run his Privateers and Gentlemen and Hardwired games.

By the time I joined the group, they'd burned out on superheroes, but the games are still fun. Interestingly, current games are very rarely based on science fiction or fantasy themes, perhaps because that seems too much like work. (In addition to Walter and myself, the group includes writers Melinda Snodgrass and George R.R. Martin; past writer-members included Victor Milan, John J. Miller, and Roger Zelazny.)

The first game I played in where Walter was the referee was a police procedural set in New York City. Currently, Walter's running us through a complex historical game set in the waning days of the Roman Republic. (This game also provided Walter with the opportunity to become one of the more unlikely Cupids of all time, since it provided my husband, Jim Moore, a venue in which to overcome a rather becoming shyness).

Roleplaying games also provide Walter with an opportunity to develop characters even more outrageous than those found in his fiction. There's Doctor Otto Gordon, better known as "Gordon the Ghoul," a forensic pathologist who shines in our recurring FBI games. There's also Mrs. Maddie Duprey, a lovely and mysterious woman of questionable character who joined a couple of archeological expeditions that I refereed. And there was the Mexican drug dealer, the perverted starship captain, the samurai warrior, the tantric shaman…

My friendship with Walter didn't stay restricted to the gaming group for long. Soon after we became acquainted, he invited me to join the Very Small Array, an active and productive writing group based in Albuquerque. VSA currently includes Pati Nagle (whose first novel Glorieta has been purchased by Tor) and Sage Walker (whose first novel Whiteout was the winner of the Locus Award). Past members of VSA include science fiction writers Laura Mixon, Martha Soukup, and Terry Boren. I wasn't able to join, but VSA remains an active part of its members' writing lives. For their current activities, you can check out their Website at http://mandala.net/vsa. Walter also maintains his own Website at http://www.thuntek.net/~walter.

Another hobby Walter and I share is Old English Country Dancing (also called Regency Dancing). Here Walter's loves for history and physical activity both get full play. At six feet two inches, he towers over the assembly. As Cladl captain, he sweeps the ladies through the complex figures. Despite the formal nature of his attire, he has been known to occasionally skip through his part. Dancing introduced Walter to his wife, Kathy Hedges, and continues to be one of their favorite recreations. In addition to Regency Dancing, they participate in Contra Dancing, a related, though livelier, American form.

The line dances and elaborate costumes from this hobby regularly appear in Walter's fiction. Their influence is readily apparent both in the world of Metropolitan and the three "Divirtimenti" (The Crown Jewels, House of Shards, and Rock of Ages). Indeed, one wonders what Drake Maijstral would do without a line dance to conceal his passing along information or some pilfered item.

As of this writing, Walter lives happily in Belen, New Mexico, an area south of Albuquerque that, beneath its veneer of suburbia, is still rural enough that Walter regularly has to chase cows out of his rose bushes, hogs from his car port, and bad-tempered stallions from his front step. He lives there in a comfortable ranch house with his wife and their three cats. (At least I'm told there are three cats--I've never seen Garbo, who just "wants to be alone.")

Surrounded by books, interesting oddities, and martial arts paraphernalia, he is hard at work on his latest work--The Rift, a sweeping disaster novel set along the Mississippi River. Forthcoming works include several short stories, the sequel to City on Fire, and…

Well, isn't that quite enough?

So, now that you know about Walter Jon Williams, wander on over and say hello. You'll find him friendly, amusing, and, often, quite surprising.

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Walter Jon Williams: Bibliography

PUBLICATIONS

SF NOVELS HISTORICAL NOVELS (as "Jon Williams") COLLECTION SHORT FICTION

GAMES



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Omar Rayyan Self Portrait

Omar Rayyan: A View Into

by Rae Montor

"It's the freedom," said Omar Rayyan. "When your art is based on fantasy, folklore, fairy tales, you get freedom to break the rules a bit, twist the rules a bit. One of the big influences on me was the symbolists at the turn of the century, with monsters and demons symbolic of things going on in real life."

"If you want to get analytical," he suggested, "fantasy art lets you explore the psychological realm. It's a chance to look at the real world. The way science fiction looks at a future what if, fantasy looks at the world in the here and now: what fairy tales and folklore are talking about is the emotional health of a society."

In response to my confusion, he launched into an enthusiastic explanation of artistic passion. "If you study art history, you find that with a lot of paintings from 100 years ago and beyond, an incredible amount of hidden messages were visible to the normal person back then. The literacy rate was low, the language of the common person was one of symbols, and the art was a form of preliterate, visual language." He paused, at once thoughtful and intense. He wanted me, an essentially nonvisual person, to understand. Then he found a way.

"As type became the more common form," he began, "visual representations became more concrete, less abstract. There is, of course, abstraction in type: the word 'chair' is squiggles on the page that look like absolutely nothing, but when you look at them in your head you see a chair. When you do a chair in a picture, though, it can start meaning different things, depending on the weight society puts on it. It gives you more flexibility, but a lot more ambiguity, too, if you don't know the rules." I hadn't thought of it like that before, and once again, as with his art, Rayyan has given me a subtle and different image to consider.

A West Tisbury [Martha's Vineyard] resident, Rayyan was born in Jordan in 1968, with an American mother and a Jordanian father. He spent his childhood "doodling, painting, and otherwise expressing myself artistically" as he and his family moved about the Middle East with occasional appearances in Texas. "My favorite images then were wizards and dragons," he says. "I also had a b interest in wildlife, and I was drawing animals from an early age. It's easy to build monsters from that, and my imagination naturally goes in that kind of direction." He also took inspiration from Japanese anime. "It's imported everywhere," he smiles. "My wife grew up seeing it in English and Japanese here, and I saw it in Arabic in the Middle East."

After finishing high school in Jordan, he returned to the US to go to the Rhode Island School of Design, from which he graduated with a BFA in illustration. His work landed him a place in a group show of young artists here, and he arrived to hang his art. It was his first visit to the Vineyard, and it felt right to him. He had no place to live at the time, so he picked up a newspaper, found a year-round rental, and moved in. It was only later that he realized how unusual that sequence is, since year-round rentals are very scarce. "I think it was in the stars," he says. He and his wife Shelia share their home with two cats, a budgie and a bunch of fish.

At first, he supported himself by picking tomatoes at Whippoorwill Farm, and then as the muffin man at the [famous] Black Dog Tavern. "I was drawing the whole time," he says, "trying to get my portfolio together, and make a breakthrough." That breakthrough came at a science fiction convention in Chicago, where he met Ron McCutcheon, the Art Director/Editor for Cricket, a children's magazine. "He's one of those incredible people who really moves a career forward," says Rayyan appreciatively. McCutcheon essentially became his agent, showing his work around, and suggesting places he could submit. "Once you've got your foot in the door," Rayyan reflects, "the networking starts with editors talking to editors, and things move faster."

"That's generally the way it works," he notes. "You fall into it. You see a lot of bad art out there, and good art being ignored. It's really the luck of being in the right place at the right time," he concludes. "But," he adds with a grin, "a constant persistence increases your odds. The more places you're in, the better chance you have of one of them being the right one."

It seems that, one way and another, he has often been in the right place. "I started really, really young," says Rayyan, "and my parents supported me really bly. I never was very much of a social type, and I can really work well alone and independent. And freelance illustrators can live alone anywhere in the world and still make money. You have the option of exchanging ideas with other people, or secluding yourself and still doing what you love."

Omar has always admired the work of turn of the century artists and illustrators like Rackham, Dulac, and Waterhouse. Painters such as Jerome and the art of the Symbolist movement all contributed to Omar's overall visual expression.

While Omar has done a myriad of works, such as logos for businesses, t-shirt designs, editorial illustrations for newspapers, and covers for magazines and books, a majority of his work has been in the children's literature market, and in books for Holiday House. He has also been doing paintings for the fantasy art market, mostly for collectible card games such as Iron Crown Enterprise's "Middle Earth" series and Genetic Anomalies' internet-based futuristic game, "Chron-X." One can also see his work in the Spectrum annuals of fantasy art.

Rayyan has been showing his paintings and drawings at conventions around the country for nearly ten years, and his awards range from a World Fantasy Convention award for "Most Humorous" to a New England Press Association award for editorial illustration. Boskone is not the first convention to feature him as Artist Guest of Honor--Viable Paradise held last October claims that distinction--but Boskone is the larger and better known. For an artist as thoughtful, as playful, and as talented as Rayyan, being an Artist Guest of Honor is clearly the right place.

See more of Omar's art in these books which he has illustrated:



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Stan Schmidt

Selling to the Godfather: How to join the Analog MAFIA

by Michael A. Burstein

Ever since I was nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, millions of fans have stopped me at conventions to ask how they, too, could sell award-winning stories to Stanley Schmidt at Analog.

(Well, OK, not millions. More like ten. Or this one guy, at Lunacon, who was mixing up Analog and Asimov's. But I digress.)

Anyway, since Boskone is honoring the honorable Stan Schmidt by making him a Special Guest (without an honorarium), they honored me by asking me to honor their request for a small guide for everyone on how to sell a story to Analog.

Naturally, I turned them down. I didn't know how to sell a story to Analog, or I wouldn't have garnered ten rejection slips between my first two sales to Stan Schmidt and my next two. I only knew how to sell those four particular stories to Analog, right? But then, the more I thought about it, the more I realized how valuable such an article might be. After all, I could use the publicity.

So here it is, a list of the five steps you can take to make a sale to Analog.

  1. Get as many degrees in science as possible. Everyone knows that Analog writers are all technical wizards who can single-handedly repair hyperspace drives while being chased by the lizards of Epsilon Eridani through a wormhole to the fifth dimension. I myself earned two degrees in Physics to prepare me for my eventual low-paying career as a science fiction writer.
  2. Start going bald and grow a beard, so as to emulate the esteemed editor. I noticed that while I still had my hair and remained clean-shaven, Stan kept sending back "TeleAbsence" for revision requests. Then it occurred to me that I wasn't doing my bit. So, I attended the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer's Workshop (which by contract I'm required to mention within the first sixty seconds of any article). While there, I had so much stress and so little time that I lost my hair and my beard grew to immense proportions, despite only being in my mid-twenties. Once I had returned, I rewrote my story, and this time the writing was easy and Stan bought it. I credit Clarion, for making me more like Stan Schmidt.
  3. Put in music. Stan plays trumpet in a symphony orchestra. He's a sucker for a good music story.
  4. Marry a linguist. My wife, Nomi, is a professional linguist, and Stan loves to play with languages himself. At the pre-Hugo reception in Anaheim, I cleverly absented myself from the room after introducing Nomi to Stan. Later, Stan was overheard to be muttering over and over, "Michael's wife is a linguist. Buy stories from Michael. Michael's wife is a linguist. Buy…" etc.
  5. Watch Babylon 5 a lot. (Actually, I have no idea if Stan cares about Babylon 5 at all, so perhaps watching it a lot won't help you sell a story to Analog. But I like the show, and wanted to recommend it, and this is my article. Nyah.)
Finally, and on a serious note, I would say that if you want to sell a story to Stan Schmidt, read the Analog guidelines, follow them, and be persistent. Stan, like his predecessors before him, is committed to finding and publishing new writers who have never sold a story before. I know. I was one of them, and I will always be grateful to Stan Schmidt for his help and his willingness to take a chance on me.

This piece was originally written for and published in Broadside Three for the 56th World Science Fiction Convention (Bucconeer) and can be seen on Burstein's webpage http://world.std.com/~mab/.

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Stanley Schmidt: Selected Bibliography

NOVELS NON-FICTION BOOK NOVELLAS AND NOVELETTES SHORT STORIES ARTICLES ANTHOLOGIES EDITED MISCELLANEOUS And so many Analog editorials, that to list them all here, we would have needed to print them really, really small...

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The Titillating Tale of Joe Ellis & His Music...

By Andrea Dale

A long, long time ago, a pregnant woman placed a stereo headset (blaring band music) on her protruding stomach and . . .

Hmmm . . . Let's start that again, shall we?

A long time ago, Joe was setting up his lonely keyboard at a Midwest convention. As he wandered around the room he heard a comment from a listener, who said with great vehemence, "Keyboards don't belong in a filk!"

And the rest is history . . .

Since Joe was well armed with years of learning and playing music, performing, and teaching small children, he was deeply qualified to prove that keyboards belong in filk.

While pursuing this goal, Joe has been blamed and praised for his many talents, including:

(His most important interest is his family, including his wife Terry and their son Robert.)

Throughout his career Joe has produced two tapes and a prodigious songbook. His first tape, "The Synthetic Filker" covers a variety of topics from gaming to space flight. His second effort, "The Dream is Alive," premieres a collection of songs based on the space shuttle missions, including an instrumental suite based on the profile of a typical shuttle mission. And, needless to say, the tape cover displays a beautiful picture of his (then) young sun (uh, son) Robert.

Joe's most recent obsession (i.e., accomplishment) was released at ConChord a few years ago. "Sysex Dump!" is a songbook including both original and parody work, with 42 songs. Joe's wife can attest to the sweat, carpet wear, and computer time Joe invested in this detailed, well designed songbook. (And anyone who can master [or at least figure out] all the chords in this book should be worshipped...)

On a personal note, Joe is one of the most friendly and generous musicians I know. I truly enjoy his friendship and his influence on my music. His talents as a songwriter, performer, and particularly as a music arranger are unparalleled. More information can be found at his web site at http://idt.net/~ellis69/real_index.html

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What Is NESFA?

The New England Science Fiction Association, Inc., is a science fiction fan organization that mixes work with socializing; the amounts of each are an individual choice. Projects include running SF conventions, publishing (books, indexes to short science fiction, a fanzine), and continuing to work on our clubhouse. We have been around for three decades, and several of our founders are still members and still actively participate (see the list following this article). We have a current membership of over 300, which embraces not only New Englanders but also people from all over, including a dozen from Europe and Japan.

We run a major regional SF convention, Boskone, which is held in February of each year, but we also run two small "relaxacons" (basically weekend-long social events): Lexicon is usually held in midsummer and Codclave in mid- or late-winter (or vice versa). In 1997 we held a Lexiclave in Springfield, with the prime objective being dinner at the Student Prince restaurant. Other venues for our relaxacons have been Rhode Island, Boston, Cape Cod, New Hampshire, and New York.

NESFA Press publishes many critically praised books in and out of the genre. The NESFA's Choice series brings back outstanding works of SF that have been out of print and unavailable to most fans. See Tony Lewis' in-depth look at NESFA Press.

In 1985, NESFA purchased a building at 504 Medford Street in Somerville for use as a clubhouse. The building underwent extensive renovations and repairs (with most of the work done by our members). The building is now the home of our library, and is the site of our Business Meetings, Boskone planning meetings, and other work sessions. Fannish groups other than NESFA may use the clubhouse to hold their meetings. These groups have included Readercon, MCFI, and Massfilc.

We regularly hold two kinds of meetings (as well as various other kinds of gatherings). Business Meetings are where we conduct our business in a somewhat formal style. At these meetings, generally held monthly, we have reports from our officers and committees. We have serious committees such as our clubhouse committee, which is responsible for the management of the clubhouse, and, not so serious committees, such as NESFA displacement, which helps NESFA members move, and the fan production committee, which reports on the next generation of fans. Other Meetings are mainly social gatherings, with a few committee meetings thrown in. These are usually held monthly at members homes. There is also an informal gathering almost every Wednesday evening at the clubhouse for both work and socializing; the week after a Business or Other Meeting, this usually includes collating our newsletter (Instant Message).

We also periodically order our Cat Census, conducted by the Cat Goddess, to identify feline forms cohabiting with NESFA members. These may be past, present, or honorary cats, feline or otherwise. The results of our most recent census should be available at our annual meeting.

NESFA membership comes in several flavors. Subscribing memberships are open to anyone for dues of $16 per year. Subscribers get Instant Message, Proper Boskonian, and a discount on some NESFA publications. People who regularly attend meetings usually become eligible for General Membership. Regular Membership is based on recognized significant commitment to NESFA by contribution to the club and its projects, and gives the right to vote, and the responsibility to help run the club well.

Information about what happens and what is going to happen appears in the club newsletter, Instant Message, which is published twice in most months, after the Business Meeting and after the Other Meeting. All members receive copies, and sample copies are sent to people who express their interest and give us an address.

Proper Boskonian is the club fanzine, which publishes stories, cartoons, articles, reviews, etc., and is published approximately quarterly. Apa: NESFA, a collection of personal fanzines, published monthly, is collated at our Other Meetings, and is mainly distributed to contributors and those who help collate.

Our main web page is www.nesfa.org. You will find information about NESFA Press at www.nesfa.org/press, and Boskone at www.nesfa.org/boskone. Two discussion mailing lists which we maintain are nesfa@nesfa.org, which is a general list, and announce@nesfa.org, which is an announcement list.

Members are active in several newsgroups including rec.arts.sf.fandom, rec.arts.sf.written, and alt.fandom.cons. We also maintain an active presence on CompuServe, SFLIT1, section 21. NESFA, Boskone, and NESFA Press each has its own topic on Genie. The NESFA topic can be found on SFRT 3, Category 18, Topic 22; Boskone is on SFRT 3, Category 22, Topic 15; and NESFA Press is on SFRT 4, Category 11, Topic 23. Stop by and say "Hi!"

For information on NESFA and its activities, visit us on the web at www.nesfa.org, www.nesfa.org/intimes.html for the listing of events) or write to us at PO Box 809, Framingham, MA 01701-0809. Our clubhouse phone number is 1-617-625-2311 and our fax number is 1-617-776-3243. We can also be reached by e-mail at info@nesfa.org.

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NESFA Founders, Fellows & Honorary Members

The Founders

Truman Brown
Claire Cabral ‡
Gerald Clarke
William Desmond
Edmund Galvin ‡
Paul Galvin
Richard Harter
Susan Hereford (later Lewis)
Judith Krupp
Roy Krupp
Anthony Lewis
Ed Meskys
Edwin W. Meyer, Jr.
Greg Mironchuk
Anne Nelson
Robert Nelson
Linda Rosenstein
Cory Seidman (later Panshin)
Harry C. Stubbs (Hal Clement)
Leslie Turek
David A. Vanderwerf
Mark Walsted ‡
Michael J. Ward
Andrew Adams Whyte ‡
Marilyn Wisowaty (later Niven)

The Fellowship of NESFA

The Fellowship was created to honor those people who have made a significant contribution to NESFA and to the furtherance of its aims. The Fellowship is modeled after academic fellowships and Fellows are awarded the privilege of the postnominal abbreviation FN. New Fellows are installed at an annual banquet each fall. The date after each name shows the year of election; if no date is given, the year is 1976, when the Fellowship was established. ‡ signifies that a Fellow has died.
Linda Ann Allen
Claire Anderson (1984)
David Anderson (1981)
Dr. Isaac Asimov ‡
Krissy [Benders]
Ben Bova
Brons [James Burrows] (1983)
Ann A. Broomhead (1977)
David A. Cantor (1987)
Elisabeth Carey (1991)
William Carton (1978)
Don D'Ammassa (1994)
Judy-Lynn Benjamin del Rey ‡
Lester del Rey ‡
Gay Ellen Dennett (1993)
William H. Desmond
Michael DiGenio (1983)
Donald E. Eastlake III
Jill Eastlake
Bob Eggleton (1995)
Richard Ferree (1986)
Dr. George Flynn (1978)
Ellen F. Franklin (1977)
Pam Fremon (1990)
Paul F. Galvin
Wendy Glasser (1981)
Richard Harter
Mark Hertel (1994)
Charles J. Hitchcock (1979)
Kath A. Horne (1981)
Dr. James F. Hudson (1979)
Wendell Y. G. Ing (1980)
Aron Insinga (1992)
Merle Insinga (1991)
Marsha Elkin Jones
Rick Katze, J.D. (1980)
Allen Kent (1991)
Deborah King (1982)
Kenneth Knabbe (1996)
Dr. Anthony R. Lewis
Suford Lewis
Selina Lovett (1977)
Anne McCaffrey (1977)
R. Terry McCutchen (1977)
Jim Mann (1988)
Laurie Mann (1988)
Joe Mayhew (1992)
Edwin W. Meyer, Jr.
George and Andrea Mitchell
Marilyn J. Niven
Dr. Mark L. Olson (1985)
Priscilla Pollner Olson (1989)
Cory Seidman Panshin
Kelly Persons (1988)
Frank Prieto
Karen Blank Ranade
Joseph Rico (1989)
A. Joseph Ross, J.D.
[L.] Ruth Sachter (1990)
Sharon Sbarsky (1988)
Elliot Kay Shorter
Joe Siclari (1997)
Kurt C. Siegel (1993)
Davey Snyder (1997)
Robert J. Spence (1980)
Col. Harry C. Stubbs
Tim Szczesuil (1995)
Greg Thokar (1990)
Leslie J. Turek
Patricia A. Vandenberg (1981)
David A. Vanderwerf
Monty Wells (1983)
Andrew Adams Whyte ‡
Robert Wiener
Jo Ann Wood (1978)
Ben Yalow (1986)

Honorary Members

NESFA has on occasion singled out people to become Honorary Members for significant service provided to the club. Traditionally, Boskone guests are made Honorary Members.
Poul Anderson
Ellen Asher
Isaac Asimov ‡, FN
Greg Bear
Robert Bloch ‡
Barbara Bova
Ben Bova, FN
John Brunner ‡
Lois McMaster Bujold
Emma Bull
David A. Cherry
C. J. Cherryh
Tom Clareson ‡
Glen Cook
L. Sprague de Camp
Judy-Lynn Benjamin del Rey ‡,FN
Lester del Rey ‡, FN
Gordon R. Dickson
Vincent Di Fate
Tom Doherty
Bob Eggleton, FN
Ed Emsh ‡
John M. Ford
Frank Kelly Freas
Freff
Paul F. Galvin, FN
Jack Gaughan ‡
James Gurney
Joe Haldeman
David G. Hartwell
Frank Herbert ‡
Rusty Hevelin
Nicholas Jainschigg
Diana Wynne Jones
Steven Kallis, Jr.
Jerry Kaufman
Tom Kidd
Damon Knight
Dave Langford
Jody Lee
Tanith Lee
Fred Lerner
Robert A. W. Lowndes
Carl Lundgren
Bob Madle
David Mattingly
Anne McCaffrey, FN
Shawna McCarthy
Beth Meacham
Marvin Minsky
Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Teresa Nielsen Hayden
Larry Niven
Marilyn J. Niven, FN
Cory Seidman Panshin, FN
Frederik Pohl
Tim Powers
Karen Blank Ranade, FN
Omar Rayyan
Mike Resnick
Jeanette Reynolds
Mack Reynolds ‡
Jeanne Robinson
Spider Robinson
Gary Ruddell
Charles C. Ryan
Ruth Sanderson
John Schoenherr
Barclay Shaw
Will Shetterly
Elliot Kay Shorter, FN
Clifford D. Simak ‡
Rick Sternbach
Harry Stubbs, FN
Brian Thomsen
Suzanne Tompkins
Harry Warner, Jr.
Peter Weston
Michael Whelan
Tom Whitmore
Kate Wilhelm
Walter Jon Williams
Connie Willis
Gene Wolfe
Donald A. Wollheim ‡
Patricia C. Wrede
Jane Yolen

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The Skylark: The E. E. Smith Memorial Award

The Edward E. Smith Memorial Award for Imaginative Fiction (the Skylark) is presented annually by NESFA to some person, who in the opinion of the membership, has contributed significantly to science fiction, both through work in the field and by exemplifying the personal qualities which made the late "Doc" Smith well-loved by those who knew him.

The Skylark consists of a trophy with a large lens. It is voted by NESFA's Regular Members and presented at Boskone.
1966 Frederik Pohl
1967 Isaac Asimov
1968 John W. Campbell
1969 Hal Clement,
1970 Judy-Lynn Benjamin del Rey
1972 Lester del Rey
1973 Larry Niven
1974 Ben Bova
1975 Gordon R. Dickson
1976 Anne McCaffrey
1977 Jack Gaughan
1978 Spider Robinson
1979 David Gerrold
1980 Jack L. Chalker
1981 Frank Kelly Freas
1982 Poul Anderson
1983 Andre Norton
1984 Robert Silverberg
1985 Jack Williamson
1986 Wilson (Bob) Tucker
1987 Vincent Di Fate
1988 C. J. Cherryh
1989 Gene Wolfe
1990 Jane Yolen
1991 David Cherry
1992 Orson Scott Card
1993 Tom Doherty
1994 Esther M. Friesner
1995 Mike Resnick
1996 Joe & Gay Haldeman
1997 Hal Clement
1998 TBA

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The Jack Gaughan Award for Best Emerging Artist

The Gaughan Award honors the memory of Jack Gaughan, a long-time friend of fandom and one of the finest SF artists of this century. Because Jack felt it was important to encourage and recognize new blood in the field, NESFA presents the Gaughan Award annually to an emerging artist (an artist who has become a professional within the past five years) chosen by a panel of judges (currently Bob Eggleton, David Cherry, and Ron Walotsky).

The winner of the Gaughan Award is also announced during Boskone.
1986 Stephen Hickman
1987 Val Lakey Lindahn
1988 Bob Eggleton
1989 Dell Harris
1990 Richard Hescox
1991 Keith Parkinson
1992 Jody Lee
1993 Nicholas Jainschigg
1994 Dorian Vallejo
1995 Bruce Jensen
1996 Charles Lang
1997 Lisa Snelling
1998 TBA

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NESFA Press: A Brief Overview

By Anthony Lewis, PhD, FBIS, FN

Indexes: NESFA Press may be said to have started in January 1968, with the acquisition of The MIT Science Fiction Society's Index to the S-F Magazines, 1951-1965 (commonly known as the Strauss index, after its major compiler Erwin Sheehan "Filthy Pierre" Strauss). A complete history of the Strauss indexes was printed in the Boskone XXX Program Book, February 1993. Pierre had also produced a 1966 supplement. When Pierre was drafted, he turned those over to Mike Ward, who went to California and, in turn, gave the remainder of the supplements to NESFA to sell.

The 1966 supplements went out of stock and NESFA decided to recompile the supplement from scratch. It was printed with a Stephen Fabian cover. For the next few years the major book publishing activity of NESFA was the annual supplements. In August 1971, we collected the five annual supplements into one volume and published that. It was the first, and last, such accumulation. However, we did continue the one- (sometimes two-) year supplements into the early 1980s, having expanded the scope to cover original anthologies as well and the decreasing number of magazines.

But where is the index today? A study of the economics proved to us that there was no way to print an index covering a reasonable time and sell it for a reasonable price. None of the indexes we produced ever made money; at best they broke even. The current index project is to get the information on the Internet. Because data entry can be done incrementally, we have expanded the project to include all anthologies and single-author collections, as well as magazines; we now have 68,000 item entries (stories, articles, etc.). We will eventually get this on our website with a search engine. It will be available at no cost to anyone who wants to use it. We will also have an interface to allow people to submit corrections and additions.

Boskone Books: The next major addition to the line was the Boskone books. For the 1973 Boskone, Bill Desmond proposed that we print a small hard-cover limited, print-run souvenir book of the minor writings of the guest of honor--L. Sprague de Camp--to be called Scribblings. This was done by Bill Desmond and Bob Wiener, with lots of help from Don Grant. We have continued to produce guest of honor books for every Boskone since then (Boskone 9) with two exceptions. For Boskone 16 in 1979, GoH Frank Herbert did not want to do a book, so local artist Mike Symes produced a portfolio of 5 prints, and Boskone 17 in 1980 which was the same year as Noreascon II. Boskone books kept getting bigger and were including original material. The last 5¼" x 7¼" book was Jane Yolen's StoryTeller (Boskone 29, 1992). The next year we went to a full-sized 5½" x 8½" book for Joe Haldeman's Vietnam and Other Alien Worlds. This is the current size.

NESFA's Choice: In the late 1980s, there were a series of seminars at Boskones talking about neglected authors. These were authors who were very popular in their day but were no longer writing (often because they were dead). Their books were no longer available. We decided to do something about this--to print and keep in print these works. This project was spearheaded by Mark Olson, who edited a collection of James H. Schmitz's stories issued in May, 1991. This series was called "NESFA's Choice" and reflected the interests of a number of dedicated SF readers--us!

The next book in the series was a complete collection of the short science fiction of Cordwainer Smith, The Rediscovery of Man, edited by Jim Mann. This was introduced at the 1993 Worldcon in San Francisco and sold excellently. This was followed by Smith's novel Norstrilia in January of 1995. The next book, Ingathering, Zenna Henderson's People stories, got rave reviews when it came out in April 1995, edited by Mark and Priscilla Olson. This was also the first book we sold to the Science Fiction Book Club; that edition did extremely well, too. We were also able to sell book club rights for His Share of Glory: the Complete Short Science Fiction of C. M. Kornbluth, edited by Tim Szczesuil. Our edition of 1,500 was introduced at the 1997 Boskone; just before Worldcon, we had to go back for a second printing. We will probably add the L.A.con III book, The White Papers by James White (edited by Mark Olson and Bruce Pelz), to this list.

Trade Paperbacks: We investigated this method of producing books in order to keep down the price of books with a more limited audience that were worth printing. It also enabled us to reprint Boskone books that were limited-edition hardcovers when it was clear that the audience was greater than expected. Seven of these have been produced; two of them--Making Book (Teresa Nielsen Hayden) and The Silence of the Langford (David Langford) have been nominated for Non-Fiction Hugos.

Miscellany: In addition to indexes and Boskone books, we were printing filksong books, Worldcon program books and memory books, costume books, games, a 33 LP record, videotapes, and specialized bibliographies. We have produced a number of Boskone-like GoH books for Worldcons.

ISBNs: Around 1973 we started getting ISBNs for our books. Although I have no documentation, I am fairly certain that it was Don Eastlake who arranged for this. Our initial prefix was 0-915368, which allowed for 100 publications (different bindings need separate ISBNs). In 1996, we ran out of ISBNs and had to get a second prefix from Bowker; this one is 1-886778.

Current Projects: There are a number of NESFA's Choice books in various stages of production. The authors are Anthony Boucher, Murray Leinster, Charles Harness, Eric Frank Russell, and Hal Clement (a three-volume set). We intend to keep producing Boskone books and occasional Worldcon books if the timing is right and if there is someone here who wants to do the work.

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History of Boskone

# DATE LOCATION

(ALL IN MASS.)

CHAIRMAN GUESTS (19) BOSKONE BOOK SIZE(22) NOTES
The First Series:These conferences (or fan gatherings) were initially sponsored by The Stranger ClubA, the first stf organization in the greater Boston area. More details about them can be found in All Our Yesterdays by Harry Warner, Jr. (Advent: Publishers) and in the Noreascon 3 Souvenir Book. Canonicity for the Boskone numbers is found in Warner and in Fantasy Fiction Field for November 8, 1941, which specifically mentions Boskones I and II. Boskone II had the fannish skit "Legions of Legions." Reference to the fourth Boskone (with attendance) is from Fanewscard #111, dated February 14, 1945.
I late Feb, 1941 R. D. Swisher home, Winchester Art Widner 25 (11)
II Feb 22, 1942 Ritz Plaza, Boston Art Widner 25
III Feb 28, 1943 Ritz Plaza, Boston Suddsy Schwartz Claude Degler 14
IV Feb 3-4, 1945 R. D. Swisher home, Winchester Milt Rothman, Jack Riggs, Art Widner, N. F. Stanley, R. D. Swisher 5 (12)
V Sep 2, 1945 Hotel Hawthorne, Salem Doris Currier 9 (13)
Present Series: The current series of Boskones was started by the Boston Science Fiction Society (BoSFS) as part of its bidding strategy for "Boston in '67." BoSFS ran Boskones 1, 2, and 4. Boskone 3 was actually run by Erwin S[heehan] Strauss but, because of its venue, it was officially sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Science Fiction Club (MITSFS). The New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA) has run all Boskones starting with Boskone 5.
1
Sep 10-12, 1965 Statler-Hilton, Boston Dave Vanderwerf GoH: Hal Clement
SS: Dr. Robert Enzmann
66 (1,8)
2 Mar 11-13, 1966 Statler-Hilton, Boston Dave Vanderwerf GOH: Frederik Pohl
SS: Dwight Wayne Batteau, Prof. Igor Paul, Prof. Oliver Selfridge
71 (8)
3 Oct 1-3, 1967 MIT, Cambridge Erwin Strauss GoH: John W. Campbell
SS: Prof. Oliver Selfridge
68 (9, 16)
4 Apr 1-2, 1967 Statler-Hilton, Boston Paul Galvin GoH: Damon Knight
SS: Marvin Minsky
72 (8)
5 Mar 23-24, 1968 Statler-Hilton, Boston Paul Galvin GoH: Larry Niven
SS: Warren McCulloch
155 (10)
6 Mar 22-23, 1969 Statler-Hilton, Boston Leslie Turek GoH: Jack Gaughan
A: Stephen Fabian
SS: Louis Sutro
262
7 Mar 27-29, 1970 Statler-Hilton, Boston Tony Lewis GoH: Gordon R. Dickson
A: George Barr
SS: Donald Menzel
383
8 Mar 12-14, 1971 Sheraton Rolling Green, Andover Bill Desmond GoH: Larry Niven 211 (2)
9 Apr 14-16, 1972 Statler-Hilton, Boston Fred Isaacs GoH: L. Sprague de Camp
A: Don Simpson
SS: Richard Rosa
Scribblings 403
10 Mar 9-11, 1973 Sheraton Boston Suford Lewis GoH: Robert A. W. Lowndes
A: Frank Kelly Freas
SS: Phyllis Brauner
The Three Faces of Science Fiction 405
11 Mar 1-3, 1974 Sheraton Boston Don & Jill Eastlake GoH: Isaac Asimov
OA: Eddie Jones
SS: Dr. Isaac Asimov
Have You Seen These? 701 (20)
12 Feb 28-Mar 2, 1975 Sheraton Boston Ann & Terry McCutchen GoH: Anne McCaffrey
OA: Bonnie Dalzell
SS: Robert Enzmann
A Time When 935 (17, 18)
13 Feb 13-15, 1976 Sheraton Boston Ellen Franklin & Jim Hudson GoH: Poul Anderson
OA: Rick Sternbach
Homebrew 900
14 Feb 18-20, 1977 Sheraton Boston Tony Lewis GoH: Ben Bova
OA: John Schoenherr
Viewpoint 1,010
15 Feb 17-19, 1978 Sheraton Boston Jill Eastlake GoH: John Brunner
OA: Arthur Thompson (Atom)
SS: Marvin Minsky
Tomorrow May Be Even Worse 1,454 (3)
16 Feb 16-18, 1979 Sheraton Boston Don Eastlake GoH: Frank Herbert
OA: Mike Symes
SS: Marc C. Chartrand
Symes Art Portfolio 1,950
17 Feb 15-17, 1980 Radisson Ferncroft, Danvers Chip Hitchcock GoH: Spider & Jeanne Robinson
OA: Victoria Poyser
800 (4)
18 Feb 13-15, 1981 Sheraton Boston Gail Hormats GoH: Tanith Lee
OA: Don Maitz
Unsilent Night 1,609 (21)
19 Feb 12-14, 1982 Boston Park Plaza Rob Spence GoH: Donald A. Wollheim
OA: Michael Whelan
The Men from Ariel 2,270
20 Feb 18-20, 1983 Boston Park Plaza Pat Vandenberg GoH: Mack Reynolds*
OA: Wendy Pini
SS: Jeff Hecht
Compounded Interests 2,420
21 Feb 17-19, 1984 Boston Park Plaza Rick Katze GoH: Gene Wolfe
OA: Vincent Di Fate
SG: David Hartwell
Plan[e]t Engineering 2,718 (5)
22 Feb 15-17, 1985 Copley Marriott, Boston Ann Broomhead GoH: Kate Wilhelm & Damon Knight
OA: Carl Lundgren
SG: Shawna McCarthy
Late Knight Edition/
Pastiche (game)
3,420 (6,17)
23 Feb 14-16, 1986 Sheraton Boston Mark Olson GoH: Robert Bloch
OA: Bob Eggleton
SG: Tom Doherty
Out of My Head 3,919
24 Feb 13-15, 1987 Sheraton Boston Chip Hitchcock GoH: C. J. Cherryh
OA: Barclay Shaw
SG: Tom Clareson
Glass and Amber 4,200 (7)
25 Jan 29-31, 1988 Sheraton Tara & Springfield Marriott, Springfield Jim & Laurie Mann GoH: Greg Bear
OA: David Mattingly
SG: Ellen Asher
Early Harvest 1,327
26 Jan 27-29, 1989 Sheraton Tara & Springfield Marriott, Springfield Claire & Dave Anderson GoH: Tim Powers
OA: James Gurney
SG: Tom Whitmore
An Epitaph in Rust 1,250
27 Feb 16-18, 1990 Sheraton Tara & Springfield Marriott, Springfield Mike DiGenio GoH: Glen Cook
OA: David A. Cherry
SG: Charles Ryan
Sung in Blood 970
28 Feb 15-17, 1991 Sheraton Tara & Springfield Marriott, Springfield Rick Katze GoH: Mike Resnick
OA: Ed Emshwiller*
SG: Brian Thomsen
Stalking the Wild Resnick 888
29 Feb 14-16, 1992 Sheraton Tara & Springfield Marriott, Springfield Priscilla Olson GoH: Jane Yolen
OA: Jody Lee
SG: Dave Langford
Storyteller/
Let's Hear It for the Deaf Man
840
30 Feb 19-21, 1993 Sheraton Tara, Framingham Greg Thokar GoH: Joe Haldeman
OA: Tom Kidd
SG: Beth Meacham
Vietnam and Other Alien Worlds 851
31 Feb 18-20, 1994 Sheraton Tara, Framingham Ben Yalow GoH: Emma Bull & Will Shetterly
OA: Nicholas Jainschigg
SG: Patrick & Teresa Nielsen Hayden
Double Feature/
Making Book
875
32 Feb 17-19, 1995 Sheraton Tara, Framingham Gay Ellen Dennett GoH: Diana Wynne Jones 
OA: Ruth Sanderson
SG: Fred Lerner & Patricia Wrede
Everard's Ride/
A Bookman's Fantasy
902/ 1037
33 Feb 16-18, 1996 Sheraton Tara, Framingham Tim Szczesuil & Ann Broomhead GoH: Lois McMaster Bujold
OA: Gary Ruddell
SG: Bob Madle
Dreamweaver's Dilemma 829/ 983 (14)
34 Feb 14-16, 1997 Sheraton Tara, Framingham Davey Snyder GoH: John M. Ford
OA: Ron Walotsky 
SG: Jerry Kaufman & Suzanne Tompkins
From the End of the Twentieth Century 996 (15)
35 Feb 13-15, 1998 Sheraton Tara, Framingham Bonnie & Ted Atwood GoH: Walter Jon Williams
OA: Omar Rayyan
SG: Stanley Schmidt
Frankensteins and Foreign Devils ???
36 Feb 12-14, 1999 Sheraton Tara, Framingham Deb Geisler GoH: Connie Willis
SG: Teddy Harvia & Diana Thayer
??? ???
* Died prior to the convention

Notes:

(2) A deliberately scaled-down, suburban Boskone to allow the committee to prepare for Noreascon 1.
(3) First Boskone T-shirt done.
(4) A deliberately scaled-down, suburban Boskone to allow the committee to prepare for Noreascon 2. Also known as Bosklone. There was no Boskone book.
(5) From this point on, guests were Guest of Honor (a writer), Official Artist, and Special Guest.
(6) Boskone was probably the biggest SF convention in the world in 1985.
(7) Boskone blows up and moves out of Boston.
(8) Run by the Boston Science Fiction Society (mostly Mike Ward, Dave Vanderwerf, and Erwin "Filthy Pierre" Strauss; other members included Leslie Turek, Alma Hill, Ed & Paul Galvin, Andrew A. [Drew] Whyte, Hal Clement, and Ben Bova).
(9) Under the official sponsorship of MITSFS.
(10) From here on all Boskones were sponsored by NESFA.
(11) This first series of Boskones had been completely forgotten when the second series of Boskones was started.
(12) Actually, the Guests list is the entire membership of the con.
(13) Called the "Northeast SF Conference" [claimed to be the first post-war SF con]. Currier was the MC.
(14) The Great Boskone Blizzard finally happens with major snowfalls, on Friday and Sunday.
(15) FanHistoricon (a traveling fan history convention) was co-located with Boskone.
(16) Campbell was called 'Principal Speaker'.
(17) Ann Broomhead is the same person as Ann McCutchen
(18) A Time When is the first part of The White Dragon.
(19) Abbreviations: A: Artist; GoH: Guest of Honor; OA: Official Artist; SS: Science Speaker; and, SG: Special Guest.
(20) The Artist guest is now called the Official Artist.
(21) Italics deliberate.
(22) Where a single number is given, it is the warm-body count (actual attendance). Where two numbers are given, the first is the warm-body count, and the second is the total membership including no-shows.

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