The New York Science Fiction Society, Lunarians, Inc., has decided against having a Lunacon in 2015.

However, Lunarians secretary Stuart C. Hellinger announced on Facebook: “We are planning to hold a new and improved Lunacon in 2016 on March 18-20, probably at the Hilton Westchester, but we may explore other venues.”

Club leaders had been discussing whether the group has the financial resources to continue the series of conventions it has run every year since 1957.

People who bought a membership in Lunacon 2015 will be contacted and offered the choice of a refund or a rollover to a Lunacon 2016 membership.

Julian Parr, Raymond Z. Gallun, and Walter Ernsting.

Science Fiction Club Deutschland turns 60 next year. They’re going to celebrate the anniversary by holding a special convention, WetzKon, from July 3-5, 2015. Guests of honor will be Andreas Eschbach, Wolfgang Jeschke and Reinhard Habeck.

SFCD was founded in August 1955 by Walter Ernsting, Trude Ersting, Raymond Zinke Gallun, Walter Spiegl and Julian Parr. One of its first members was Forrest J Ackerman.

 [ Via Europa SF.]

John Madigan

John and Candy Madigan are the longtime hosts of the Washington Science Fiction Association’s 3rd Friday meetings. John has been battling brain cancer for the past year. His treatments have been expensive and clinical trials are not covered by insurance.

Friends are rallying support for John by raising funds through a Youcaring appeal. All money received will go toward paying down the medical bills and helping with household needs during this difficult time.

[Thanks to Michael J. Walsh for the story.]

The winners of the 2014 Geffen Awards were announced at Icon in Tel Aviv over the October 12-14 weekend. The awards are presented by the Israeli Society for Science Fiction and Fantasy, and are named after the late Amos Geffen, one of the first editors and translators of sci-fi in Israel.

Best Translated Science Fiction Book
The Devil’s Alphabet by Daryl Gregory Translated by Didi Chanoch, Graff Publishing

Best Translated Fantasy Book
Going Postal by Terry Pratchett Translated by Verred Tuchterman, Opus Publishing

Best Translated YA Book
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett Translated by Yaniv Bar, Sial Publishing

Best Original Hebrew SF&F Short Story
“Whisky in a Jar” by Rotem Baruchin Published in Once upon a future

Best Original Hebrew Book
Every Story is a Sudden Cat by Gabriella Avigur – Rotem Kinneret Zmora Bitan Publishing

 [Via Locus Online.]

Will there be another Lunacon? New York’s Lunarians have held the con every year since 1957. Now the group has to decide if it has the financial resources to continue.

Club secretary Joshua Goldberg announced on the 2014 Lunacon webpage a meeting would be held to consider the question. At the September 14 meeting a committee was appointed to find and review the con’s financial records from the past few years so they can analyze whether Lunacon is still viable.

A detailed discussion can be found in comments posted to the Lunarians Facebook group.

John Hertz’ reviews that used to be at Collectingsf.com have returned to the web on the LASFS website.

Here is the overview. And the individual reviews can be accessed with the links below.

The Best of Xero (Lupoffs)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (Twain)
The End of Eternity (Asimov)
Three Days To Never (Powers)
The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet (Cameron)
Infinite Worlds (Di Fate)
The Best From “Fantasy & Science Fiction” 13^th Series (ed. Davidson)
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Verne)
The Draco Tavern (Niven)
A Treasury of Science Fiction (ed. Conklin)
Past Master (Lafferty)

[Thanks to Lee Gold for the story.]

Dave Langford says the London Group has scheduled an extra meeting on Thursday August 21 where those looking to continue the conversation can rendezvous after Loncon 3. Full details here.

It will be in the usual First Thursday meeting place, the cellar bar of the Melton Mowbray pub.

The Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS) will host “Diversity In Genre,” a free, public roundtable on August 23. Authors P. Djeli Clark, A.T. Greenblatt, Jason Harris, and Sherin Nicole will participate in a discussion led by Day Al-Mohamed and Sarah Pinsker.

“Diversity in Genre” will be an open dialogue which will go in-depth on race, gender, disability, sexuality, nationality, and class in science fiction and fantasy fiction. In a year where Thor is a woman, Captain America is black, and an all-women Kickstarter anthology called Women Destroy Science Fiction raised over one thousand percent of its goal, what is left to do? Who are the new voices people should be reading?

The discussion begins at 8 p.m. in the BSFS clubhouse at 3310 East Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21224. RSVP the event on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1655671097992218.

The full press release follows the jump.

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Michael Pell’s LAPD in memoriam poster.

The Los Angeles Police Department renamed its Headquarters mailroom for Michael Pell in a ceremony on June 19.

Pell, a LASFS member who passed away unexpectedly on February 6, was employed as a clerk in the LAPD’s Records & Identification for nearly four decades.

His significant other, Joyce Sperling, attended the ceremony. She wrote on Facebook:

He was loved very much by his co-workers and they named the mail room after him. The bronze plaque is on the wall outside the room and the shadow box was created by his coworkers to show some of his interests. The other picture is a poster of Michael. I have a larger version of this that was presented to me and autographed by Chief Beck. I want to thank all of his coworkers for their love and caring of Michael.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck eulogized Pell in the Chief’s Message for March 2014:

I’d like to express my heartfelt sorrow for the unexpected loss of an unsung hero, Clerk Michael Pell, Serial No. A8825.  After holding clerk positions in the United States Post Office and County USC Hospital, Michael Pell,was hired by the Los Angeles Police Department on November 22, 1974, as an Office Trainee assigned to the Records & Identification Division’s Arrest Disposition Unit at the age of 25.  He was appointed to the position of Clerk two years later and was assigned to the Department’s Mail Room, where he remained working until his passing, on February 6, 2014.
For almost 40 years, Michael ensured that the members of this Department received their mail on time and their packages were delivered.  He was the go-to person to track down previous incarnations of Department entities renamed during various reorganizations.  Michael epitomized personalized service, finding common interests with his customers, swapping news tidbits and anecdotes and sharing his interests in the Jewish religion, collecting law enforcement patches, hockey, and ComicCon events.  His coworkers describe him best, as a “fan of life.”  He truly loved his job and his Records and Identification Division family, as evidenced by many years of perfect attendance, and his refusal to even discuss the possibility of retiring.  It is safe to say that Michael is an LAPD icon, familiar to many, and loved by all.  He will truly be missed.

Pell would write to law enforcement all over the world and ask for uniform patches.

[Thanks to Joyce Sperling for her photos.]

Carol Kabakjian, long-time member of the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, passed away May 15 at the age of 59. She spent the last months of her life in hospice care after a four-and-a-half year battle with cancer.

Carol served as PSFS club Secretary (teamed with her husband Rich) and Archivist for a number of years. She worked on Philcons and ran the Con Suite for the Philadelphia Worldcon, Millennium Philcon, in 2001.

Filksinging was her greatest enthusiasm. She wrote many songs, and published a filk fanzine – The Philly Philk Phlash. And having been inspired by attending the 1988 ConChord, she decided to organize an East Coast filk convention. The first ConCerto was held in 1990 in Cherry Hill, NJ.

Carol is survived by her husband, Rich Kabakjian.

[Source: PSFS News.]