Harlan Ellison's Not the Only Person at MadCon 2010

Sophie Aldred and Peter David



John Krewson

Just saying... It suddenly occurs to me to acknowledge that there are lots of fun guests here. (In fact, an hour or so went quickly by in a bar discussion that included John Krewson of The Onion and Pat Rothfuss of The Name of the Wind and such topics as the subjunctive mood and the lacks of translation of such works as Cyrano de Bergerac and The Iliad.) Anyway, cool people are here and chatting: Gene Wolfe, Mark and Kathryn Sullivan, Sophie Aldred, Peter and Kathleen David ... and wait a minute. I've got to dress for dinner. Yikes! Outa here!

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Harlan Ellison Prior to MadCon 2010

What the heck? Oh, no! I knew Harlan was ill, but is this it? Harlan, having traveled halfway across the country with Susan, had arrived at the convention hotel for MadCon 2010 (there are still a few memberships available: Madison, Wisconsin - my favorite city - come join us). And now he's on the floor?

Well, see, Harlan (Who has lost an incredible amount of weight since I saw him last: Hello, bright side of illness! I'm looking on you!) was not alone at this moment. He was, in fact, surrounded by admirers, one of whom was a child whom Harlan clearly felt needed to be amused. Suddenly, he fell to the floor. People who hadn't been watching as closely as I had been (as I viewed the world through my camera) and had not been noticing the fact that he had been striving to entertain Caroline David rallied round following what they feared was a catastrophe. (Let's start the convention by watching EMTs toting Harlan to a waiting ambulance.)

But, ta daaaa! Caroline was, indeed, amused. And we all went out to dinner at Red Lobster.

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