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A
Few Things I Meant to Say
You can count how many times I've been interviewed without moving
beyond fingers. The scary thing is that this number includes job
interviews. After each and every one of those interviews, my head
is full of all the things I wished I'd said.
This morning from 5AM to 7AM I was interviewed by the kindly Jim
Freund for his Hour of the Wolf program. It's a two-hour show and
the interview went well (it's hard to tell when you're the interviewee,
but my unbiased husband assures me it went splendidly). Jim and
I talked a lot. I had such a good time I almost forgot
I was on air. And despite the TWO WHOLE HOURS, as we approached
the final minutes I had to bite my tongue to avoid saying: "Stop!
You can't end now. I haven't said this and this
and this."
So bugger it. I shall say a few of them now:
Many letters to the editors of early science fiction magazines are
reproduced in my book The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction.
I read out a number of them, including a 1953 letter by Lula B.
Stewart published in Thrilling Wonder Stories. In it she
mentions a Big Name Fan whose last name is Bradley. I neglected
to mention the full name of that well-known fifties fan: Marion
Zimmer Bradley.
I talked a lot about how much fun it was reading the early letters
and editorials of science fiction magazines from 1926 through to
1972, but I did not mention how touching some of those letters can
be. I did not remember to read out a wonderful moving letter by
Naomi Slimmer of a small town in Kansas, published in 1939. The
letter wonderfully evokes how sf magazines were a lifeline for many
readers in remote parts of the United States.
We left taking calls from listeners to way too late in the show
and so could only take two they both asked smart, interesting questions
and I didn't have a chance to say so on air. I particularly appreciated
the chance to rabbit on further about Philip Wylie's The Disappearance
(1951). I forgot to steer the interested listener to this essay
where I discuss in detail how and why my book was written at all.
We didn't discuss how researching and writing The Battle of
the Sexes in Science Fiction led to my becoming a part of the
science fiction community, particularly the feminist science fiction
community that centres around Wiscon. In other words the thesis
that I was arguing in the book--that science fiction is not just
a collection of books, but a living breathing community--has been
borne out in my own life. I went from someone who quite liked science
fiction but read many other things and had never heard of sf magazines
or conventions, to becoming an sf person married to another sf person.
Gentle Reader, be careful what you research, lest this insidious
process take over your life.
We mentioned that Battle of the Sexes was nominated for
a Hugo Award, but I didn't publically thank everyone who nominated
and voted for me. When I first found out about the nomination I
let out a little scream and fell off my chair. Literally. I'm still
gobsmacked that Battle, a university press book, made it
onto the ballot at all. I look at my little gold Hugo nominee's
pin with awe and wear it at every opportunity. I still have to pinch
myself to check that it really happened.
I can't believe I didn't mention Johnny Cash, not even once. May
he rest in peace.
There were many, many other things, but I shall attempt to save
them for when Scott and I do our double act on Jim Freund's Hour
of the Wolf in November.
New
York City, 13 September 2003
©
2003 Justine Larbalestier
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