Dear Locus,
     I met Joe Mayhew at Disclave 1996, only the second big convention I attended as a writer; the first had been ICFA, two months before. I went to D.C. as green as a Gorn, having sold two, count 'em, two, stories that had yet to see print, and I remember that GoH Michael Swanwick, bless him, made up half the audience at my afternoon reading. But the Disclave guest wrangler that year treated me with great friendliness, respect, and enthusiasm -- in short, as if I were Somebody, and did a lot to make the convention an enjoyable and rewarding experience for me. That was Joe Mayhew, who had a knack for making people feel special. I never made it back to Disclave, but I ran into Joe often on the con circuit, and he never failed to greet me warmly. He extended the same warmth to Sydney, when she started appearing at my side, and that meant a lot to us. Joe kept up with my work, and never failed to compliment me on it when we met; in turn, I enjoyed his cartoons, and loved his carvings. I wish I had bought one of his walking sticks when I had the chance. I was tickled to be there in Baltimore in 1998 when he won the Hugo, to see him characteristically use his acceptance speech to talk not about himself, but to pay tribute to the gravely ill Ian Gunn. Joe cared deeply about all of us in sf. The Disclave Flood of '97 might have been funny to some, but the aftermath just broke Joe's heart, and might have contributed to breaking his health as well -- who knows? Joe was a talented and caring man, and I'll miss him.

Andy Duncan
14 June 2000

Dear Locus,
     I am in search of a science fiction book that I read but cannot remember the name of it nor the author who wrote it. It was many years back (over ten) when it crossed my path.
     The main character is a man by the name of Donald who loves this woman but because of military or political(?) duty cannot spend time with her. There is some antagonistic civilzation that he doesn't want her to be involved in (possibly negotiating with them). She goes off anyhow to some sector of space and comes up lost along with her entourage of ships in a black hole type of region. Donald winds up going after her group and becomes trapped in the same region which is similar to a celestial pergatorial blackhole.
     The only thing retainable that was trapped in the region is the mind. He searches out the minds to find out how they all got there and for a way of escape. Along with exploring all his options for who knows how long, he experiments with the potential power of creation with the mind. During which, he discovers an out for everyone... but it has one condition. The one who rescues them all must stay within the clutches of that realm for all time.
     Sacrificing his life in order to saving the woman he loves, her entourage, and all the other civilizations lost eons before their entrapment, he commences on restoring and recreating the planets consumed by this black hole thing.
     The last two civilizations restored are his best hope of re-emmergence into a living body. One has the technological capacity to help him. The other I have no idea what they were like. He instills a prophesy of his coming with one group who posess an excessive amount of fur/hair but otherwise look humanlike. He also becomes known as a "Shaper of Worlds(?)"
     After his incarnation, he lives among them for a short period finding comfort and companionship with a select few (probably scientists) for a time during which a vessel is developed to send him shooting across the cosmos to his home planet and to the woman he loves.
     The name of the book had something to do with the idea that his spacecraft/lifepod had ice crystals breaking away as he came closer to his home planet's system. This "dream" came to him or one of his alien companions before he set off for his homeworld.
     He landed and came up behind the woman as she worked in a field/garden patch. Because of the time difference and the great dsitance he traveled, he didn't realize that the woman would not be as young as he had thought she would be, but they remained together for the remainder of their lives.
     Please. If anyone knows of this book and where I can obtain it, please let me know. Thank you. Kevin

kcpanther@juno.com
24 May 2000

To whom it may concern:
     Your website http://members.xoom.com/_XMCM/smdecker/spec.htm is a flagrant violation of the international copyrights held by the artists and companies represented in the volumes of Spectrum 1-6 whose works you have placed without permission on the Internet. Your scanning also constitutes trademark infringement on Spectrum, DC Comics/Time-Warner, Dark Horse Comics, and other companies and individuals.
     This email is a cease and desist demand. Unless your site and all infringed upon works are immediately removed from and remain off of the Internet we will take vigorous steps to protect the copyrights and trademarks of all involved and seek redress and damages.
     Compliance with this demand does not prevent any of the injured parties from taking action against your infringement.
     Sincerely,

Arnold M. Fenner
Director/Spectrum
31 May 2000

Dear Locus,
     Two thing were recently brought to my attention.
     First, that there's a woman impersonating me in chat rooms -- she says she has four kids, lives in NY, is a statistician and writes under the name Tanya Huff. Fortunately she ran into someone who knows me.
     Second, that I'm the GOH at Zero-Con in Japan in August. They've never spoken to me about this.
     I'm really hoping the two things aren't connected. I've emailed Zero-con but in the meantime, I'm hoping Locus will spread the word. It's easy to tell if you've run into the real Tanya Huff. I NEVER go into chat rooms. Haven't yet, don't plan to. So if you run into anyone in a chat room who says she's me, she isn't. And if you do, please tell the room administrator.
     I'm remembering the trouble Diane Duane had a few years ago, back before we were all linked electronically, and am having minor hysterics.
     Thanks.

Tanya Huff
29 May 2000