I was recently in New York and had dinner with Lois Metzger, author (Ellen’s Case, Missing Girls) and editor (Bones, Bites). We hadn’t seen each other in years and it was wonderful to catch up. Back in 1975 Lois and I had attended Clarion (which, if you are unfamiliar with it, is an intensive 6-week writing program for hopeful fantasy & SF writers that now comes in two flavors in the U.S.: one housed at UCSD in San Diego, and the other in Seattle).
Thus it was with delight that I came across the attached photo taken later that year at the first ICON science fiction convention in Iowa City, Iowa. I had asked one of our Clarion instructors, Roger Zelazny, to be the guest at our convention and he had agreed. So here we are flanking Roger on some panel (I suspect the topic was in fact Clarion…which seems to be the punishment inflicted on Clarion graduates at sf conventions for years afterwards). Have to say, too, I really miss Roger. He was a huge influence on me.
Finally, I want to note that ICON itself is still alive and kicking all these years later, though it has moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Its 37th incarnation takes place this November 2-4. See http://iowa-icon.com/ for more on that.
-gf