08-20-2015, 12:14 AM
Just to set the stage, Guest of Honor David Gerrold has been rather vocal about the Sad Puppies and company.
In retaliation, one of their ilk sent a letter to the Spokane police department notifying them that a dangerous element (Gerrold) would be in their territory and that they should keep a very close eye on him. This person later apologized. Still, lots of science fiction people wanted to ban the dude from the convention for his actions. Gerrold kind-heartedly said no, let him come.
Meanwhile, a woman editor who had accepted a story by this dude caught wind of this, and she promptly contacted him and said she would not be publishing his story after all; however, she would pay him a kill-fee. The dude got all upset about this, contacted a bunch of his friends about it, and suddenly the woman editor was getting all kinds of hate mail, including several death threats. Once more, science fiction people wanted to ban this dude from the convention for his actions. But the woman editor kind-heartedly said no, let him come.
I tend to agree with Gerrold and the woman editor. This dude really needs to get out and meet people rather than lurk within his online persona. WorldCon could give him an opportunity to grow. I really don't expect him, or any of the Sad Puppy lot, to cause problems, and doubt very much I'll think about them at all, unless the people I hang out with obsess over them -- which, come to think of it, is a distinct possibility. If that happens, I may wander off by myself. Life is too short to be letting tiny stagnated minds occupy my time.
Then again, having said all that, one should never under-estimate the ambience-shattering power of a crying baby in a restaurant.
--cranefly
In retaliation, one of their ilk sent a letter to the Spokane police department notifying them that a dangerous element (Gerrold) would be in their territory and that they should keep a very close eye on him. This person later apologized. Still, lots of science fiction people wanted to ban the dude from the convention for his actions. Gerrold kind-heartedly said no, let him come.
Meanwhile, a woman editor who had accepted a story by this dude caught wind of this, and she promptly contacted him and said she would not be publishing his story after all; however, she would pay him a kill-fee. The dude got all upset about this, contacted a bunch of his friends about it, and suddenly the woman editor was getting all kinds of hate mail, including several death threats. Once more, science fiction people wanted to ban this dude from the convention for his actions. But the woman editor kind-heartedly said no, let him come.
I tend to agree with Gerrold and the woman editor. This dude really needs to get out and meet people rather than lurk within his online persona. WorldCon could give him an opportunity to grow. I really don't expect him, or any of the Sad Puppy lot, to cause problems, and doubt very much I'll think about them at all, unless the people I hang out with obsess over them -- which, come to think of it, is a distinct possibility. If that happens, I may wander off by myself. Life is too short to be letting tiny stagnated minds occupy my time.
Then again, having said all that, one should never under-estimate the ambience-shattering power of a crying baby in a restaurant.
--cranefly