1992 - 09/1992 Meeting

Page Created: 09/25/10. Last Updated: 10/27/10. Last Google Group Page Update: 02/01/08.

MICHAEL KANDEL

Novels

Captain Jack Zodiac

In Between Dragons

Panda Ray

Strange Invasion

Translations of Stanislaw Lem Books:

The Cyberiad

The Futurological Congress

His Master's Voice

Peace on Earth

A Perfect Vacuum

The Star Diaries

MEETING SUMMARY:

Meeting Date: September 12, 1992.

Meeting Site: Bergen Highlands United Methodist Church, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Official Attendance: 28.

Meeting Program: Talk by science fiction writer/editor/translator.

Notes:

Meeting Memories:

Newsletter Account:

The September 12, 1992 meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County returned the group to its normal meeting site, the Bergen Highlands United Methodist Church in Upper Saddle River, for the first time since May. Although there was a full range of activities planned before the meeting, about half of them fell through for one reason or another.

Three activities fell by the wayside altogether. The meeting of the Starfleet Shuttle, The U. S. S. Asimov, was rescheduled so that the crew could attend the Christening party of the newly-commissioned Starfleet vessel, the Lexington, in Toms River, New Jersey.

Strike two occurred when the Marklanders cancelled swordfight practice the night before the meeting. Our resident group of medievalists was behind on their preparations for the Cloisters Festival in Manhattan the following weekend and could not afford to lose the day in our backyard.

The third event which fizzled was the 5 PM - 7 PM Writers' Critique Group. Two of the group were lost with the Trekkers, a couple called to say that they could not make it, and the rest were simply no-shows.

All these defections made the video room we set up with Joe and Su Braviak of Science Fiction Continuum a very lonely place. They were troopers in handling a very disappointing turnout.

The Chess Tournament run by the Dumont Chess Mates was also severely underattended. They drew about half of what they expected. Since they draw from a completely different pool than we do, we all decided to just chalk it up to the gorgeous weather.

The only pre-meeting function that worked well was the 2 PM - 5 PM Writers' Critique Group. Present from the regular group were Philip De Parto, Charles Garofalo, and Patricia Nash. They were joined by new arrivals Melinda Grinch and Janice Stucki, special guest author/editor Michael Kandel, and George Feder, Ira Donewitz, and Thomas Purdy who decided to check this out.

Both newcomers brought stories which were read. I was out of the room when Melinda Grinch's "Saga and the Thief" was read, so I can't give many details, except that it concerned a thief who decided to rescue a flying horse imprisoned by a heartless magician for a greedy king.

Next was "The Birds, the Bees, and Intricate Circuitries," by Janice Stucki. This was an idea-driven science fiction tale concerning a robot-building contest set in the future. The basic idea worked nicely and the dialogue and characterization were crisp, but the story needs to be re-worked and tightened before it's ready for professional submission. A promising start by a first-timer though.

The final reading was that of "The Saturday Night Matinee" by Charles Garofalo. This is a haunting mood piece about a man who returns to his old neighborhood to catch a glimpse of the ghost who commits suicide by jumping out of a building during certain rainy nights. Although there is a supernatural element, the yarn has much more in common with the FILM NOIR than the horror genre. This is also the work's greatest drawback. Although this is Chuck's best writing to date--the visual, tactile, and olfactory sensations show considerable maturity and growth in his work--it may be difficult to sell because it employs a ghost (which knocks it out of some science fiction markets) but it is not a horror story.

Most of the writers' group went out to dinner with Michael Kandel to the Mason Jar in Ramsey. Su and Joe were packing up the videotapes when we got back, people were drifting in to watch STAR TREK, THE NEXT GENERATION, and Roy Greenberg mentioned that Stuart Keshner had won the chess tournament (this was mentioned at the meeting).

After TREK was over, we opened the meeting in an unusual manner. Carol Smith, Thomas Purdy, Michael Kandel and Philip De Parto came to the front of the room and read a scene from CAPTAIN JACK ZODIAC. For those of you not in attendance but in possession of the book, it is the scene where Cliff asks for Marsha Feldman's hand in marriage and all hell breaks loose. This went so well that we reprised the presentation in a later scene when Cliff attends a Black Mass.

Mr Kandel read two other passages from his books. He read the short scene in which Bernie Rifkin gains super powers after using Arid Extra Dry while hung over from St Paul Girl lager (from CAPTAIN JACK ZODIAC). He also read an abridged opening chapter of STRANGE INVASION.

In addition to being a writer, Mr Kandel edits at Harcourt Brace Jovanivich and is a translator whose credits include translating about seven books by Polish writer Stanislaw Lem.

We've had many writers and many editors before the Association over the years, but this was the first time we ever had a translator at our mercy. The group peppered him with questions about how he does his work.

Most people like the readers' theatre style approach as a change of pace. It appeared to whet the appetite for his work as the author sold a fair number of copies of all three books.

We also showed four slides of scenes from the forthcoming Tri-Star Motion Picture, CANDYMAN. This is based on Clive Barker's short story, "The Forbidden," and stars Virginia Madsen as a supernatural investigator and Tony Todd as Candyman, an urban myth of terror come to life. Additional information was available for perusal.

Jackie Hecht, William Molendyk and Carol Smith won door prizes. Close to a dozen of us went out to the diner afterwards where Jackie passed around baby pictures and Phil, Ira, James La Barry, and Barry Weinberger discussed Lunacon.