Thursday, October 28, 2010

Our dinner with the Stirlings.

Steve Stirling and his wife Jan were in town for a local sci-fi convention two weekends ago, and they generously offered to take us out for dinner. Apparently, Dale III overheard me talking to Heather about what he was doing in town, and asked, as we pulled up to the hotel to meet them:

"So, is he done entertaining the nerds yet?"

Steve laughed out loud at that one. Jan and Steve are wonderful folks, and a great time was had by all. I managed to avoid any embarrassing fanboy moments. At least I think so. I also understand why Steve decided against being a lawyer, and I can't blame him.

Thanks, my friends!

12 comments:

  1. Dale:
    soooooooo did you get any autographed book? ;) Glad you had a super nice time; bet the conversation was interesting. I'm a a bit jealous ;)

    xavier

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  2. Yo, Dale!

    I fear your son would include me among the nerds! (Smiles) I'm glad you had a great time with Steve Stirling and his wife.

    I would so much have liked to have met the late Poul Anderson. Had to be satisfied with writing to him.

    Looking forward to your essay about Stirling's A TAINT IN THE BLOOD. And did you note the conversation Fr. Ignatius and Abbot/Bishop Dmwoski had near the end of THE HING KING OF MONTIVAL? I appreciated the delicacy, skill, and knowledge with which Stirling handled Catholics beliefs and ideas.

    Sincerely, Sean

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  3. ditto, what Mark said and I raise him a Bastard for advance viewing of Emberverse novels.

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  4. Sean -- Poul Anderson was a very nice man, but very shy. He was very hard to get talking (and admittedly, having a fangirl like me among the event people taking him out to dinner was probably not the best thing for getting him talking). He really loved the Impressionists, though, and the folks had just taken him to the art museum to see a good collection, so we got him talking a bit.

    His wife Karen Anderson is still around and about on the Net, last I heard, and you might write to her.

    If you want to meet sf writers, go to conventions. Most writers are very approachable, and it's a less formal setting than book signings. You'd be surprised how authors get around, too, so don't assume one will never come to your area.

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  5. Nice looking family, Dale.

    So who picked up the tab? ;-)

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  6. Hi, Suburbanshee!

    Thanks for your note. Actually, part of the problem is my fault, I'm just not a convention goer.

    Also, Poul Anderson's hearing loss might have been part of the reason for his shyness. I think he far prefer talking with one, two, or three persons at a time, at most.

    I'm glad you had a good time with Pou Anderson when you took him to see that exhibition of Impressionist art.

    But, I did have some very good "conversations" with PA via our correspondence. He was always very patient and kind in replying to my sometimes far too long and argumentative letters. He even told me he found my letters INTERESTING. Out of 24 letters I wrote to PA, he replied to every one of them! Amazing!

    I agree, I really shoud email Mrs. Anderson. Thanks for the reminder!

    Sincerely, Sean

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  7. Poul was indeed a true gentleman. We corresponded for a long time -- decades -- and I had the honor of having him visit here once.

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  8. A great time was had by all. It was wonderful to meet the whole Price family.

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  9. Dear Mr. Stirling:

    I agree absolutely about how gentlemanly Poul Anderson was. In fact, I think the very first time I noticed one of your books, way back in the late '80's, was because of the blurb PA contributed for UNDER THE YOKE. So, blurbs actually work! (Smiles)

    Someday, I hope someone will try collecting and publishing surviving letters written by Poul Anderson. I would be especially interested in letters he wrote to fellow SF writers like you.

    Sincerely, Sean

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Be reasonably civil. Ire alloyed with reason is fine. But slagging the host gets you the banhammer.

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