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Although neither of these
well-known science fiction writers was an ASTRA member, I
had known them both since the 1960's and they were both good
friends to the society. John had often spent time with us at
SF Conventions, and had agreed to contribute to the Futures
Maze project when it became a reality. He was one of the
readers at the SF poetry evening, part of the programme we
organised for the ASTRA exhibition at the Book Fair of the
first Edinburgh Science Festival in 1979. Next day, April
12th, being the anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight into
space, after Oscar had proposed the toast to spaceflight,
John proposed the memory of Yuri Gagarin, whom he had met
soon after the event. Both toasts were sponsored by the
Glasgow Herald.
John died at the World Science
Fiction Convention in Glasgow in 1995. Another of the many
writers there, who died not long afterwards, was Bob Shaw
('the Real Bob Shaw'), who first met the ASTRA members at
the 'beyond This Horizon' festival at Sunderland in 1973 and
made a point of going to the extra exhibition there by Ed
Buckley and Gavin Roberts. He was one of the speakers at our
SF Writers' Weekend during the 'High Frontier' exhibition at
the Third Eye Centre and Glasgow Film Theatre in 1979, and
he and I were joint Guests of Honour at Unicon 1, at the
University of Keele in 1980, and Lucon 1, at the University
of Leeds in 1988. On that occasion he made a point of taking
me with him to Bradford to see 'The Dream Is Alive' in the
IMAX theatre there. Without his 'serious scientific talks',
which were neither and were always well supported by ASTRA
members, conventions are less fun nowadays.
-o0o-
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 PAT
JONES/KEN COLLINS
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MARY
DAWSON
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