Grant Kruger, Brandon, MS, USA

scifisa@aol.com (yes, SFSA was already taken)
http://members.aol.com/ThirdWorld/PersSF.html

Can someone tell me where on earth I've been all these years? Almost a decade in the US South, and I never saw a Challenger until recently, when you gave me two of them and your Noreascon Four trip-report at DeepSouthCon Xanadu. I have to say that I was surprised by the high quality of the zine, and also at whom some of the contributors are.

For Challenger #20, fire on the cover and inside. Frank's art seemed a strange (but appropriate) contrast to the many farewells to Julius Schwartz that bracketed the other articles. I never knew Julius, but still felt the sadness. Some excellent artwork was surrounded by articles on all manner of subjects, from orbital errors through to dope court (was ever a pun more apt?).

As with several zines I have seen, not all of it is fannish, and I like that. Alexis discussed free will, sex and pair-bonding. Tim talks of lost futures and Albert sees death (but was he sampling the hospital medicines at the time *wink* ).

And then you discuss the state of the nation and torture, and the lie that was Ronnie. Ask an African about Ronnie, and how many innocents died in the cold war because of decisions made by him and his predecessors. Of course, as a white South African, I know all about guilt - don't you just love how guile and guilt are just an ET apart?

And torture? My word, does anyone in the USA really believe - and I mean deep down in the unfettered heart of you - the "isolated incidents" garbage? The worst thing about America today is it reminds me too much of home ... before apartheid ended. I told all my friends, "Trust in the goodness of the American people!" And then I'm proved wrong, and Bush is re-elected, and by fear - just as the apartheid government liked to operate (Swart Gevaar, the black danger!). I looked the fool I was, forced to acknowledge that y'all can be just as stupid as we were - and as we still are truth be told. I'll move on now, or I'll still be typing come dawn.

I think Faye Best's Katy qualifies as a fantasy story though, and nice to see a story in a zine again. And there were fannish memory pieces, including ancient (teasing you Guy) Nebula awards, framed by photos of fannish history. My goodness ... is that Le Guin? So shy - almost cowering - and yet with, The Left Hand of Darkness, she was a giant.

I've always thought her feminist affectations - smoking a pipe, for instance - were a little silly, but I'll forgive the author of The Dispossessed anything.

Then articles from Greg Benford and Mike Resnick. What a coup. Greg's article on the Real Future of Space was enjoyable, though I was familiar with most of the ideas. Mike's article on SF movies without logic was clearly written before, The Day After Tomorrow. I loved watching the cold chase the kids through the library, to their room... on an outside corner of the building. A more glorious logic-free collection of idiocy has not been seen since such appallingly stupid classics as Armageddon and Independence Day. As Mike said, it's worse when they have the resources to know better.

I was shocked, shocked I tell you, not to see an LOC from Lloyd Penney - a first for me and any fanzine. Nice to know he is not omnipresent ... or is it?

He's back this issue.

I also read, The Galactic Route, from cover to cover. You and I share a love of small details lovingly remembered. I used to write trip reports like that, but they went on and on (just as I'm doing now) so my con-reports now skip the sweet details of the journey, filled with new experiences and a thousand little moments. This year I'll be staying with fans in Ireland and Scotland, bracketing my UK Worldcon (where there will be fans from thirty-five countries) with the hospitality of friends and Celtic magic. This year I'm writing a full trip report.

What a marvelous Worldcon Noreascon Four was, a magnificent achievement and a special time. A gathering of my family. I confess that I miss South Africa every day - a connoisseur of homesickness - but when I'm at a con I'm home, and never more so than at a Worldcon. And as you write about it, more in this zine than in #20, your love for Rosy seeps out onto the page, bringing your memories to life, making me smile.

And now Challenger #18 stares up at me, tempting me. For pity's sake Guy, I have not read a book in weeks. And on the cover, Darth Vader - elevator to the dark side. An apt metaphor for this temptation? And he, the most successful villain in the history of movie merchandising - sorry Hannibal, but eating liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti does not sell nearly as well as scary masks, light sabres and action figures. So I guess I'll start on #18 tonight, given the omens - somewhere out there, as I conclude this LOC, opening night for the final Star Wars episode winds down. I missed it, along with its insane lines filled with the kind of hopeless nerds people think I am, and worse, I was at my writers group meeting instead - the ultimate media sacrilege. For penance I'll drink five Bloody Marys. And hey, I caught the last fifteen minutes of Predator tonight too - will that appease the media ghods?

Thanks for the gift of those three zines Guy. It was a pleasure to get to know you a little better at DeepSouthCon. I look forward to seeing you again some time, and to working with you on the SFC Bulletin.

Mutual! You refer to the revamping of Toni Weisskopf Reinhardt's classic guide to Southern fandom, which you have agreed to handle for the Southern Fandom Confederation - a project with which I'll be assisting.