A PKD Rarity!
“He was always deceiving you into thinking that he was talking about an external problem, when he was in fact talking about internal problems.” - David Hartwell
This is issue #70 of David Hartwell and Co.’s New York Review of Science Fiction — the special Philip K. Dick issue from June, 1994
At this time, I was managing The Bookcellar Cafe in Boston. The cafe had two rooms - one was stuffed with old, antique books (I remember coming across a novel by Frederick Wertham one day!) and the other room was a performance space and gallery with tables. We held all sorts of events in that space, to draw people to the store. We hosted the first poetry slams in Boston (run by the folks who started them in Chicago), Scottish fiddlers on Sunday, Folk Music nights run by Elijah Wald (the recent Dylan biopic is based on one of his books), Storytelling with local legend Brother Blue and all sorts of one-off events, such as Richard Brautigan Day. I had the idea to hold the first American convention dedicated to Philip K. Dick, a writer who had grabbed my mind at the time and would not let go.
The event lasted all day, with several panels attended by numerous local science fiction writers. The special guest was David Hartwell, who had been Dick’s editor and had known him personally. About 15 or 20 attendees showed up and, to my amazement, stayed through the whole event. I remember, during the lunch break (we provided pizza for everyone) David came up to me while I was working the cash register and said, while munching on a slice of pepperoni pizza, that Philip would have loved this event.
I had promised attendees some sort of print item with transcripts of the panels afterward. I was crazy. I had no time to make this. So I talked David into publishing it in his mag and provided that to the attendees. I was particularly proud that I talked David into running a few photos from the PKD Con - the first time his formerly text-only magazine had ever run any visuals at all.
This issue includes my opening address, the full transcription of the “Greatest Novels of PKD” panel, and “Memories and Visions” - a collection of pieces writers had provided to the Con about PKD, including Paul Di Filippo’s wonderful piece, ‘I Dreamed I Saw Phil Dick Last Night.”
You will receive a new, unread copy. Kipple for your conapt not included.
A PKD Rarity!
“He was always deceiving you into thinking that he was talking about an external problem, when he was in fact talking about internal problems.” - David Hartwell
This is issue #70 of David Hartwell and Co.’s New York Review of Science Fiction — the special Philip K. Dick issue from June, 1994
At this time, I was managing The Bookcellar Cafe in Boston. The cafe had two rooms - one was stuffed with old, antique books (I remember coming across a novel by Frederick Wertham one day!) and the other room was a performance space and gallery with tables. We held all sorts of events in that space, to draw people to the store. We hosted the first poetry slams in Boston (run by the folks who started them in Chicago), Scottish fiddlers on Sunday, Folk Music nights run by Elijah Wald (the recent Dylan biopic is based on one of his books), Storytelling with local legend Brother Blue and all sorts of one-off events, such as Richard Brautigan Day. I had the idea to hold the first American convention dedicated to Philip K. Dick, a writer who had grabbed my mind at the time and would not let go.
The event lasted all day, with several panels attended by numerous local science fiction writers. The special guest was David Hartwell, who had been Dick’s editor and had known him personally. About 15 or 20 attendees showed up and, to my amazement, stayed through the whole event. I remember, during the lunch break (we provided pizza for everyone) David came up to me while I was working the cash register and said, while munching on a slice of pepperoni pizza, that Philip would have loved this event.
I had promised attendees some sort of print item with transcripts of the panels afterward. I was crazy. I had no time to make this. So I talked David into publishing it in his mag and provided that to the attendees. I was particularly proud that I talked David into running a few photos from the PKD Con - the first time his formerly text-only magazine had ever run any visuals at all.
This issue includes my opening address, the full transcription of the “Greatest Novels of PKD” panel, and “Memories and Visions” - a collection of pieces writers had provided to the Con about PKD, including Paul Di Filippo’s wonderful piece, ‘I Dreamed I Saw Phil Dick Last Night.”
You will receive a new, unread copy. Kipple for your conapt not included.