Every day, items of interest to you arrive in our email. Our bi-monthly format doesn't lend itself to daily updates. However, this is a small inconvenience to our Contributing Editor Steven H Silver. He's begun this column which will fill you in on recent news in science fiction. We'll be updating the page as he sends in new items. Did you miss something? Have a look at last month's news page.
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A meteor streaked over Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin with pieces of meteorite landing in those states. More than 60 pieces of meteorite were brought into the police station in Park Forest, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago where three houses and the fire department were damaged by falling meteorites. The debris field was 80 miles long by 20 miles wide stretching from Bloomington, IL to northwestern Indiana. The largest piece recovered weighed nearly 7½ pounds.
Lunar Rock Recovery
Shuttle Recovery
Obituary
George the Cat, a member of the Plokta cabal and the official chaircat of plokta.con died on March 27 after a long illness for which he was under constant medication. George stopped eating three days before his death.
British author J.K. Rowling, who is best known for her Harry Potter novels, gave birth to her second child, a boy named David Gordon Rowling Murray, on March 23. This is Rowling's first child with husband Neil Murray. She also has a ten year old daughter from her first marriage.
Paul Barnett has announced that he will resign as Commissioning Editor at Paper Tiger Books at the end of March. Barnett has been working with Paper Tiger, which produces science fiction and fantasy art books, for six years. He has decided to leave to focus on his own writing career. Barnett has also published under the name John Grant.
Strike Threatens Azkaban
Obituary
Science Fiction and Fantasy did not do as well as possible at the 75th Academy Awards, with only three of the twenty-four awards being presented to genre works. "Spirited Away" received the Best Animated Feature Award to start off the evening with "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" winning the Best Visual Effects Award and Best Sound Editing Award. "The Two Towers" was also nominated for Best Picture, which went to the musical "Chicago."
Science Fiction failed to be shut out in the Razzie Awards which recognize and warn about the worst in film-making. This year's Worst Actor Razzie was presented to Roberto Benigni for his title role in "Pinocchio," with a mention made of Breckin Meyer, the actor who dubbed Benigni's voice for the American release. Hayden Christensen received the Razzie for Worst Supporting Actor for Anakin Skywalker in "Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones," while George Lucas and Jonathan Hales received the Worst Screenplay Razzie for "Star Wars: Episode II: Yada-Yada-Yoda."
ISFDB Returns
Crawford Award Winner
SF Author Christy Hardin Smith gave birth to her first daughter, Fiona Janel Smith.
No SFWA Meeting at Torcon
Free RPG
SF Lovers Challenge Grant
Tangent Online e-fiction editor Jay Lake has announced his resignation from Tangent Online in order to further pursue his writing career. Dave Truesdale, the editor of Tangent Online announced Lake's replacement by Thomas Seay, effective on March 24, following the International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts this weekend. Seay has published fiction in Realms of Fantasy, Fantastic Stories, and other places. He attended the Odyssey Writers Workshop in 1999 and in 2001 he attended Clarion.
Genetics Future Forum Includes Author
Obituary
Ellen Datlow has announced that her long-time editorial partner, Terri Windling, has decided to stop editing the annual Year's Best Fantasy and Horror anthology publisahed by St. Martin's Press following this year's sixteenth annual collection. Windling, who was responsible for the fantasy element of the book, will be replaced by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant beginning with next year's seventeenth anthology.
Tiptree Awards Announced
Ditmar Nominations Announced
BEST AUSTRALIAN NOVEL
BEST AUSTRALIAN SHORT FICTION
BEST AUSTRALIAN COLLECTED WORK
BEST AUSTRALIAN ARTWORK
BEST AUSTRALIAN FAN WRITER
BEST AUSTRALIAN FAN ARTIST
BEST NEW TALENT
BEST AUSTRALIAN FANZINE
BEST AUSTRALIAN PRODUCTION
BEST AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT
BEST AUSTRALIAN FAN ACHIEVEMENT
THE WILLIAM ATHELING JR AWARD FOR CRITICISM OR REVIEW
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Doctors have implanted electrodes in Christopher Reeve's diaphragm to permit the actor to breathe without a respirator. Reeve has been on a respirator ever since he broke his neck when thrown from a horse in 1995. Reeve is only the third person to undergo this treatment, which lets him go for up to two hours without a respirator. Previously, he could only go for 10 minutes without the breathing apparatus. Reeve is best known for portraying Superman in several films in the late 70s and early 80s.
Don Johnson Under Suspicion
Obituary
Howard Fast (b.1914) died on March 12. Fast began publishing in 1932 with "Wrath of the Purple," which appeared in the October issue of Amazing Stories. Although he is best known for his out-of-genre work, Fast has written several SF novels and short stories, including The Edge of Tomorrow, The General Zapped an Angel, and A Touch of Infinity. Perhaps Fast's best known work was Spartacus, upon which the Kirk Douglas movie was based. Failing to identify possible Communists to the House Unamerican Activities Committee in 1958, he was jailed for contempt for three years.
Saturn Award Nominations
Best Science Fiction Film
Best Fantasy Film
Best Horror Film
Best Action Adventure/Thriller Film
Best Animated Film
Best Actor (Film)
Best Actress (Film)
Best Supporting Actor (Film
Best Supporting Actress
Best Performance by a Young Actor (Film)
Best Direction (Film)
Best Writing (Film)
Best Music (Film)
Best Costume (Film)
Best Make-Up (Film)
Best Special Effects (Film)
Best Network Television Series
Best Syndicated Television Series
Best Single Program Presentation
Best TV Actor
Best TV Actress
Best TV Supporting Actor
Best TV Supporting Actress
Best DVD Release
Best DVD Special Edition Release
Best DVD Classic Film Release
Best DVD TV Programming Release
Yannick D'Escatha, the head of France's National Center for Space Studies, has announced that they will cut 400 jobs. The cuts are in response to a decreased demand for commercial satellite launches. The positions to be cut are located at the launch facility the European Space Agency maintains in French Guiana. According to D'Escatha, the majority of people who face job losses will be offered employment in France, with a few being offered job buy-outs.
Science fiction and fantasy films, which garnered only one nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award, for "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" were shut out when "Chicago" won the award for Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture at the Ninth Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards presented in Los Angeles on March 9. Clint Eastwood, who recently starred in the science fiction film "Space Cowboys" received a lifetime achievement award.
Writers Guild Awards
Obituary
Children"s author Monica Hughes (b.1925) died on March 7. Hughes was born in Liverpool, but spent her first five years in Cairo. She began publishing in 1974 with Goldfever Trail and quickly moved on to SF, publishing Crisis on Conshelf 10 the following year. Other SF includes The Tomorrow City, The Other Place, and The Keeper of the Isis.
The Jack Gaughan Award, presented annually at Boskone to recognize emerging artistic talent in the field of science fiction art, was given to Slovakian artist Martina Pilcerova. The Jack Gaughan Award has been presented since 1986 when it was presented to Stephen Hickman. Other winners have included Bob Eggleton, Jody Lee, and Lisa Snelling.
Spectrum Awards Announced
Philip K. Dick Judges Announced
Obituary
SF author S.M. Stirling has announced that after living in the United States for several years he has passed the US citizenship test and will be sworn in as a citizen of the United States in either March or May. Formerly of Canada, that country is now seeking a US SF author to take Stirling's place.
Red House Awards Shortlist Announced
Books for Younger Children:
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Steven H Silver is a four-time Hugo Nominee for Best Fan Writer and the editor of the anthologies Wondrous Beginnings, Magical Beginnings, and Horrible Beginnings (DAW Books, January, February and March, 2003). In addition to maintaining several bibliographies and the Harry Turtledove website, Steven is heavily involved in convention running and publishes the fanzine Argentus.
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