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puppetmakerBoth men were writers. Sir Arthur, as he insisted on being called, was considered one of the giants in science fiction (or speculative fiction if you prefer). Anthony Minghella was an award-winning writer of film, stage and television along with being a director and a producer.
I met Sir Arthur once at a convention and I honestly can't remember which one it was but it was a long time ago. I got to tell him that his short story "the Nine Billion Names of G-d" was one of my all time favorites for that format. I still love the end of that story.
I met Anthony Minghella briefly when he was at Random House. A fellow assistant introduced me to him as a puppeteer among other things. I got to tell him how much I enjoyed the Storyteller he wrote for Jim Henson. We talked briefly about how cool Jim was. Nice guy.
My best Arthur C Clarke story happened back when I was in high school and is behind a cut for spoilers for "Childhood's End" so there will be spoilers for that story in the comments too.
We went to this convention at the Omni Hotel and the convention center called the Atlanta Fantasy Fair. One of the best parts of the show was the Masquerade which was considered the best in the south-east at the time. I had participated in a number of costumes but this year I didn't have anything in the hopper so I agreed to help some friends backstage as needed.
That year along with Atlanta Fantasy Fair, the convention center was hosting a Southern Baptist convention. We had been prayer for all weekend long and given lots of strange looks by the other group. We giggled about it and there were a lot of warnings not to freak out the mundanes anymore than we had to. We had gotten use to the rolling of the eyes as we walked by.
One of my friends was doing an Overlord from Childhood's End. If you remember the story, when the Overlords finally appear they look like the Devil incarnate. And he had done it to the hilt. He had built stilts to make himself tall. He had the horns and the wings. He had part of the armor and covered what was exposed with red body paint. He looked fabulous. He asked me with another friend to walk over with him to the Masquerade so he could use us to steady him as needed. I had on my imperial officer outfit so I was all in black with that rather distinctive hat.
We were walking into the lobby of the conference hall and we heard to our left the sound of a revival meeting going in full swing. The doors were open and they were singing hymns to the Lord at the top of their lungs. As the Overlord starts to walk by we hear a gasp from the group and it starts to get quiet in the revival. So my friend the Overlord swung towards the door and stooped menacingly and flared his wings. He grinning and gestured to the audience in the room. There was silence for a second and then the praying and singing was even louder and more emphatic. The Overlord walked away and off to the Masquerade and I think he won. I will never forget that room full of people who saw the devil himself walk past their tent meeting. I think they probably remember it too.
I am grateful that I have this great story to tell. There is a part two to it when we took the Overlord to our favorite pizza place. Somewhere I have pictures of that trip.
I met Sir Arthur once at a convention and I honestly can't remember which one it was but it was a long time ago. I got to tell him that his short story "the Nine Billion Names of G-d" was one of my all time favorites for that format. I still love the end of that story.
I met Anthony Minghella briefly when he was at Random House. A fellow assistant introduced me to him as a puppeteer among other things. I got to tell him how much I enjoyed the Storyteller he wrote for Jim Henson. We talked briefly about how cool Jim was. Nice guy.
My best Arthur C Clarke story happened back when I was in high school and is behind a cut for spoilers for "Childhood's End" so there will be spoilers for that story in the comments too.
We went to this convention at the Omni Hotel and the convention center called the Atlanta Fantasy Fair. One of the best parts of the show was the Masquerade which was considered the best in the south-east at the time. I had participated in a number of costumes but this year I didn't have anything in the hopper so I agreed to help some friends backstage as needed.
That year along with Atlanta Fantasy Fair, the convention center was hosting a Southern Baptist convention. We had been prayer for all weekend long and given lots of strange looks by the other group. We giggled about it and there were a lot of warnings not to freak out the mundanes anymore than we had to. We had gotten use to the rolling of the eyes as we walked by.
One of my friends was doing an Overlord from Childhood's End. If you remember the story, when the Overlords finally appear they look like the Devil incarnate. And he had done it to the hilt. He had built stilts to make himself tall. He had the horns and the wings. He had part of the armor and covered what was exposed with red body paint. He looked fabulous. He asked me with another friend to walk over with him to the Masquerade so he could use us to steady him as needed. I had on my imperial officer outfit so I was all in black with that rather distinctive hat.
We were walking into the lobby of the conference hall and we heard to our left the sound of a revival meeting going in full swing. The doors were open and they were singing hymns to the Lord at the top of their lungs. As the Overlord starts to walk by we hear a gasp from the group and it starts to get quiet in the revival. So my friend the Overlord swung towards the door and stooped menacingly and flared his wings. He grinning and gestured to the audience in the room. There was silence for a second and then the praying and singing was even louder and more emphatic. The Overlord walked away and off to the Masquerade and I think he won. I will never forget that room full of people who saw the devil himself walk past their tent meeting. I think they probably remember it too.
I am grateful that I have this great story to tell. There is a part two to it when we took the Overlord to our favorite pizza place. Somewhere I have pictures of that trip.
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Date: 2008-03-20 03:00 pm (UTC)As for the anecdote, that's classic! *laughs*
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Date: 2008-03-20 06:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-20 05:45 pm (UTC)I hadn't heard the other anecdote before, though. That's even better than Glenn-as-Jesus at Millennium Philcon.
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Date: 2008-03-20 06:07 pm (UTC)I don't think you ever went to AFF. The party was the second time he did the costume with AFF being the first.
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Date: 2008-03-20 09:56 pm (UTC)