Award winning mainstream novelist, George became Australia's sternest
SF critic in the '70s. His SF novels, starting with the 1978 Beloved
Son, explore the moral dimensions of human life in the near future.
More recently Brain Child included aspects of the thriller, while
continuing his careful extrapolation of SF ideas. This changed approach
brought his critically acclaimed novels to the attention of the US market.
George was a panelist at many Australian conventions. More
Mr Straczynski is the creator and writer of the
hugely successful SF television series Babylon 5 currently showing
on Australian commercial television. This will be his first visit to Australia.
His only public appearances, during his time in Australia, will be at Aussiecon
Three. More
The Down Under Fan Fund (DUFF)
DUFF was created in 1972 to exchange fannish representatives between North America and Australasia. DUFF is supported by voluntary contributions from fans all over the world. DUFF delegates attend a Worldcon or national convention in the host country and visit fans they might otherwise never meet in person. Delegates are responsible for raising funds and administering DUFF until a new delegate from their continent is elected, and are expected to publish trip reports which can be sold to aid the fund.
The 1999 DUFF race will select a North American fan to visit Australasia
and attend Aussiecon Three. Voting ballots
must reach an administrator by 31 March 1999.
The Going Under Fan Fund (GUFF)
Known, depending on the direction in which it's running, as the Get Up-and-over Fan Fund or the Going Under Fan Fund, GUFF was created in 1979 as a means of "closing the gap" between TAFF, linking Europe and North America, and DUFF, linking North America with Australia. Like them, GUFF exists to provide funds to enable well-known fans from Europe and Australia to visit each other's national (or other) conventions and get to know each other's fandoms better. GUFF operates on a less frequent schedule than TAFF and DUFF, but like them exists solely through the support of fandom. The candidates for each trip are voted on by interested fans, and each vote is accompanied by a monetary donation. These votes, and the continue generosity of fandom, are what make GUFF possible.
The 1999 GUFF race will select a European fan to visit Australia and attend Aussiecon Three. Voting ballots must reach an administrator by 5 April 1999.
If anyone wants to donate anything to GUFF to be auctioned at the Fan
Funds auction, could they contact Karen Pender-Gunn by email at fiawol@ozramp.net.au.
In addition to DUFF and GUFF, a group of fans in Australia and Britain
have banded together to raise funds to bring the inestimable Dave Langford
to Melbourne for the convention. This follows similar funds which
brought Bob Tucker to Aussiecon in 1975 and Bob Shaw to Aussiecon II in
1985. For more details, including advice on how to become a FOOL
(Friend Of Old Langford), visit the home page of the The
Auld Lang Fund (groans obligatory).
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