IN THIS EDITION:

MEETING INFORMATION
WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE
BRADBURY SPOKE!
JO CLAYTON DIES
SEND YOUR KID'S NAME TO MARS

Special note: The Circular is getting out late. The hard copy is I the mail bit if you know a member who is not on-line please remind them about the meeting. They may not receive their newsletter in time.

MEETING INFORMATION

The next meeting of the Circle of Janus SF Club will be at the Children's Museum, Indianpolis Indiana, Saturday, March 7th. A ConCom meeting is scheduled for 6:30pm. The regular meeting will follow.

WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE

The last meeting of the Circle of Janus was held on February 7th at the Children's Museum. Both the President, Mike Cowper, and the Secretary, Lynnette Cowper, were absent since Lynnette had delivered their second child the night before. The new baby boy, mother, daddy and big sister are all doing well. For these reasons, the hectic first month of a newborn for the Cowpers, and the short hectic month of February for your faithful editor and publisher, we do not have a Sec's Notes or Presidential Ponderings this month.

Here, however, are some of the highlights of the last meeting.

The meeting was chaired by Vice-president Vicki Merriman. After the treasurer's report (it's OK. We're solvent.) Vicki suggested that we might be able to make a little more interest on our savings. This prompted discussion from the floor on a variety of interest gathering propositions including certificates of deposit, high yield savings accounts, money market accounts, mutual funds, and serious investing. It was decided that the issue should be explored by the executive committee and the board chairman, Bob McGillem.

All ConChairs reported that preparations for their cons were going well and on schedule. Andy Andrews reported that David Wolf might not attend this year's con as planned. NASA wanted too much money. Other avenues are being explored.

David Henninger reported on the proposed ringbinder club address book. A few photos were taken at the meeting of various members. When these are scanned, a mockup will be made of one or more pages and printing estimates will be obtained.

Representatives from two conventions were introduced: ConSept, an Indianapolis SF con to be held in 1999, and C-Kon, a Muncie anime con to be held this September. The intent of the visit was to establish cooperation and mutual aid among our organizations and the reaction was generally positive.

The membership was reminded that we are looking for a new meeting site. All suggestions are welcome.

Chaos was declared and, as usual, many of us repaired to Flaky's.

[Incompletely remembered by Dave Henninger.]

BRADBURY SPOKE

On Monday, January 12, Ray Bradbury spoke at the Economic Club Luncheon at the Indianapolis Convention Center. We were fortunate to attend through the virtue of sheer luck. The CEO and Vice-president of Hancock County Hospital were planning to attend. Since Robin works for them and her ears grew points at the mention of Bradbury's name, they responded to her inquiry with "Sure you can come."

Ray Bradbury speaks in a somewhat rambling style but is never-the-less engrossing. Most of his speech involved rememberances from his life. He spoke of his early successes in writing: his lucky sale of _Fahrenheit 451_ and the _Martian Chronicles_ on the same day. The time he needed to sell one of them to a magazine for the extra money when he happened to meet a young man trying to start a new magazine and in need of a good piece of fiction to serialize. So he sold _Fahrenheit 451_ to Hugh Hefner and part one appeared in the first issue of _Playboy_.

He also spoke with a certain amount of anticipation, about the new movie version of _Fahrenheit 451_ to be done by Mel Gibson. Bradbury feels that the earlier movie done by Fransous Trouffant left out some important material. He has worked directly with Gibson on the screenplay and preproduction and, so far, is much happier with this one. No one knows yet whether Gibson will direct, act, or both in the final film.

Most interesting were the little lessons that Bradbury was trying to pass on to this gathering of executives. Our favorite was his story of his collection of _Buck Rogers_ Comics. Ray had, at the age of nine, collected all of the _Buck Rogers_ comics to date. Of course he believed in the future and in space travel at a time when it was generally considered purest fantasy. His friends told him at length that he was a fool to believe any such thing. They finally convinced him. He went home and destroyed his _Buck Rogers_ collection. For days afterward he felt as if someone had died. It took him awhile to realize that it was himself. He had died. His _Buck Rogers_ collection represented who he was. He lived in the future even though he existed in the present. His, so called, friends had tried to kill his dreams and in doing so, had killed him. When he realized this he regained his dreams and his life.

Years later, he made a new friend. This was one of those with whom you have so much in common you almost don't have to talk. They discussed books, writing, girls. Finally Ray told him about the lost collection of _Buck Rogers_. His friend said, "You lost the first nine or ten months of _Buck Rogers_? You want it?" He had a complete collection and he gave Ray the parts he was missing.

Ray Bradbury never named that friend but we speculate that it may have been Forrest Ackerman. Ray was specific however that this little parable had a moral. "Never listen to assholes!"

JO CLAYTON DIES
Forwarded to us by Larry Ulrey

From the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts mailing list:

Science fiction and fantasy writer Jo Clayton died Friday, February 13, in Good Samaritan Hospital, Portland, Oregon, two days short of her 59th birthday. Clayton was hospitalized in July, 1996, because of the multiple myeloma that eventually killed her. Her fight against the cancer of the bone marrow (plasma cells), mobilized the science fiction community and led to a national fund raising campaign to help her deal with the financial burden of her illness.

Jo Clayton was the author of 35 published novels and many short stories. She wrote in both the fantasy and the SF genres. Her best known SF work was "The Diadem" series (1977), in which the Diadem is an artifact that becomes part of a person's mind. Jo Clayton's writing was marked by complex, beautifully realized societies set in exotic worlds, lyrical prose, and compelling heroines.

Not counting sales of her last series, DRUMS OF CHAOS (Tor Books) Clayton's works sold over 1,250,000 copies. DRUM WARNING was published as a hardcover by Tor in June 1996. The second book in the trilogy, DRUM CALLS, was published in 1997. Other books by Clayton include: A BAIT OF DREAMS, WILD MAGIC, SHADITH'S QUEST trilogy, the DUEL OF SORCERY trilogy, the SOUL DRINKER trilogy, and the SKEEN trilogy. Also popular was SHADOW OF THE WARMASTER (science fiction). Her stories have appeared in over 12 anthologies. She has a story in the recently-published anthology, OLYMPUS.

While in the hospital, Clayton was able to finish DRUM CALLS, write a number of short stories, and complete approximately half of the third volume in the DRUMS trilogy, titled DRUMS OF CHAOS. San Francisco writer Katharine Kerr, who collaborated with Clayton on a number of writing and editing projects, is Clayton's literary executor. Kerr is expected to either finish the third book herself or select a writer who will complete it. DRUMS OF CHAOS will be published next year by TOR Books, according to Clayton's agent, Elizabeth Pomada. Pomada, of the Larsen/Pomada agency of San Francisco, is agent for the Clayton estate.

Patricia Jo Clayton was born February 15, 1939, in Modesto, California to a homesteading farm family. Jo, and her two sisters, would tell each other stories into the night, her sister, Penn, reports. Jo's stories always had an element of fantasy or science fiction in them, she remembers. Clayton attended the University of California, Berkeley, and graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Southern California, with a degree in English. In the early 1960s, she taught in Bell, California, an industrial, working-class city located in the greater Los Angeles basin.

Later in the 1960s, Clayton joined the Catholic Church, becoming a novice in a teaching order of nuns. At the request of the order, she moved to New Orleans, where she taught junior high school. She apparently began writing heavily while in New Orleans, and supplemented her income as a novice by working as an artist at Jackson Square, painting pictures of children's pets. She moved to Portland, Oregon, in the mid-1980s.

Clayton was disabled by her illness in the summer of 1996, and at the time was saved from immediate death because of the science fiction community on Genie, a nationwide computer bulletin board. Some days before she entered the hospital, Clayton reported in an on-line message that she had fallen. Los Angeles writer Deborah Wheeler and San Francisco writer Katharine Kerr, realized that Clayton had not posted for several days. Their alert triggered a rescue operation by Portland writer Mary Rosenblum, and one of Clayton's local fans, Javanne Kramer. That effort led to Clayton's hospitalization, and the diagnosis of multiple myeloma. Throughout the 18 months of her illness, Clayton was helped by a dedicated group of Portland-area writers and science fiction fans including Kramer, Sarah Perraule, and Page Fuller, with the effort led by Mark and Elizabeth Bourne. Clayton died in her hospital room, with her sister Penn, brother-in-law Don Brumm, and Elizabeth Bourne, Sarah Perrault, and Javanne Kramer beside her.

Following Clayton's hospitalization, a national campaign raised over $22,000. The effort led to creation of the Oregon SF Emergency Fund under the sponsorship of Oregon Science Fiction Conventions, Inc. (OSFCI.) Most of Clayton's direct medical bills were covered by the Oregon Health Plan, while the fund paid for living and other expenses not covered by the state's Medicaid program. Fund administrators estimate that approximately $8,000 will remain after outstanding bills are paid. They have announced that the fund will be renamed in Clayton's honor, and that it will be available to help other science fiction and fantasy writers from the Pacific Northwest.

Administrators also plan an educational program to help writers avoid the delay in obtaining medical care that was imposed on Clayton by her lack of health insurance.

Jo Clayton is survived by her mother, Bessie Clayton and sister, Penn Brumm, both of the San Jose, California area, and a second sister, Pamela Larsen, of Mira Loma, California.

Full name: Patricia Jo Clayton
Born: February 15, 1939, Modesto, California.
University: Graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Southern
California in the early 1960s. Exact date not known.
Died: Portland, Oregon, February 13, 1998.
Additional Contacts:

Oregon SF Emergency Fund
c/o OSFCI
P.O. Box 5703
Portland, Oregon 97228

Questions about Clayton's work should be directed to her agent:
Elizabeth Pomada
Larsen/Pomada Literary Agents
1029 Jones Street
San Francisco, CA 94l09

SEND YOUR KID'S NAME TO MARS!

Forwarded to us by Larry Ulrey

On a less serious note, the nice folks at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration want to send your kid's name to the surface of Mars. As a way of promoting the planned 1999 launch of the Mars Polar Lander, NASA is collecting the names of school children from all over the world. These names will then be stored on a CD-ROM that will be shot into space as part of the Mars Polar Lander's payload.

Adding your name to the list is pretty easy (and, best of all, it is totally FREE!). Just point your Web browser to http://spacekids.hq.nasa.gov/mars/home.htmThen, click on the words "Sign Me Up!" at the bottom of the page. The rest of the instructions are pretty self-explanatory (type in your name, and then click on the "Add Me" button).

Now for the cool part. After you add your kid's name to the list of other names being sent to Mars, NASA automatically forwards you to a page where you can view, download, and even print a certificate showing that your kid's name is now part of the payload of the Mars Polar Lander. Three version of this certificate are available:

1. A screen version (that looks GREAT but may be hard to see on small screens);
2. A print version (which looks okay, but uses your browser's less than spectacular default font -- usually Times or Times New Roman);
3. A blank 87Kb Adobe Acrobat version (you have to have a free Acrobat reader to view this file. Once you open the file, you need to highlight the words "Type Name Here" and then type in your kid's name -- and make sure you press the "enter" key before you print the certificate).

Thank you for participating in this historic event. The Mars Polar Lander and future missions to Mars will help us unravel many of the mysteries surrounding the red planet. One day we hope to send space explorers to Mars and beyond. You could be that future explorer, but only if you stay in school and study hard, especially in the areas of math, science, and computer technology.

Remember to keep your eyes on the skies because your name is now part of the cosmos!