Terry goes to Harvard

[Thrasymachos]

This weekend, Harvard University hosted its SF con, Vericon (http://www.vericon.org). Terry Moore of Strangers in Paradise is one of the guests.

A fellow guest said:
"So, a group of us were talking about SiP, how soap opera-esque it is, except there's a much longer wait between episodes than in the TV varieties. He said that the next issue will be a bit later than usual, because he's been busy of late doing things like, well, this con."

When told about A Distant Soil, a series that has been going on even longer, Terry called the writer/artist Colleen Doran and left a message on her machine.



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Peregrinator in paradiso.

[Smurfette]

I was there. Thank you, Terry for speaking and signing my comic book. I feel sort of bad though, because the convention itself was a bit sub par. Don't blame Boston... we're cool. Come back again some time.

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[KarmaPolice]

I was there too. I enjoyed Terry's talk. I actually read a whole bunch of SIP over again when I got back, with a slightly different perspective. Particularly some of the mob stories, after hearing what Terry had to say about violence and juxtaposing ordinary people with the larger-than-life, read better to me with this context in mind. Now I sorta wish SIP had gotten into the violence issue more, actually. The stories he told about the little boy and the bullies and the real-life people he knows who were changed by violence were really powerful and memorable. It would be great to see that reflected more strongly in the book - like, most recently, in Francine's reaction after being rescued from Veronica. It would have made it that much more emotional and an even stronger story overall, and it sounds like he's got interesting things to say on this subject. Anyway, I'd never seen Terry Moore IRL before and I came away with much respect.

Scott McCloud's session was pretty good too.

[This message has been edited by KarmaPolice (edited January 29, 2002).]

[DEinspanjer]

I was very excited to see Terry for the first time. I brought a couple of comics for him to sign, and waited in line.

Unfortunately, I uttered a poorly worded sentence during my thirty second conversation with him. I told him I had convinced my wife to read the SIP series, but she was not hooked. She did not have the same intense desire to get the next issue.

I will admit, it was not the most eloquent thing I had ever said. I was just trying to convey the fact that I always looked forward to his next issue. I can even understand that he might possibly have to deal with many people that might be somewhat disturbing in their fanatic devotion to his comic. It is not as though I leapt over the table and told him I wanted to be his love slave though...

I really did not expect the reaction that I got from him though. In what felt to me to be a very callous "hey look at the freak, where is security?" tone, he stated, "That was *way* too much information; thank God for selective memory!"

::Sigh:: It doesn't look like much to read what I have just said, but the look on his face and the tone in his voice stung me enough that even a week later, it still bugs me.

I went from thoroughly enjoying SIP and looking forward to meeting an author that I admired greatly to enjoying SIP, but feeling irritated every time I think about it.

I guess it is too bad I do not have Terry's fantastic selective memory.


[This message has been edited by DEinspanjer (edited February 01, 2002).]

[KarmaPolice]

Hey, don't feel bad DEinspanjer. While I was there, I did the infamous "I brought a pen but whoops it doesn't work, does anyone have one while Terry's sitting here waiting?" move. I thought Terry was pretty gracious about it considering I was probably acting weird (I was running late for an appointment because the session ran overtime, plus my usual nerves of rubber) but I was also at the head of the line. It must be weird to meet 100 people in a row and have to say stuff to them, I certainly couldn't do it. I don't think he meant to hurt your feelings.

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Looking for a dare to be great situation.