ATTN. JMS: My name is Robert F ...

[B5JMS Poster]

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From: robwired at aol.com (RobWired)
Date: 30 Jan 2001 09:00:01 -0700
Lines: 47

... and I am a convention-goer.
Under the post, ''Appearances?'' concerning being a guest at the cons, you
said:

''It's definitely work, though. ... If people are going to come from sometimes
hundreds of miles away to be there, I owe them nothing less than a total
effort.''

For me, the comicons all run together, but the first time I saw you was at the
then-CBG Chicago Comicon. Walter Koenig and Harlan Ellison were also there.
There was a gathering one evening in the Green Room at the Holiday Inn, just an
informal meet-and-greet. The idea was that fans would have a seat at tables,
and you and Koenig and Ellison would come around, have a seat and chat. It
worked for Koenig, who brought a Ping-Pong paddle. Ellison put in a brief
appearance, but didn't hang around. Serious bypass surgery, as he had recently
undergone, requires rest.
When you walked in, you never had a chance to make it into the room; you were
mobbed on the steps, backed into a corner. My girlfriend and I waited to see if
the mob would let you farther into the room. Nope. So we joined the group
gathered around you. We were among the very last to ask you for an autograph
and to have a picture taken with you. The picture my girlfriend took shows two
very tired men, trying their best to smile for the camera. After that mob, I
was tired; you were exhausted.
At last year's WizardWorld comicon, I mentioned these events to you at the Top
Cow table, where you were appearing on behalf of Rising Stars and the
then-upcoming Midnight Nation. You weren't just being polite when you said you
remembered the previous experience.
Besides the Top Cow signing, you also held a Q&A in one of the ballrooms at the
Rosemont Convention Center. You answered a couple of questions I asked: one
about the ''hour of the wolf'' mention in Angela Lansbury's speech at the end
of the ''Murder, She Wrote'' episode you penned, ''A Story to Die For.''
The other question I began by asking: ''As an avowed atheist ...,'' and you
stopped me right there, and said, ''You don't have to take a vow. It's not like
they hand out little pointy hats.'' That made me laugh, as well as everyone
else in the room. But you let me finish my question, which was, how is that you
handled the subject of religion so well in ''Babylon 5.'' I said you should
receive the Irving P. Thalberg Award (I meant the Templeton Prize for
religion), and brought up the subject of the B5 episode ''Believers.''
You answered, saying you wanted people to respect your views, so you respect
theirs; that religion asks the big questions, ones that can't be easily
answered; and that in ''Believers,'' everyone was right and everyone was wrong.
To wrap up my rambling, I have made the drive from Kansas City to Chicago,
especially excited when I would hear you were going to be a guest at the
comicon. So when you say, ''If people are going to come from sometimes hundreds
of miles away to be there, I owe them nothing less than a total effort,'' I say
thank you for giving nothing less than a total effort.


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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 30 Jan 2001 17:49:56 -0700
Lines: 14

I appreciate the kind report; I try as best I can to do as much as I can. 
Sometimes I fall short, but when things work out, it's great.


 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2001 by synthetic worlds, ltd., 
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine 
and don't send me story ideas)




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