Spider Robinson / Stardance / Callahan's Crosstime Saloon

[Jan]

My second favorite writer in the whole world is Spider Robinson. He wrote the Stardance trology with is wife Jeanne as well as creating the long-running Callahan's series of books. Most recently he completed a postumour collaboration with Robert A. Heinlein called "Variable Star" and he's announced that he's got a contract for sequels of that. Perhaps my favorite of his writings is his first novel, "Telempath". That's the one I most wish for a sequel to.

Any other fans of Spider's work here?

Jan

 

[Alpha_Geek]

Callahans Place? I'll drink to that, and screw the change box! *crash!*

 

[Jan]

Callahans Place? I'll drink to that, and screw the change box! *crash!*

Definitely one of the best traditions ever!

Jan

 

[OmahaStar]

Spider? Sounds buggy to me.



What?

 

[Mistral]

Shared pain is dissipated, shared joy increased.

"Duck, duck the Doc!" Always slays me.

Remember, time travelers strictly cash.

Have you read RAH! RAH! RAH! ? Good article.Some of the bashers of the book over in the Starship Troopers thread should take a gander.

 

[Mysterion]

A fan of Spider over here. Prefer his Stardance books to the Callahan's stuff. I don't dislike Callahan's, but have found that it must be ingested sparingly. If you can find it, there is a collection of opinion columns (The Crazy Years) he wrote for a Canadian newspaper that is quite interesting.

 

[Jan]

Omaha, fotunatly for you Spider is an inveterate punster or I'd have to pelt you with 88888888888888 peanuts 88888888888888.

Some of the early Calahan's stories haven't dated well but I still like the characters a lot.

I think the only books of Spider's that I don't care much for were "Night of Power" and the Mindkiller books.

Jan

 

[Steve Roby]

I read his stuff in the early '80s, partly because I thought it was kinda cool that he was living in the city I went to university in at the time (Halifax, Nova Scotia). Didn't meet him until after I graduated and left Halifax, though.

I found a little of his stuff went a long way. Stardance made no lasting impact on my memory, I liked a lot of his short stories, including the first Callahan's book or two, Night of Fear was kind of meh, and Time Pressure made me think right, I have had enough of that. Right wing hippies? Pass. His Crazy Years column saying that there's no health risk from secondhand smoking was the last straw.

 

[Mistral]

A fan of Spider over here. Prefer his Stardance books to the Callahan's stuff. I don't dislike Callahan's, but have found that it must be ingested sparingly. If you can find it, there is a collection of opinion columns (The Crazy Years) he wrote for a Canadian newspaper that is quite interesting.

The Crazy Years is a termed coined by Bob Heinlein for the insane period post-WWII when all of the freaky religions, fads and belief systems came to the forefront, stuff like EST or Jerry Falwell being "called to God" if he didn't get a million dollars, pet rocks etc. FYI

 

[Rulius]

that was Oral Roberts not Falwell.

 

[Mistral]

that was Oral Roberts not Falwell.

Whatever. A fraud, is a fraud, is a fraud. To paraphrase Gertrude Stein.

 

[Mysterion]

A fan of Spider over here. Prefer his Stardance books to the Callahan's stuff. I don't dislike Callahan's, but have found that it must be ingested sparingly. If you can find it, there is a collection of opinion columns (The Crazy Years) he wrote for a Canadian newspaper that is quite interesting.

The Crazy Years is a termed coined by Bob Heinlein for the insane period post-WWII when all of the freaky religions, fads and belief systems came to the forefront, stuff like EST or Jerry Falwell being "called to God" if he didn't get a million dollars, pet rocks etc. FYI

Also a Heinlein fan. I grok the reference.

 

[Australis]

Really liked the early Callahan's stuff, but he did run with it too long, and the companion brothel series (Lady Slings The Booze?) just didn't work. His other stuff isn't widely available here..

 

[Jan]

For those interested in Spider's recent work, Very Hard Choices has just come out in paperback. He's got a podcast, too, where he does readings and plays music.

There's some unfortunate news in Spider and Jeanne's life, though. From his website:

This year a brilliant surgeon, Dr. Andresz Busczowski, helped Jeanne Robinson beat back a rare and virulent form of biliary cancer. But it’s so rare even he can’t say how much time he‘s bought her, how soon it might recur. For technical reasons she is not a candidate for either radiation or chemo. Her only hope for longterm survival is therefore to reboot and reinvigorate her failed immune system. She needs special therapies and meds, extensive diet and lifestyle changes, and a stress level as close to zero as possible. All those are expensive, none are covered by even Canada’s excellent medical care...and like many artists today the Robinsons were already running on fumes financially.

But Jeanne, a Soto Zen monk, has been spreading love and kindness in all directions for a long time. So her Buddhist sangha in Vancouver, her neighbors on Bowen Island, and friends as far away as Florida have all spontaneously come together to raise funds to help keep her around as long as possible. Your participation is welcomed. A Bowen benefit concert, “WE DREAM FOR JEANNE,” will be held at Cates Hill Chapel at 7:30 PM on Friday Sept 18 details here; cheques can be sent to Mountain Rain Zen Center, 6183 Fraser St. Vancouver, BC V5W 2Z9; goods or services can be donated for eBay auction by contacting Jan Schroeder at <dreamforjeanne@aol.com>, and PayPal donations can be sent to http://wedreamforjeanne.blogspot.com/.

Jeanne and Spider both warmly appreciate your help, support, prayers or just good thoughts.

I'm the above named Jan Schroeder so if you want to contribute you're also welcome to contact me here via PM.

Jan

ETA: The donation button for PayPal donations isn't up yet but should be by Monday.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Yikes. Good luck to her. I hope she is able to beat that thing.

As for Spider, I've always gotten a kick out of the Callahan stories. I'm not so familiar with his other work, but I'm curious about Variable Star.

 

[Mistral]

Very sorry to hear about Jeanne. It's long been my suspicion that Spider isn't a complete curmudgeon because of her influence.

 

[Jan]

Very sorry to hear about Jeanne. It's long been my suspicion that Spider isn't a complete curmudgeon because of her influence.

Could be. I think his idealism has tended toward cynicism but from my brief encounters with him he's also a great person.

I've got four auctions going now with more to come. Check out
http://shop.ebay.com/dreamforjeanneauctions/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1
for:

- One of Claudia Christian's own Babylon 5 scripts

- A rare Lost Tales mini-comic autographed by JMS

- Volume 15 from the Babylon 5 script of JMS

- An original art page by Colleen Doran from JMS's "Book of Lost Souls"

There's more coming, too, so you might want to bookmark the seller search so you don't miss a great 'Buy It Now' opportunity.

I'm also still looking for people who might want to send me items to auction. I've noticed that many SF fans are like me and poor in cash but rich in stuff. I'll be happy to do my best to turn stuff into cash for this effort.

Jan

 

[Jan]

Very sorry to hear about Jeanne. It's long been my suspicion that Spider isn't a complete curmudgeon because of her influence.

Possible, but the one occasion when I spent any amount of time with him, my impression was that his grumbles are more show than substance.

My auctions to help out Jeanne are going well. So far I've collected over $1,200. with bids adding another $865.

Not only that, I've got something REALLY special. Harlan Ellison is allowing me to auction off dinner with him and his wife Susanin their home. The starting bid isn't small but I hope there's some significant action on it.

Some other lovely items will be listed soon, including handmade items.

If anybody wants to help but can't give money or items, helping us spread the word about the effort would be HUGE. Feel free to PM me.

Jan

 

[LadyT'Anna]

Another Spider Robinson fan here! The Callahan Touch is quite wonderful. I really need to find the rest of the series and start from the beginning.

And speaking of beginnings, I thank you for starting this thread, Jan.