[If you like any of these photos and would like high quality prints of them, I've uploaded them to Shutterfly - just send me some E-mail and I'll give you access to the print storage area. I sometimes space on people's names - please send me corrections!]
(TORNsibs are people who active on TheOneRing.Net.)
For many years, when people would stare and not understand the old grafitti "Frodo Lives!" science fiction fans could interpret it. Most SF fans are also fantasy fans as well. The World Science Fiction Convention has always had fantasy programming, art, dealers, and, frequently, fantasy-related guests (such as Andre Norton and Jane Yolen).
So I was particularly happy when this year's Worldcon, Interaction, chose artist-extraordinaire Alan Lee as a special guest. A few months ago, while I was unemployed and looking for the odd volunteer job, Interaction was looking for a guest liaison for Alan Lee. I volunteered and they said, "Sure."
Being a guest liaison usually involves helping the guest go from place to place (as needed) and getting them to and from the con. Being Alan's guest liaison meant helping to organize the logistics behind his special signing on Friday afternoon. HarperCollins UK decided to have a pre-launch of The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook roughly two months before the book would be formally published. It was challenging for a number of reasons, but we finally got it all worked out.
However, since the signing was Friday afternoon, and since I had to be onsite to help make sure the signing was going off OK, I had to delegate picking Alan up to someone else. Parris MacBride volunteered, and that worked out fine. Much to my surprise, Alan and Parris showed up at the convention center about 45 minutes earlier than expected, and Alan went almost straight to start his signing.
Alan Lee Near the Beginning of His Signing
The Line for Alan's Signing
Alan with Laurie Mann (AKA JRandomRohirrim on TORN)
Looking at the Whole Picture: Jackson's Lord of the Rings
Jim and Laurie Mann Before the Hugos
Lillian Stewart Carl
The Future of Fantasy
A Statue Seen in Edinburgh
For more Interaction photos, go to Interaction Photos.
Other photos/pages of interest to Tolkien/Jackson LOTR fans:
The True Story of How I Did Not Meet Billy Boyd
DUFF Winner and Weta Employee Norman Cates with Jackson's Hugo for Return of the King.
Two Pittsburghers Go to The Return of the One Party
Sala Baker, Jeff Walker and Sean Astin at Con Jose
Sala and Sean with Jackson's First Hugo Statue
The London Theatre for Fellowship of the Ring, During the Premiere, 12/10/01
Close-up Crowd Shot,
Outside the FOTR Premiere
