England was great, the convention was, um, mixed. The daily newszine was both ugly and boring, the hotel was perhaps the most appalling worldcon hotel I'd ever seen, with management and staff being downright hostile to the con and its attendees. Lowlight of the con was the person running the business meeting showing up in full SS Nazi regalia, not understanding why people didn't respond positively to his "joke." My first experience with British fandom's emphasis on the con suite (hard liquor and loud music) and de-emphasis on room parties, which, given the size of most hotel rooms there, is fairly easy to understand.
Highlights of the con were a swing dance on Saturday night, a late-night jacuzzi party where we trading blasphemous religious jokes, and meeting Philadelphia fan David Axler, still a close friend. Gem of the parody newszine was the following announcement: "Calamity on the Hyatt's fourth floor last night, as drunken revelers at the Alcor Life Extension party took their cryonics equipment and invaded the 'Hell in '91' bid party. Hell froze over, and as a result Harper & Row has announced The Last Dangerous Visions for publication this spring."
This page brought to you by Janice Gelb. Last updated February 26, 1997.