We had a lovely weekend attending the Science Fiction Hall of Fame inductions, along with the Locus Awards.  This year’s class of Hall of Fame inductees  is:

 Frank R. Paul

Michael Whelan

Connie Willis

Ed Ferman

Frank R. Paul was the first illustrator to make a living painting rocket ships and such  — his images were the heart of the science fiction magazine look in the 20s and 30s.  His daughters and grandson were in town for the induction –  a delightful family, with lots of stories going way back into the history of the field.  Here is Greg with the daughters,  Patricia Paul Franzke and Joan C. Paul Engle.

The Locus Awards banquet features a lot of hilarity with a Hawaiian shirt theme — here is Greg with John Kessel, who had just finished teaching a week at Clarion West, and Connie Willis, who  MCed the Locus Awards, post-banquet.

Connie, being a woman of exquisite taste and social responsibility, changed out of her rocket launch polyester Hawaiian shirt before the Hall of Fame induction.  Greg, making it into the trivia contest because of his Lilo and Stitch Hawaiian shirt, blew away the competition by 1) knowing most of the answers and 2) having incredibily fast hand-raising reflexes.  The prize was an autographed banana.  This year, to have a permanent memento, there were two bananas, one real, one plastic.

The wardrobe creativity extended beyond Hawaiian shirts — there was a Hawaiian print kilt that I didn’t get a picture  of, and Erica accessorized with a a wonderful mutant purse she made.

Part poodle, part bear, part monkey.

Perfect weather for the events, and yes, we kept watching the skies.

The real banana bravely met its inevitable fate, with a few raspberries from the garden for garnish.