DAYTON, Ohio – From high atop the Crowne Plaza hotel, I watched a short-lived thunderstorm move into Dayton on Thursday afternoon. The overcast skies and chance of rain didn’t deter the start of PulpCon 35. When the doors opened to the dealers’ room at noon, dozens of pulp fans were waiting in line to scoop up the hot items.
The volume of pulps on sale in the dealers’ room is startling (to borrow a pulp superlative) and overwhelming for the first time. I circled the room at least twice, but it’s going to take much more time to search for items on my “want list.”
Attendees are still showing up, but in its first few hours, I’ve had a chance to speak with Wooda “Nick” Carr (as well as get him to sign his Master of the Pulps: The Collected Essays of Nick Car which I had just purchased from Ron Hanna), Ron Fortier (who was signing limited edition hardbacks of Captain Hazzard: Python Men of the Lost City), Ed Hulse (who was distributing the new Summer issue of Blood ’n’ Thunder), brothers Leigh and Neil Mechem of Girasol Collectibles, Bill Mann, Scott and Patrick Cranford, Bill Thinnes, David Alexander, Robert Weinberg and more.
The dealers’ room will be open until 8 tonight. Then it reopens at 10 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday. Tomorrow night brings the annual business meeting, guest of honor Ernest Chiriacka and a panel discussion led by Hulse.
On Saturday night, a dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse starts things off, followed by guest of honor Phil Klass (aka William Tenn), a radio play “Death’s Triangle,” this year’s Lamont Award and the auction.
Stay tuned.
– William
Wow, I sure wish I could have been there……tell Ron Fortier hi for me….
looks like an awesome time!!!!
Will do, Tom!
Left to right at the feeding frenzy: Ed Hulse, David Alexander, black and white shirt?, blue shirt?, Mark Alvarado, Paul Herman, Glenn Crain (walking behind), Randy Vanderbeek, Tom Roberts, and yours truly (going deeper into debt). The foreground display is Adventure House.