Jan 15 2013

Jim Mowatt’s Nominators

I have an extraordinary bunch of nominators whom I asked specifically because I feel that they represent who I am in fandom and who I would like to be.

Mark Plummer
Randy Byers
Rob Hansen
Fran Dowd
Curt Phillips

Mark Plummer – Mark is almost certainly the best fan writer around at the moment. He has a playful and whimsical style and yet is happy to address serious issues with a meticulous assiduity.
Comedy is incredibly difficult, fannish comedy doubly so. Mark Plummer leaps tall buildings these difficulties in a single bound.

Randy Byers – Another fine fanwriter and an all round good guy who is splendidly affable and delightful company. I have fond memories of meeting Randy in the Cambridge Blue for our fanmeet there, when he was over on his TAFF trip in 2003, and then transporting him to Keighley the following day to meet D. West.

Rob Hansen – Many people know Rob for his diligent researches into fan history and it is this side of him that made me first think of him as a nominator. Fandom has a fascinating history and it is an exhilarating feeling being part of something that has such a colourful past as well as a potentially vibrant future. I also think of Rob as an absolute gentleman. He has a quiet manner but is very incisive indeed. He will listen intently and then introduce something to the conversation that makes everyone stop, think, and re-evaluate the last five minutes of the discussion.

Fran Dowd – Fran is a very loveable person indeed. She is smart, intelligent and has a heart as big as a planet. I’ve been fortunate enough to know Fran for some years now and feel honoured to know such an astounding person. Fran also has exceptional organising talents. She is a conrunner who has shown time and again that she can take it on the chin, keep going, and make the convention a success. I have a huge amount of respect for her.

Curt Phillips – I’ve never actually met Curt but started chatting to him over the interwebs about the Glenn Miller Festival at Twinwood and 1940s music. Curt knows more about music from the first half of the 20th century than anyone else I’ve encountered. Not only do we connect there but he’s also a re-enactor (particularly American Civil War) and I feel such a kinship with him in this too (although my period is a little different). I’ve also since discovered that Curt has a wonderfully engaging writing style. Take a look at Absarka http://www.freewebs.com/absarka/ for the proof of what I say.

TAFF image designed by Anne Stokes. Many thanks to Anne for the use of this image.