The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) is pleased to announce that Toni Weisskopf has been named the recipient of the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award to honor her activities in support of science fiction and fantasy.

The Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award is given by SFWA for distinguished contributions to the science fiction and fantasy community. Ms. Weisskopf joins the ranks of previous Solstice Award winners, including Octavia Butler, James Tiptree, Jr., Tom Doherty, Carl Sagan, and Stanley Schmidt. The award will be presented at the 52nd Annual Nebula Conference and Awards in Pittsburgh, PA May 18th-21st, 2017.

Toni Weisskopf has been the publisher of Baen Books since 2006 when she took over following the death of Jim Baen. During that time, Weisskopf has creative an innovative e-publishing program, worked with established authors, discovered a galaxy of new authors, and created the Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award, the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award, and the Baen Best Military SF & Adventure SF Reader’s Choice Award.

In addition to her current role as Baen Books editor and publisher, Ms. Weisskopf compiled Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts, along with Josepha Sherman, a collected of subversive children’s folklore. She has edited several anthologies of science fiction, including Cosmic Tales: Adventures in Far Futures and Cosmic Tales: Adventures in Sol System.

Ms. Weisskopf has also been active in the fannish side of science fiction, co-chairing DeepSouthCon 50 in 2012, publishing the fanzine Yngvi is a Louse! And Other Graffitos, and serving as the official Editor of the SFPA, the Southern Fannish Press Alliance, and editing an history of Southern Fandom for the Southern Fandom Confederation.

Ms. Weisskopf joins Peggy Rae Sapienza, who was previously announced, as a recipient of this year’s Kate Wilhelm Solstice Awards.

​The Nebula Awards® will be presented during the annual SFWA Nebula Conference, which will run from May 18th-21st and feature a series of seminars and panel discussions on the craft and business of writing, SFWA’s annual business meeting, and receptions. On May 19th, a mass autograph session will take place at Pittsburgh Marriott City Center and is open to the public.

The Nebula Awards® recognize the best works of science fiction and fantasy published in the United States as selected by members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, membership in which is open to all professional science fiction and fantasy authors. The first Nebula Awards® were presented in 1966.

In addition to the Nebula Awards®, SFWA will present the Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation, the Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book, the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award, the Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award, and the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.

For more information please email pr@sfwa.org.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) is pleased to announce that Peggy Rae Sapienza has been named the recipient of the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award to honor her activities in support of science fiction and fantasy.The Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award is given by SFWA for distinguished contributions to the science fiction and fantasy community.

Sapienza joins the ranks of previous Solstice Award winners, including Octavia Butler, James Tiptree, Jr., Tom Doherty, Carl Sagan, and Stanley Schmidt. The award will be presented at the 52nd Annual Nebula Conference and Awards in Pittsburgh, PA May 18th-21st, 2017.

If anyone was born into science fiction, it was Peggy Rae McKnight (1944-2015), whose father, Jack McKnight famously missed most of the 1953 Worldcon because he was creating the first Hugo Award trophies. She attended her first science fiction convention in 1956 and met her first husband, Bob Pavlat at her first Worldcon in 1960. Over the years, Sapienza was active in fanzine fandom as well as convention running. At Constellation in 1983, she and Pavlat received the Big Heart Award, shortly after Bob died. Science fiction wouldn’t release Peggy Rae. Active in local convention running, she also worked many Worldcon press offices and created the modern Worldcon fan concourse.

In 1998, she chaired Bucconeer, the Baltimore Worldcon, and the following year married John Sapienza. She was proud of her role in Nippon 2007, the first Japanese Worldcon. In 2012, Sapienza was named a Guest of Honor for Chicon 7, that year’s Worldcon. She also co-chaired the 2014 World Fantasy Convention before her death in March of 2015. The Peggy Rae Sapienza Endowment at Northern Illinois University is named in her honor and helps support the SFWA Collection at the library.

During the 2000s, she became active in helping run events for SFWA, including the New York Reception and the Nebula Weekends. She co-chaired the 2010 Nebulas in Cocoa Beach and then chaired the Washington Nebulas in 2011 and 2012. She continued to help SFWA run its events and publish its magazine until shortly before her death.

SFWA will announce a second recipient of the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award on January 31st.

The Nebula Awards® will be presented during the annual SFWA Nebula Conference, which will run from May 18th-21st and feature a series of seminars and panel discussions on the craft and business of writing, SFWA’s annual business meeting, and receptions. On May 19th, a mass autograph session will take place at Pittsburgh Marriott City Center and is open to the public.

The Nebula Awards® recognize the best works of science fiction and fantasy published in the United States as selected by members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, membership in which is open to all professional science fiction and fantasy authors. The first Nebula Awards® were presented in 1966.

In addition to the Nebula Awards®, SFWA will present the Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation, the Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book, the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award, the Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award, and the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.

For more information please email pr@sfwa.org.

Photo by: Moshe Feder

NEWS RELEASE

Beckett Grading Services to Accept “Autographed” Science Fiction Cards at Nebula and WorldCon Weekends

Holy Smoke! Step aside Mickey Mantle! Instead of baseball superstars getting all the attention, it’s autographs of science fiction authors that are about to get “celebrity treatment!”

Starting with this May’s Nebula Awards® Weekend (Pittsburgh, May 18-21, 2017), autographed trading cards that feature science fiction authors will be given the same stellar treatment that has traditionally been afforded to collectible cards that feature sports stars, music icons, or idols of the film & television industries. Beckett Grading Services–the worldwide authority on authenticating and grading rare and valuable sports collectibles, like the 1952 TOPPS Mickey Mantle rookie card and the 1909 T206 Honus Wagner tobacco card–now accepts the Walter Day Collection of Science Fiction Historical Trading Cards for grading as investment-grade collectables.

Yes, the science fiction trading cards that you have seen Walter Day handing out as free gifts at the recent Nebula and Hugo Awards Ceremonies are now poised to become investment-grade collectibles over time. Especially when Beckett authenticates and grades the autographs placed on them.

And, if you don’t know who Beckett is, Beckett was voted the “Best Grading Service” for the 6th consecutive year by the global sports-collectibles industry. Beckett can be found online here: http://www.beckett.com

Founded in 2015, the Walter Day Collection of Science Fiction Historical Trading Cards now approaches the release of its 100th unique science fiction history card and plans to present them all in May at the 2017 Nebula Awards® Weekend and at the 2017 WorldCon in Helsinki, Finland (August 9-13, 2017).

Now that the card set has entered the big-time of card collecting, Beckett Grading Services, has given Walter Day special authorization to personally witness and verify the autographing process as the science fiction authors sign their cards. The autographed cards will then be submitted by Day directly to Beckett for authentication and grading. From that moment onward, each autographed and graded card will be increasing in value — and some may eventually become investment-grade collectables. Charles Stabile,  Northeast Regional Sales Manager for Beckett Grading Services, says: “Beckett is thrilled to enter the science fiction field and give the same kind of acclaim to these legendary science fiction authors that the traditional sports stars receive. Their trading cards definitely deserve the same kind of recognition that the baseball and football cards garner.”

Stabile adds: “Beckett specializes in authenticating and grading both sports and non-sports trading cards and sealing them in tamper-proof holders that ensure their longevity and authenticity as well as maintain their condition and value. There are many well known instances where the value of a trading card increased by one-hundred-fold when it was authenticated, graded, and sealed in a protective holder by Beckett Grading Services. With the science fiction authors signing their cards, the ever-increasing value of the autographed cards seems to be a sure thing.”

Contact information:

Walter Day
The Walter Day Collection
600 North Third Street
Fairfield, Iowa 52556
(641) 451-4710

Charles Stabile
Northeast Regional Sales Manager
Beckett Grading Services
484 White Plains Rd
2nd Floor
Eastchester, N.Y. 10709
Office 1: (914) 268-0533
Office 2: (914) 268 0534
Email:cstabile@beckett.com

Reprinted with permission by Walter Day from: http://thewalterdaycollection.com/articles/news-stories

There was a free and open to the public Mass Autographing Event sponsored by Tor Books.

When: Friday, May 13th, 2016
Time: 8:00 PM
Where: Red Lacquer Room – Palmer House Hilton – Chicago, IL

Attending professionals:

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John Hodgman is the longtime Resident Expert on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the host of the popular Judge John Hodgman Podcast. He has also appeared on Conan, The Late Late Show, @midnight, and This American Life. The Village Voice named his show RAGNAROK one of the top ten stand up specials of 2013 and in 2015 toured his new show VACATIONLAND. He has performed comedy for the President of the United States and George RR Martin, discussed love and alien abduction at the TED conference, and voiced the Father and Other Father in the film Coraline, and now he wants to talk to you.