Logo by Ray Van Tilberg |
Guest of Honor Jim C. Hines
Finally! Chambanacon has been trying to land Jim C. Hines as a GoH for many years but life has a way of complicating everything. We are over the moon that he and his son will be our guests this Thanksgiving.
Jim C. Hines’ first novel was Goblin Quest, the humorous tale of a nearsighted goblin runt and his pet fire-spider. Actor and author Wil Wheaton described the book as “too f***ing cool for words,” which is pretty much the Best Blurb Ever.
After finishing the goblin trilogy, he went on to write the Princess series of fairy tale retellings and the Magic ex Libris books, a modern-day fantasy series about a magic-wielding librarian, a dryad, a secret society founded by Johannes Gutenberg, a flaming spider, and an enchanted convertible.
He’s also the author of the Fable Legends tie-in Blood of Heroes, and is now writing humorous science fiction with the Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse trilogy. His short fiction has appeared in more than 50 magazines and anthologies.
Jim won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2012. He has an undergraduate degree in psychology and a Masters in English, and lives with his two children in mid-Michigan. You can find him at jimchines.com or on Twitter as "@jimchines".
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Golden Guest of Honor Juanita Coulson
Juanita Coulson is a force of nature. She's been writing, writing, writing since the late 1950s: essays, apas, short fiction, novels. Juanita and her husband Robert "Buck" Coulson co-edited the science fiction fanzine Yandro. It was nominated for a Hugo Award every year from 1959 to 1967, and won in 1967, making Juanita the first woman to be so honored.
She is a cornerstone of the filk community, the little lady with the BIG voice. Juanita's the GoH at numerous filk conventions, won several Pegasus Awards, and was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame in 1996. She's famous for having set the poetry of Martha Keller to music and, along with Michael Longcor recorded "What's a Hoosier"?.
Bill Roper has been working on Juanita's solo CD for nearly a decade, and should finally be released in time for Chambanacon.
At the 2012 Worldcon in Chicago, Juanita won the Big Heart Award, the science fiction community's highest award for service.
Chambanacon is blessed to finally applaud her as our Golden Guest of Honor.
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Artist Guest of Honor Todd C Hamilton
Todd Hamilton is a talented artist whose long list of work has graced the covers of science fiction and fantasy magazines and novels for over four decades.
His art comes in many forms: painting, metalwork, jewelry casting, house interiors ... he’s amazing! Todd along with the late, great Pat Beese co-authored a novel, The Guardsman, which was nominated for a Hugo Award in 1989, followed by several pieces of short fiction.
Todd has been a regular at Chambanacon since the beginning, and his art has graced our program books and badges with more style than we rightfully deserve.
We are pleased to showcase his exquisite work in our art show.
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Music Guest of Honor Cathy McManamon
Chicago singer/songwriter, drummer/guitarist and all around powerhouse Cathy McManamon is a music-maker down to her core.
She performs solo or in concert with the likes of S.J. Tucker, Leslie Hudson, Toyboat, and and the Pegasus Award-winning rock band Random Factions.
Her music is featured on Bandcamp with 14 CDs, and she performs regularly in the US and Canada.
Check her out on Facebook.
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Gaming Guest of Honor Scott Thorne
Dr. Scott Thorne knows his stuff! He's been teaching Retail Marketing, Sport Marketing, Advertising and Promotion, Principles of Marketing, and Consumer Behavior for the Department of Management and Marketing at Southeast Missouri State University and Southern Illinois State University since 1992.
When not teaching, he owns and operates Castle Perilous Games and Books, serving the gaming population since 1990 as the largest gaming store in southern Illinois.
Dr. Thorne has anchored the Chambanacon huckster room for thirty years, providing quality gaming goods and last-minute Christmas gifts to our attendees. He knows games, what's hot, what's not, and he's happy to direct you to the rabbit hole you know you're going to dive into and enjoy.
He'll be offering sage advice on go-to games at Chambanacon. When not gaming, he's a kind, fun, generous, and all around great person to hang with as well.
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Fan Guest of Honor Ed Whitefire
Ed attended his first Skiffy convention at age 14, the ’75 Star Trek con, along with his best friend Carl Pearson. (They're still not sure why the respective parents allowed them to attend without chaperones.)
He went to his first Chambanacon in ’78 (again along with Carl, and probably Todd Hamilton, too).
Soon he was a regular at Midwest and East Coast cons, focusing on cosplay, art, and custom cardboard model building. Ed moved to LA in ’83 to get into the special effects. That didn’t happen, but he did enter the aerospace industry and has been in it ever since.
While attending Left Coast conventions he stumbled upon Hollyweird. In ’86 Paramount Studios licensed him to design the deck plans of the new Enterprise-D for Star Trek: The Next Generation. His blueprints were used in the writers’ bibles for the entire run of the series. In April ’94 Ed and his friend Phil Broad ran a successful one-off called "Phil & Ed’s Excellent Convention" at the Burbank Hilton. Since then, he’s been dealing with effects and prop makers of every Enterprise designed by Paramount (except for the movie reboot).
Now he’s back into custom model building again, this time in plastic, having learned 3D Graphics to render prints for customizing models.
Yeah, he’s a bit of a geek ... and he’s got stories.
He went to his first Chambanacon in ’78 (again along with Carl, and probably Todd Hamilton, too).
Soon he was a regular at Midwest and East Coast cons, focusing on cosplay, art, and custom cardboard model building. Ed moved to LA in ’83 to get into the special effects. That didn’t happen, but he did enter the aerospace industry and has been in it ever since.
While attending Left Coast conventions he stumbled upon Hollyweird. In ’86 Paramount Studios licensed him to design the deck plans of the new Enterprise-D for Star Trek: The Next Generation. His blueprints were used in the writers’ bibles for the entire run of the series. In April ’94 Ed and his friend Phil Broad ran a successful one-off called "Phil & Ed’s Excellent Convention" at the Burbank Hilton. Since then, he’s been dealing with effects and prop makers of every Enterprise designed by Paramount (except for the movie reboot).
Now he’s back into custom model building again, this time in plastic, having learned 3D Graphics to render prints for customizing models.
Yeah, he’s a bit of a geek ... and he’s got stories.
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Toastmaster Michael Longcor
Michael (aka Moonwulf) is a sing/songwriter, member of the Dorsai Irregulars known for his legendary toe socks, witty storyteller, creative blacksmith, a Duke in the Society for Creative Anachronism (which means he has been King of the Midrealm more than once), crack shot black-powder rifleman, and longtime supporter of Chambanacon.
Michael has released 13 CD’s through Firebird Music and Dodeka Records. A fourteenth CD, "Walking the Wilderness", was released under his own Buccaneer Publishing label in 2020. The eclectic collection deals with astronauts, motorcycles, girl-watching, Civil War veterans, pirates, and love (but not all in the same song).
Several of his songs have won regional songwriting competitions and have been recorded by other performers. He won five Pegasus Awards, including one for Best Performer, and six more nominations. His oddball sense of humor has gone out on the syndicated radio show, Doctor Demento and two live performances with the Good Doctor. /Michael has also appeared as a guest on NPR’s "Folksong Festival", hosted by Oscar Brand, and most recently on "Acoustic Blend" produced by local NPR affiliate WBAA.
He is also active with the Songwriters Association of Mid-North Indiana, based in Lafayette, and we’re delighted to have him as our toastmaster.
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Also Appearing at ChamBanaCon
- Author and long-time Chambanacon attendee Glen Cook
- The Never-Ending Filk Panel moderated by Bill Roper, Bill Sutton and our Leerless Feeder Brenda.
- Martial Artist Randy Pardue
- Glass Artisan Extraordinare Steve Scherer
- Our own T-Shirt Maven, Logo Artist, and all-around Really Cool Dude Ray Vantilberg
- Author Andy Zach