Uncle Timmy Kept Me in Science Fiction Fandom

Richard "Uncle Timmy" Bolgeo. This photo was taken by my daughter at a meeting of the Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop, of which Timmy was a big supporter.

    If it weren't for a man named Richard Bolgeo, my life would be far less rich and innumerable friends and acquaintances would have remained strangers. For those whose life Richard touched, this is a very common story. His counsel on a cold January morning changed my mind about science fiction (SF) conventions and fandom. He kept me from walking away from attending science fiction conventions, or cons, after a particularly bad experience many years ago had left a sour taste in my mouth and that of my wife and some close friends.

    In high school, I was an avid reader of science fiction, including Analog Magazine. Analog published monthly some of the best SF short stories, popular science essays, and book reviews. I was a subscriber. On the very last page of the magazine was a listing of upcoming SF conventions where fans of the literature would gather to talk about their favorite books and authors, get to know each other, and, of course, party. Cons also feature lectures and panel discussions populated by authors and fans, a dealer’s rooms for buying books, models, games, and other genre swag, and the ever-popular con suite where food and beverages are available nearly 24/7.

    I attended my first con in the late 1970’s, while I was still a high school student. RiverCon was a longstanding convention held annually in Louisville, KY at the historic Galt House hotel located in a scenic spot overlooking the Ohio River. My good friend, Jim Morman, and I got permission from our parents to drive from our homes in Ashland, KY across the state to attend. By today’s standards, this was an unusual thing to do – allow two 17-year-old high school students to drive 150 miles to an event none in their families had ever attended (and knew nothing about), rent a hotel room (in our names – yes, the hotel rented a room to two minors!), and spend the weekend in the state’s largest city. Remember, in those days there were no cell phones, so no one could track where we were, and we had no easy way to seek help in the event of an emergency.

    Jim and I were in heaven. We met a rising new writer, George RR Martin, chatted with the Guest of Honor, Roger Zelazny, and drooled over the many cool items in the dealer’s room for which we didn’t have the money to buy. The weekend went well, we weren’t arrested, and arrived safely home late on Sunday evening. We were hooked.

    Over the next few years, I was in college and then graduate school, unable to spare the time or money to attend very many conventions, managing to go about once each year. After I landed my first real job, I once again began attending conventions (and this time I could afford some items in the dealers’ rooms).

    Then came marriage. Fortunately, my wife is an understanding sort and readily accepted my occasional participation in these quirky science fiction conventions. She was eager to experience one with me as we began our new life together. It was now the late 1980’s and there were many cons to choose from to have as her entry point into fandom. We chose one in Chattanooga, TN where some writers I admired were attending to be our first ‘together con.’ We invited some local friends to go with us. I was eager to also introduce them to cons and fandom. We packed up our car and off we went.

    During the day, the convention was great – the panels, the talks, the serendipitous hallway meetings and discussions, etc. Nighttime was a very different matter. We, like most con goers, were up late (to nearly 1:00 am), but when we wanted to sleep, we wanted to sleep. Instead, we were kept awake by obnoxiously loud shouting in the hotel hallways, a loud party next door, and even the fire alarm being pulled in the middle of the night. The police were called, but even that did not calm the rowdiness. We were not pleased.

    The next morning, I learned that the convention had been invaded by local high school students in search of beer. They were rowdy, destructive, loud, and ruined the overall convention experience for me, my wife, and our friends. I was embarrassed at bringing my new wife to the convention as her introduction of fandom and we were both embarrassed at having brought our friends. It was a disaster.

    The second night of the convention was no better.

    Sunday morning, the last day of the convention, could not arrive soon enough. As I was waiting in the hotel checkout line, one of the people I met at the con and felt a kinship with, Richard Bolgeo, walked up to chat. He asked if we had a good weekend and I’m afraid I unloaded on him, spelling out in detail all the nighttime annoyances, and I concluded saying something like, “I’ve outgrown this.” Mind you, I said that to Richard (AKA “Uncle Timmy”) Bolgeo, a seasoned and experienced engineer working for TVA at nearby nuclear power plants. He would have none of it.

    “Les! You cannot drop out of fandom until you come to this new little convention we are starting next summer.  We won’t allow unaccompanied high school kids in the door, and we plan to limit the attendance to only a few hundred. It’s a literary con and I’m the chairman. We want our con to feature prominent writers and scientists, and, very importantly, be family friendly. I won’t leave you alone until you say you’ll join us next summer for LibertyCon.” For those that never met Uncle Timmy, he was very persuasive.

    I had no choice but to agree to come to LibertyCon (their first meeting!) that next summer and I am glad I did. Not only did I meet the great L. Sprague & Catherine de Camp, Vincent DiFate, and Bob (“smooth!”) Tucker, but I began a friendship with other guests and people on staff like Klon Newell, Linda Bolgeo, Timothy Zahn, Tish Groller, Kevin Ward, Ron Hogue, Brandy Bolgeo (Timmy’s young daughter and the new chair of LibertyCon – then part of the teen “Brat Pack”), Blake Powers, and many others – all at LibertyCon #1. Since then, my list of fandom friends has grown to include far more people than I can name here and most can share their own memorable "Uncle Timmy" stories.

    There have been more than 34 LibertyCons since then and I have had the privilege to attend almost all of them.

The program book for the first LibertyCon

    Thanks to Uncle Timmy and the great people who organize and run LibertyCon, it is one of my favorite weekends of the year. We are family.

    From LibertyCon, I’ve branched out to other great conventions, mostly in the South, including Constellation (alas, they no longer host an annual con), CONtraflow, and MidSouthCon. I even manage to participate in and enjoy the spectacle that is DragonCon. And yes, my wife now accompanies me to most of these conventions and is an eager participant. They are her family too.

    All this to say, “Thank You Uncle Timmy” for starting and running a con for people like me and for keeping me among my peeps – the people of science fiction fandom. Though Timmy has passed from this world to the great science fiction convention in the sky, his legacy lives on and I am indebted to him.

 

For more information, please visit my website: www.lesjohnsonauthor.com