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Sad News

Those who were at Satellite 1 will recall that At The Sign Of The Dragon, who had been planning do join us on the day to sell books, were unable to do so because Marion van der Voort had been taken to hospital in Dumfries in the night preceding the con. At the time, this was all the information we had. Later we heard that she had had double pneumonia.

Richard Van Der Voort says that after being very ill, and spending some time in intensive care, her condition improved and she was transferred to a community hospital in Newton Stewart. She wanted to be at home for Christmas, and with the help of her GP (to arrange oxygen, etc.) this was sorted out, and she got home on Christmas Eve. She was enjoying sitting in front of a log fire and chatting to several friends who phoned up.

Unfortunately, Marion had a relapse on Christmas Day. The GP attended, but her breathing became steadily poorer, and she drifted into sleep and then coma. She died on the evening of December 26th. Richard, Jamie and two nurses were with her. She had told her doctor that she wanted to stay home, come what may.

Regarding the funeral arrangements, Richard says:

Marion is being cremated at her request on Monday the 7th of January at 1pm in Dumfries. It will be a small, private ceremony for family and close friends. Regarding flowers, apart from those closest to us could you give a little money to charity instead? Marion's own favorite charities were the Lifeboat Institute or a charity which helps disabled service men and their families. If you live outside the British Isles, a local equivalent or your own preference would be just as good. The business will be closed until after the funeral. Thereafter I will carry on as well as I can.
On behalf of everyone who was involved with Satellite 1, I would like to express our deepest condolences to Richard at this time.

DC

Post-con release

That was Satellite 1, that was.

As far as I could see, people were having a good time, enjoying the panels, talks and games. (Anyone who was not hid it well.) They were certainly enjoying the real ale, which was drunk by the closing ceremony. Thanks to everyone who came, to everyone who took part in the programme, helped out with gophering and stewarding, and in particular to Ken MacLeod, who was a superb Guest of Honour.

No plan survives contact with the enemy, of course, and there were things which did not go to plan. The most serious of these was that at 07:30 we received the news that At The Sign Of The Dragon would not be with us since Marion van der Voort had been taken to hospital. We still have no more information about how serious this is, but we send our best wishes to her and Richard at this time.

Initial indications are that the con did better than break even. That's not, for us, the major indicator of whether or not it was a success, but it is A Good Thing. What really matters was whether or not it was a good day with interesting and enjoyable programme items. We hope it was.

Thanks again to everyone who made the day what it was.

DC

2007/10/06: Due to a sudden illness, Marion van der Voort and At The Sign of the Dragon will be unable to attend the convention


2007/09/30: Our one and only Progress Report is now available on the Live Journal.


2007/09/21: Sydney Jordan will not now be able to join us owing to personal circumstances. The Politburo would like to express their regret that he cannot join us and extend our best wishes to him at this time.


2007/08/29: We have made an arrangement with Kelburn Brewery to supply bottled Real Ale to the convention.


2007/07/30: We have a programme update! See here for details.


2007/07/20: The well-known SF bookshop At The Sign Of The Dragon will be at the con and can bring advanced orders for collection.


2007/04/10: Sydney Jordan, author of the Jeff Hawke cartoon, has agreed to be our special guest.


2007/03/16: The committee are delighted to announce that the Guest of Honour at Satellite 1 will be the well-known Scottish SF author Ken MacLeod


Satellite 1 is progressing well, Comrades!

Our Commissar of Programming has already got an impressive list of potential speakers and items for panels and talks. However, we do need more, especially on the SF side of the programme. Anyone who wishes to volunteer to speak or take part in a panel, or who has an idea which they think would be interesting or fun should get in touch via this address: Satellite1.programme@googlemail.com.

However, a minor glitch did arise in which the wrong version of the membership form was uploaded to this web site, containing erroneous address information. This has now been fixed. The correct address has a G4 postcode: if you have a form with a G3 postcode, you have the wrong one!

Rest assured that the saboteurs attempting to derail the Satellite 1 project have been dealt with, though our policy of maintaining clones in freezer units behind the nearest wall does mean that this shall not be immmediately obvious to capitalist imperialist spies!

[Edited from the full five-and-a-half hour speech by the General Secretary to the Praesidium. Rest assured that the person who presumed to remove 325 minutes extolling our glorious convention has been dealt with!]