Sci-fi fans to descend on San Jose for Worldcon
San Jose will be the epicenter for science fiction fandom this summer when it hosts the 76th edition of Worldcon, an international sci-fi extravaganza. And to kick off the Worldcon frenzy, convention organizers hosted an event Saturday in San Jose to announce the finalists for the Hugo Awards, the genre’s Oscars, Emmys and Pulitzers all rolled into one.
“Worldcon is the World’s Fair of fandom,” said Kevin Roche, chairman of Worldcon 76. “It’s a little bit of everything: Books, comics, art, films, television, the whole works and we come together to build our own little village.”
The World Science Fiction Convention started in 1939 right outside the World’s Fair in New York. The Hugo Awards were first given at the convention in 1953 and have been a major focus ever since. The gathering draws creators and fans from around the world tend — “Game of Thrones” author George
R.R. Martin is a regular attendee — but it is very grassroots and focused on sci-fi compared to the Hollywood/ pop culture fests that comic book conventions have become.
To kick off Worldcon 76, the finalists for this year’s Hugo Awards were announced Saturday at the “Star Wars”-themed 7 Stars Bar & Grill on
Bascom Avenue.
The full list of finalists can be found at www. worldcon76.org, along with finalists for this year’s Retro Hugos, which will honor work created in 1942 and includes stories by Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein along with classic films like “Bambi,” “Cat People” and “Ghost of Frankenstein.”
Roche, who wore a purple cosmos suit and had his hair done in a mohawk for the announcement, said it as exciting to have the opportunity to present what would have been the 1943 awards. “I started doing research and discovered some of my favorite science fiction as a kid dated from 1942,” he said. “There were so many pulp magazines then and they had so much art on the covers that was really amazing.”
Worldcon76 takes place Aug. 16-20 at the McEnery Convention Center, and you can get more information on attending at www.worldcon76.org.
FROM STOCKTON TO SPACE SHUTTLE >> Retired NASA astronaut Jose Hernandez, a teenage farmworker who grew up to fly on the space shuttle, said Monday that today’s youth concerned about the political situation in the United States should put their energy into education. “Right now is the time for you guys to get the job done in terms of your education,” said Hernandez, who wore his blue astronaut jumpsuit. “Never give up on yourselves.”
Hernandez told stories about growing up in Stockton a family of farmworkers who spent three months a year in Mexico at the Chavez Family Vision’s annual Cesar E. Chavez Scholarship Breakfast at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose. “The only reason I was born here is because I was born in August, the peak of harvest season,” the Stockton native said.
After watching the Apollo 17 mission on TV in 1972 when he was 10, Hernandez told his parents about his dream to reach the stars. They emphasized the importance of education and perseverance, lessons the 55-year-old continues to share with young people. “My dad made me believe I could reach that dream,” he said.
Former Los Angeles Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa received the group’s ¡Si, Se Puede! Award at the breakfast. The Chavez Family Vision board of directors — including Chavez’s sisters, Rita Chavez Medina, and his niece, Barbara Medina-Aranda — also introduced this year’s scholarship recipients: Yazmin Garcia of San Benito High School in Hollister, Dalliana Banuelos of Latino College Prep in San Jose, Valeria Rojas of Christopher High in Gilroy and Selene Galvan of Gilroy High.
YOU BET YOUR LIFE HE’S GOOD >> Frank Ferrante, who has performed the role of Groucho Marx more than 2,500 times, will be bringing this solo show, “An Evening With Groucho” to 3Below in San Jose on Friday and Saturday.
Ferrante’s association with the classic comedian began when he was a drama student at USC in 1985 and made Marx the subject of his senior project. He invited Groucho’s son, Arthur Marx, to the performance and the younger Marx thought he did such a great job that he re-wrote “Groucho: A Life in Revue” for Ferrante, who — in his early 20s — played the role in New York and London.
Tickets for the two-act, 90-minute show are available at www.3belowtheaters.com.