January 2012 Heinlein Society President Mike Sheffield’s updates::
Our trip to Renovation (the 69th World Science Fiction convention in Reno, NV) was a tremendous success. We were well received there, and signed up 10 new members during the course of the convention, and a number of others have become members since after discovering us there. We had a lot of interesting discussions with Heinlein fans who stopped by the table. On the first day of the convention a fan named Rich Wood stopped by the table, sporting a most interesting tattoo. TANSTAAFL. Definitely a great conversation starter. A fan by the name of Bruce Lee came by on the third day of the convention and donated half a dozen Heinlein paperback books, all signed by Heinlein at various convention blood drives where Bruce had given blood. Paying It Forward, then and now.
The art work display was also very popular. As I mentioned in our last newsletter, we have three paintings that were formerly owned by the Robert and Ginny: a Chesley Bonestell moonscape, a portrait of Nichelle Nichols as Uhura by Kelly Freas, and the original interior art for “The Green Hills of Earth” by Fred Ludekens, which was published in The Saturday Evening Post. Many people at the convention expressed their appreciation at being able to see these paintings in person. We plan to show them at future conventions, while continuing to look for a more permanent venue for them.
Friday afternoon we had our annual membership meeting. You can read more about that in Keith Kato’s report on the convention in the newsletter.
On Friday night of con, we hosted our first ever open party at a Worldcon, which was well attended and very well received. We had intended to close down at midnight, but things were so lively that we didn’t start shooing people out until one. A number of people who stopped by the table during the remainder of the con made a point of telling us how much they enjoyed the party.
In other news, the Society will be offering two $1,000 scholarships for the 2012-2013 academic year, criteria for application to be announced shortly. We hope to be able to offer more an larger scholarships in the coming years as the Society grows. We are also offering a $500 prize for the best Heinlein paper presented at the PCA/ACA (Pop Culture Association/American Culture Association) conference next April in Boston.
Finally, we note with sadness the passing, in early October, of a long time member of the Society, Stephen Charles Jordan. Mr. Jordan was one of our earliest members, having joined the Society in July of 2001. He will be missed. We have been notified by the attorney handling his estate that Mr. Jordan honored us in his will, along with the Boy Scouts of America and the National Rifle Association. I think Heinlein would have approved of his choices.
July 2011, Heinlein Society President Mike Sheffield’s updates:
One thousand “I Grok Heinlein” ribbons have been ordered to give away at Renovation. Stop by The Heinlein Society fan table to pick up yours. We also have more of our “Pay It Forward” ribbons for Society members and volunteers.
There are enough donors signed up for the blood drive to go ahead, but we’d still like more. See information the Blood Drives page for how you can make your donation pledge. We’ll have copies of Bill Patterson’s “A Martian Named Smith” to give away as donor incentives, and probably some other Heinlein books, as well.
In the Renovation Art Show, we’ll be displaying three rare paintings the Heinleins owned, along with copies of the publications in which they originally appeared: March 4, 1946 Life magazine (A moonscape by Chesley Bonestell); February 8, 1947 Saturday Evening Post (“Green Hills of Earth” by Fred Ludekens); Program Book from the January, 1976 New York Star Trek Convention (“Uhura” by Kelly Freas).
Uhura by Kelly Freas on the wall of Heinlein's Bonny Doon home
February 2011, Heinlein Society President Mike Sheffield’s updates::
February 20, 2011— In recent years our membership has waned, and we will be focusing a great deal on increasing membership outreach and growth. We will be looking for volunteers to help pay it forward by helping to recruit new members. If you haven’t paid your 2010 dues yet, please do!
As part of the process of appraising several paintings which were donated to the Society after Ginny’s death, we have uncovered an interesting history of each. A portrait of Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Uhura, which was part of a set of seven “Officers of the Bridge”, painted by Kelly Freas was also once displayed in the Smithsonian Institute as part of a Star Trek exhibit. “The Green Hills of Earth”, by Fred Ludekens, was painted to accompany the publication of that story in The Saturday Evening Post in 1947. And a moonscape, painted by Chesley Bonestell, was part of a group of eleven which were published in the March 4, 1946 edition of Life Magazine as part of an article titled “A Trip to the Moon by Rocket”.
July 2010, The Heinlein Society announces:
July 26, 2010— The Heinlein Society announced today that Robert A. Heinlein Blood Drive Chair, Mike Sheffield, has been elected President/Chairman of the Society, replacing former president David M. Silver effective immediately. “The Board voted David our thanks for his long service, and I am honored that they have chosen me to succeed him to lead the Society forward,” said the new president.
In explaining why the choice for Mr. Silver’s successor fell to Mr. Sheffield, fellow board member Keith Kato reported, “Mike immediately seemed like the obvious choice. Everyone inside and outside the Society respects his long service, and the leadership and community-building he has exhibited over the years in leading a great group of volunteers to collecting over 7,400 pints of blood as part of the Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Blood Drive.” Added Mr. Kato, “Of course, any time you have a transition to new leadership, it creates the opportunity to re-examine your priorities and make adjustments in the way you operate going forward — I think you’ll see more of that from The Heinlein Society in the months ahead.”
Mike Sheffield, 50, works in the aerospace industry, and has been involved in every Worldcon blood drive since 2000, leading THS blood drive committee since 2001. Mr. Sheffield has served on the board of directors since June, 2006.
