Jan Howard Finder
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jan howard finder is a prominent American science fiction writer, filker, hostelling tour guide, costumer, production assistant, and fan, who was a guest of honor at the 1993 ConFrancisco. He normally spells his name in lower case, jan howard finder, and his last name is pronounced finn-der. [1] He currently lives in the Albany, New York area, and is considered by many in science fiction fandom to be the epitome of smof (a "behind the scenes" worker).
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[edit] Science fiction
Finder, nick-named "The Wombat," has been a frequent guest at numerous Science Fiction conventions, including Honored Guest at ConFrancisco (the 1993 Worldcon). [2] [3] He has also be Fan Guest of Honor at BYOB-Con 8 (1978), Lastcon 1 (1981, Albany NY), LepreCon 8 (1982), Genericon 1 (1985), NotJustAnotherCon 4 (1988) and Arisia 12 (2001). [2] [4] He was a co-founder of Albacon. [5]
He has been the chairperson at several cons, including two cons specifically dedicated to the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien. [2] He was chair of Albacon in 1996 and of the Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA) 32 in Schenectady, New York in 2001. [2] [4]
Well-known in fannish circles,[6] [7] he was editor of the Fanzine, The Spang Blah. [2] He is, as of 2009, secretary of the Latham-Albany-Schenectady-Troy Science Fiction Association.[8]
The Wombat has been a frequent masquerade judge, [9] [4] costumer [10] charity auctioneer, and speaker on sci-fi con panels, from Arisia and Albacon in the Northeast United States to World Cons [11] [12] and Lunacon 2007. [13] He has mentored other prospective con chairs. [14]
Finder writes in the short-story genre, and his short fiction writing has been published in several anthologies, including The Grapes of Rath (1980) in Microcosmic Tales (1981). [15] [16] [17]
He was editor of Alien Encounters (1982),[18] [19] [20] [21] which is sold on Amazon. [22] [23]
He has achieved that rarest of fannish honors - another writer has named a character for him. [24]
[edit] Tour guide
Finder is well-known for his organized hostelling tours of science-fiction and -fantasy related sites, such as to "Middle-earth" - meaning New Zealand, in which The Lord of the Rings was filmed. [25]
[edit] Production
Finder made an unsuccessful effort to assist with the production of The Lord of the Rings.[citation needed] He did succeed in becoming a production assistant with the 2007 motion picture The Break-Up. [26]
[edit] References
- ^ Pern Characters web site
- ^ a b c d e SciFi Fan Gallery page on Jan Howard Finder
- ^ WorldCon programming cached web site
- ^ a b c LepreCon web site
- ^ Readers Advice web site
- ^ Sci Fi Fan Photo website
- ^ Fannish Trivia web site
- ^ Latham-Albany-Schenectady-Troy Science Fiction Association website. Accessed October 27, 2009.
- ^ WorldCon 2005 offciail web page program listing
- ^ Costume Con Gallery web page on one of his creations
- ^ World Con 2003 program
- ^ WorldCon 2005 Photo gallery
- ^ LunaCon web site
- ^ Archon web site
- ^ IBList web site
- ^ Diverse Books web site
- ^ Index to Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections
- ^ A Libris web site page on Alien Encounters
- ^ Book-finder.com web site page on Alien Encounters
- ^ Index to Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections page on Alien Encounters
- ^ Diverse Books web site page on Alien Encounters
- ^ Amazon.ca
- ^ Amazon.com
- ^ Pern Character web site
- ^ Lastfa web site discussion
- ^ IMDB site
