Isaac Asimov 100th Birthday Meetup

This meetup celebrated the hundredth birthday of the science and science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. It took place on Saturday January 4th at 2pm, at the New York City College of Technology (home of Science Fiction at City Tech), in room A105 in the Academic Building, 285 Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Our thanks to City Tech for hosting us, and to Professor Jason Ellis and Dean Justin Vazquez-Poritz for their support.

Our Guest of Honor was Sheila Williams, Hugo-award winning editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. Other panelists were:

• Noted filk musician Erwin S. (Filthy Pierre) Strauss, author of the SF Convention Calendar in Asimov's magazine, and E. Everett Evans “Big Heart” Award winner.
• Andrew Porter, Hugo-award winning news magazine editor. He may be familiar to New York fandom for his fanzines and semi-prozines Algol, Starship, S.F. Weekly, and Science Fiction Chronicle. He was assistant editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, associate editor at Lancer Books, on the central committee of the 1967 Worldcon (NYCon 3), and Fan Guest of Honor at the 1990 Worldcon, ConFiction.
• Olga Miroshnychenko, biochemist and adjunct professor at City Tech (prepared remarks).

Moderator: Flash Sheridan (prepared remarks)

Photo by Ludmilla Genkin

Video

Audio files

Automated and highly inaccurate transcripts: Panel, Questions

Original letter to Editor Williams

Asimov Links

• Permalink: http://tiny.cc/asimov100/
• Asimov Centennial page at Science Fiction at City Tech: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/sciencefictionatcitytech/2020/01/20/isaac-asimov-centennial-meetup-at-city-tech-on-jan-4-2020/
• Email: asimov100@pobox.com
• This group’s Meetup page: https://www.meetup.com/Asimov-Centennial-Meetup
• The New York City Sci-Fi/Fantasy Meetup Group: https://www.meetup.com/scifi-22/
• This page: http://flash-sheridan.name/asimov100
• Sheila Williams’ editorial on Dr Asimov’s centennial, including a mention of this meetup. Announcement from the Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine Twitter account
• Poster: http://flash-sheridan.name/asimov100.png & http://flash-sheridan.name/asimov100.pdf. Portrait by Rowena Morrill (Gnu license)
• Fancyclopedia page: http://fancyclopedia.org/Asimov_Centennial_Meetup
• Discussion: http://bit.ly/Asimov100
• Twitter hashtags: #Asimov100, #CityTechSF, and #ScienceFictionDay
• Asimov Online
• An Annotated Asimov Bibliography by Steven Cooper
• Where did Isaac Asimov live?
• Panel at Loscon 46 on “The Asimov Centenary”: http://file770.com/my-life-at-loscon-part-3/
• Dr Asimov’s FBI file
• 2020 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate | Alien Life
• Isaac Asimov Centennial panel at HELIOsphere

New York Area Science Fiction Links

Moving to http://fancyclopedia.org/New_York#New_York_Area_Science_Fiction_Links.

(Suggestions or corrections to flash@pobox.com.)

Conventions and Meetings

• HELIOsphere - Facebook
• Science Fiction at City Tech Annual Symposium
• The New York City Sci-Fi/Fantasy Meetup Group: https://www.meetup.com/scifi-22/ (the first Tuesday of each month)
• NYC Fantasy and Sci-Fi Book Club Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/fsfbookclub
• The New York Review of Science Fiction readings (usually the first Tuesday of each month)
• KGB Bar Fantastic Fiction reading series (the third Wednesday of each month)
• Lunacon - Facebook
• Downstate New York Geek Events

Publications

• Analog Science Fiction and Fact Upcoming Events
• The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
• Asimov’s Science Fiction Conventional Calendar
• The New York Review of Science Fiction
• Hour of the Wolf (WBAI)
• City Tech Science Fiction Collection

Stores

• Books of Wonder - Events (mostly for children)
• Forbidden Planet NYC (mostly comics, film, and TV)