WINDY CITY 2018
- On 12 Apr | '2018
Greetings Loyal Airmen, well this year’s Windy City Pulp & Paper Show held in Chicago was a whopping success on all fronts with record attendance and some truly memorable experiences. Hang in there, as promised, we took a bunch of photos and want to share them with you plus some truly exciting news. So here we go.
Here are some early shots taken Friday morning as dealers began setting up before the doors open to the general public at 10 A.M.
Pulp shows like Windy City are filled with tons of great pulp, comics, magazines and paperback treasures. Let’s not forget the unique hard to find videos as well. It really is a treasure land of goodies.
And rest assured Airship 27 was in the house. Above is the Air Chief to the left with pal and Art Director Rob Davis. Rob is the guy who whipped up our banner displays. No matter where in the hall you might be, you could always find Airship 27.
The show is also about getting caught up with lots of old friends. From left to right above we have writer Bobby Nash (his first time at Windy City and we were thrilled to see him pop up) Ray Riethmeier, one of Airship 27’s talented proof readers and all around fun guy. Retired college Professor Frank Coffman next to writer Gene Moyers. And finally our very good pal, super artist Doug Klauba. These were just a few of our dear friends that were present.
An annual tradition for our gang at Windy City is to hit up a well known hamburger joint for Friday night dinner. And here we are. Top left pix has (left to right) Bobby, Air Chief, Wayne Reinagel, Van Plexico and Rob Davis. Ray took the picture. In the subsequent selfie to the right, that’s Ray upper left side joining the madcap merriment.
After dinner it was back to the con to MC the annual Pulp Factory Awards, which Rob and the Air Chief have the pleasure of doing every year. One of the first winners was Bobby for Best Short Story. Below is a list of all the winners and illustrations from whence the stories and art came.
2018 PULP FACTORY AWARDS OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
On Friday evening April 6th, the ninth annual Pulp Factory Awards were announced at the Windy City Pulp and Paper Show.
Best Pulp Novel- Pulp Heroes: Sanctuary Fall
Best Pulp Cover- Holmes & Houdini by Chad Hardin
Best Pulp Short Story- “Takedown” The Ruby Files V2, Bobby Nash
Best Pulp Interior Illustrations- The Ruby Files V2- Nik Poliwko
Best Pulp Anthology- The Ruby Files V2 -Ron Fortier.
In addition Ron Fortier was awarded the first “Grand Master Award” chosen by the awards committee for service to New Pulp above and beyond. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners of the awards. Kudos to all!
Clowning around after the ceremonies, the Air Chief represented award for Best Anthology, with Bobby for Best Short Story and Wayne for Best Novel. Sadly Chad Hardin (best pulp cover) and Nik Poliwko (best interior illustrations) couldn’t join us. Their awards will be mailed to them withing the next few days.
Above is a picture of the first ever Pulp Factory Award for PULP GRAND MASTER which totally surprised the Air Chief and for a few moments, standing in front of that gathering, we were speechless. Something that doesn’t happen often, as our colleagues will attest to. This is truly a singular honor, one will be never forget and do our best to be worthy of the years ahead. A heartfelt thank to the members of the Award Committee. Apparently this award will not be an annual event, but only awarded when merited by a member of the New Pulp community. Believe me Loyal Airmen, this will soon have a place of honor in my office.
Finally it was Sunday and time for New Pulp Sunday, wherein New Pulp writers and artists are featured on various panels to discuss their craft and the world of New Pulp. The first such was themed “Crime in Pulps,” and above are a few pictures. Going to left to right we had moderator, Ed Catto, then writers Dale Cozort, Fred Adams Jr. and Michael Black. This was truly a fun and highly entertaining talk.
For those not in the know, panelist Michael Black, a retired police officer, has written several Executioner and Mack Bolan paperbacks, of course using the house name of Don Pendleton who created that 60s modern pulp hero. Here he and Ed show off several of his titles.
And our second panel of the day was themed “Sword & Sorcery in the Pulps.” Seated left to right were Howard Jones, writer/editor/publisher, writers David C. Smith (of Red Sonja paperback fame) Andy Fix and last but not least, our moderator, Gordon Dymowski. Again, another great panel that proved to be lots of fun for those lucky enough to attend.
And within hours of the last panel, the show was closing up. Another great one finished. The old adage of hour time flies when one is having fun is never truer than at the Windy City Pulp & Paper Show. To all our Loyal Airmen who were there and joined in the merriment, our heartfelt thanks. And special kudos to con promoters Doug Ellis and John Gunnison. As ever we are left with tons of amazing memories. Here’s hoping we’ll see YOU there next year.
Ron – Over & Out!