Greetings, Loyal Airmen.  The Air Chief has always believed that no act of kindness ever goes unrewarded in this world. No matter how small that kindness may be, one never knows how it may some day come back to you.  Which is what happened recently to the Air Chief.  You see, long ago back in the early 80s we were writing the second Volume of Green Hornet adventures for Now Comics.  At that particular time there was no regular art team assigned to the book and it seemed like every other issue there was a new artist on board.  Now most of these were professionals we had heard of in the business and then there were the new kids whose names were totally alien to us.  Such was the case with issue # 21 titled The Return of Mr.Death.

             
                 Green Hornet # 21 Vol. Two
We were told by our editor that a new kid, one Joe Bennett, would be drawing that particular issue.  Okay, all well and good.  Several months later the book is published and for the first time we saw Mr. Bennett's work. And we liked it, a whole lot.  There was something really original about his style with both pencil and inks.  Delighted by his work on that single issue, we wrote him a letter telling him so and sent it off to him via the publisher.  End of story.  As far as we were concerned you see, because Joe never did another issue of the Green Hornet.  Eventually the series and Now folded and all of us moved on.

As time passed, we did lots of other comics and eventually drifted out of the industry to devote ourselves to prose writing etc. and quite frankly we never heard the name Joe Bennett again.  And had absolutely no clue as to what had happened to him.  Until two weeks ago when out of the blue Joe sends us an e-mail asking if we would like to join him in creating an original science fiction adventure comic project that he has been working on for the past ten years called Neutral World.  At first we honestly didn't recognize who he was, although the name struck a faint bell in our memory gray cells.  Joe mentioned how we had sent him a letter and how much it had meant to him and now he very much wanted to work with us again.  Oh, and in his second letter he send along some artwork.

           
                                    Art From NEUTRAL WORLD by Joe Bennett
And our eyes widened in sheer amazement.  Above is just one of the awesome illustrations Joe sent us.  Well, Loyal Airmen, by now the Air Chief was really-really curious as to who this guy was and what he had been doing the last eighteen years since that long ago Green Hornet comic.  So we surfed over to the internet and lo and behold we discovered some pretty fantastic things about Mr.Joe Bennett.  Bron in 1968, his real name is Benedito Jose Nascimento and he hails from Belem in Brazil.  He obviously changed his name to appease American publishers.  He is a self-taught artist and for the past eighteen years has had a remarkable professional career having worked on such characters as Spider-Man, Captain American, Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, Teen Titans, Hawkman, Birds of Prey and many, many others.  He is considered one of the finest comic book artist in the business today.

Which is why we were bowled upon learning of Joe's truly great career.  Off all the pro comic writers out there he could have tapped to work on this, his personal dream project, he came to us.  Why?  Because Joe is at heart a sentimental guy and he always remembered his first ever comic book gig and the nice letter he got from that writer telling him how good an artist he was.  And that, Loyal Airmen is a hell of a moral to remember.  Right now, Joe and the Air Chief are packaging Joe's notes into a workable presentation package and we have a great comic book publisher very interested in seeing it once done.  So hang in there, keep your fingers crossed for us and we will keep you posted as NEUTRAL WORLD moves ahead.

Jumping further back into the Way-Back Time Machine, we wonder how many of you remember a wonderful movie called THE GOONIES.  Written by Chris Columbus and directed by Richard Donner, it is the stories of a bunch of kids who lived in the Goon Dock neighborhood of Astoria, Oregon in 1985.  When the city starts making plans to raze the neighborhood for whatever reasons, the gang, led by actors Sean Austin and Corey Feldman decide to find the treasure of a 17th Century pirate named One-Eyed Willy and save the day.  The movie, produced by Steven Spielberg, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.  We tell you all this because our daughter Michelle and her family gave the Air Chief a Goonies tee-shirt for Father's Day a few weeks back and we love it.

           
                       The Big Goonie
All of which got us thinking, why hasn't Spielberg and company gotten around to doing a sequel?  There had been some talk a few years ago that someone wanted to do a “remake.”  Which we find stupid. All they would have to do is bring back the original kid cast, now all grown up and with their own sons and daughters who would naturally become the “new” Goonies.  It such as logical progression.  We mentioned this idea over on Facebook and many, many friends chimed in affirmatively.  So come on, Spielberg, give us GOONIES 2!!

And with that we wrap it up for this weekend.  HAPPY 4th of JULY to all our Loyal Airmen and God Bless America.  She's still young as ever.
Ron – Over & Out.

Greeting Loyal Airmen.  First up, I want to thank all of you who wrote concerning my Father's Day entry last week.  It seems like the theme of Dads & Cowboys was a very familiar one with many of you and some of your stories and comments were marvelous and touching. Thanks so very much.  This week we are going to be talking again on our favorite topic, family, in a rather special way.

But before we do that, we have to report that the Sanford Maine Stage Theater's new production of our play, Where Love Takes You had to be postponed.  Our directors simply could not fill the large cast required in time to put on the show for their targeted July dates.  So they are going to reshuffle their schedule and do a series of smaller shows and come September, revisit the situation.  Hopefully by then they will have made numerous connections with various acting groups in the area and the casting will not be a problem.  It was disappointing news, but again, only a bump in the road.  As the pros say, the Show must go on!!

                     
                                    Our Cousin Ada
Coming from a huge French Canadian clan, we grew up with literally dozens of cousins on both sides of my family. Our Mom was one of ten kids and so you can imagine the number of children born to my generation. One such was my cousin, Elaine.  Only a year younger than the Air Chief, Elaine and we older cousins grew up together.  After high school, she joined the Air Force to see the world.  There she met a civilian contractor named Dennis and fell in love.  They had several children, the oldest a daughter named Karen.  Karen grew up, married and gave them a sweet granddaughter named Ada.  Tomorrow, Ada will appear as one of the children of the main cast in the new Adam Sandler comedy, GROWN UPS.  Mom had told us all this months before we ran into Cousin Elaine a few months ago at a local restaurant.  When we told her we'd heard about her granddaughter's movie, she reached into her purse and whipped out the postcard you see above.  Talk about one proud grandmother.   So, tomorrow morning, Val and the Air Chief are picking up Mom at her home and driving to the cineplex to watch and cheer on our cousin Ada.  We now have a movie star in the family.  That is just so cool.

                
                           PROF. I.V. FROST  & JEAN MORAY
On the creative front, we've been busy knocking out a second Frost comic script for Moonstone.  In fact today we learned that our first 12 pg. Frost adventure, art by the talented Jake Minor (that's his work above) will be the back up feature in Moonstone's new Secret Agent X title.  The Air Chief will keep you posted when the title is solicited.  Writing this little known pulp hero has proven to be a real treat and we are having fun chronicling his new adventures with his lovely and brilliant assistant, Miss Jean Moray.

Lastly, after much procrastination, we have indeed begun writing a new Captain Hazzard novel.  When finished this will be the fifth in the series.  If we've already announced this, please forgive the Air Chief.  So many things are happening all at the same time, it's easy to forget an item or two.  Ha.  Speaking of which, as yet still no takers on the house, but we remain optimistic.  We opened our in-ground pool this morning and all the real estate people who have seen the property agree that pool is a major asset.  We tend to go along with that, especially for a family with young children.  All our kids and grand kids learned to swim in that pool.  Like the house, it contains lots of great memories. 

There you have it for another week, Loyal Airmen.  Thanks ever for dropping by and we'll see you next week.
Ron – Over & Out!

Greeting Loyal Airmen, sorry we are late getting this week's Flight Log up and running.  Seems our servers have been getting zapped by shifting power surges.  Our son, Scott, runs those servers and he lives down in Conn. where all this funky electrical stuff has been going on.  So here it is Friday afternoon and we're hoping we can log this in before another such surge shuts him down again.  Here we go.

             
                 Mom & Dad 1945
What with Father's Day coming up this Sunday, the Air Chief's thoughts have been giving this fatherhood thing a lot of thought.  He was blessed from the get go with one of the greatest dads ever, George J. Fortier.  Sadly he passed away in 1976, and although he lived to see Scott, Kevin and Heather born, he never had the chance to be a grandfather to them.  Which is one of the reasons the Air Chief wrote that play about how he and Mom met and fell and love.  So that my own children might get to know him a little bit better.  Most boys do grow up idolizing their dads and memorizing in their hearts all the stories they tell them.  The Air Chief was no exception and recently the U.S Post Office has been instrumental in helping us relive one of those facts.

You see, when George Fortier was a teenager he got a job as an usher in the local movie house.  That would have been in the mid-1930s and he loved it because he loved the movies and now got to see them for free.  Easily his favorite genre was westerns and his favorite cowboy actor was Tom Mix.

         
               Western Super Star Tom Mix
Dad would go on and on about Mix and his Wonder Horse Tony and the fact that they once made a personal appearance in the nearby town of Rochester when he was very young.  Over the years Dad would become a fan of all the great cowboy stars from Randolff Scott and Joel McCrea to the Duke, John Wayne.  But in his heart, there was never anyone to hold a candle to Tom Mix.  

             
So you Loyal Airmen can all imagine the Air Chief's thrill when a few months ago the U.S. Post Office released a set of commemorative stamps entitled Cowboys of the Silver Screen, and they featured four of the greatest ever, William S.Hart, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and ….Tom Mix.   You better believe the Air Chief went right and bought several sheets immediately.  It is such a joy when slapping them on an envelope.  We never look at the Mix stamp without thinking,  “Gee, Dad would have loved these.”

It is funny what little things will bring back the memories of our loved ones.  So as we near this particular family orientated holiday, we want to wish a special Happy Father's Day to sons Alan, Scott and son-in-law Chris, three of the BEST DADS we know.  These men are terrific husbands and loving fathers to our six grand kids. Our family is so blessed to have them and they carry on a rich tradition we are all so very proud off.

To all you Loyal Airmen who are dads, especially my pal and partner, Rob Davis, God Bless you and continue to guide you as you watch over and protect our most precious treasures of all, our kids. 

Ron – Over & Out.

Greetings Loyal Airmen, as promised, we are releasing our newest pulp title today. But before we get to that, we've another story to relate to you. One so dear and precious to both Valerie and the Air Chief.  Over seventeen years ago, our daughter, Michelle, gave birth to a daughter, our very first grandchild.  She named her Kristi Valori Leclerc.  Valori is a combination of her grandmother's name (Val) and her great-grandmother's name, Lorraine (Lori).  She was born late at night and Val was at the hospital with Michelle and her husband, Chris, for the delivery. By the time she drove home it was after midnight and she was happily exhausted.  The next morning she rested while the Air Chief jumped into his Toyota pick-up truck and headed out to the hospital to meet his new granddaughter.  As he drove, he said a special prayer that he be allowed to be a special part of this new life, that they would form a truly loving bond together.  Ten minutes after arriving at the hospital, the Air Chief was holding little Miss Kristi carefully in his arms.  It was the beginning of a beautiful thing.

              
                      Me & Kristi Go For A Ride
From the day they took her home, Kristi changed all our lives.  Michelle and Chris learned the true joys of parenthood and Val and the Air Chief took to being grandparents like ducks to water.  All four of us, and all the other members of her family, totally surrounded this happy child with unending love from day one.  Kristi's visits to our house were always occasions of unabashed joy and laughter.

          
                             Kristi Takes The Wheel of the Toyota Pick-Up.
As she continued to grow, so did the laughter and joy.  All of us became better people because of her and she continued to bless all our lives with her infectious spirit of happiness.  When she was three, Michelle had their second daughter, Chelsea, and Kristi quickly and easily became a loving Big Sister.  The two of them are still loving sisters who rely and depend on each other without question.  It was just an added dimension to Kristi's personality.

And time just kept rolling along as she started pre-school at Bunny's & Blocks, where the Air Chief would pick her up every Wednesday at noon and they would go to lunch at the nearby McDonald's.  Then came regular school and she excelled.  Was there ever any doubt.  Then she was playing soccer and softball and still getting all As.  Middle school came and went and suddenly she was in highly school and going to proms.  It was a whirlwind ride for all of us.

          
                                        Miss Kristi Valori Leclerc – High School Graduate
On Saturday night, 12 June 2010, our Kristi will graduate from Noble High School Suma Cum Laude. You can well imagine the excitement our entire family is going through.  Kristi has grown into a beautiful, intelligent, wise and truly loving young woman.  As the Air Chief writes these words, he can't help but wonder where did all those years go?  How did that curly-haired muppet he sat on his lap turn into this engaging creature?  And no, dear Loyal Airmen, we don't feel old. We feel blessed, and we thank the Good Lord for answering our special prayer on that ride to the hospital so many years ago.   In a few months she'll be attending the University of New Hampshire, a college student.  Good luck, Princess, me and Mem love you so very, very much.  Thank you for making the past 17 years so wonderful.

Val and the Air Chief have six amazing grand kids.  All of them are gifts from God and family truly is the greatest treasure this world can offer any of us.  We pray all you Loyal Airmen are equally blessed.  And now to the long awaited release of Airship 27 Productions 27th pulp title – BLACK BAT MYSTERY.

This book features four brand new, action packed stories starring this classic pulp hero said to have inspired many comic book heroes like DC's Batman and Marvel's Daredevil.  Writers Andrew Salmon, Aaron Smith, Frank Schildiner and Mark Justice, each pits the night avenger against a series of colorful and deadly foes.  With his unique ability to see in the dark, he will answer each challenge with both courage and blazing .45 automatics.  These stories of pure pulp fun start to finish. The cover is by Mark Maddox, design and interior illustrations by Rob Davis. And as usual, the book is available right now at our on-line store.  Simply click on to the dirigible logo to the left of this column.

So 27 books in our catalog for Airship 27 Productions. That's a good feeling. But we aren't about to quit just yet. All of us, writers and artists, are having way too much fun bringing these books to all you Loyal Airmen. And there you have it, as this very, very special weeks wraps up for the Air Chief and his family. Take care, do good deeds and appreciate your loved ones every single day.  You can never thank them enough for their love.  See you in seven.

Ron – Over & Out.

Greetings Loyal Airmen.  Sadly we cannot announce the release of our new BLACK BAT MYSTERY pulp book this week as he had hoped.  Our dedicated proof-reader, Charles Saunders, ran into some PC problems that forced him to have to go back to square one and this simply put us off track. So keep your fingers crossed we'll have it for you next week.  Meanwhile we never did get around to showing you all our photos from our wonderful trip to Chicago after the Windy City Con. And there were a few the Air Chief really wanted to share with you.

             
                      AT WRIGLEY FIELD
As you all know, the Air Chief is a baseball fan and every years cheers on the home team, the Boston Red Sox. One of the joys of this franchise is that they play in one of the oldest stadiums still in operation, Fenway Park.  Another in this select history is the Chicago Cubs' Wrigley Field and the opportunity to catch a game there was too good to pass up.  God bless our daughter, Heather, who got us tickets to a Monday night game against the Washington Nationals.  Heather lives within walking distance of the ballpark.  Above is a shot of the two of us taken by Val, as we wait to get in.

          
                                       Heather & The Air Chief at Wrigley Field
The night was a pure blast, not too hot or cold. Perfect for a ballgame.  The crowd was totally into the game and we really loved being there.  The Cubs fans have a wonderful tradition. If the team wins, they all stand up at the end of the game and sing a special song to them.  Thousands of fans in one voice, singing to their team.  Both Val and the Air Chief were really touched by this wonderful moment of fan appreciation.

And the other very cool thing awaited us outside, when we turned around and saw the brightly lit neon letters announcing the team's victory.  We will never forget our first trip to Wrigley and the fun we had there.  And we can't think of a better way to close out our Chicago trip but with the cheer, GO CUBS!!!

On to another very cool topic.  One of the Air Chief's all time favorite comic book heroes has always been Captain America.  Created during World War II by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, he was the ultimate patriotic hero for young boys and girls during those difficult times.  When Stan Lee and Kirby brought him back in the early 1960s as part of their super team, the Avengers, this young 13 yr. comic fan was in his glory.  Cap soon became my number one comic hero.  Now as all of you know, Marvel has been bringing all their fantastic characters to movie life what with such hits as the Spiderman movies, the X-Men films and most recently the highly successful Ironman pictures with Robert Downey Jr.  Coming up next will be a big screen adaption of their Norse God hero, THOR.  Then some time next year, 2012, under the helm of director Joe Johnson, we are at long last going to get, CAPTAIN AMERICA -The First Avenger.

The Air Chief has been a huge fan of Joe Johnson since he made his directorial debut with the great comic book movie, The Rocketeer, and we are convinced he will do justice to our red, white and blue warrior. A few days ago the studio released several illustrations which depict actor Chris Evans wearing the official Captain America costume as it will be done in the movie.  We could not have been happier.

             
            The Movie Captain America
The costume is a truly fitting adaption of his star-spangled look, done with much respect to Kirby's original drawings in the comics. The movie will be set in WW II, as it should, depicting Cap's battling his dreaded foe, the Nazi fiend Red Skull, to be played by Hugo Weaving.  When the Air Chief sees all these great comic book movies, the 13 yr old kid inside truly is yelling for joy. These are really fun times to be a comic book lover.

And there you have it, Loyal Airmen.  We hope your own summer has gotten off to a great start. See you all back here next week. Till then, take care,
Ron- Over & Out.

       
                              ARLINGTON   NATIONAL  CEMETERY

Greeting Loyal Airmen.  Well, here we go rolling into the unofficial start of the summer season with the Memorial Day weekend.  With good weather predicted throughout most of the country, Americans everywhere will be stoking up the grills, playing baseball, hitting the beaches and just having lots of good old fashion fun with friends and family.  The Air Chief hopes to be among these having a good time, but at the same time, as Monday rolls around, we will also be find time to reflect on the actual purpose of this holiday of remembrance.  It is a time for all Americans to recall those brave men and women in uniform who paid the ultimate sacrifice in protecting our cherished way of life.  From the Revolution, through the various wars and campaigns, Americas soldiers, sailors and marines have given their all for our country.  It is only right that we take one day a year to dwell on their sacrifices and offer a silent prayer of thank.  Then we should all recommit ourselves to the same grand ideal they so courageously fought and died for, liberty and justice for all mankind.  Amen.

Barring any major catastrophes, Airship 27 Productions should be announcing the release of our 27th title next week, BLACK BAT MYSTERY.  As we don't want to give away the gorgeous cover by Mark Maddox, we thought we'd whet your appetite with this excellent back cover illustration by art director, Rob Davis inspired by a black and white illustration by Ver Curtiss. This is going to be a great title.  Stay tuned, official announcement coming next week.

We also want to thank all you Loyal Airmen who were kind enough to write and congratulate us on the re-staging of our play, Where Love Takes You.   A few days ago we stopped by the Sanford Maine Stage Company and met with our old friends, directors Mary Stair and David Goodwin. They, like us, are very, very excited about doing the show again.  Play dates have been set and the company will do four performances between 22nd and 25th of July.  The first three Thur.-Fri-Sat) will be 8 PM evening showings and the last on Sunday the 25th, will be a 2 PM Matinee.  Note, should any of you Loyal Airmen be vacationing in the area, we'd love to have you come and see the show.  The Air Chief will continue to keep you posted as they begin auditions to fill the cast.

                     
Finally we recently displayed a Green Lama bookmark painted by British artist Mike Fyles as a promotional piece for the new novel GREEN LAMA UNBOUND by Adam Lance Garcia, which we hope to have out within a month or so.  Above is the latest in this collection and it features one of the creepy fishmen who are the minions of the book's villains.  This is a truly amazing pulp adventure and we can't wait to publish it.

So there you have it, Loyal Airmen, for another week.  Thanks as always for stopping by, have a super holiday weekend and do keep our current men and women in uniform in your thoughts and prayers.  They are the ones who make our freedoms possible.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen.  We had promised to both show you more of our Chicago photos and some graphic art this time around and we will be sticking to one half of that plan. Some truly good news has come our way and we've opted to hold off on the Chicago shots a little longer to bring you all up to speed on this wonderful “other” event.

                    
Almost nine years ago, a small community theater group called the Sanford Maine Stage company staged my three act play, WHERE LOVE TAKES YOU.  It is a romantic comedy based on the true story of how my father, George Fortier, met and fell in love with my mother, Gabrielle Richer just prior to World War II.  When the SMS performed it, we actually filled the hall with family, both the Richers and Fortiers, and it was a truly magical night for all of us.  A great cast brought my grandparents and father back to all of us for a few hours and it was nothing short of a miracle.

Since that long ago weekend, we've tried to get the play published but alas, to no success and had honestly given up any thought of ever seeing it staged again.  Then out of the blue, last week, the two directors who put this on, Mary Stair & David Goodwin, wrote me an e-mail inquiring to see if it would be okay for them to produce it again this summer.  We were pretty much in shock those first few seconds of reading their offer. Then we wasted no time in replying affirmatively. Next week, auditions will be held May 26 & 27 at the theater and we hope by then they will have set an actual play date.  As you can well imagine, the Air Chief was wound for sound all week, especially in telling the news to my mother and the rest of the family.  Everyone is thrilled at seeing it done again.  We'll keep you posted once the production and rehearsals get underway.

          
As for comics, check out the gorgeous illustration above announcing the arrival of a new webstrip to be called CHIVALRY, INC.  Created and written by yours truly with art by Canadian artist Olivier Raymond.  This is still months away, but I truly wanted to show off Olivier's beautiful work.  The strip is about a Montreal police detective named Valerie Chevalier, who quits the force to start her own Private Investigation Agency.  There's a whole lot more to the story, but we'll save that for later.  Don't want to give it all away now.

             
And finally, on the pulp front, Airship 27 Productions writer Adam Lance Garcia has finished writing a brand new Green Lama novel entitled GREEN LAMA UNBOUND.  We are in the process of putting it together now, and it will feature a cover by British artist supreme, Mike Fyles.  To help promote the book, Adam and Mike got the idea to do up a special Green Lama Unboud bookmark.  See above.  Pretty neat, huh?  Once made up, they will be giving these away at conventions.  Fingers crossed, the book should be out some time next month or shortly thereafter.

So there you have it, Loyal Airmen.  Starting to get real busy around the old Hanger 27.  But then again, that's always a good thing.  Heck, even the Red Sox have won their last three games.  May not be anything spectacular, but it sure is better than losing three in a row.  All for now.

Ron-Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen.  Well we've been super busy here at the Airship 27 Hangar with lots of great new pulp titles in the work.  We just finished editing a brand new Green Lama novel by writer Adam Garcia and today started work on a new Dr.Watson adventure by Erwin K.Roberts.  Plus we've many of our Airship 27 artists also hard at work on illustrations for these wonderful books.  We'll post some soon.  For right now we've still got lots of pictures taken from our whirlwind three day Chicago tour that our daughter Heather led us on.  Chicago is truly a great city.

        
                      The Air Chief & daughter Heather in front of the Navy Pier.
Seeing the famous Navy Pier was high on Valerie's list of things to do and Heather was only too happy to oblige us.  All three days of our visit were sunny and so getting around this wonderful metropolis proved to be easy and fun.  Note the famous Ferris Wheel designed and constructed by George Ferris Jr. for the World's Exposition of 1893.  The pier jets out into mighty Lake Michigan and has lots of eateries and fun exhibitions for the entire family.  In the warm months it is clearly a favorite spot of both residents and tourists alike.

         
                               Val and the Air Chief with dazzling Chicago as a backdrop.
Heather snapped the photo near the end of the pier to get this marvelous shot of the downtown Chicago skyline in the background.

                         The Chicago Field Museum of Science
Another must stop on our grand tour was the Field Museum. One of the most elaborate and marvelous such museums in the world, it is the home of several fantastic exhibitions we were anxious to see with our own eyes. This was a real treat for us.

         
                            Looking Down From Second Floor of the Museum
The place is enormous and it would be impossible for the museum to show all of its collection at one time.  The majority are stored in the basement levels and rotated on a set schedule.  All of them speak to another era and time when America was coming of age and the museum's explorers traveled the globe in search of scientific knowledge.

         
                                     Sue the T-Rex
One of the major attractions of the Field Museum is Sue, the most complete skeletal remains ever unearthed of a a Tyrannosaurus Rex.  The archeologist who dug her up whimsically called her Sue.  She is truly a marvel to behold and standing beside her, it took only a wee bit of imagination to envision her tromping through prehistoric Earth in search of prey.  She is a most impressive old girl.

       
                                                 The Man Eaters of Tsavo
Several years ago we saw a gripping adventure movie called The Ghost & The Darkness starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas.  It tells the true story of a British engineer named Patterson sent to Africa at the turn of the century to build a railroad and how his entire operation was shut down when the work camp was terrorized by two man-eating lions.  By the time they were finally hunted and destroyed, the twin beasts had slain over thirty men.  Patterson later wrote about his experiences in a book he called The Man Eaters of Tsavo, which then became the basis for the movie.  At the end of the movie, the narrator explains that the story just viewed was true and anyone wishing to see the actual lions had simply to visit the Field Museum of Science in Chicago where they are permanently on display.  Ever since seeing that movie, Val and the Air Chief have hoped to one day do just that…and we did.  And let me assure you, standing in front of that diorama, looking through the glass at the remains of these animals was a very unique experience.  It was all too easy to understand the terror they instilled and the horror they inflicted on those poor African rail workers.

And that's our Chicago pictures for this week. Still a few more and we'll parcel those out next week, especially our trip to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs in action.  Meanwhile, what with our traveling behind us, Val and the Air Chief have been busy with all sorts of activities.  Not the least of which is finally getting our house on the real estate market.  Yes, indeed, after 27 wonderful years here, we have put it up for sale and hope to be moving out west before year's end.  We'll keep you posted.

                                          Noble High Students & the Air Chief

Finally this past week, Ye Old Air Chief was invited, along with 45 other professional people, to participate in an Opportunity Fair at nearby Noble High School, in North Berwick, Me.  Basically, we, and the other presenters, got to talk with students from all four grades about our careers and the satisfaction of making our individual dreams come true.  Naturally we brought a bunch of comics and pulps we had written and told them of our own life's journey in becoming a writer of the fantastic.  The kids were great and we had a blast spending time with them.  Our congratulations to the students and faculty who put on this truly marvelous event.

And there you have it, Loyal Airmen.  Another week come and gone. Hope you are enjoying Spring as much as we are and we'll see you back here next Friday.
Ron-Over & Out

Greeting Loyal Airmen. Last week we reported on the great time Ye Old Air Chief and Valerie had at this year's Windy City Pulp & Paper Con and we promised to show you lots more pictures of that fun three day event. So here we go.
                 
In this shot, taken Friday afternoon, we were just setting up.  At far-far left if Wayne Reinagel, standing with hands on hips is Van Plexico, then we have Mark Maddox, Ye Old Air Chief (hiding Val who is seating behind him) and Rob Davis.  Man oh man, the Airship 27 Productions was chocked full of goodies this year, half which sold before we left Sunday morning.

            
Wayne Reinagel getting his table filled with all his pulp goodies.  Wayne had his new mega book THE KHAN DYNASTY on sale at the show.  Plus his amazing Pulp History Poster.

               
  Pulp writer, B.C. Bell and his charming wife Darlene Yurkis.  We had so much fun with this couple, they are really great people.  Chris has just finished a brand new pulp novel for Airship 27 Productions that will be coming out soon.

             
First night of the Con, Friday, the Pulp Factory group headed out to a dinner of humburgers.  Here's the assembled group.  Standing left to right are Wayne Reinagel, Van Plexico, Mark Halegua, and Rob Davis. Seated, Ye Old Air Chief, Val, Mark Maddox, Chris and Darlene.  Van's lovely wife, Ami, took the shot and sadly is not in the pix. Thanks, Ami.

            
After Ye Old Air Chief presented the first Pulp Factory Awards, our band of merry pulpsters headed for the Con's courtesy room where we celebrated Mark & Rob's victories.  Left to right, B.C. Bell, Van Plexico, Mark Maddox (Best Pulp Cover), Rob David (Best Interior Art) and Ye Old Air Chief. 

          
A happy Van Allen Plexico after setting up his White Rocket Books table.  Van writes the popular, best selling sci-fi superhero series, The Sentinels. If you like super heroes, you should be reading these books. They are terrific.  Oh, there's Mark Maddox to his right and Val behind Mark.

          
And finally here's Van making a sales pitch to long-time Robert E.Howard fan, English teacher Frank Coffman. Always great to see Frank at the show.

This was Windy City's 10th year and it was truly a wonderful time for all who attended.  Hope we see all you Loyal Airmen there next year.  Earlier this evening the Air Chief was a guest on Ric Croxton's pulp podcast, the Bookcave, where he talked with Ric and pulp historian, Art Sippo, all about the con and the Pulp Factory Awards.  The show should go up on line next week.  We will be sure to post the link then.

Thank as always for stopping by. Next week we'll share pictures of our trip around the beautiful city of Chicago. Till then, have a great week.
Ron – Over & Out!
         

Greetings Loyal Airmen, well, as expected, our fourth trip to the Windy City Pulp & Paper Con was a terrific good time.  We got caught up with lots of old friends and fans and met many more new ones.  Our congratulations to Doug Ellis who has put this show on for ten years now and it continues to get better with each new year.
 
   
      From Left – Wayne Reinagle, Van Plexico, Mark Maddox, the Air Chief & Rob Davis

Happily over ten members of our internet group, the Pulp Factory were also on hand to help us celebrate the fun of pulps.  Note, our Airship 27 Productions table was chock full of great titles. When Rob and the Air Chief first  came to Windy City we only had five or six titles on our table.  Now our catalog offers twenty-six pulp books. At this show we sold half our stock.

Of course one of the highlights of this particular show was the awarding of the first ever Pulp Factory Awards for new pulp fiction and art.  Just prior to the 8 PM Auction, on Friday night, the Air Chief announced the winners and handed out two of the four awards.  These awards were all for work published in 2009.

Massachusetts based writer, Thomas E.Sniegoski won Best Pulp Novel, LOBSTER JOHNSON – THE SATAN FACTORY published by Dark Horse Press.  The hero is a character created from Mike Mignola's best selling HELLBOY comic book series.

Then our very own SHERLOCK HOLMES – CONSULTING DETECTIVE Vol.One walked off with the remaining three awards.  A really wonderful achievement.

     
                     Writer Andrew Salmon at a show in Vancouver, Canada

Airship 27 Productions writer Andrew Salmon won Best Pulp Short Story for “The Adventure of the Locked Room” from this anthology.  Note he has a copy of the book, plus several others he has penned for us. Way to go, Andrew.

      
       Mark Maddox & Rob Davis

Best Pulp Cover went to Mark Maddox for this same Sherlock Holmes collection, while our very own art director, Rob Davis, took home the Best Pulp Interior Art for the same volume.  All in all a wonderful achievement for our talented crew and one we soundly applaud.  If you haven't picked up either of these two books, Loyal Airmen, you really should do so. They are truly memorable reading experiences.

In the weeks ahead we will be posting lots more photos from the show highlight lots of the Airship 27 crew.  After the con, Val and the Air Chief then spent an additional three days in Chicago with our daughter Heather, who gave us the grand tour of that marvelous city.  Quite honestly, we never thought we would ever enjoy a big metropolitan city and Chicago proved us wrong in so many enjoyable ways.  It truly is a terrific place to live.

There you have it Loyal Airmen.  Another show come and gone. In two days, Ye Old Air Chief will be at the Knights of Columbus hall in downtown Rochester, NH as part of the Jetpack Comic Shop Free Comic Book Day, a fun all-day event for the entire family.  If you are in the area, please, stop on by.  We'll have lots of copies of MR.JIGSAW and our new BOSTON BOMBERS graphic novel. Hope to see many of you there.

Till next Friday, take care.  Ron, Over & Out!