S&L Podcast - #437 - Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
/The hope of science fiction spurred by a science museum, Dracula by email, why it's called a tetralogy and our non-spoilery thoughts on Machinehood, and our goodbyes to friend of the show, Jenny Colvin.
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Many of you know, but some of you may not that Jenny Colvin, host of Reading Envy, member of Sword and LAser's community and so much more passed away unexpectedly last week. We'll be posting some of your memories of her on our website in the show notes for this episode and stick around after the music ends for this episode to hear us share our memories.
So who needs a drink?
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Terra
Veronica: The rooster rosé
QUICK BURNS
Mark: 2022 Locus Awards Top Ten Finalists announced.
Seth: The British Science Museum is opening a cool-looking exhibit called Science Fiction:
And as part of the exhibit's opening in October, they're sponsoring a sci-fi writing competition
Ruth: The Dracula Daily newsletter
Oaken: C.J. Cherryh is on the mend
terpkristin: Chicon 8, the next Worldcon, is hosting, with some bookstores, local events to talk about books.
Paul: Polygon released their favourite 2022 SFF books so far
BARE YOUR SWORD
Jamie: My podcast player was acting up, so I managed to listen to this today. And since they (to my surprise) read out a post of mine and asked for references, well, that's a fair response, so:
US English
UK English
The reason why "quadrology" is considered... well, "nonstandard" is probably more accurate than to say it's simply "wrong"... is that the -logy ending is Greek so, ideally, it goes with the Greek word for "four" - and "quad-" is Latin. There are some words that break this rule ("television" is probably the best known) but there are fewer than you might think.
You're right, it's broken! We didn't do anything, so maybe something on Squarespace changed! We'll look into it!
@jfdubeau, regarding figuring out the mystery too early or getting spoilers:
I think there's a sweet spot. You want to figure it out juuuust before the reveal. Like half a chapter or a couple of paragraphs. That way you feel clever for figuring it out, but not like the mystery is too shallow.
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION - CHECK IN
When good science makes bad fiction
.ADDENDUMS
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REMEMBERING JENNY "READING ENVY" COLVIN
Rob: Jenny was one of the first members of S&L that I talked with. She was recruiting reviewers for SFFAudio and I did those for a few years under her coordination. After that dried up, I didn't talk to her as often but she would always chime in from time to time with some good comments on S&L despite getting busy with her own blog and podcast: I'm really sorry to hear of her passing.
Tassie Dave: That is very sad news. Jenny was a valued member with great insights and a voracious appetite for books. She was a guest host twice, on Shows 408 and 409 last year while Veronica was on maternity leave She will be missed.
John (Nevets): As usual in these sort of situations, I want to say something, but don't know what. I do know that her insightful and unique takes on the books she enjoyed so much will be very much missed. I truly enjoyed, and looked forward to her comments. It almost didn't feel like a group read was done until she had weighed in with a poignant take. I also thought it appropriate to link to her comments on the passing of another of our members Joanna 5 years ago.
elizabeth: To echo John (Nevets), I want to say something, but I don't really know what. I've had Jenny as a friend on Goodreads for years, and while I didn't interact with her a ton, she was probably one of the people that I relied on the most for reviews and recommendations. I just knew if Jenny thought a book was special, I would too. I'm so incredibly saddened by her passing and will miss her presence in the book world immensely. She was much too young.
John Taloni: A huge loss. I found her posts insightful and always enjoyed when she responded to one of mine. The world is a little darker now.
John Nevets also had a great idea about how we could honor Jenny: I have an idea regarding a possible way the book club could memorialize Jenny’s passing. I’m by no means sure it is a good idea, I just had it, and am posting it here to start a discussion about it. When Joanna died 5 years ago Tom and Veronica chose to read one of her unread books in her Goodreads list. I thought this was a great and wholly appropriate way of remembering her. And each time I see “The Hum and Shiver” in my audible account I think of her. Jenny was such a prolific reader that this doesn’t seem quite right, and also may be a more difficult task. My suggestion instead is for one month not have a traditional book pick, but instead have each of us read as many different books as we can ( even if that is just one), and then write a Goodreads review of them. Possibly mentioning it is posted in her memory. I know many are very good about writing reviews anyway, but many of us aren’t, and I thought this would be a unique way of sharing much of what she enjoyed.
If you want to help support charities that Jenny cared about deeply, here are some links provided by her husband, Nathaniel:
FRIENDS OF THE FURMAN LIBRARIES
GREENVILLE ANIMAL CARE
