(Don - 2nd)(Don - 2nd)GOH: Hal Clement
Once again Don drove to a con, this one somewhat closer to home. Balticon 9 was his first regional con; it was also the last (only?) Balticon in the Reisterstown Hilton. The con was crowded; the facilities were too small for the 783 fans who showed up.
Again, Don attended almost all of the program items (although the discussions of the Bermuda Triangle and Kirlian Photography were a bit too occult for him.) This con had some features which were to become regular Balticon events in the 70s: the Amateur Fantasy Film Festival, the Easter Morning 10:17-1/2 AM Wakeup Party, and the presence of Hal Clement.
Don believes this Balticon was the first time he saw the Star Trek Bloopers and Things to Come. (In those pre-VCR days, cons were about the only place to see favorite movies.)
The Daily Crudsheet for Sunday reveals the craziness of fans in two brief articles: "WHAT WET-SOCKED FAN wearing a tuxedo top charged into Fields drug store yesterday, ripped open a tiny box of cotton, grabbed a jumbo size cotton, threw $3 on the counter shouting `Keep The Change!', and ran out into the rain?" and "HUCKSTER ROOM night watchman Larry Rodman talked to passersby through the hole in the door where a doorknob wasn't. Last night a sign appeared: 'Talk to the man in the hole - 10¢.' How much Larry made is undisclosed."
The flier for Balticon 9 lists hotel rates as $22 single, $29 double and $34 triple, and cautions that a cab to the hotel from downtown cost about $6.
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