Does anyone know anything about the new science fiction museum in Seattle? Are they interested in fannish things? I have some sf fanzines from the '70s that I hate to just toss, but I'm in a major deaccessioning mode.

What sort? I could see if I can find out.

Plei, I'd have to go back and pull the box out for the fanzines, but I can let you know when I do. I also have things like programs for cons in the '70s and early '80s, including the hardcover program for Midamericon and all the stuff we did for the '78 DeepSouthCon. There are also all of our Heritage Press stuff, which is mostly comic-art oriented, but there is some sf and fantasy oriented stuff like the limited edition of Thomas Burnett Swann's Queen's Walk in the Dust with the Jeff Jones plates hand-tipped-in by these very fingers and the Who Was That Monolith I Saw You With? book. I'm going to sell some of this stuff, but some of it seems like part of history. I could compile it all and send off an e-mail to the acquisitions e-mail address, but I kind of wanted a sense of whether it was worth the effort to do that.

I was going to say, the other place I can think of it belonging is the Popular Culture graduate department at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. they've got archives of all manner of oddities, including radio files from the 30s and 40s. I don't know if they'd buy, but they're the sort of repository that would keep and love and index and cross-reference.

I was in the British Library on Saturday and thought to myself, Self, there is a reason why you keep old books "just in case". It is because you avowedly can't be arsed to learn and know everything, but you live in the faith that someone will come along who will want to learn and know the contents of these books, and if you don't save them, maybe nobody will. (I suddenly remembered an article in the Times Sunday Magazine about time capsules, and how you could possibly plan ahead to keep a time capsule safe and protected for 1000 years. The most plausible solution the writers could come up with: make the capsule the sacred relic of a religious order.) I can't actually read the Lindisfarne gospels, but it pleases me to know they exist so that somebody can.

This is why I own an English-translation Inferno from 1928 and an extremely old Latin grammar, both most recently used by my great-grandfather, who died when I was probably 6 years old.

Nutty is, pretty much, me. I'm clinging to hymnals that have the hymns that are no longer PC and recipe booklets from the '30s put out by Westinghouse and Calumet. I have a World War II ration book and my great-uncle's mustering out log from the Spanish American War. I'm just trying to make sure some things find a good home.

My big fear is that when my grandmother cleans out her basement-- which will be soon, as she's moving into an apartment and we're moving into her house-- my mom will just throw things out willy-nilly, without regard for whether they are historically significant or valuable, or just cool. I wouldn't put it past her, because she generally equates "old" with "worthless and stinky," and there's just so *much* stuff in that basement that she might throw her hands in the air and get rid of everything.

On the other hand, before he died, my grandfather made my grandma promise to go through everything in the basement before she threw anything out. We think he may have hidden money down there-- it's the kind of thing he'd do.

My grandmother continually threatens to throw out photographs. I have told her over and over not to throw any photos away, to give them to me. Finally this Christmas, I sat her down and told her that even if no family members are in the photo, if she knows where it was taken, and an approximate timeframe, we can get it to a museum in that town or county that would probably appreciate it. Because when she dies, no one else will know and then the items really are basically useless.

Good for you, msbelle. I have boxes and drawers of photographs going back to WWI in Mom's house, and she no longer remembers who any of those people are. I've tried to give them to her relatives or Dad's, but she won't let them out of the house (Yes, I know I could against her will, but it would upset her dreadfully and then she'd fixate on it from then on). I hope someone in either family will eventually take them, ID them, and pass them on.

Holli, if you're more concerned that historical treasures will be lost than you are worried about your mom giving family stuff away, suggest she call an antique picker, or take bids from several. They'll clear out your basement in return for whatever they find, but you have to agree to relinquish claim on everything. And if they find anything of worth, of course they'll sell it. But at least it's better than sending everything to the landfill.

There are also all of our Heritage Press stuff, which is mostly comic-art oriented, but there is some sf and fantasy oriented stuff like the limited edition of Thomas Burnett Swann's Queen's Walk in the Dust with the Jeff Jones plates hand-tipped-in by these very fingers and the Who Was That Monolith I Saw You With? book.

Yes, that weird sound was my eyes bugging out with greed. You can get serious money for Queens Walk in the Dusk; at least, every copy I've seen listed for sale was for more than I was willing to pay.

I only have a few copies of Queens, but I put so much work into it that I feel like one should be in a museum. (Here is where online communication fails. That statement should be accompanied by an wry grin with a tiny wince of pain.) The prices I've seen have been all over the map. I suppose I should take advantage of them. Lord knows we lost our shirts on the book.

On the other hand, before he died, my grandfather made my grandma promise to go through everything in the basement before she threw anything out. We think he may have hidden money down there-- it's the kind of thing he'd do.

My grandfather always told my parents to "look through the books" because he hid money in there. So when he died, my mom and Aunt spent I don't know how long shaking every book. Grand total: $50.00. It was a small fortune to him. I wonder if he even remembered which books it was in...