Convention stories about Elaine don't end with her death; she has since been remembered at conventions her friends have attended.

The memorial at Eclecticon, from Anne Collins Smith

I wanted to go to Houston for the funeral, but I had made a commitment to work the orphan zine table at Eclecticon, and Elaine would never have forgiven me had I reneged! Conventions, and helping out, were always important to her.

Kathy Agel, who puts on Eclecticon, asked me if I would help organize a memorial activity for Elaine at the convention, which I thought was a lovely idea.

On Friday evening, during the Rat Patrol party, we took a break from watching episodes to take a few moments in Elaine's memory. Agel had brought chilled champagne and elegant glasses, and I had made fudge, so we passed them around and I said a few words about who Elaine was and we toasted her. She was not well known to most East Coast fans, but many had met her and remembered her from MediaWest*Con. For others, it was enough to know that she was a fan.

I shared a funny story about Elaine and Agel and how they first met. They had been on a couple of the same listservs, and Elaine was very nervous about meeting her at this year's MediaWest*Con. Elaine had just recently started a new fannish printing service called Lindberg's Legacy Press, and no matter how often I assured her that Agel had seen and been impressed by the results, and how pleased she was that Elaine was making it possible for fen who didn't live near a good copy service to put out fanzines, Elaine was still timid about meeting the proprietress of Criterion Press, which puts out dozens of zines a year!

Well, I brought Elaine up to the Criterion Press table, murmuring encouragement all the way, and introduced the two. To Elaine's astonishment, Agel leaned across the table and said warmly, "It's a wonderful thing you're doing for fandom." Elaine just beamed. A few weeks later I was chatting with Elaine on the phone and she sounded a little bit down, so I said, in my best imitation of Agel's New Jersey accent, "It's a wonduhful thing youah doin' f' fandom!" It cheered her right up!

Telling the story at Eclecticon, my imitation of Agel got two laughs; one when I did it, and one more when Agel hollered, "I don't sound like that!" "You're inimitable," I said, which seemed to mollify her. (And it's true; she does have an accent, but it's comparatively subtle.)

In fact, I did just fine until Agel reached out her hand across the table, gripped mine and said, "She's here with us now, Anne." That did it! I broke down and sobbed. Agel hugged me and gave me a kiss on the cheek, and I calmed down and we partied some more. Laughter, tears, champagne, and chocolate--and fans to share them--altogether it seemed a fitting long-distance memorial.

info on Eclecticon, a delightful media fanzine convention

"The Square Root of Ann(e)" at REVELcon 10 (1999)

Excerpt from Anne Collins Smith's convention report.

It was time for the costume cabaret, so I went and changed into a magnificent gold-embroidered blue robe that Elaine had purchased at a Worldcon. She left me her costumes when she died, and I wore it in her honor.

Elaine and I had performed together at several REVELcons in the past as "Ann(e) Squared." A number of people had asked if I was going to carry on the tradition at this REVELcon; I had even batted around the idea of performing with someone else, but that didn't seem right. I decided to perform the song Elaine and I did at the very first REVELcon in 1990, a fun, upbeat filk involving audience participation. I took the marker I bought at the hobby shop and made two signs to use during the performance. I was as ready as I would ever be.

As I waited with the other performers, I wondered how I would introduce my act. I wanted to say something in keeping with the humorous tone of the cabaret, but not disrespectful to my late friend, about the fact that I was performing alone, but I kept drawing a blank.

Glenda Jordan did the honors as M.C., as she has done since REVELcon the First. An opening sketch parodied the Sentinel, and Glenda really nabbed the audience by telling them to hum the theme, which is nearly unhummable. At the resultant embarrassed silence, she crowed, "And you call yourselves fans?!" Then she introduced the first act--which wasn't there. The next was a short Klingon skit relying on terrible puns, followed by a vampire sock puppet. The fourth act was *also* a no-show! Glenda commented on how unusual this was for REVELcon--and I had an idea how to introduce my act. The next act was the inimitable Laurie Keeper, who did a very funny send-up of Titanic. Then it was my turn.

I got up on stage with my posters, and said to the audience, "Even Glenda can't blame my partner for being AWOL tonight!" There was a ripple of laughter, and Leah called, "God needed a tenor!" Then I told the audience that I was going to do a song Elaine and I had done at the first REVELcon, and that they were going to have to be Elaine for me. I had written their part on the posters, and they joined in with loud enthusiasm as we sang The Blakes Seven Mickey Mouse Club March.

Next we had a delightful presentation by "The Fantastics," who put together a history of buddy fandom. A few props and costume parts cleverly indicated each different pair of heroes from Kirk & Spock through Starsky & Hutch, Bodie & Doyle, Duncan & Methos, finally concluding with Jim & Blair. The audience greeted each pair with enthusiasm and laughter. As a change of pace, the last two entrants were serious. Mark Manning, in a dramatic hooded cape, sang along to a touching song from a recent musical, "Who Will Love This Child?", and then Jan Meek delivered a monologue about fandom and read Kipling's poem about the Hundredth Man.

I was happy to see the act I enjoyed most--the Fantastics--get first prize, and was tickled to get second prize myself.

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