The concom at ConQuest 40 were looking for a bio of John Scalzi but wanted something a little more detailed and accurate than the standard wikipedia one. They asked me if I’d assist, given my long-standing friendship with him, and write one for them with some behind the scenes details for the program book. In the interests of making this information available to the wider public, here is a brief biography with never before told facts.
Every word of it is completely true.
John Scalzi, Campbell-award winning author, has been thrilling fans with his writing since he began as is evidenced by his Hugo award for fan writing. This amazing victory can best be summed up in the reaction of his mother-in-law, who often weeps at the thought of his writing and what it means to her daughter.
But where did this phenomenal talent come from? Born in California on May 10, 1869, Professor Scalzi’s life followed normal patterns for a child of his time. Although he demonstrated an early facility for language in the forged notes he created to get out of the entirety of third year, his true skills did not become apparent until his parents sent him to an exclusive boarding school in the Catskills. This location would become ironically apt later in his life.
Brother Francis Gerard later commented in his memoirs that “Young Scalzi had the worst hand-writing we had ever seen. It was impossible to test him because no one could read his writing, and yet curiously, his forgeries were impeccable. So we set him to copying, hoping that he would learn to write his own words as well as he could write other’s.”
Taking the command to “copy the good book” rather more liberally than his instructors intended, Scalzi picked out what he called, “the only good book in the school library,” Starship Troopers. Not content with merely copying the original text, Scalzi began the project that led to his receiving the 1985 Hugo for Best Fan Art — The Complete Illuminated Works of Robert A. Heinlein. Rendered on vellum with ink ground from a mixture of boa-boa berry and dark coffee, these lovingly drawn works represent nearly a lifetime of work. The sheets of vellum measure on average 24″ by 17″ inches and have an estimated $5000 worth of gold leaf and powdered cobalt spanning the collection. Exhibited at the Smithsonian, MOMA and the Vatican, they have brought universal acclaim from old fans and new alike.
In 2004, Scalzi was awarded a fellowship at Yale for his work on the Illuminated Manuscripts. The pressure of teaching interfered with his continuing efforts so he moved with his wife Krissy, to rural Ohio. There he began working with private students on the fine art of illumination.
While taking a break from his students, Professor Scalzi happened to witness one of his neighbors working on the neighboring ranch, herding his flock of cats. The job was overwhelming the man, so Scalzi stepped in and discovered that these highly trained animals were bored with their role. He introduced them to the notion of illuminating manuscripts which they took to, as if they were born to it. He’s since begun work on a new illuminated manuscript collaborating with the cat, Ghlaghghee . They selected the material together by the simple means of Professor Scalzi spreading his books around until Ghlaghghee chose one to sit on — The Collected Works of Francis Bacon.
1869…? Typo, or intentional funny? I’ve been working too many hours of the day, my brain is fried.
Brilliant. Sheer brilliance. Never has one been so lovingly roasted!
That whole thing is wonderful, the last is brilliant for several reasons.
Good job!
You know, for a man of 140, he looks pretty good! 🙂
How long until any of this shows up on Wikipedia?
🙂 🙂