Helping The Helper -Electrical Eggs
Donation protected
Science Fiction Fandom lost a long time friend and organizer in January, in the form of Donald (Dea) Cook. He left behind another well-known fan, his wife of over 30 years, Samanda Jeude. Samanda is best known for establishing the organization Electrical Eggs, the first Disability Access organization in the Science Fiction community. Don was Sam's sole career. She had polio as an infant, and that was complicated later in life by a couple of strokes. She now resides in a nursing home in Canton, Georgia. We helped to clear out the house to get it sold, and are now selling all of the contents to pay for Samanda's ongoing care needs. How does any of this involve a Hugo, you might ask, and rightfully so!
The Hugo in the photo is from the 1986 World Science Fiction Convention, Confederation. It was awarded to Judy-Lynn del Ray, in the category, Best Professional Editor. Sadly, she passed away before the award ceremony. Her husband, Lester del Ray, declined to accept the award for her. It has been at Don and Samanda's home ever since.
There are a number of different ways this could be resolved, now that the house has been sold. Technically, it belongs to Samanda, sort of by default. She needs money. Lots of people would like to own a Hugo, whether or not they earned it. Frankly, we've enjoyed having it at our house, but it isn't ours. It's Fandom's.
We finally decided that the best way to resolve the issue of how to raise funds for Samanda as well as honor the wishes of fandom, was to start a GoFundMe. All "bids" are in the form of donations. When you make your donation, cast your vote to either sell the Hugo to the highest bidder, or to donate the Hugo to a Science Fiction History collection, to continue to be displayed at Worldcons.
The group that raises the most money makes the decision. Just to be completely clear, it's not the number of votes that wins, it is the largest amount of money raised. The deadline for votes will be Sunday, August 26, 2018, at Midnight Eastern Daylight Savings Time. That means any vote cast past 23:59:59, is null and void. Of course, we will still take your money.
The Hugo in the photo is from the 1986 World Science Fiction Convention, Confederation. It was awarded to Judy-Lynn del Ray, in the category, Best Professional Editor. Sadly, she passed away before the award ceremony. Her husband, Lester del Ray, declined to accept the award for her. It has been at Don and Samanda's home ever since.
There are a number of different ways this could be resolved, now that the house has been sold. Technically, it belongs to Samanda, sort of by default. She needs money. Lots of people would like to own a Hugo, whether or not they earned it. Frankly, we've enjoyed having it at our house, but it isn't ours. It's Fandom's.
We finally decided that the best way to resolve the issue of how to raise funds for Samanda as well as honor the wishes of fandom, was to start a GoFundMe. All "bids" are in the form of donations. When you make your donation, cast your vote to either sell the Hugo to the highest bidder, or to donate the Hugo to a Science Fiction History collection, to continue to be displayed at Worldcons.
The group that raises the most money makes the decision. Just to be completely clear, it's not the number of votes that wins, it is the largest amount of money raised. The deadline for votes will be Sunday, August 26, 2018, at Midnight Eastern Daylight Savings Time. That means any vote cast past 23:59:59, is null and void. Of course, we will still take your money.
Organizer
Marcia Kelly Illingworth
Organizer
Bell Bridge, TN