About Bill Patterson (1951-2014): Part 2
Apr. 29th, 2014 10:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beamjockeyLong ago, in recounting his own genesis as a science fiction fan, Patrick Nielsen Hayden wrote:
Bill had no way of knowing that kid would one day be a Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund winner.
Bill had no way of knowing that kid would go on to win the Hugo Award for Best Professional Editor, Long Form. Multiple times.
But Bill Patterson was a gentleman. Instinctively, he treated a twelve-year-old stranger with respect.
And for all the decades afterwards, Patrick remembered that.
In 1971, I actually managed to find a Phoenix chapter of the Tolkien Society, and attended one of their meetings, where, being twelve, I was mostly ignored by all, save for a large fellow named Bill Patterson who talked to me almost as if I were human.Bill had no way of knowing that kid would one day publish fanzines.
Bill had no way of knowing that kid would one day be a Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund winner.
Bill had no way of knowing that kid would go on to win the Hugo Award for Best Professional Editor, Long Form. Multiple times.
But Bill Patterson was a gentleman. Instinctively, he treated a twelve-year-old stranger with respect.
And for all the decades afterwards, Patrick remembered that.
