I probably won’t be at Worldcon this year, even though it *is* in Toronto (how often does that happen?), and Arnon has firmly insisted that I make the trip. But I thought of Arnon when I was at Powell’s City of Books in Portland. Of course, there’s a SF&F section there, and of course it’s quite large, and well-stocked, and happened to be populated by exactly the (stereo-) type of people who populate SF&F bookstores, possibly including my dorky-looking self. And as I stood there and looked at the Powell’s bookmarks listing Hugo and Nebula award winners, I suddenly remembered being 16 or 17 years old, which is when I moved to Toronto from Montreal. At the time, Mecca for me was a place called Bakka Books (used to be on Queen, now on Yonge), and while Toronto was pretty scary, the idea that I was moving from Montreal to a town that seemed flooded with English-language bookstores (New & Used!! Big & Small!! World’s Biggest, even!! And Bakka, too!!) was pretty exciting. Arnon was in town, and we checked the place out together – I think it was one of my very first Toronto outings. I’m pretty sure I picked up a used anthology of Nebula award-winning short stories (I’m not home, or I’d go through the bookshelves and see if I could spot it – it may have contained Roger Zelazny’s The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth). [I just checked online - that story won a Nebula in 1965, so it was probably an anthology of all the Nebula winners from that year.] I also remember being really excited that we found parking nearby (at a meter), and that it was only 10 cents for 60 minutes. And that the amazing Active Surplus Electronics was right across the street.

Anyhow, it’s funny what one remembers. There are a lot of Arnon memories I’ll never retrieve again, but this one popped back with surprising clarity, and it was a nice feeling. Have a good time at Worldcon, my friend, and be sure to bring back many bright pictures and great stories.