My experience with Dr. Asimov
I am an avid reader of SF, and attended the 1980 WorldCon in Boston that year. At that time, I was, if I may say so myself, a very good-looking twenty-something. I was also new-married, and was standing in his autograph line with two books (the limit per person), one a copy of I, Robot to be autographed for my mother-in-law, and a copy of Murder at the ABA, Asimov's non-SF but highly entertaining murder mystery for myself. Directly in front of me was a sweet girl who was classic jailbait, about 15, buxom, and adorable. Dr. Asimov was autographing books and kissing any female willing to be bussed. He got to Ms. Jailbait, autographed her books, stood up, looked at her for a moment and said, "how old are you, my dear?" She, giggling, told him, "15". He solemnly shook her hand.
When my turn came, I told him the I Robot was for my mother-in-law, and that she underlined passages in books she particularly liked, and that the only other writer she underlined more was Camus. He looked through the book briefly to note the underlinings, and autographed it. I said that while I owned a lot of his books, I chose this one for its uniqueness, it being his only murder mystery. He autographed it, stood up and swept me into a full-on, lean-back movie kiss. Yes, sideburns DO tickle.
Later, I attended the lecture given by Dr. Robert L. Forward of JPL, scientist and author of some very good SF himself, on interstellar propulsion drives. I looked behind me, and there were Isaac Asimov and Frederick Pohl, sitting together and taking detailed notes. Great times.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
