There's a lot of news in this issue, so let's get right to it.
For the fourth time, one of my stories has been nominated for a Hugo Award. "Kaddish for the Last Survivor" (Analog, November 2000) has been honored by the members of this year's World Science Fiction Convention, and I am grateful to all who thought it worthy of this honor. For those of you who missed the story, in a few days it will be available for free at both the Analog webpage (http://www.analogsf.com) and the Fictionwise webpage (http://www.fictionwise.com). This offer is only good until the Hugo Awards are announced at the Millennium Philcon (http://www.milphil.org) in September, after which the story will still be available at Fictionwise, but for a small fee.
My short story "Spaceships" is in the current issue of Analog, the June 2001 issue. There's also another good reason to buy this issue. The cover story, "Sunday Night Yams at Minnie and Earl's" by Adam-Troy Castro, is one of the most moving novellas I've ever read, a real treat.
Of course, when it comes to novellas, I'm no slouch either. The July/August 2001 double issue of Analog will lead off with "Bug Out!," my collaboration with fellow Campbell nominee Shane Tourtellotte.
And for those of you who can't get enough of my Jewish science fiction, I spent the weeks before Passover thinking about a different Jewish holiday. As a result, "The Great Miracle," my Chanukah allegory, will be appearing in Analog in either the December 2001 or January 2002 issue.
As a lot of you know, this newsletter goes out to both fans of mine who don't know me personally and to various friends and acquaintances. Because of that, I sometimes use this list to share personal news that has little or nothing to do with my writing. If you're interested in my personal life, please read on; otherwise, feel free to skip this part.
There are two recent changes in my life. The first is that I decided to run for public office, and declared myself a candidate for Brookline' s Town Meeting. I am running for the office of Town Meeting Member, precinct 9, in an uncontested election on May 8. Now, the office is not a major one, as Town Meeting has 240 members, but it is the first time I have ever run for public office. I'm proud to note that I'm actually running for the seat vacated by my newly elected State Representative, Frank Israel Smizik, and that I have his endorsement. As for why I chose at this time in my life to take this step, I credit a few people, but most importantly, I credit Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut. His example last year showed me that anything is possible, and his book _In Praise of Public Life_ gave me strong reasons for running.
The second piece of news will come as a shock to many of my former students on this list. For the past six years, I have been the Physics Teacher at the Cambridge School of Weston, a position I have enjoyed immensely. I've also taught Mathematics, Astronomy, and Science Fiction Writing, and I have served as advisor to both the school newspaper and the literary magazine. Well, as this school year comes to a close, I will be leaving the Cambridge School. I have accepted a position at the Rashi School, a Reform Jewish day school in Newton, to serve as their Science Cooridnator for K-8 and their Middle School Science Teacher.
The mabfan list is a moderated list which exists solely to send out copies of this newsletter. Should you wish to unsubscribe from this list, simply send e-mail to majordomo@world.std.com with the words
unsubscribe mabfan
in the body of the message and the software should automatically unsubscribe you.
Contrariwise, if you wish to subscribe, send me e-mail at mab@world.std.com and I'll add you in by hand.
For more frequent news, or to read some of the stuff I've written, check out my webpage at www.mabfan.com
-- Michael A. Burstein