#john ringo

Clyde Caldwell, cover illustration for There Will Be Dragons, by John Ringo (Baen, 2003).

On This Day in History July 14, 1881 and 1882: Two of the most famous Wild West gunslingers met their demise. In 1881, Billy the Kid (real name Henry McCarty) was shot dead by Sheriff Garrett at the Maxwell Ranch, New Mexico. He was on the run following his escape from prison and the hangman's noose three month prior.

A year later in 1882, the Gentleman Gunslinger John Ringo was found is found dead in Turkey Creek Canyon, Arizona. He had a fatal gunshot wound to the head. Its unknown how he died. Some say he committed suicide. Others think that he was killed by his rivals.

ConCarolinas, happening in Charlotte, NC from June 1-3, has become another battleground in sff’s culture wars since announcing John Ringo as an Author Special Guest on April 9. Ringo is well-known for sharing his social and political views in a frank and provocative way. His selection as a special guest has caused other writers in ConCarolina’s orbit to rethink their participation, whether by actually dropping out, or publicly explaining their reasons for remaining on the program.

SFF author John Ringo had been invited as a Guest of Honor for ConCarolinas 2018.  After much complaint from artists of color & female artists (some of which are in the linked blog post), he was un-invited (though ConCarolinas claimed it was a mutual decision, and maintains that he was the victim).  However, Tony Daniel (sff author & editor at Baen Books) turned the Baen Traveling Road Show -- which is usually a showcase of upcoming releases from Baen Books -- into a John Ringo tribute.

(Which means the writers who had their new stuff published through Baen didn’t have their works advertised at ConCarolinas.)

Additionally, during the closing ceremonies, the staff announced [FB video] they’d be inviting guests that they feel are “genre-related” and will “not be tolerating being told guests must be one way or another or that a guest is uninvitable.”  They “expect people to be able to be in a room with another person who disagrees with them and still be able to be civil to another.  We will not be beholden to bullies or trolls, and will not disinvite guests after such attacks.”

Or, as a FB friend put it, “they'll invite whatever festering toxic mouth-breathers they want as guests and expect any targeted or marginalized folks to sit silently in the room with them and not say or do anything to make the poor hateful oppressed bigots feel bad.“

The ConCarolinas staff also announced that David Weber -- author of the Honor Harrington series -- will be their Special Guest Author for 2019.  Weber had threatened ConCarolinas with a boycott over the Ringo issue (or, more broadly, to boycott any convention that would disinvite a speaker after someone speaks up against them), so this may be them trying to get back into his good graces.

Live Free or Die by John Ringo