Our Guests
Walter Koenig
Born in Chicago, Illinois, on September 14, 1936, Walter Koenig spent his
childhood in the Inwood area of Manhattan, NY and has been a life-long Yankee’s
fan. His parents were Russian Jewish immigrants from the Republic of Lithuania
in the Soviet Union. He attended New York public grammar schools and
graduated from Fieldston High School in Riverdale, NY. He did his first on-stage
work in high school with the lead role in both Peer Gynt and Shaw’s Devil’s
Disciple.
Walter’s interest in psychiatry prompted him to attend Grinnell College in Iowa
with a pre-med major; he later transferred to UCLA. After recieving a BA in
psychology, a professor encouraged him to invest in his acting talents and he
enrolled in New York’s Neighborhood Playhouse. His classmates there included
Dabney Coleman, Brenda Vacarro, Christoper Lloyd, Jessica Walters, Elizabeth
Ashley and James Caan. His work at the Playhouse was rewarded with a
scholarship from the school’s regents.
Walter Koenig’s professional acting career spans more than forty six years of
stage, television and film work. His remarkable talents and range as an actor
have won him accolades for roles including everything from a teenage gang leader
(Alfred Hitchcock Presents) to a middle-aged Tom Sawyer (The Boys In Autumn).
On television, Walter’s work began in 1960 with several roles on the series A
Day in Court. He has since appeared on television over 110 times in no less than
42 separate roles.
In a touch of irony, Walter is best known for his recurring television portrayals
both of the hated, intensely driven Alfred Bester (Babylon 5) and the likeable,
perpetually cheerful Pavel Chekov (Star Trek). His recurring role of Bester on
Babylon 5 was voted as “Best Guest Villan” in a poll of over one hundred thousand
fans, and in later polls was voted both “The Man We Most Love to Hate” and
“The Best Villan in a Series: Most Evil and Complicated Character”. Walter’s film
work includes the first seven Star Trek feature films, for which he earned two
Saturn Award Best Supporting Actor nominations. His many other films have
been independent projects with challenging roles. Walter also has a long and
varied resume of stage work including over three dozen productions.
Walter is an intelligent, honest, insightful, and remarkably funny man whose wide
range of talents is not limited to acting. He has been the producer of films,
directed stage productions, and is a published author. As a writer, Walter has
penned books, screenplays, episodes for several television series, plays, and a
comic book series for Malibu Comics. You’re Never Alone When You’re a
Schizophrenic, a one-man play Walter wrote and performed, was a finalist in the
1996 New York Film Festival.
Walter has shared his multiple talents by teaching classes in acting, directing and
psychology. He has taught privately and at UCLA, Actor’s Alley Repertory
Company, the California School of Professional Psychology, and The Sherwood
Oaks Experimental Film College in Hollywood.
Walter has been married to Judy Levitt since 1965. They have two children:
Andrew and Danielle Koenig. The entire family is involved in the film and theatre
industries in a variety of ways.
A.C. Crispin
A.C. Crispin is the author of the bestselling Star Wars novels The Paradise Snare, The Hutt Gambit, and Rebel Dawn. She's also written four top-selling Star Trek novels: Yesterday's Son, Time for Yesterday, The Eyes of the Beholders and Sarek.
Ms. Crispin's most famous genre work was writing the 1984 novelization of the television miniseries V. She went on to collaborate on two more books in the V series, East Coast Crisis with Howard Weinstein, and Death Tide with Deborah Marshall.
Crispin and noted fantasy author Andre Norton wrote two Witch World novels together. Both Gryphon's Eyrie and Songsmith are still in print from Tor Books. Andre Norton's recent passing has brought increasing demand for her works. Ann Crispin and Andre Norton were friends for nearly 30 years. Ms. Norton was the first woman to be declared a Grand Master in the field of science fiction and fantasy by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).
A.C. Crispin has been active in SFWA since soon after joining the organization in 1983. She served as Eastern Regional Director for almost 10 years, and then served as Vice President for two terms. Ms. Crispin and Victoria Strauss created SFWA's "scam watchdog" committee, Writer Beware, in 1998. Crispin still serves as the Chair. Writer Beware is the only professionally sponsored group that warns aspiring writers about the numerous scam agents and publishers that infest the internet these days. Crispin and Strauss have assisted law enforcement in bringing several infamous con artists to justice.
Ms. Crispin has not confined herself to writing media-related fiction. Half her work is in her own original universes. Her major science fiction undertaking was the StarBridge series for Berkley/Putnam. These books, written solo or in collaboration with gifted new talents, centered around a school for young diplomats, translators and explorers, both alien and human, located on an asteroid far from Earth. Series titles are: StarBridge, Silent Dances, Shadow World, Serpent's Gift, Silent Songs, Voices of Chaos, and Ancestor's World.
StarBridge Book One was placed on the American Library Association's Young Adult Services Division's list of Best Books of 1991, and Silent Dances (Book Two, co-authored with Kathleen O'Malley) made the 1991 Preliminary ballot for the Nebula, the award given by the Science-fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Serpent's Gift (Book Four, with Deborah A. Marshall) was placed on the 1993 Recommended Books for the Teen Age by the New York Public Library. Book Five, Silent Songs (also written with Kathleen O'Malley) was nominated for the A.L.A Young Adults "Best Books" list.
A.C. Crispin's newest work is an original fantasy trilogy for Harper/Eos, The Exiles of Boq'urain. Storms of Destiny will be released August 2005, and she is hard at work on Book 2, Winds of Vengeance. Book 3, Flames of Chaos, will be her next project.
Ms. Crispin has taught many writing workshops since becoming a full time professional in 1983. Her teaching credits include a semester-long "Writing for Profit" course at Charles County Community College, two two-day writing workshops for Harrisburg Area Community College, a two-day writing seminar at Towson State University, and numerous mini-workshops at science-fiction and Star Trek conventions, where she is a frequent guest. She currently teaches writing workshops at Anne Arundel Community College and Dragoncon in Atlanta.
Eric Fortune
From donnarosenartists.com:
If forced to categorize Eric Fortune's illustration style one might label it with an oxymoron—surreal realism. His illustrations invite the viewer into another world; it looks like ours, but not quite.
An avid reader of fantasy and science fiction since childhood, Eric followed the path a lot of boys take into the art world—drawing robots and weapons based on his favorite comic book and cartoon heroes. Fortunately, Eric was able to develop his style further. At first it was just a hobby. He knew he had talent but practicality, eating, for instance, led him to consider architecture as a career. It didn't seem possible to earn a living doing something that you have always loved to do for fun. A high school art teacher saw his potential and encouraged Eric to pursue his dream by enrolling in the Columbus College of Art and Design. After all, the book covers that influenced Eric as a child had to be painted by someone so why not take a stab at it?
Eric's dramatic sense of lighting and color lend his paintings a feeling of serenity, often with a degree of mystery beneath the surface. His work continues to earn him attention and accolades. Eric was one of only three students to be printed in "Spectrum 6: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art". He has been honored on three occasions with acceptance into the "Society of Illustrators". The Shadow Thieves is one of two pieces that will be featured in the 2006 Society of Illustrators juried show. Eric's talent has also been recognized by "Blue Cube", and he was presented with "Best of Show" two years in succession for the "Art of Illustration" competition.
Recent clients include Simon & Schuster, Tor Books, Harcourt Publishers, Washington National Opera, Realms of Fantasy and more. Eric Fortune is still early in his career but keep an eye out, you'll be seeing a lot of him at your neighborhood bookstore.
Michael Capobianco
Michael Capobianco has published one solo science fiction novel, Burster (Bantam 1990). He is co-author, with William Barton, of the controversial hardcore sf book Iris (Doubleday 1990, Bantam paperback 1991, Avon Eos 1999), Alpha Centauri, (Avon, 1997), and the critically acclaimed near-future novel Fellow Traveler, 1991), as well as several magazine articles on planetology and the exploration of the solar system. Their story "The Adventure of the Russian Grave" appeared in the anthology Sherlock Holmes in Orbit (DAW, 1995).
Their latest collaboration, White Light, (Avon Eos 1998) appeared in paperback in August 1999.
Born in Washington, D.C. in 1950, Capobianco graduated from the University of Virginia with a major in Interdisciplinary Studies. For many years he was involved in the development of computer simulations and game software. An amateur astronomer, he is a member of the International Occultation and Timing Association (IOTA). His observations were critical in determining the size and shape of asteroid 102 Miriam.
Capobianco served as President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) from 1996-1998. He received the Service to SFWA Award in 2004 and is currently on SFWA's Board of Advisors. Starting July 1, 2007, Capobianco has again been elected as SFWA President, sharing with Norman Spinrad the distinction of serving a third term.
Erik Appelhof
Erik Appelhof is an artist and longtime supporter of ConGlomeration. He creates the annual volunteer Platypus that is featured on our T-shirts.
The Molly Maguires
Marc Michael -- In 1989 Marc attended an Irish folk festival in Louisville, KY having recently taken an interest in his own heritage (his maternal great grandparents were Irish and his paternal grandparents were Irish and Welsh.) It was there that he first heard and fell in love with Irish music, ballads and rebel songs in particular. It was just a few years later that he formed the "The Molly Maguires" with Stephen Cooper in Chattanooga, TN. The Mollys played successfully across the southeast for several years (Huntsville, Birmingham, Knoxville, Nashville, Chattanooga, Memphis, Louisville to name a few...) before Stephen Cooper left to pursue other interests and Marc continued as a solo act, occasionally guesting with other celtic groups including Jack Daves and the Secret Commonwealth from Murfreesboro, TN. In spring of 2005 Marc attended Fleadh Nua, a traditional music festival in Ennis, Ireland where he had the great pleasure and privilege of finally hearing the music at it's source. It was a life changing experience. Today Marc continues to play clubs and festivals and has finally made it to the studio where an album is currently in production.
Michael Walters -- Michael Walters has been playing music for twenty years. He is a mostly self taught musician and only picked up the mandolin a couple of years ago. It was seven years ago that he first developed an interest in all things Celtic and since then has devoted much time to studying the culture, language and music of the Celts. As a teenager and young adult, Michael performed music from several genres, but feels that Celtic music and bluegrass call to his heart. Michael is delighted to be playing in a band where he can combine his love of good music with his love of good beer and scotch.
Julie Kunesh -- Julie Kurtz-Kunesh, a southern Tennessee gal with a little rhythm, grew up in Chattanooga Tennessee. Julie is married with 3 kids and a cat. Julie's journey into the Celtic music scene began when she started hosting music parties at her house a few years ago. It all blossomed from there. She enjoyed her trip to Eire, especially the black pudding -Julie has a nice beat and is easy to dance to.
