John Hertz (fan)

John Frederick Hertz is a California lawyer and long-time Los Angeles, California science fiction fan.

Background

Hertz came to the Los Angeles area in the late 1960s, after living in Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle.[1] He got his baccalaureate degree at Antioch College and graduated from the Northwestern University School of Law. He has been an attorney in California since 1982.[2]

Activity as a fan

Winner of the Big Heart Award at the 61st World Science Fiction Convention (Toronto, 2003),[3] he is active in the fanzine community, publishing the fanzine Vanamonde. Four collections of his fanwriting have been published, West of the Moon (2002), Dancing and Joking (2005), On My Sleeve (2009), and Neither Complete nor Conclusive (2013).[4] He was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2006, 2007, and 2009. His poem "That hill -- a giant" was awarded third place in the 2020 Dwarf Stars Awards (for science fiction poetry of ten lines or less).[5]

The fanzine Argentus (2004) contains an interview with Larry Niven's fictional character, Hanville Svetz, co-authored by Hertz and Niven.[6]

At conventions, Hertz can be found moderating panels, leading Art Show tours, or judging the costume competition called the Masquerade. He can be easily spotted at conventions sporting a colorful propeller beanie.

He is also renowned for his stewardship of Regency dance. Hertz has perpetuated the Regency dance tradition at science fiction conventions in the United States since the 1980s, with the practice continuing to the present day. Hertz currently instructs dance workshops and choreographs balls across the nation,[7] and in addition has written an article on Regency era dancing, included in the West of the Moon collection. He also wrote The Tenor of Terpsichore: Or Dances in the Fashion of the English Regency as Done By Certain Modern Admirers of the Same.

Hertz serves as one of the Rotsler Award judges.[8]

He was the 2010 Down Under Fan Fund delegate to Aussiecon 4, the fourth World Science Fiction Convention to be held in Australia. Also in 2007 he was sent by the one-time fund HANA (Hertz Across to Nippon Alliance) to Nippon 2007, the first World Science Fiction Convention to be held in Asia.

He was Fan Guest of Honor at Lunacon44 in 2001,[9] Westercon 57 in 2004,[10] Loscon 38 in 2011[11][12] and Special Guest at Boskone 50 in 2013.[13]

References
  1. Autobiography at Loscon website
  2. John Hertz listing at avvo.com
  3. "Locus SF Awards index". Archived from the original on 2006-11-28. Retrieved 2006-12-07.
  4. Boskone 50 Website
  5. "2020 Poetry Contest Winners", Science Fiction Poetry Association website; accessed October 2, 2020
  6. Hertz, John; Niven, Larry (2004). "Interview with Svetz" (PDF). Argentus 4. pp. 38–39.
  7. Hertz, John. "The English Regency and Me", Mimosa #26, pp. 39–41
  8. Rotsler Award website
  9. Lunacon. "Lunacon 2016". Lunacon History. New York Science Fiction Society aka the Lunarians.
  10. Westercon (2011-07-14). "Westercon History". Westercon. West Coast Science Fantasy Conference.
  11. Loscon 38 Website
  12. Loscon 38 Program Book Archived 2014-05-02 at the Wayback Machine
  13. Boskone 50 Website
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