Leslie Fish | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 1953 New Jersey, United States |
| Genres | Folk, filk |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, author, writer |
| Years active | 1975–present |
Leslie Fish is an American folk musician, author, and anarchist political activist. [1]
Leslie Fish | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 1953 New Jersey, United States |
| Genres | Folk, filk |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, author, writer |
| Years active | 1975–present |
Leslie Fish is an American folk musician, author, and anarchist political activist. [1]
Along with The DeHorn Crew, Fish created the first commercial filk recording in 1976, Folk Songs for Folk Who Ain't Even Been Yet. [2] Her second recording, Solar Sailors (1977) included the song "Banned from Argo", a comic song parodying Star Trek which has since spawned over 100 variants and parodies. [3] [4] She recorded the comic song "Carmen Miranda's Ghost", which was the source for the short story anthology Carmen Miranda's Ghost Is Haunting Space Station Three, edited by Don Sakers (in which she has one story and the notes on the song). Her song "Hope Eyrie" is regarded by some as being as close to the anthem of American science fiction fandom as is possible in such a disparate group. [5] [6] [7]
Fish often weaves Pagan and anarchist themes into her music. She has also set music to many poems by Rudyard Kipling. She is a popular guest at science fiction conventions, and she can often be seen at the large filksings with her distinctive 12-string guitar, "Monster", which Leslie says plays best when it is given good Scotch whisky.
She sings (and makes several appearances) in the film Finding the Future: A Science Fiction Conversation, [8] [9] which makes extensive use of her music. She was interviewed and performed in Trekkies 2 .
Fish has been involved with numerous political causes, most notably anti-war activism during the Vietnam War, and is a longtime member of the Industrial Workers of the World, a fact referred to in several of her songs (e.g., "Wobblies from Space", "Leslie's Filks"). She is also well known as a gun-rights activist, and has asserted that private gun ownership is the only true protection of individual freedom (a topic touched on in several of her songs). [1] [10] Because of her distrust of the stability of modern society, she has in the past worked to organize groups for carrying on civilization after what she (at one time at least) considered the imminent collapse of the current society. Her album Firestorm was in large part meant as a set of instructions for surviving a nuclear war, on the reasoning that it would be easier to recall them if they were in lyric form.
On anarchism, Fish says: "What sort of anarchist future would I like to see? There's no reason for a government-free society to be nothing but agrarian, no reason at all that it couldn't be industrial and space-faring." [11]
The character "Jenny Trout" in the science fiction novel Fallen Angels by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Michael Flynn is clearly meant to be Fish, although Trout is portrayed as a Marxist. [12]
In addition to her work as a filk artist, Fish is also well known within the Star Trek fan community for her works of fan fiction, which include "Shelter" (1976), one of the first Kirk/Spock stories ever published, and the fan-published Star Trek novel The Weight. In Textual Poachers , a landmark study of fan communities, MIT's Henry Jenkins described Fish's anarchist-feminist Star Trek novel The Weight as a 'compelling narrative' 'remarkable in the scope and complexity of its conception, the precision of its execution, and the explicitness of its political orientation.'" [13] Fish has also written original novels and short stories, both alone and in collaboration with C. J. Cherryh and others. Fish's song, "Carmen Miranda's Ghost is Haunting Space Station Three," inspired a collection of short stories with the same title, edited by Don Sakers and featuring stories by Cherryh and Anne McCaffrey.
Fish is an avid roleplaying gamer, especially live-action role playing, or LARPing. She has also been a member in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) since the 1970s. Since 2007, [14] she has been the driving force behind the establishment of Fan Haven, a 230-acre (93 ha) private park in Arizona meant to serve as a safe space for LARPers, Pagans, naturists, SCAdians, and other marginalized groups associated with fandom. [15] [16] [17] However, representatives of the federal government have disputed the validity of the mining claim that she proposed to use to establish ownership.[ citation needed ]
While Fish rarely discusses her private life, she was in a romantic relationship with anarchist political activist Mary Frohman "from the late '60s through the early '80s." [13] Together they were part of the Dehorn Crew, the house band for the IWW. Fish has often asserted that bisexuality is the human norm, and that the pervasive sexual repression she sees in current society causes many of the current social ills. She married long-time friend Robert "Rasty Bob" Ralston on November 13, 2011. [18]
One of Fish's personal projects is an ongoing attempt to breed domestic cats for intelligence and other traits, including polydactyly. She claims that her cats are about as intelligent as a six-year-old human child, except in regards to symbolic language. [19]
Since 2013, Fish and Ralston have been working to develop a rare and endangered species orchard, according to a post written on Fish's own blog. [20]
All Off Centaur Publications, Firebird Arts & Music and Wail Songs albums are cassettes; all Random Factors albums are CDs except as noted. All Off Centaur albums are out of print as of 1988 unless reissued; all Wail Songs albums are OOP (out of print) as of c. 1999. All Fish solo albums from Firebird are OOP as of 1995. [21]
(Fish appears as singer, player, composer and/or lyricist on most of the Off Centaur anthology tapes (including A Wolfrider's Reflections, reissued by Richard & Wendy Pini on their own label, also OOP), on many of the Firebird Mercedes Lackey anthology albums, and on a number of convention live albums from Conglomeration, DAG, Off Centaur, Wail Songs and others; she also appears on the anthology The Pegasus Winners ("Love Songs") (OOP).)
The following short stories were produced as part of the Merovingen Nights series of science fiction books. The series was edited by C. J. Cherryh.
The following short stories appeared in the War World series, a shared universe created by Jerry Pournelle: [22]
Writing as F. Sigmund Mead, "A Summary of the Physiological Roots of Andorian Culture" (Journal of Xenoanthropology, June 2341), edited by Leslie Fish. Fictional article on Andorian culture first published in Sehlat's Roar No. 2, a Star Trek fanzine of the 1970s, published by Randy Ash. [23]
Filk music is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction, fantasy, and horror fandom and a type of fan labor. The genre has existed since the early 1950s and been played primarily since the mid-1970s. The genre has a niche but faithful popularity in the underground.
Mercedes Ritchie Lackey is an American writer of fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar. Her Valdemar novels include interaction between human and non-human protagonists with many different cultures and social mores.
Carolyn Janice Cherry, better known by the pen name C. J. Cherryh, is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has written more than 80 books since the mid-1970s, including the Hugo Award–winning novels Downbelow Station (1981) and Cyteen (1988), both set in her Alliance–Union universe, and her Foreigner series. She is known for worldbuilding, depicting fictional realms with great realism supported by vast research in history, language, psychology, and archeology.
Alexander James Adams is an American singer, musician and songwriter in the Celtic and world music genres who blends mythical, fantasy, and traditional themes in performances, switching between instrumental fiddle and songs accompanied by guitar, bodhrán, and fiddle-playing. Adams has also been an artist in the field of filk music and won multiple Pegasus awards.
Julia Ecklar is an American science fiction author and a singer and writer of filk music who recorded numerous albums in the Off Centaur label in the early 1980s, including Minus Ten and Counting, Horse-Tamer's Daughter, and Genesis. Her Divine Intervention album, released in 1986, was the first filk genre release to combine the lyrical elements with orchestral and rock arrangements.
Wiltz Joseph Bethancourt III was an American folk musician.
Marcon is a full-spectrum fantasy and science fiction convention based in Columbus, Ohio, and was on Easter weekend in 2013 but moved to Mother's Day weekend starting in 2014. It is now operated by the Columbus-based Science Oriented Literature, Art, and Education Foundation, a non-profit educational corporation. The name was originally short for "March Convention," with the convention mascot the "March Hare," affectionately named "Marconi". After the date of the convention moved away from March, the name was re-designated as "Multiple Alternative Realities Convention".
Lee Gold is a member of California science fiction fandom and a writer and editor in the role-playing game and filk music communities.
Jordin T. Kare was a physicist and aerospace engineer who researched laser propulsion. He was responsible for Mockingbird, a conceptual design for an extremely small reusable launch vehicle, and was involved in the Clementine lunar mapping mission. Kare also conceived the SailBeam interstellar propulsion technique. In the science fiction fan community, he was a composer, performer and recording artist of filk music.
Downbelow Station is a science fiction novel by American writer C. J. Cherryh, published in 1981 by DAW Books. It won the Hugo Award in 1982, was shortlisted for a Locus Award that same year, and was named by Locus magazine as one of the top 50 science fiction novels of all time in 1987.
"Cold Iron" is a poem written by Rudyard Kipling published as the introduction to Rewards and Fairies in 1910. Not to be confused with Cold Iron.
Finity's End is a science fiction novel by American writer C. J. Cherryh. It is part of the Merchanter novels series, set in her Alliance-Union universe, in which humanity has split into three major power blocs: Union, the Merchanter's Alliance and Earth. Finity's End was shortlisted for a Locus Award in 1998. It constitutes a loose sequel to Downbelow Station.
ApolloCon was a science fiction convention held annually in Houston, Texas by the Houston Science Fiction Association (HSFA), a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation.
"Banned From Argo" is a filk song written and originally recorded by Leslie Fish, released in 1977 on the album Solar Sailors, and later as part of various compilations It won the 2003 Pegasus Award for Best Classic Filk Song.
Off Centaur Publications was the first "commercial" filk label. It was founded in 1980 by Teri Lee, Jordin Kare, and Catherine Cook. For a short time, Off Centaur produced high quality recordings of some of filk's best performers, and changed the course of filk music. It was dissolved in 1988. Teri Lee would go on to found Firebird Arts and Music.
Kathy Mar is an American filk singer.
Nancy Asire was an American fantasy and science fiction author, best known for her Twilight's Kingdoms fantasy trilogy and her contributions to the shared universe series Heroes in Hell, Sword of Knowledge and Merovingen Nights.
"The Female of the Species" is a poem by Rudyard Kipling originally published in 1911. Its title and refrain have inspired the titles of numerous subsequent works.
The Pegasus Award is the premier award for filk music and is annually hosted at the Ohio Valley Filk Fest (OVFF).
Music of Darkover is an anthology of fantasy and science fiction short stories and poems edited by American writer Elisabeth Waters. The stories are set in Marion Zimmer Bradley's world of Darkover. This book focuses on the music of Darkover.
Leslie Fish's song honoring the Apollo 11 mission; it embodies the hope of the space program. The anthem of filk singing. Always sung with respect and solemnity. Many filkers actually insist on standing at attention during this song.
The last action for this claim—land status checked—occurred on March 3, 1998. Information on the claim was last updated on February 11, 2016.
The last action for this claim—land status checked—occurred on March 3, 1998. Information on the claim was last updated on February 11, 2016.
I'll be getting married on November 13, to my old Berkeley Pagan buddy, Rasty Bob Ralston.
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