I thought these excerpts from the SF-Lovers list regarding Jo Clayton
might be of interest. Note the last one, regarding financial assistance
in defraying medical costs.
Laura Quilter / lauramd@uic.edu
Electronic Services Librarian
University of Illinois at Chicago
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 08:05:13 -0400
From: Saul Jaffe <sf-lovers-request@rutgers.edu>
Reply-To: SF-LOVERS-WRITTEN@rutgers.edu
Subject: SF-LOVERS Digest V22 #223
SF-LOVERS Digest Tuesday, 8 Jul 1997 Volume 22 : Issue 223
------------------------------
Subject: Drum Warning - Jo Clayton
I have very mixed feelings about whether to recommend this one (even though
I liked it). It is extremely Jo-Claytoney, which means among other things
that it is long, complex, leisurely, and the first book of a trilogy. The
problem with this, of course, is that the state of Jo Clayton's health
raises the possibility that we may not see part three, even if we get part
two (the periodic reports from the northwest we see on the newsgroups do
say she has continued to write through all of this).
More of what 'Jo-Claytoney' means. Jo Clayton is probably the foremost
current practitioner of an old literary style. She sets numerous plot
threads in motion, following good guys, bad guys, and in-between guys; then
moves back and forth between the threads, prodding here and massaging
there. While her books themselves don't so remind me, this style reminds
me most strongly of ERB's Tarzan books, especially the middle arc where the
focus was not always squarely on Tarzan. (This analogy really holds well
with the later Diadem books, where the focus was not always squarely on
Aletys)
On this book, we have seven major POV characters (three apparantly good,
four apparantly not good) and four or five minor POV characters, spread
over two planets. To my feeling, the weaving of the threads is done well
here, as they go their separate ways, sometimes paralleling sometimes
intersecting (of course by this point I may be just attuned to JC's
shifting POV style). The problem is that as you hit the end of the book,
after 382 pages, what you really have is the stage set.
Selfishly, I hope JC continues to improve physically. I'd like to know
what happens to Cymel.
------------------------------
Date: 26 Jun 1997 04:12:46 -0400
From: cpf@light.lightlink.com (Courtenay Footman)
Reply-to: sf-lovers-written@Rutgers.Edu
Subject: Re: Drum Warning - Jo Clayton
All I know about Clayton's health is what I read in Locus. The latest
(June) issue says "Jo Clayton [...] is officially off the critical list."
I hope this has not changed for the worse?
BTW, the Locus note ends with a statement that she completed a novel, and
has started work on the third book in the "Drums of Chance" series. The
penultimate statement in the note is a plea for (tax-deductible) funds to
help Clayton pay her medical expenses; the address given is: Oregon SF&F
Emergency Trust c/o OSFCI, P. O. Box 5703, Portland OR 97228
Courtenay Footman
cpf@lightlink.com
------------------------------
End of SF-LOVERS Digest
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