DragonCon and Ed Kramer

Antibodies by kevin J. Anderson,1998

Ruins by Kevin j. Anderson, 1996

Weight: 7.1 oz

Method of Disposal: Leaving somewhere. I found these two books today. I keep thinking I am getting rid of all my X-Files books and then more appear.

 

Anyone that knows me well is aware of my love of Gillian Anderson and is also, unfortunately, aware of my nerdy decade-long dream that I would one day get to meet her or even see her speak in person. The opportunity finally came to Atlanta this year. I was excited, which is the understatement of the year. I was babbling on about it to all of my long-term friends and some of them were even excited about it themselves, though they were less excited about her and more excited about seeing me make an ass of myself/be super happy/act goofy/fall all over myself/gush/faint/whatever. I was going to DragonCon. Nothing could hold me back.

Then a week or two before the glorious day I took my Atlanta Magazine out of my backpack to read a little on a break from work. I read the following article:

http://www.atlantamagazine.com/features/2012/09/01/dragoncon-ed-kramer-child-molestation

I was horrified to learn that Ed Kramer, a DragonCon Cofounder, had been accused of child molestation on more than one occasion. I know about “innocent until proven guilty,” but there was so much that just did not add up to anything good. Why would a man who knows he is facing molestation charges live in an apartment with a teenage boy? Wouldn't you just avoid that situation? Why would you have boys come to your house for sleepovers when you are clearly too old for that shit?

Kramer lives in my hometown.

There was something that could hold me back. I wrote DragonCon to let them know I would not be attending. I understood that the other founders/owners of DragonCon were trying to rectify the situation to no avail and my e-mail was not accusatory. I wrote Gillian Anderson's PR people to see if she was speaking somewhere else and to explain why I could not go. I wrote Atlanta Magazine to thank them for their courage. Only Gillian Anderson's people wrote back with a curt message saying she would not be speaking anywhere else and would head back to London immediately following the event.

My wonderful friends did their own research and came to their own conclusions. The people I was closest to chose not to go, and I was so proud of all of them and so happy to know them. To call them my friends.  Another dear friend and her husband took the time to bid on an autographed Scully action figure.  The money went to charity, and the doll was delivered to me, as a suprise, for no other reason than they were just being loving and wonderful.

 I know that many people cannot resist DragonCon, no matter what. I understand the desire to rationalize and enjoy something you have looked forward to for a long long time. However, some things are just not important enough. Some things are so terrible that they cannot be overlooked.  Then, there are some people who are so amazing and the little stands they take and the incredibly kind things they do cannot be overlooked either.