The Heirs of Anthony Boucher Marvin Lachman

The Nineteen-Nineties and Twenty-First Century
22 Midwest
110
Mystery & Suspense
Convention (1990–1992)
Despite having lost its Bouchercon bid for 1990, Omaha had ambitions for 1993,
and its committee, led by Chuck Levitt of the Little Professor Book Store, decided to
prove Omaha’s credentials by holding a convention. Don Cole, an important member
of his committee, admitted that the first Omaha convention “did start out as a protest
con, though we were not ready to admit it, but it quickly became an entirely new concept
for the genre—fan conventions of a smaller and more intimate nature.” Though
Malice Domestic preceded Omaha by a year, it was limited to one sub-genre.
Omaha succeeded in its goal—not in the protest since it occurred three months
before Bouchercon, and some people attended both—but in providing a memorable,
relaxed convention. Cole described it as “not a regional, as such, but a new national
convention for the mystery fan.” Indeed, in addition to a large Midwest contingent,
fans and writers came from both coasts, as well as the Southwest and Rockies. It was
held May 25–27, 1990 at the Holiday Inn Central, in whose labyrinthine corridors
attendees frequently became lost. Jeremiah Healy reported he called Room Service
and, after placing his order, was asked for directions to his room.
410 people attended in 1990, but MDM correspondents were most noticeable.
They took over the lobby, moving the furniture into a circle and talking and laughing
late into the night. Ann Williams reported, “I never found myself wanting for a
rowdy group in which to make a total fool of myself. But then what are conventions
for?” Ori Hardy-Sayles couldn’t remember ever laughing as hard. The imaginary fan
George Kramer, invented at the 1989 Bouchercon, was discussed and became more
“real” as Bob Samoian took out a subscription to MDM in his name and wrote letters
for him. In one letter “Kramer” claimed that his first mystery was going to be
published by “Orange Grove Press,” an imaginary California publisher. Relying on
information in MDM, Allen J. Hubin was going to include Kramer in his bibliography,
but I spotted the entry in time to assure him it was a fake.
Omaha was a relatively inexpensive convention, with early registration $35. The
Saturday night buffet banquet was only $18. Clive Cussler was Guest of Honor, and
Jim Huang’s Drood Review of Mystery was honored as a fan publication. At the banquet,
authors were seated at various tables, allowing them to mingle with fans. Barbara
Paul, who sat at my table, seemed unfamiliar with the hilarity and inside jokes
of mystery fans, though she had attended science fiction conventions. The drawback
of the banquet was a long-winded welcome by the representative of Omaha’s mayor,
one more appropriate if attendees were voters in that November’s election.
Panels were good in Omaha, including Nehr leading a discussion of “Little Old
Ladies of Crime.” When Joan Hess missed the beginning of that early Sunday panel,
she got caught up in Omaha’s atmosphere and picketed the room, saying she had
been thrown off the panel. Gary Warren Niebuhr moderated a hometown private eye