The Heirs of Anthony Boucher Marvin Lachman

The Nineteen-Seventies
Charles Shibuk. Friday night’s only activity was a get-acquainted party where the
conversation was so enjoyable it lasted four hours.
For the first time a book was published in conjunction with Bouchercon: Multiplying
Villainies: Selected Mystery Criticism 1 42–1 6 by Anthony Boucher. It was
edited by Briney and Nevins and contained a foreword, “Tony Boucher As I Knew
Him,” by Helen McCloy. Published in a limited edition of 500 copies, it took three
years to sell out, but is now highly collectible, with prices up to $400 in catalogues
and on the Web.
The formal program included Nevins talking about Cleve F. Adams and Randy
Cox on Nick Carter. Charlotte MacLeod spoke on “The Occult in Mystery Fiction.”
There was an especially good “Science Fiction and Mystery Fiction” panel with Edward
D. Hoch, Goulart, and Briney. A last-minute panel on Cornell Woolrich, with
Nevins, Yates, and Hal Knott went as smoothly as if it had been planned months
before.
This was my first Bouchercon, and I was drafted for another impromptu panel,
“Mystery in Films,” though I wasn’t sure why since film experts Shibuk and Chris
Steinbrunner were panelists. For the first of many Bouchercons, Steinbrunner was
responsible for the film program, and it was varied, including The Laurel and Hardy
Murder Case, And Then There Were None, and the first chapter of the Drums of Fu
Manchu serial.
This Bouchercon received media attention. An interviewer and camera crew from
Boston’s WBZ-TV, at the Sheraton to interview Liza Minnelli, filmed part of it and
an interview with Yates, both of which were aired. There was also coverage by Boston
Globe columnist Bill Fripp, who called it MWA’s fourth annual convention, though
the local chapter of MWA had not been helpful. It would not be the last time that
credit for Bouchercon would mistakenly go to professional writers instead of the fans
who put it on. The editor of a book using Boucher’s Sherlock Holmes radio scripts
said, “After his death, the Mystery Writers of America named their annual convention
after him.”
1974: Oakland
Bouchercon returned to California October 4-6 at the Royal Oak Inn at Oakland’s
Airport, with science fiction writer/editor Adrienne Martine-Barnes as chairwoman.
Because of a lack of publicity, attendance dipped to about fifty, and almost all who
came were from Northern California. However, John Nieminski and I traveled there
with our wives, from Chicago and New York respectively, and the Moffatts came up
from Southern California.
The convention began Friday night with the now traditional reception, this time
a wine-and-cheese affair held in the bridal suite, of all places. The formal program
on Saturday and Sunday heavily involved Boucher, but that was appropriate since
he had lived in nearby Berkeley. Phyllis White gave personal reminiscences, as did
colleagues Karen and Poul Anderson, Shirley Dickensheet, and Lenore Glen Offord.
Guest of Honor Reginald Bretnor spoke about his friendship with Boucher, describing
the latter’s many talents, from gourmet cooking to poker playing.
Among other panelists were Joe Gores, Bill Pronzini, and Frank McAuliffe. On
42