April 17th, 2006

Thank you Dale

Posted at 8:35 PM by Eva Whitley

writes: “The Science Fiction young writers’ contest sponsored by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society for Maryland high-school-aged students has been renamed ‘The Jack L. Chalker Young Writers Contest sponsored by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society’ effective April 8, 2006. BSFS believes that given Jack’s early entry into SF fandom, history of teaching, body of written work and close association with BSFS this renaming of the young writers contest creates an ideal memorial as part of his legacy.”

February 11th, 2006

Moment of Silence

Posted at 5:20 PM by Steven Chalker

Well, unfortunately, today is the day that marks 1 year since Jack died. I was discussing about his death at my therapist appointment (with Boomer, looking sad eyed and hoping Dad was in the room I was) and the snow started coming down heavy. The chinese buffet plan, the BSFS meeting, and seeing my cousin whose Dad has died also has all been put off for two weeks. Andrea suggests this: This evening, if it’s not snowing in your area like it is here, go out and buy a candle and light it in honor of Jack.

February 10th, 2006

Tommorrow marks 1 year

Posted at 7:40 AM by Steven Chalker

Tommorrow marks 1 year that Jack has passed away. We are planning to remember Jack at the BSFS meeting, however tommorrow they are also calling for 5-10″ (Winter Storm Watch) around the area. Well, Jack hated snow, and I loved snow, so why is it snowing tommorrow?

December 27th, 2005

Jack’s Ashes

Posted at 10:06 AM by Steven Chalker

I had almost forgotten about this. We are planning to give out Jack’s ashes to anybody who wants to throw them where Jack wanted to go. Marian had already done hers off the Qiongzhou Straits and Dave had already spread Jack’s ashes on H.P. Lovecraft’s grave. Just email Eva at eva.whitley AT gmail.com

December 18th, 2005

Jack’s 61st Birthday

Posted at 12:04 AM by Steven Chalker

If Jack were still alive, yesterday, December 17th, 2005, would have been his 61st birthday. If only he were still alive. :(

November 13th, 2005

November 13, 2005

Posted at 7:33 PM by Steven Chalker

A Balticon party at Philcon’s hotel will be hosted by us. There will be notices of the Room # of the party and my old, but working laptop will be up in case you want to register for Balticon. –Steven

September 9th, 2005

September 9, 2005

Posted at 7:32 PM by Steven Chalker

 Halfway across the Qiongzhou Straits on the Shuangtai San. The lights of the Chinese Mainland had completely vanished but we couldn’t yet see Hainan Island.

It was time: Midnight on the Sea of Dreams.

Closer to 3am really.

I hadn’t figured on the bus from Guangzhou spending an hour stuck in traffic. Or the dinner stop at around 8pm. Or how long it would take to load the ferry.

So it wasn’t really midnight. Not in the precise 12:01 AM sense of the word.

But, in all of the ways that really mattered, it was close enough to midnight.

I left the bright lights, instant noodle soup smells, and Hong Kong cop flicks of the main cabin for the dark silence of the deck and I promised myself that one of these days I’d take the ferry during the daytime. But this time I had a different sort of promise to keep.

The envelope I threw overboard skipped twice before sinking.

Jack had been in the hospital for over a month when I heard that he was sick. It was a sidenote at the end of a long email from my mother which included, among other things, local politics, what they’d eaten for dinner recently and amusing stories of stupid things the cat had done. The important things that take center stage are so obvious and so important that she doesn’t realize no-one has told me about them.

I didn’t hear about his death for a few days. But that was because remote mountain monasteries on holy Buddhist mountains in Sichuan don’t have internet connections. Or indoor plumbing. Or central heating. However, as Jack was one of the first people I knew to have a dish he’d have been pleased to know the did have nearly 150 channels of satellite tv.

I don’t remember when I first met Jack Chalker. Probably because I wasn’t speaking yet and had only recently learned to focus on and even control those waving blobs which I would later discover to be my arms and legs.

I always knew he was an author but it wasn’t until after I’d gotten out of the Piers Anthony phase of every young fan’s life that I actually read a book he’d written.. He was Davy’s father. Eva’s husband. The guy with the neat tv. The hot tub. The swimming pool. That blue light thing that zzzaaaaped icky bugs.

For my bat-mitzvah when other friends of the family gave me money or clothing or jewelry or other things that young girls are supposed to like, Eva gave me books and Jack signed them. My first ‘real’ job was reading galley proofs for him. I think the books were “Horrors of the Dancing Gods” and “The Cybernetic Walrus”. Eva would know. I was paid with a chocolate cake from Ms.Desserts. There may have also been money involved but the cake was the important part. I would do that as occasional work until my studies at university interfered.

I’ve got one more envelope to deliver. From the deck of the Kowloon-Hong Kong Blue Star Ferry. In memory of one of the people who fostered my love for books. And whose hate for icky raw fish things meant going out for sushi with Eva and my Dad.

Eva here: Marian gave me permission to re-post this from her Yahoo Group, Marian In China. (P.S. to Marian: Not all icky raw fish. He adored oysters on the half shell.)

July 22nd, 2005

July 22, 2005

Posted at 7:31 PM by Eva Whitley

JackCon 3 will be two days from today, at the X-House again. We’ll sort through what’s left and get the house ready for cleaners and Bob’s Hauling. Let me know if you’re up for another go-round by emailing me at eva dot whitley at g mail dot com.

June 5th, 2005

June 5, 2005

Posted at 7:30 PM by Steven Chalker

We have the directions and details for the packing party up on a website. If you would be interested in joining in on July 3rd, 2005, email Mom at eva at eva whitley dot net for the URL. (You can understand that we’d be nervous about handing out the URL to people we don’t know given it has our address, both past and future.)

May 29th, 2005

May 29, 2005

Posted at 7:29 PM by Steven Chalker

Argh, it’s a Balticon without Dad, however we did have a panel talking about him called “Midnight at the Wake of Chalker”. It was really great, and a lot of people came and told their true tales about Dad, for instance, somebody mentioned he wanted something to eat at 1am, so he saw something wrapped in foil and thought it was left-overs, so he picked it up, ate it, then realized it was doggy treats!! Everybody cracked up at that one.

The news is all complete now; I’ve recovered the last two news articles missing from this website. (Thanks guys!) Now to backup the site. (By the way, take it from me, the Wyndham Hotel on the Inner Harbor is just the worst hotel ever! I’m glad Balticon 40 and probably beyond is going to be in the Hunt Valley Inn out of Baltimore City.) We know of our new place now, and Mom and me are planning to visit the new townhouse tommorrow.

May 23rd, 2005

May 23, 2005

Posted at 7:28 PM by Steven Chalker

(We are beginning to send out invitations to our packing party soon. We are moving on July 3rd, 2005. If you would like to help us move & can come to the Westminster, Maryland area (where we currently live) please drop an email by my Mom at eva dot whitley at g mail dot com without spaces) Argh, sorry I haven’t posted on Dad’s site in a while, some events have been going on lately. I might make a book called “Meteorologist Life” where it has my life from 7th grade to 10th grade and might have some Jack L. Chalker secrets in it too. (But… Book news can’t be displayed to the public unless you email me, my principal thinks I’ve offended the school enough and my Mom suggested password-protecting my blog. Read on to get password) Mom has been having these “odd” dreams about how Dad “was still alive and that the ashes buried were another person’s ashes”. We sold the house to a man named David (I’m not going to mention his last name, and it’s not my brother, he already lives in his own place down in College Park) and he’s going to fix up our house, and we’re already looking forward to a townhouse in Owings Mills, MD. Last thursday, I caught the flu and have been running a fever of 102F, vomiting, etc. My throat is really swollen; it takes 15 seconds to have the whole cup of water go through my throat.

I’ve lost the recent news.htm file. What happened was that my old computer, (the one Dad made) it’s video card died (Yet another irony!!!) and Dave (my brother) wanted Dad’s old computer. While Dave’s operation to transfer his harddrives from the VAIO computer to Dad’s computer was a success, mine wasn’t, and even though I still have my C:\ files, documents, programs, My Expert PHP scripts, etc. It erased and recreated C:\WINDOWS so it doesn’t know that Adobe is on my computer and installed. Anyway, if anybody has the lost recent news.htm archived somewhere, or wants password to meteorologistlife.com, please send it to php coder at g mail dot com. (without spaces) Please do not send spam or viruses. GMail blocks out every bit of spam in my inbox and has a virus blocker updated every day.

March 29th, 2005

March 29, 2005

Posted at 7:27 PM by Steven Chalker

Steven again– It’s been rough not having dad around lately. My little beagle, Boomer, is getting lonelier(sp?) every day and missing someone else to hang around while boo sleeps. Though Mom is convinced that Dad’s death was probably a Malpractice– that this could have been avoided! This might be debatable(another sp?) and I’m just guessing that maybe something in the liquid food or medication made his kidneys fail but I don’t think that’s true. I truely think this could have been avoided and they could have saved Dad’s life. I saved him once but he only lived a year ahead. (on the day Hurricane Isabel’s eye came ashore.) We should be speaking with the Malpractice lawyers sooner or later, but we are seeing them.

March 2nd, 2005

March 2, 2005

Posted at 7:26 PM by Steven Chalker

http://www.nndb.com/people/735/000023666/ A bio of Jack from a database of biographies.

We’re burying the ashes on Friday, at 2:30 P.M. It’s going to be a small, private ceremony. If you’re local to Baltimore, and want to come, send me an email. (Eva at evawhitley dot net)

February 22nd, 2005

February 22, 2005

Posted at 7:24 PM by Eva Whitley

The Memorial Service was beautiful. We had around 120-130 people there (the funeral director’s estimate) and a HUGE turnout at the reception afterwards. My older brother flew in from Chicago, and one of Jack’s Internet buddies flew in from Detroit (I was gobsmacked), and there were a few people from Philly/New Jersey (as well as cousins from Norfolk) but most folks were Baltiwash fandom. Or gafiated fandom.

I didn’t see anyone from work other than the minister, who did a great job. My former coworker from Computer Sciences, Warren, showed up but I only saw him briefly. I’m so happy he was there. It’s possible since I went and sat down with the mourners several minutes before the ceremony (and before my sibs got there!)(And I never want to hear another family joke about Eva being late ever again) and there were huge crowds around me all evening, that people WERE there and I never saw them.

I especially want to thank my coworker, Rev. Reginald Pouncy, his crew, my friend of a friend Sherry, who sings like an angel and who I now consider my friend, Mike Walsh, Chuck Miller, Mark Owings, my nephew Chris (father to the 4 most adorable children in the world), and to my wonderful sons, David and Steven. The smartest thing I ever did was have children.

We had a miscommunication with the funeral director on the internment, and Jack won’t actually be buried for several days and when the Roaring Bull starts running in the spring I’ll organize a little trip to Liverpool to toss part of Jack’s ashes off the ferry to make their way, eventually, to the Chesapeake Bay. Email me if you’d like to be a part of either of these events.

For now, the ashes are going to be stored in Jack’s office, under the photo montage Dave and his Kinko cronies made for the funeral (which was just breathtaking). Dave did a fabulous job with the programs, and we may have some left over. If you’d like one, send an SASE to Box 1689, Westminster, MD 21158 and we’ll send you one.

February 11th, 2005

Sad News

Posted at 11:24 AM by Steven Chalker

As of 11:12AM Friday, February 11th, 2005, Jack Lawrence Chalker has now passed away and is now in a greater place. He died of Kidney Failure at age 60 in Baltimore, MD. He was born December 17th, 1944. Thank you for praying for us. Funeral services will be held at Marzullo’s Funeral Chapel at 6009 Harford Rd, Baltimore, MD on February 21st, 2005 7-9pm.

February 9th, 2005

February 9, 2005

Posted at 7:22 PM by Eva Whitley

Sorry we haven’t updated lately. Wish I had better news.

Jack was sent to University Specialty Hospital at the beginning of this month but last month got moved back to the hospital (Bon Secours, not University of Maryland, which was on Red Alert and not accepting emergencies). The situation is not good for Jack, with very low blood pressure, some bleeding problems, and kidney failure. 

Jack has been in a vegetative state since late December. One nurse at UMD said he was responding to yes/no questions with head shakes and nods but we never saw that after late December. He has not been responding to requests to blink, squeeze hands, etc.

Dave and I went in today and told him we loved him. Tomorrow both boys and I will be going in.

January 19th, 2005

January 19, 2005

Posted at 7:20 PM by Steven Chalker

Steven Chalker again… We’ve narrowed down the choices of nursing homes. It’s either going to be University Specialty (aka Deaton) or a nursing home that begins with “Ft. ” and it’s in Southern Baltimore. Lorien in Mt. Airy, MD has it’s beds full even though the Adelphia Advertising Center still allows them to advertise here and they say they still have beds. Whatever the case, the next news statements will probably have where he’s going.

UPDATE: Today has been flip-flopped. Dad went from UMD to University Specialty and then back to UMD again. Apparently dad had gone from the 4th Floor (Intensive Care Unit) to the 7th Floor (Which isn’t as intensive), transferred to Deaton, then developed a Fever, then went back to the 4th Floor. A later scan showed Dad had brain damage because not enough oxygen went into dad’s brain. So when dad’s fever goes down under 100�F, he will be transferred to Deaton again.

January 15th, 2005

January 15, 2005

Posted at 7:19 PM by Eva Whitley

Eva Whitley here: We went into the hospital today. Jack’s eyes opened from time to time but he wasn’t particularly responsive and he kept drifting off. We stayed on the idea he was hearing us and appreciating his company. We also talked to the resident for about 10 minutes who wanted to know about Jack’s mental state before he was admitted to the emergency room.

They are concerned that the sedation has been off for several days now (probably not that long, because didn’t he have to be sedated for the surgery?) but he’s still asleep most of the time.

We’re planning on going back tomorrow morning, and maybe Monday. They plan to move him to the nursing home for vent weaning after that, and after that, who knows? We’d like him to come home, but that’s not going to happen if he stays in this state.

Jack has a Guest Book now at http://www2.caringbridge.org/md/jacklchalker/ if you want to leave a get well message. 

Oh, and the cardiologist who they consulted on Jack’s heart asked if he was the same Jack Chalker “who wrote all those books.” You never know when you’re going to find another fan!

January 3rd, 2005

January 3, 2005

Posted at 7:17 PM by Steven Chalker

This morning I was awoken with breaking news: Dad was being moved to University of Maryland, and not Deaton. The problem was that around 2am his trach started having him bleed a lot and CHC could not fix it and moved him to UMD. So they had to send the police around 3am to our house just to tell us to answer the phone because we were sleeping. When I went in there a few hours ago, they did not reinsert the trach. Instead, he’s back on the ventilator and sedated, in Critical Condition. If your in Baltimore and want to go see him, go to UMD in Downtown Baltimore, 4th floor and just ask for Jack Chalker.

January 1st, 2005

January 1, 2005

Posted at 7:16 PM by Steven Chalker

This is going to be the final news post on www.JackChalker.com unless a big emergency or something really exciting happens. Mom & I came up with an idea if you want to help instead of donating. You can contribute a present or a get well card to:

The Mirage Press
P.O. Box 1689
Westminster, MD 21158-1689

I’ve also removed the live conditions thing because for the past 10 days now he has been Stable and looks like the rest of this month it will still be Stable. For all Dad’s update, please visit Jack Chalker’s Wife’s Blog or My blog. �Felices fiestas! (P.S. I did not take German [or… Latin?]. I got that line from Babel Fish.) 

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