Anyway, thoughts . . . Retros good or bad.
Two years ago (almost 3 now, dammit) at MilPhil, Robert Silverberg won the Retro Hugo as Best Fan Writer of 1951. He won mainly because his was the only name on the ballot most of the voters recognized (well, that's not entirely true - Wilson Tucker, James White and Walt Willis were also on the ballot). When he accepted the award, he stated this, adding that he was not, in fact, the Best Fan Writer of 1951.
I don't know. The Retro Hugos don't really mean anything (do the regular Hugos?), so there's no harm in doing them. I suppose you could have a panel of knowledgeable fans award them, but again, they don't mean anything - does anyone even remember that there WERE Retro Hugos given out at MilPhil, let alone who won them? Is any publisher going to reprint _Farmer In The Sky_ and highlight that it won the Retro Hugo for Best Novel of 1951? I doubt it.
Tom Beck
"I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last." - Dr. Jerry Pournelle
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