Viridian Pope-Emperor, WorldChanging Ally Number One, the best public speaker I know, and the Hardest-Ranting Man in Show Business, Bruce Sterling, is coming to your hometown -- assuming your hometown is one of ten different spots around the US. To promote his just-released nowpunk cyberthriller, The Zenith Angle, BruceS will be embarking upon his biggest-ever book tour this summer, hitting towns from Arlington to Seattle (and several points in-between). If you've never heard BruceS giving a talk, you're missing out: he is the most engaging, funny, and brilliant person I've ever heard stand in front of a microphone and tell the truth.

If you're in the San Francisco area, you're in for an extra-special treat: BruceS will be delivering the June 11th Long Now Foundation seminar at Fort Mason. It's entitled "The Singularity: Your Future As A Black Hole." Mark your calendars now.

The picture on the right, by the way, is of BruceS at the Chabot Science Center in Oakland, California on Tuesday. He's holding up his new digital camera; I took the shot with my camera phone. He and I were both participating in a scenario project for the Sci Fi channel; since the entire workshop was filmed, I suspect you'll be hearing more about it in due time.

"the Hardest-Ranting Man in Show Business,"

I'll second that. A couple of friends got our heads turned inside out watching him do his thing on a panel at an SF con. It was about the future of cities. Someone asked about Space Colonies. Sterling just kind of waded in and shredded the idea. It was like watching a velociraptor tango through a herd of Barney the Purple Dinosaurs.

"BruceS will be delivering the June 11th Long Now Foundation seminar at Fort Mason."

I hope that's videotaped.

"He and I were both participating in a scenario project for the Sci Fi channel; since the entire workshop was filmed, I suspect you'll be hearing more about it in due time."

And here I was assuming that Sci Fi had utterly lost all its cran. I'd love to hear more about this.

Posted by: Stefan Jones on May 6, 2004 10:10 PM

Bruce is truely an engaging speaker and does it in a personable way, like chatting with a friend. I had the chance to see him in Oak Park and was glad I did. As for space colonies- try the moon. There is a viable modle- privatize. Hilton could build a hotel there and no doubt space tourism will be born. I cant wait. The CSI institute in Skokie IL. long ago already experimented with how to make concrete in outerspace with moon rock.

Posted by: Mark Olson on May 7, 2004 10:33 AM

here's half a review from beatrice supporting the "Hardest-Ranting Man" and "engaging speaker" characterizations :D

http://www.beatrice.com/archives/000405.html

"the novel's just 'a setup for an extraordinary rant that reads as if the author had just taken over the podium at a hackers conference, fueled with tequila, frothing from every pore.' And for that very reason,..., impossible to ignore."

cheers!

Posted by: reflexorset on May 7, 2004 11:59 AM