On Saints, Sainthood, Stars, and Dragons...........

Was having a discussion last night with seattlejo on one of the more "famous" literary saints, namely Saint Camber of Culdi, (Patron of Deryni Magic, Defender of Humanity.)

And it got me to thinking about the panel discussion I've always wanted to do or see at a convention, the role of the Saint in Science Fiction and Fantasy, and why you keep having them show up.

Obviously they're a plot device. But why a spiritual plot device?

What SF/F Saints are there anyway??

The classical example is St. Leibowitz in the SF sphere, with St. Camber in the fantasy sphere. Other examples that come to mind are St. Jack the Bodiless and his wife, St. Illusio Diamondmask, from Julian May's Galactic Mileu series. Christopher Stasheff gives us St. Vidicon of Cathode. You even have Saints outside of a Catholic or Catholic-influenced enviroment - David Weber gives us St. Austin Grayson, who led his followers to the planet Grayson.

Quite the group to storm heaven.

But *why* does SF and Fantasy *need* saints? Plot devices aside, what is it about the concept or image of a saint that makes it such a potent plot element?

It would make a fun discussion panel......

On Saints, Sainthood, Stars, and Dragons...........

Was having a discussion last night with seattlejo on one of the more "famous" literary saints, namely Saint Camber of Culdi, (Patron of Deryni Magic, Defender of Humanity.)

And it got me to thinking about the panel discussion I've always wanted to do or see at a convention, the role of the Saint in Science Fiction and Fantasy, and why you keep having them show up.

Obviously they're a plot device. But why a spiritual plot device?

What SF/F Saints are there anyway??

The classical example is St. Leibowitz in the SF sphere, with St. Camber in the fantasy sphere. Other examples that come to mind are St. Jack the Bodiless and his wife, St. Illusio Diamondmask, from Julian May's Galactic Mileu series. Christopher Stasheff gives us St. Vidicon of Cathode. You even have Saints outside of a Catholic or Catholic-influenced enviroment - David Weber gives us St. Austin Grayson, who led his followers to the planet Grayson.

Quite the group to storm heaven.

But *why* does SF and Fantasy *need* saints? Plot devices aside, what is it about the concept or image of a saint that makes it such a potent plot element?

It would make a fun discussion panel......

The End Of An Era.......

I guess we're all going to have to get cheap import flamingoes from now on...

Pink flamingo plant closing

"Union Products Inc., the original manufacturer of the plastic pink flamingo, will close its doors by Nov. 1, according to the company's president.

Production of the flamingos stopped in June, along with the company's other product lines, and the company is now in the process of liquidation, according to its president, Dennis L. Plante.

"These are some hard times for the plastics industry and they have been for the past two years," he said Wednesday, citing significant increases in the cost of electricity and resin, a petroleum-based product central to manufacturing.",

The End Of An Era.......

I guess we're all going to have to get cheap import flamingoes from now on...

Pink flamingo plant closing

"Union Products Inc., the original manufacturer of the plastic pink flamingo, will close its doors by Nov. 1, according to the company's president.

Production of the flamingos stopped in June, along with the company's other product lines, and the company is now in the process of liquidation, according to its president, Dennis L. Plante.

"These are some hard times for the plastics industry and they have been for the past two years," he said Wednesday, citing significant increases in the cost of electricity and resin, a petroleum-based product central to manufacturing.",