Guest Dies at Convention
Mark Dodson, best known as the voice of Salacious Crumb in Return of the Jedi and Mogwai in Gremlins, died March 2. TMZ first reported:
In fact, Mark's daughter tells TMZ he died while in Evansville, Indiana, to attend Horror Con.
She says Mark had flown to Indiana for the event, and checked into his hotel ... and that's where he suffered a "massive heart attack" while sleeping.
A Facebook Reel from Evansville Horror Con (note: what is said is completely different from the statement being displayed) hints at the scramble behind the scenes. Program items have to be updated, fans have to be informed, but the con needed to wait until it had the go-ahead from Dodson’s family to make a public announcement.
This is not quite the first time a high-profile guest has passed away at a fan convention. Patrick Troughton, best remembered as the Second Doctor in, Doctor Who died (also of a heart attack) during Magum Opus Con 2 in Columbus, Georgia back in 1987.
With the vast number of conventions and the vast number of guests attending some of them these days, this is a story we may hear again, and “what if a guest passes away unexpectedly” will need to keep being an unfortunate bit of logistical planning for cons.
In Brief
The Guest of Honor for Corflu 41 last weekend (chosen at random from among the attending members) was Mark Plummer. Jennifer Farey and Jerry Kaufman were elected past presidents of the Fan Writers Association. FAAn Awards and statistics have been published (PDF). A bid was accepted to hold Corflu 42 in Newbury, UK, April 11-13, 2025.
Indiana Comic Convention (Indianapolis, Indiana, March 22-24) has added Rosario Dawson, John Cleese, Jacob Romero, Corey Feldman, and Wilson Bethel as guests.
Spooky Empire (Orlando, Florida, May 17-19) has added Kevin Vanhentenryck as a guest.
Monroe Comic Con (Monroe, Michigan, September 13-14) has added Clint Howard, Linda Young, and Tom Morga as guests.
Event Calendar
Weekend of March 8-10
Cleveland ConCoction, Aurora, Ohio, USA
MarsCon 2024, Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
Pulp Fiction Central, Dania Beach, Florida, USA
Fur the More: Arthurian Legends (anthropomorphic), Arlington, Virginia, USA
VancouFur 2024: Claws & Clockwork (anthropomorphic), Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
14. Bremer Spiele-Tage (gaming), Bremen, Germany
Granite Game Summit, Nashua, New Hampshire, USA
Gratislavia (gaming), Wrocław, Poland
Dice Tower West (gaming), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
ShushCon 2024 (gaming), Pawleys Island, South Carolina, USA
MidWinter ‘24 (gaming), Haugesund, Norway
TezalCon (video games), Daleville, Alabama, USA
PrinceCon 47 (marathon RPG), Princeton, New Jersey, USA
Lost Golaricon 2024: Once More With Feeling (Pathfinder & Starfinder RPGs), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
MinamiCon 29 (anime), Southampton, UK
Banzaicon (anime), Columbia, South Carolina, USA
Mississippi Anime Fest, Jackson, Mississippi, USA
Anime Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Wilkes Comic Con, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, USA
Japan Expo Marseille (anime), Marseille, France
ACEcon 2024 (anime), Palm Harbor, Florida, USA
Kikori Con 2024 (anime), Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
Power Comicon, Florence, South Carolina, USA
Collective Con (media), Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Dublin Comic Con, Dublin, Ireland
CarrierCon 2024 (media), Alameda, California, USA
TFcon (Transformers), Burbank, California, US
Weekend of March 15-17
SFW 15, Great Yarmouth, UK
Nerdi Gras 2024, Duluth, Georgia, USA
45th International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, Orlando, Florida, USA
GollanczFest 2024 (sf books), London, UK
Gateway Fur Meet: Murder Mystery Party (anthropomorphic), Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
Furnal Equinox: Under the Sea (anthropomorphic), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Texas Furry Fiesta: Singularity Point (anthropomorphic), Dallas, Texas, USA
BashCon 38 (gaming), Toledo, Ohio, USA
Zuiderspel (gaming), Veldhoven, Netherlands
Ludesco (gaming), La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
LeiriaCon (gaming), Leiria, Portugal
Terminal City Tabletop Convention (gaming), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
AireCon (gaming), Harrogate, UK
TokenCon 2024 (gaming), Midwest City, Oklahoma, USA
Breakout 2024 (gaming), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
GOBfest (boardgames), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Playthrough (video games), Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Concrete Cow (RPGs), Milton Keynes, UK
Ambercon US (diceless RPGs), Livonia, Michigan, USA
Founders & Legends (D&D), Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, USA
Ani-Me Con 12.0 (anime), Fresno, California, USA
EvilleCon: Year of the Dragon (anime), Evansville, Indiana, USA
Just added: Heroes Made in Asia (anime), Gorinchem, Netherlands
Anime New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Colorado Anime Fest 2024, Denver, Colorado, USA
Indiana Comic Convention, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Toronto Comicon, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
All-Con (media), Dallas, Texas, USA
GalaxyCon Richmond (media), Richmond, Virginia, USA
Armageddon Expo Tauranga (media), Tauranga, New Zealand
Paris Manga Sci-Fi Show (media), Villepinte, France
Florida PolyCon (media), Lakeland, Florida, USA
Weekend of March 22-24
Picocon 41: The Menagerie, London, UK
MidSouthCon 39, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
FantaSci 2024: The Words Must Flow, Durham, North Carolina, USA
OutlantaCon/Gaylaxicon 2024 (LGBTQ+ geekdom), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
WOWCon Beyond (women in media and geekdom), Dallas, Texas, USA
Fluke 2024 (independent comics and zines), Athens, Georgia, USA
Consonance 2024 (music), Santa Clara, California, USA
Motor City Furry Con: The Lost World, Furassic Park, Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA
Thaitails Unifursity (anthropomorphic), Bangkok, Thailand
GameStorm 24, Portland, Oregon, USA
WittCon XIX: The Search for Steve (gaming), Springfield, Ohio, USA
Gary Con XVI (gaming), Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, USA
Alamo City Game Convention, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Ratinger Spieletage (gaming), Ratingen, Germany
KennyCon (gaming), Marietta, Georgia, USA
NerdCon (gaming), Robinson, Illinois, USA
Ludinord (gaming), Mons-En-Barœul, France
Great Plains Game Festival, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
COSCON XXXIV (RPGs), Butler, Pennsylvania, USA
SIMCON 45: Time Travel! (boardgames), Rochester, New York, USA
PAX East (video games), Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Hotlead (miniatures gaming), Stratford, Ontario, Canada
Adepticon 2024 (wargaming), Schaumburg, Illinois, USA
Nadeshicon (anime), Québec City, Québec, Canada
ScottyCon (anime), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
AlmaCon (anime), Alma, Michigan, USA
Just added: Manga-Comic-Con, Leipzig, Germany
Just added: Anime Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Zenkaikon 2024 (anime), Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA
Tora-Con 2024 (anime), Rochester, New York, USA
Harucon 2024 (anime), Jerusalem, Israel
Atlantic Entertainment Expo (media), Charlottetown, PEI, Canada
ETSU-Con (media), Johnson City, Tennessee, USA
Weekend of March 29-31
Levitation 2024 (UK national sf convention), Telford, UK
Minicon 57, Saint Louis Park, Minnesota, USA
Norwescon 46: Into the Wylde, SeaTac, Washington, USA
Just added: Costume-Con 42, Denver, Colorado, USA
Fauntastic: Greetings From Camp Critters! (anthropomorphic), Lyon, France
Las Vegas Fur Con 2024: Nuclear A-paw-calypse, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
GothCon XLVII (gaming), Göteborg, Sweden
Fastaval (gaming), Hobro, Denmark
Just added: OzBunnyCon 2024 (gaming), Melbourne, Australia
Conpulsion 2024 (gaming), Edinburgh, UK
EyeCon 2024 (gaming), North Ryde, Australia
Scrum Con (wargaming), Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
Conquest Games Convention (RPGs), Melbourne, Australia
Louisville Arcade Expo, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
FreeCon 20 (anime), Tallahassee, Florida, USA
KokoroCon 3 (anime), Nottingham, UK
Kanpai!Con (anime), Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Anime Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Anime Detour: Glow Up!, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
MTAC Dueling Dragons (anime), Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Kawaii Kon (anime), Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Triad Anime Convention, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
WeebCon (anime), Allen, Texas, USA
Sakura-Con '24 (anime), Seattle, Washington, USA
Puerto Rico Comic Con, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA
Angers Geekfest 5e Édition (media), Angers, France
My-Con (media), Orlando, Florida, USA
WonderCon 2024 (media), Anaheim, California, USA
BABSCon 2024 (My Little Pony), Burlingame, California, USA
Weekend of April 5-7
Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention, Lombard, Illinois, USA
Golden State Fur Con: Back to the 80s!! (anthropomorphic), Los Angeles, California, USA
FallsCon 24: Exploring the Mystic Realms (gaming), Wichita Falls, Kansas, USA
ADK Tabletop Day (gaming), Glens Falls, New York, USA
LexiCon (gaming), Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Roll Initiative Con (gaming), Ewijk, Netherlands
Board Games at Berkeley Con, Berkeley, California, USA
Gondreville est ludique (gaming), Gondreville, France
Long Island Tabletop Gaming Expo 2024, Garden City, New York, USA
Baycon 2024 (gaming), Kennford, UK
Havoc XXXVIII (miniatures gaming), Marlborough, Massachusetts, USA
Seven Hills (RPGs), Sheffield, UK
Midwest Gaming Classic (video games), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
aniMUC (anime), Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany
Saluki Con (anime), Carbondale, Illinois, USA
FicZone 2024 (anime), Granada, Spain
CyPhaCon 2024 (media), Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA
FACTS (media), Ghent, Belgium
Comic-Con Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
RodCon (media), Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA
SC Comicon, Greenville, South Carolina, USA
Hill Country Comicon, New Braunfels, Texas, USA
ASU Nerd Con (media), Boone, North Carolina, USA
Fanfaire NYC (media), New York City, New York, USA
Supanova 2024 – Melbourne (media), Ascot Vale, Australia
Bedford Who Charity Con 9 (Doctor Who), Bedford, UK
Coda
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