(Question: Did Thomas M. Disch openly ask SF fans for help when his troubles started to overwhelm him?)

Thanks for sharing, that’s a fantastic story to tell.

Many, many years ago, when rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan was thriving, and after I had met many of the regulars in person half a dozen times or so, I posted about a particularly shitty week I was having. Right around this time of year, in fact.

The head gaskets on the car had blown, we were short on cash to fix it, so to scrape together the cash, we had to cancel all of the Christmas layaways. Had the car waited a couple weeks, we’d have been fine, but it didn’t, so… The Monsters were still wee, so we were just going to tell them that Santa had a scheduling problem and was going to be a week late. We didn’t really have any other options – public transportation in Toledo is assarific, we needed the car fixed so Hubby – sole breadwinner at the time – could get to work timely.

The denizens of RASFWRJ told me tales of car problems they had had, offered virtual hugs and kisses and reassured me that the kids wouldn’t really be the wiser about Santa showing up late, as he’d still show up before school resumed.

Then quietly, in e-mails, behind my back, they conspired. Packages started arriving, addressed to the Monsters. No return addresses. Then gift cards for KMart. No return addresses. Then a FedEx envelope with money and a phone number in it. I called the number and it was one of my RASFWRJian friends, telling me that if we delayed presents for the Monsters because of something as stupid as money, he’d walk to Toledo and beat my ass, Merry Christmas, go buy presents for those boys. And I sat down on the floor and sobbed like a little girl. They all told me later “It really wasn’t a big deal.” And I suppose that taken in pieces – $5 here, $10 there, a book here and a gift certificate there – it wasn’t. But the effect of it certainly WAS a big deal, and I won’t ever forget it.

A little at a time, we pay it forward. Because we remember when some very kind people (now long dear friends) did something enormous and beautiful at a time when we had been laid low.

People, at the heart, are basically good. I’m very happy that this has held true for Vera.

Through saturday morning at 6am eastern, yes.

Not bloody often, is the answer to that. So, thank you.