Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Sunday in Sudbury



Sunday, June 3, 2007 -- the day after I got my honorary doctorate from Laurentian University -- I did a victory lap in Sudbury, appearing at the Chapters bookstore there. :) We had an excellent overflow crowd, including several Laurentian faculty members and some of the students who had graduated the day before, and heard my convocation address.

(The sign over my head at the reading was wonderfully appropriate -- it's exactly how I felt!)

After the reading and signing was over, the staff of the Sudbury Chapters presented me with a couple of wonderful gifts: a big box of various dark chocolate bars (my favorite -- and pretty low in carbs!), and a wonderful framed and signed photo of Science North, the science museum in Sudbury, with a plaque beneath it that says:
The Other World of
Ponter Boddit
Chapters Sudbury
June 2, 2007
(Ponter is the Neanderthal quantum physicist who slides through to this version of reality in Sudbury, in my Hugo Award-winning novel Hominids and its sequels.) Way, way cool!

After that, Carolyn and I were taken out to lunch by David Goforth, Ph.D., of Laurentian University's Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, and David Robinson, Ph.D., of Laurentian's Department of Economics. Although I received my honorary doctorate this year in response to me being nominated by Michael Emond, Ph.D., of Laurentian's Department of Psychology in 2005, it turns out the two Davids had previously also nominated me, as well, in 2003 -- which was very flattering to hear.

More: Drs. Goforth and Robinson are collaborating on a book on game theory, a discipline that's going to figure prominently in my upcoming WWW trilogy, and we had a wonderful brainstorming session -- thanks, guys!

Carolyn and I then headed out of Sudbury, stopping to take a picture of the Big Nickel -- a Sudbury landmark. We then drove the three hours to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (putting us a total of seven hours from Toronto), where we checked into a hotel. Why? See my next blog entry ...



The staff of Chapters in Sudbury gave me some neat gifts!



Sudbury's Big Nickel (science fiction writer to scale); that's King George VI, Canada's former monarch, on the obverse

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site


2 Comments:

At June 06, 2007 3:56 PM , Blogger Kirstin said...

Very cool photo of the Big Nickel. It's something I've always wanted to see. Much better than Alberta's giant egg, giant sausage and giant oil lamp, or even Manitoba's giant Van Gogh on a giant easel.

Hmmm, I wonder if other countries have taken so enthusiastically to this phenomenon of giant things.

 
At June 06, 2007 4:01 PM , Blogger RobertJSawyer said...

Or the World's Biggest Hoe in Dog River, Saskatchewan. :)

 

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