Arrowhead SF
Encyclopedia
Arrowhead is the name that science fiction
writer James Blish
and his wife, literary agent
and science fiction writer Virginia Kidd
, gave to their home in Milford, Pennsylvania
. The Virginia Kidd
Literary Agency has been operating continuously at Arrowhead since 1965.
Arrowhead has been a focal point for science fiction writers for over fifty years. SFWA
was partially conceived at Arrowhead, and hundreds of gatherings of science fiction writers who were later prominent SFWA members were hosted there.
and then again in 2004 as a consequence of the deluges that accompanied the profoundly busy hurricane season that year. Each time, reconstruction and retrenchment followed; the building is manifestly sturdy, the oldest portions dating back to the 18th century.
Writers and others were welcomed during the sixties and Arrowhead took on many aspects of a commune, though it is probably more fair to describe it as a "crash-pad." Walt and Lee Richmond, Damon Knight
, Kate Wilhelm
, Thomas M. Disch
, Judith Merril
, Lester Del Rey
, Anne McCaffery, Arthur C. Clarke
, Frederik Pohl
and many, many more made the afternoons and evenings at Arrowhead merry and stimulating.
There were sleeping bags on the expansive porches, bleary-eyed writer-folk sitting around the kitchen table come morning (or afternoon...) and many a story idea was expounded, dissected, and fleshed out. Folk songs were sung, guitars and an upright piano backed decidedly non-professional voices who made up in enthusiasm for what they lacked in technique. Rock bands practiced and jammed in Arrowhead's basement studio space during the 1970s. One alumnus of these sessions, Damon Knight
's son Christopher, went on to found the Los Angeles Recording Workshop (see External Links, below), one of the largest and most elaborate recording instruction facilities in the world.
At one point during the early 1970s, the downstairs bathroom received a small graffito from James Blish and Virginia Kidd's son, Ben. Instead of the cleaning and reprimand that one might reasonably expect, within a year, the entire bathroom had been covered floor to ceiling by remarks from eminent science fiction writers, agents, and not a few fans. The walls, the ceiling, the shower stall, even the sides of the bathtub did not escape from the onslaught of writers who found a tabula rasa
, no matter if it was only a tiny clear space. Sadly, these were removed in the 1990s. Only one graffito escaped the purge, and still remains as of 2005; an electronic diagram for the RF output stage of a pirate AM radio station on the back of the bathroom medicine cabinet door. This station operated during the 1970s, broadcasting progressive rock and social commentary to the local area. Instructions have been given by the owners of the Virginia Kidd
Literary Agency that this last graffito never be removed or painted over, and that the cabinet itself be retrieved in the event that the agency move to new quarters.
Dam project. This was to be a dam that blocked the flow of the Delaware River
, and when completed, would flood a huge area that included where Arrowhead still stands as of 2005. Virginia Kidd was forced to sell the building to the government, but she managed to negotiate an agreement whereby she could remain there until the dam was completed and the property actually in danger of flooding. To make a long story short, the Tocks Island Dam project was never completed, the US park service obtained jurisdiction over all the properties that had been taken under false pretenses, and although Virginia has died, her literary agency remains there to this day. The park service refuses to provide a new lease and the agency has been operating under the risk of eviction for some years.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
writer James Blish
James Blish
James Benjamin Blish was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. Blish also wrote literary criticism of science fiction using the pen-name William Atheling, Jr.-Biography:...
and his wife, literary agent
Literary agent
A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers and film producers and assists in the sale and deal negotiation of the same. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwriters and major non-fiction writers...
and science fiction writer Virginia Kidd
Virginia Kidd
Virginia Kidd was an American literary agent, writer and editor, particularly influential in science fiction and related fields. She represented some of science fiction's most important authors, including Ursula K. Le Guin, R.A. Lafferty, Anne McCaffrey, and Gene Wolfe...
, gave to their home in Milford, Pennsylvania
Milford, Pennsylvania
Milford is a borough in Pike County, Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat. Its population was 1,021 at the 2010 census. It was founded in 1796 by Judge John Biddis, one of the state's first four circuit judges, who named the settlement after his ancestral home in Wales.Milford has a...
. The Virginia Kidd
Virginia Kidd
Virginia Kidd was an American literary agent, writer and editor, particularly influential in science fiction and related fields. She represented some of science fiction's most important authors, including Ursula K. Le Guin, R.A. Lafferty, Anne McCaffrey, and Gene Wolfe...
Literary Agency has been operating continuously at Arrowhead since 1965.
Arrowhead has been a focal point for science fiction writers for over fifty years. SFWA
SFWA
SFWA may refer to:*Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America*Scottish Football Writers' Association...
was partially conceived at Arrowhead, and hundreds of gatherings of science fiction writers who were later prominent SFWA members were hosted there.
History
The history of Arrowhead is nothing if not colorful. The grounds and building were seriously flooded in 1955 by the remains of Hurricane DianeHurricane Diane
Hurricane Diane was one of three hurricanes to hit North Carolina during the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season, striking an area that had been hit by Hurricane Connie five days earlier...
and then again in 2004 as a consequence of the deluges that accompanied the profoundly busy hurricane season that year. Each time, reconstruction and retrenchment followed; the building is manifestly sturdy, the oldest portions dating back to the 18th century.
Writers and others were welcomed during the sixties and Arrowhead took on many aspects of a commune, though it is probably more fair to describe it as a "crash-pad." Walt and Lee Richmond, Damon Knight
Damon Knight
Damon Francis Knight was an American science fiction author, editor, critic and fan. His forte was short stories and he is widely acknowledged as having been a master of the genre.-Biography:...
, Kate Wilhelm
Kate Wilhelm
Kate Wilhelm is an American writer whose works include science fiction, mystery, and fantasy.- Career :Wilhelm was born in Toledo, Ohio....
, Thomas M. Disch
Thomas M. Disch
Thomas Michael Disch was an American science fiction author and poet. He won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book – previously called "Best Non-Fiction Book" – in 1999, and he had two other Hugo nominations and nine Nebula Award nominations to his credit, plus one win of the John W...
, Judith Merril
Judith Merril
Judith Josephine Grossman , who took the pen-name Judith Merril about 1945, was an American and then Canadian science fiction writer, editor and political activist....
, Lester Del Rey
Lester del Rey
Lester del Rey was an American science fiction author and editor. Del Rey was the author of many of the Winston Science Fiction juvenile SF series, and the editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy and science fiction branch of Ballantine Books, along with his fourth wife Judy-Lynn del Rey.-Birth...
, Anne McCaffery, Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
, Frederik Pohl
Frederik Pohl
Frederik George Pohl, Jr. is an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years — from his first published work, "Elegy to a Dead Planet: Luna" , to his most recent novel, All the Lives He Led .He won the National Book Award in 1980 for his novel Jem...
and many, many more made the afternoons and evenings at Arrowhead merry and stimulating.
There were sleeping bags on the expansive porches, bleary-eyed writer-folk sitting around the kitchen table come morning (or afternoon...) and many a story idea was expounded, dissected, and fleshed out. Folk songs were sung, guitars and an upright piano backed decidedly non-professional voices who made up in enthusiasm for what they lacked in technique. Rock bands practiced and jammed in Arrowhead's basement studio space during the 1970s. One alumnus of these sessions, Damon Knight
Damon Knight
Damon Francis Knight was an American science fiction author, editor, critic and fan. His forte was short stories and he is widely acknowledged as having been a master of the genre.-Biography:...
's son Christopher, went on to found the Los Angeles Recording Workshop (see External Links, below), one of the largest and most elaborate recording instruction facilities in the world.
At one point during the early 1970s, the downstairs bathroom received a small graffito from James Blish and Virginia Kidd's son, Ben. Instead of the cleaning and reprimand that one might reasonably expect, within a year, the entire bathroom had been covered floor to ceiling by remarks from eminent science fiction writers, agents, and not a few fans. The walls, the ceiling, the shower stall, even the sides of the bathtub did not escape from the onslaught of writers who found a tabula rasa
Tabula rasa
Tabula rasa is the epistemological theory that individuals are born without built-in mental content and that their knowledge comes from experience and perception. Generally proponents of the tabula rasa thesis favour the "nurture" side of the nature versus nurture debate, when it comes to aspects...
, no matter if it was only a tiny clear space. Sadly, these were removed in the 1990s. Only one graffito escaped the purge, and still remains as of 2005; an electronic diagram for the RF output stage of a pirate AM radio station on the back of the bathroom medicine cabinet door. This station operated during the 1970s, broadcasting progressive rock and social commentary to the local area. Instructions have been given by the owners of the Virginia Kidd
Virginia Kidd
Virginia Kidd was an American literary agent, writer and editor, particularly influential in science fiction and related fields. She represented some of science fiction's most important authors, including Ursula K. Le Guin, R.A. Lafferty, Anne McCaffrey, and Gene Wolfe...
Literary Agency that this last graffito never be removed or painted over, and that the cabinet itself be retrieved in the event that the agency move to new quarters.
US government ownership
In the 1970s, the US government instantiated the Tocks IslandTocks Island
Tocks Island, located upstream from Delaware Water Gap in the Delaware River was the controversial site of a dam, proposed in the 1950s, which would have created a 37-mile long lake between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with depths of up to 140 feet...
Dam project. This was to be a dam that blocked the flow of the Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
, and when completed, would flood a huge area that included where Arrowhead still stands as of 2005. Virginia Kidd was forced to sell the building to the government, but she managed to negotiate an agreement whereby she could remain there until the dam was completed and the property actually in danger of flooding. To make a long story short, the Tocks Island Dam project was never completed, the US park service obtained jurisdiction over all the properties that had been taken under false pretenses, and although Virginia has died, her literary agency remains there to this day. The park service refuses to provide a new lease and the agency has been operating under the risk of eviction for some years.