Letter to the Editor
I was not the only person libeled. This is from the pen of Theodore Beale of Castalia books, my publisher, who goes by the pen name of Vox Day. I join him in asking you, my readers — for you were also defamed — to write:
Dear Editor,
I am writing to demand a retraction and apology for the libelous article posted Apr 17th, 2015 at 3:00pm by Mike VanHelder. Mr. VanHelder wrote:
“Big winner Vox Day is an outspoken white supremacist and campaigner against women’s education and suffrage, who is on the record as supporting the Taliban’s attempt to assassinate Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousifazi, finding it “scientifically justifiable.””
- I am not a white supremacist. This is flat-out false. Also, I am a Native American with Mexican heritage.
- I am not a campaigner against women’s education. I am not an activist. I have never campaigned against it.
- I am not a campaigner against suffrage. I am not an activist. I have never campaigned against it.
- I am not against women’s suffrage. I support direct democracy for all, including women.
- I am not on the record supporting the Taliban’s attempt to assassinate Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousifazi. This is an absolutely outrageous accusation and utterly false.
All of these statements are false, provably and demonstrably false, and appear to be malicious. Therefore, I am requesting an immediate retraction of this error-ridden article as well as a published apology to me. Some of these additional errors include:
- Gamergate is not anti-feminist.
- Neither Sad Puppies nor Rabid Puppies courted any assistance from GamerGate.
- The extent of the collaboration between the THREE groups, (not two, as in the article) is not difficult to quantify. There are precisely two GamerGaters who are also Rabid Puppies, myself and Daddy Warpig.
- It is false to claim “No nominated author has ever before withdrawn their work after making it onto the Hugo ballot.” It is actually not uncommon for an author to withdraw one of his works after getting more than one nominated in a category. To give a few examples, Harlan Ellison withdrew his Hugo nomination in 1968. Jack Gaughan withdrew his nomination in 1968. Fritz Leiber withdrew his nomination in 1971, as did Robert Silverberg in 1972.
- Therefore, the action of withdrawing a nomination is not “unprecedented”.
I will appreciate your prompt attention to this matter.
NB: If you would like to add your voice to this call for a retraction and apology, this is the editor’s email: letters@popsci.com
***
Commenter Nate adds:
Below too is a contact form for Bonnier Corporation, the parent company that owns PopSci.
http://www.bonniercorp.com/contact/
They would love to hear from you. It says so right there.
And, more to the point, Commenter Zen0 adds:
DETCON1 AND DIVERSITY
Detcon1 has gotten a lot of things right on that front. They established a Diversity Advisory Board, consisting of Muhammad A Ahmad, Anne Gray, Mark Oshiro, Kat Tanaka Okopnik, Mike VanHelder, Pablo Vazquez, and Sal Palland. They chose to honor a range of guests that acknowledges the broader scope of the genre. They established the FANtastic Detroit Fund to help provide free memberships to fans who might otherwise be unable to attend.
About John C Wright
John C. Wright is a practicing philosopher, a retired attorney, newspaperman, and newspaper editor, and a published author of science fiction. Once a Houyhnhnm, he was expelled from the august ranks of purely rational beings when he fell in love; but retains an honorary title.
