Michael James "Orange Mike" Lowrey a/k/a Lord Inali of Tanasi, G.D.H.

drawing of Orange Mike by Georgie Schnobrich, copyright

2000 by Georgie Schnobrich, used with the permission of the artist

Things I Love

Cicatrice (a/k/a C.Kay Hinchliffe), my wife of 24 years (as of June 12, 2005)
Kelly Jeanette Aurora Lowrey, our wonderful daughter, born 23 August 1995
The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
Macintosh computers
Democracy in the U.S.A. (Yes, it is possible; here are two groups trying to make it happen: The Center for Voting and Democracy and The Coalition for Free & Open Elections Ballot Access News)
The Esperanto movement
The Industrial Workers of the World, a/k/a the Wobblies, or just the IWW, who have fought the good fight for workers' rights for 100 years now, in the face of persecution which did not stop at bloody-handed murder
AFSCME (the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), of which I have been a steward and activist
NWU, the National Writers Union (UAW Local 1981)
Science fiction & fantasy fandom, whose historical heart has always been fanzines. I have a fanzine of my own, called Vojo de Vivo, the latest issue of which came out 22 February 2001; and have participated in several APAs, although I am only currently active in MilwApa. I also greatly enjoy the fan-run conventions, particularly Wiscon [Wiscon is the original home of the Tiptree Awards, the annual literary prize for science fiction or fantasy that explores and expands the roles of women and men for work by both women and men], ICon, and Chattacon. I have occasionally been spotted at such events: click here, here, here, here, here and here for photos where I appear; and here for my Fan Guest-of-Honor speech from ICon 25 (with an ICon 25 photo or three here). These joyous celebrations have nothing whatsoever to do with the commercial shows that some soulless greedheads call "conventions." It is important to understand the distinction between that sometimes-noble species of literature called Science Fiction, and the idiot derivatives collectively termed "sci-fi" (fond though most people are of the man who popularized the term, the lovely and talented tre estimata Sinjoro Forrest J Ackerman). [For an alternate spin on the controversy, see this discussion by some practicioners in the field.] I've also been known to post to the fannish Usenet newsgroups, primarily rec.arts.sf.fandom; and am a member of such fannish e-lists as Memoryhole and Timebinders. I was an unsuccesfull nominee for 2003 delegate from North America for the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund (TAFF)!
The National Fantasy Fan Federation (N3F)
The Great Dark Horde
The ground-breaking music of the Mother of Us All, Frank Zappa!
The Stumpers-L reference question mailing list, because of its wonderful denizens, known colloquially as "wombats".
The writings of "Calamity Jane" Austin, early 19th Century Texan author, frontierswoman, and proto-feminist
That peculiar fellowship called the book trade
The color orange

Biography in Brief        Born 25 November 1953 in Jackson, Tennessee, where my daddy (Jim Dandy Lowrey) worked for the Jackson Sun. My momma was Sybil Blondell (Scarborough) Lowrey. I've got three siblings: Patrick, Susan, and Mary. We lived all over the South, eventually landing in Miami's northwestern working-class suburbs after my father had to retire (heart disease, aggravated by his WW2 service). Daddy died 12-1-1965. We got run out of Opa-Locka for having non-Anglo/white friends, and went back to West Tennessee. I graduated from Chester Co. High School, and went to the University of Chicago.
       The stress of the U. of C. was eventually too much for me. I came back home, got an A.S. (History) at Jackson State Community College, and ran for the General Assembly in 1974. The incumbent beat me 59-41% (he'd outspent me 13:1), so I went to Tennessee State in Nashville. That didn't work out financially, so I ended up working for the State of Tennessee and living on Music Row.
       Fortunately, by that time, I'd discovered Fandom. Some time in the late 1970s, I became aware of an Iowa fan called Cicatrice, and we gradually became an item (this was a solid fact by the time of the 1979 NASFic in Louisville). On Labor Day of 1977, disgusted by the corruption and stupidity of Southern politics, I had moved to Milwaukee, and become part of fandom there. Cicatrice moved to Milwaukee on 7 December 1979, and we were wed on 12 June, 1981. Kelly came later.
       I am a free-lance writer (book reviews, muckraking, and whatever suits me). I have worked part-time or full for Renaissance Books in Milwaukee, one of the largest in North America which doesn't have a website, alas! Since 7 July 1984, I have also worked full-time (on and off) for one agency or another of the State of Wisconsin, and been represented by (and active in) AFSCME. Until medical complications (since resolved) interfered, I was working for the Cultures and Communities Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where I am a recent (Dec. 2004) graduate magna cum laude in History, and begin part-time grad school studies here in September. I hope to be working at the University again soon, probably (as usual) in a clerical capacity.
        I taped an episode of the game show WIN BEN STEIN'S MONEY in 2001, which aired on May 6, 2002. I won $2,000, and am told that I acquitted myself well enough. Mr. Stein accused me of resembling "Z.Z. Top on acid" but said I had a good singing voice!
        I appear in the feature-length film Finding the Future: A Science Fiction Conversation, which premiered in 2004, and Kelly appears in the "Bonus" section of the DVD thereof.
       I was listed in one edition of Who's Who in America. Whoopee.

"Orange Mike" Lowrey

orange@execpc.com

Last modified 2005.06.30