Mark Fonstad writes: I thought the readers of theonering.net should be aware of the passing of my mother, Karen Wynn Fonstad. Karen was a big reader of the website and was greatly pleased by fans’ reactions to her work on the Atlas and other things. Thanks.
KAREN LEA WYNN FONSTAD
Karen Lea Wynn Fonstad, age 59, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin died March 11, 2005 of complications from breast cancer. She was born April 18, 1945 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the daughter of James and Estis Wynn. She graduated from Norman High School, Norman, Oklahoma. She earned a B.S. degree in Physical Therapy and an M.A. in Geography, specializing in cartography, from The University of Oklahoma. While attending OU she met and married Todd A. Fonstad of Oshkosh on March 21, 1970. They have two children: Dr. Mark A. Fonstad, San Marcos, Texas and Kristina Stingle, Sussex, Wisconsin.
Karen was a freelance cartographer, part-time lecturer at The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, and an invited speaker for many events. She was the author and illustrator of The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Atlas of Pern, The Atlas of the Land, The Atlas of the Dragonlance World and The Forgotten Realms Atlas. Karen helped develop Eowyn Challenge-Worldwide Walk to Rivendell and Beyond where over 800 people have logged 200,000 miles in the past two years.
She has been listed in: Who’s Who of American Women, Who’s Who in the Midwest, and World Who’s Who of Women.
Karen was active in the Oshkosh community. She served on the Oshkosh City Plan Commission for twenty-four years and as a member of the Oshkosh Common Council. Some of her other civic participation included: Grand Opera House Board of Directors, Hotel/Convention Center and Mass Transportation Center Development Committees, Oshkosh Commercial Development Corporation, Business Improvement Council Board of Directors, and the Downtown Oshkosh Committee.
At various times Karen had served in the Oshkosh Symphony League, Camp Fire and Cub Scout programs, and in the UW-Oshkosh Faculty Dames where she held the offices of president and secretary.
Karen had been an active member of Algoma Boulevard United Methodist Church since 1974. She was the unofficial curator of The Nativity Collection housed at the church. She was largely responsible for designing and coordinating the cabinet construction, displaying, promoting, and maintaining the 1000 sets of the collection. She helped plan the Centennial Center Building Addition, was Director of Program Ministries for two years and webmaster for seven years. She served on many committees, participated in church mission projects and was a Certified Lay Speaker.
Karen is survived by her husband, Todd; her son, Mark; her daughter, Kristina (Chad) Stingle; two sisters, Peggy (Jerry) Rhoton and Marsa (Derald) Crissup of Norman, Oklahoma; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents and two brothers.
A memorial service will be held at Algoma Boulevard United Methodist Church* on Tuesday, March 15 at 6:00 p.m. with Reverend Barry Yarbro officiating. Visitations will be held on Monday, March 14 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the church and on Tuesday from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. prior to the service. Burial will be at Forest Cemetery in Stevens Point at a later date.
Karen loved flowers but contributions may also be made to the ABUMC Centennial Center debt retirement or to a memorial in Karen’s name for breast cancer research.
FISS & BILLS-POKLASNY FUNERAL HOMES
130 Church Avenue
Oshkosh, WI 54902
920-235-1170
*A map of ABUMC (created by Karen) is located here.
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‘Then Feanor began a long and secret labour, and he summoned all his lore, and his power, and his subtle skill; and at the end of it all he made the Silmarils.’ (The Silmarillion)
The Silmarillion Chapter 7 – Of the Silmarils and the unrest of the Noldor
This weekend, we resume our Silmarillion chapter chats in Hall of Fire with the tale of the making of the Silmarils – Feanor’s most wondrous creation. But out of them arose unrest as well as beauty.
Admired by all, desired by all, what was Tolkien’s inspiration for these unique jewels? How similar were they to Galadriel’s phial?
Mandos said the fate of air, sea and earth lay locked in the jewels. Melkor lusted over them, and their existence drove him all the harder to sow the lies that tore the Noldor apart, and led to Feanor’s banishment from Tirion.
But why did the lies of Melkor find fruit among the Noldor? Who listened most and least to his words? And why did not the Valar tell the Quendi about the coming of Men?
Join us this weekend on Saturday March 12 at 5.30pm EST when we’ll discuss this and more in The Hall of Fire!
Time and date:
Saturday March 12
America:
5.30pm EST
4.30pm CST
3.30pm MST
2.30pm PST
Europe:
11.30pm UK
12.30am (Sunday) Central Europe
Asia-Pacific:
8.30am (Sunday) Brisbane
9.30am (Sunday) Sydney
11.30am (Sunday) Wellington
Upcoming topics:
“Silmarillion Chapter. 7 – Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor”
– Saturday March 12
– Sunday, March 20
“Pippin Took – bold hard halfling or piece of luggage?”
– Saturday Mar 26
– Sunday April 3
“Silmarillion Chapter 8 – Of the Darkening of Valinor”
– Saturday April 9
– Sunday April 17
“Tell us your LoTR fan experience!’
– Saturday April 23
– Sunday May 1
Got a topic? Let us know your idea!
If you have a burning desire to discuss something in Hall of Fire, drop us a line with your topic at halloffire@theonering.net. If we like it, we’ll probably give it a run in the coming weeks – you might even get to guest moderate the session!
Join HoF Announce!
Did you know that Hall of Fire has a mailing list? Join today and get topic announcements and news delivered regularly to your inbox!
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Sue Bamford, Duty Manager for bfi London IMAX® Cinema writes: The BFI London IMAX cinema are doing another overnight screening of all three films on the 18th and 19th of March.
Screenings start at 8pm on the Friday and 8.30pm on Saturday going on until the wee small hours of the morning. Free teas and coffees to keep everyone going through the night, and Ulrukai warriors in attendance to enforce Sauron’s will (otherwise know as the duty manager)…
…last time was so much fun we wanted to do it again. Tickets and more details available from the BFI’s website.
Many thanks…I’m a huge fan of the films and have been whinging to my boss to be allowed to do another night as the last ones were so good. We have the biggest screen in Britain, so even though these are only 35mm prints it looks marvellous. Just as important we have a truly powerful sound system, with 12,000 watts to help you real feel the battle scenes.
I’ll be running about dressed as an elf, so hope to see other suitably attired fans!
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Thanks to Amy for the info!
Belmont University Lecture on Tolkien Fan Fiction:
“Reimagining Rosie: Portrayals of Tolkien’s Rosie Cotton in 21st-Century Fan Fiction”
10am, Belmont University Nashville, TN, USA
March 30, 2005 at the Leu Center for the Visual Arts, Room 117
Academic Convocation Credit Given to Students – Lecture Open to the Public
Brought to you by SAGE (Students for the Advancement of Gender Equality) for Women’s History Month:
Dr. Amy H. Sturgiswill discuss the imaginative and expressive potential for fan fiction through an examination of fan-authored stories about the long-ignored Lord of the Rings character Rosie Cotton. Dr. Sturgis will demonstrate how fan writers use Rosie as a voice for their own identities and interests (making her in turn a domestic paragon, a sexual iconoclast, and a supernatural changeling), and how they strive to make Rosie an equal to the male characters in Tolkien’s works. This academic lecture is based on Dr. Sturgis’s forthcoming article in the scholarly journal Mythlore.
For more information, visit the Belmont University Events Calendar.
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Turgon writes: The schedule for the Oxford Literary Festival, which runs from Sunday April 10th through Sunday April 17th in Oxford, has been posted on their website: sundaytimes-oxfordliteraryfestival.co.uk. Tolkien fans might be interested in a few events, one by Green Books contributor Olog-Hai (Henry Gee), another on Tolkien’s biographer, Humphrey Carpenter, who passed away earlier this year.
Tuesday 12 April 2.30 pm Oxford Union (5.50 GBP)
Henry Gee – The Science of Middle-earth
Henry Gee ingeniously reveals how contemporary science can explain some of the wonders of Middle Earth, where Tolkien’s marvellous fantasy creates a world with an insistent sense of reality. In The Science of Middle Earth, he delights in explaining such scientific conundrums as how Frodo’s coat of mithril armour can deflect deadly blows and how Legolas can count the Riders of Rohan across five leagues. Just because The Lord of the Rings is fantasy, he argues, this doesn’t prevent scientific explanations for its wonders. Henry Gee is one of the editors of Nature.
Sunday 17 April 8 – 9.30 pm Oxford Union (10.00 GBP)
Remembering Humphrey
An evening recalling the many sides of the multi-talented, multi-faceted Humphrey Carpenter. Presented by Libby Purves and including contributions from people who worked with him in radio and books, as well as a taste of the one-man musical on which he was working at the time of his death: Shake It All About. More details on this event will be posted on the Festival website as they become available. All profits from this event will go to a charity in Humphrey’s name: see website for further information.
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Jess writes: Hello hello! I’ve already told you guys about The Hobbit news from the Sydney Weta Workshop Lecture on Sunday February 27th, and I thought you’d like to hear about the rest of the lecture. Forgive the length, but there is much to tell!
After an introduction from Powerhouse Museum staffer and LotR exhibition curator Kerrie Dougherty (fully decked out in Elvish garb), Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger, enjoying a sneaky weekend away from the King Kong set, walked onto the stage amid tumultuous applause from the few hundred Lord of the Rings fans gathered in the Coles Theatre.
Richard started the lecture by apologising for his lack of public speaking skills, which after a few minutes seemed rather unnecessary, as the man could obviously talk under water for hours at a time. He added that unfortunately, he didn’t have Elijah Wood’s phone number on him, so it was probably best not to ask. The pair’s first topic was their history as both life and work partners, and Richard shared a very funny story about, as a 13-year-old boy, riding for hours on his bike give Tania two pet rats as a token of his affection for her. “And”, he said, “We’ve been together ever since.” They then spoke about their early days working together “making cool stuff” for New Zealand television shows and commercials, before hooking up with a young Peter Jackson to make movies like “Braindead” and “Meet the Feebles”.
Richard then related the story of how the 1996 project of “King Kong” fell over after six months of work, and the hope born out of despair at Peters’ news that they were about to embark on a screen adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. Tania spoke about their utter devastation when Miramax decided not to go ahead with the project, and the subsequent painstaking task of packing up, and sometimes having to destroy, 700 days worth of design-work that had already been completed for the films, “just waiting for the phone call from Peter”, who was jet-setting around the globe searching for another studio to finance the project.
Richard spoke with great affection about the cast, particularly Elijah Wood and Cate Blanchett, both of whom he believes to be “other worldly”, and also described Elijah as being “like a university professor” and “wise beyond his years”. He related his utter delight at Liv Tyler’s enthusiasm and passion for her role, spending hours at a time in the Weta Workshop just watching the team work. He then told a funny story about Liv asking him to fetch her a cup of tea while she was having her head cast, and his absolute horror upon the realisation that he had accidentally put salt in the cup instead of sugar! He talked about his particular affection for Andy Serkis, and spoke about the challenge that always ensued whenever he had a conversation with Viggo Mortensen – Richard’s industrial deafness coupled with Viggo’s very soft voice meant that Richard could rarely hear what Viggo was saying, “Which” said Richard chuckling, “ Viggo knew quite well.”
Between topics Richard and Tania played excerpts of their favourite Weta-created footage from thir previous films, as well as each LotR film, during which Tania hilariously whispered to Richard, “The Two Tower is second!” They also played footage of the creation of some of the Sideshow Weta Collectables, which included the reactions of Elijah, Sean, Dom, Billy and Orlando to seeing themselves in miniature collectable form.
Richard then talked about the hundred’s extras used on the films, including the females with fake beards, “which is just a little bit wrong” used for the riders of Rohan, and one woman in particular whose horse went lame the day before filming the “Ride of the Rohirrim” scene. So desperate was she to be in the scene that she caught her own horse, broke it in, and rode though the night to get to the set in time for the shoot!
Richard related his excitement about working with renowned sword master Bob Anderson, and a particular day when Bob, upon examining some of the swords made by Weta, told Richard they’d need to at least double the amount of the thousands of swords that they’d already made, because of the breakages that would inevitably occur during the battle sequences. “But we didn’t have the budget or the time”, says Richard, so he had the unenviable task of standing his ground against the legendary swordsman. It al paid off though, as Weta had come with such a solid sword design that there was only one breakage throughout the entire shoot. In a display of great sportsmanship, Bob stood up in front of the entire crew, admitted his error and praised Weta on their sword-making – the best he had ever come across.
Richard then spoke about their exhilaration at having Alan Lee and John Howe as conceptual artists on the trilogy, and Richard related the amusing story of sending them messages prior to their flight to New Zealand, asking them to each list all the tools and such they’d like to have in their office upon their arrival. Says Richard, “Alan Lee had two things on his list – a large dinner plate and some watercolour paper.” John’s list on the other hand, “was several pages long” and full of every artistry tool one could possibly imagine, as well as many obscure items that had to be ordered from overseas. One of Richard’s favourite memories was watching Alan create a watercolour painting of Rivendell – he started in the bottom corner of the page and painted in every minute detail: leaves, bushes, twigs and all, “Then”, says Richard, “He went into a kind of trance”, and seven hours later had created the now-famous, breathtaking painting.
Tania compared walking into the workshop to “unlocking the doors to Middle-earth”, and told how walls inside were always only loosely screwed in place so that they could hastily be taken down if a miniature outgrew its’ space. The pair spoke about the dedication of their team, and their desire to install in each one of them a sense of self-confidence and a belief that they can accomplish anything they put their minds to. Richard fondly recalled how the crew in charge of inscribing the lettering on the weapons became fluent in Elvish. They explained that, when hiring staff, they look first at the person’s enthusiasm and character before their talent. As Richard aptly put it, “There’s no point having talent if you’re a complete a**hole”. He also spoke of the trust that exists between he and Tania and their team, and related a story about handing off the couples’ then two-year-old son Sam to a member of staff while he went off to approve some designs, knowing with complete certainty that Sam would be looked after.
They then spoke about life beyond LotR, including King Kong and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. When asked if Weta would try to top LotR, Richard explained that, although LotR was a huge once-in-a-lifetime experience, they wouldn’t be doing their jobs if they didn’t attempt to aim higher.
A Question and Answer section followed, with Richard and Tania armed with Weta caps, LotR medallions, key rings and an original handmade Rohan belt for askers of the most intelligent questions. They answered queries about their favourite pieces from the films, their setbacks, RotK’s Oscar night, a potential Hobbit movie (the rights are an extremely complicate business, but of course they would be thrilled to be involved), their currant work on King Kong, and even gave advice to an aspiring young fantasy novelist. The question of whether they miss the “vomit and muppets” of the “Meet the Feebles” days was met with a firm “No!” from Tania.
An interesting question was from a young woman who asked what the inside reaction was to Gollum’s MTV Award’s acceptance speech. Richard laughed and said, “Varied”, and went on to say that some were quite aghast and felt that it was rather disrespectful to Tolkien’s work. He explained that Peter was actually doing a risky but very clever thing, because he was taking Gollum out of the context of the films and putting him on the world stage as a “real” character, thus cementing him in Pop Culture history. “Just like Puff Daddy”, said Richard, which was quite hilarious at the time. He went on to say that, despite the fact the Jar Jar Binks is a generally despised creation, he is part of the continuing evolution of CGI characters that made Gollum possible. Just for the record, he expressed his extreme disappointment in the Star Wars prequels, saying that they were void of intimacy and relationships between characters.
Another interesting one was whether the couple are able to watch films for pure enjoyment. It was a definite “Yes” from Richard with an “On the other hand…” aimed at Tania. Apparently Tania nitpicks the special effects and continuity of films, much to the amusement of Richard.
The most amusing moment during the Q & A’s occurred when someone asked Richard what his favourite scene was that never made it into the films. Richard replied that there wasn’t particular scene, but rather a beautifully ornate weapon that he wished had got some more screen time. It was Gil-galad’s spear, and when Richard said that he couldn’t for the life of him remember the name of it, half the audience yelled out, “Aiglos!” “Ah! It should be thrust through my heart for not remembering it!” he joked. The backdrop to the Q & A’s was a slideshow of behind the scenes images from LotR, which included a curious picture of Richard with his head sticking out of a fake, life-sized cow’s behind, which he did go onto explain.
Two hours later, with dozens of hands still raised and no-one in the audience showing any desire to stop listening, Richard said that they’d love to stay overtime and listen to the rest of the questions, much to the delight of all. After over three hours, and still many questions to ask, Richard declared that they really should wrap it up. He and Tania thanked us all for coming to see them and expressed their gratitude for our enthusiasm for their work. After an emotional thankyou from Kerrie, who said in reference to the dedication of LotR fans, “I’ve never seen anything quite like it”, it was time to form an orderly line outside the theatre for autographs.
Richard and Tania were an absolute pleasure to listen to, delightfully down-to-earth and extremely funny. Richard is a lively and animated speaker and so enthusiastic about The Lord of the Rings, that watching him is incredibly entertaining. Tania, though more softly spoken, is positively lovely and a very inspirational woman for others working in this field. I urge anyone who hasn’t had the Richard and Tania experience to get out there and see them the next chance you have. Go forth, I say!
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