It's been two days since we began fundraising for Canadian sf writer Peter Watts' legal defense - and the response from around the world has been staggering. The money that's come in to date will see Peter financially solvent through the first hump of this ordeal - so thank you, world - but we have no idea, still, how much he's going to need before he's free and clear.
That means we're still at it. And still looking for that "more graceful" way to get money to Peter. Toward that end, Bakka Phoenix Science Fiction Bookstore manager Chris Szego has offered the store's mailing address, for the small but significant number of potential donors who are uneasy about using the PayPal online service and who would rather write a cheque.
Cheques made out to Peter Watts can be mailed to Bakka Phoenix Science Fiction Bookstore at this address:
Bakka-Phoenix Books / 697 Queen St. West / Toronto, Ontario / M6J 1E6
Folks in Toronto can also drop by with cash, and Chris or anyone else on staff there will make sure Peter gets the money.
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Now back to the response. It has been startling, both in terms of donations, and attention. Science fiction writer John McDaid has put together an excellent survey of who's writing about the incident - both mainstream media and blogging - right here.
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(Update December 14). There have been a lot of comments showing up on the various postings about this situation. I'm not weighing in on them - other than to repeat: send money to Peter Watts.
But I am going to link to this one (that very eloquently sums it up), courtesy Robert Ashby (husband of sf writer Madeline Ashby) on her blog, right here.
Labels: Peter Watts