Spring 2003
By: Ray Dutczak

Hi to all,

Spring has come in like a lion here in the Northeast - temperatures continue to be below normal with rainfall above normal. Hopefully things will warm up soon and hopefully we don't jump right into summer. Its been a while since my last LIS news update so here goes! 

We had our very first LISFest this past April 9 in Cleveland, which I co- promoted with my friends Mike Joyce and Craig Reinbrect. We had a great time at the convention, one of the few to cater to the hardcore LIS fan. The honored guests in attendance were Mark Goddard and Bob May.

 Mark and Bob both did Q+A panels on Saturday, signed autographs and greeted the many fans who attended the fest. Everyone had a chance to get up close and personal with both Mark and Bob -  that is what is so very special about attending smaller conventions. LIS episodes played all day long in the dealers room on a big screen. 

The B9r's also were on hand and displayed their works of art and we even had a best robot judging contest with guest judge Bob May. I walked around with Bob as he judged the contest as he wanted to see who had the most accurate version from the television show. The winner was chosen and he received a special plaque which was presented to him by Bob. All entrees  received a special signed certificate from both Bob and Mark for entering the contest. We also had a model contest which was judged by Mark Goddard. That winner also received a plaque and all entrees also received a certificate signed by Mark and Bob. All and all, everything went fine at our first  LISFest. I must send out a thank you to everyone who attended. I also must send out a special thank you to Sheila Allen and Kevin Burns for all their support of LISFest and their assistance in both making it a licensed event and a success. Hopefully we can do this again. Look for a picture gallery coming very soon of LISFest at our convention section.

The weekend of April 25-27 was a chilling one! That was the weekend that the one and only Kevin Clement brought us another Chiller convention. What a weekend it was! Over 80 guests attended. From Roddy Piper to Kane Hodder, they all were there. Angus Scrim from Phantasm even managed to make a VERY rare convention appearance. From IA fandom and Time Tunnel Robert Colbert was on hand. What a fun guy Robert was. So nice to see him again. 

This Chiller was definitely a special one as we honored the memory of Jonathan Harris. From the LIS alumni on hand was Mark Goddard, Bill Mumy, Marta Kristen and Angela Cartwright. They all recollected many memories of Jonathan that weekend as LIS fans from all over attended the three day event and were treated to these recollections. The Q+A panel on Saturday was very special. There Mark, Bill, Angela, and Marta gave everyone a little insight into what it was like knowing and working with the great one Jonathan Harris. I sat and assisted Bill Mumy for the weekend. Always a pleasure hanging out and helping Bill. He is so much fun to be around as are Mark, Marta, and Angela. I can't thank them enough for making that April weekend a memorable one for all of us. Also a big thank you to Kevin Clement for allowing me to organize the LIS cast for Chiller. If you haven't been to a Chiller convention, make sure you attend the next one which will be held Halloween weekend October 31-November 1 and 2. You won't be sorry you did! Don't forget to check our past convention section for all the chilling photos.

On a merchandise note, Rittenhouse card company has acquired the rights to produce Irwin Allen trading cards. Yes, they will be producing a set of trading cards that will cover all of Irwin's shows. Bill Mumy has been brought on board by Kevin Burns to help with the project and they have begun selecting some never before seen pictures for the card set. It should be very interesting!

Fox will be putting out season 1 of LIS on DVD in a box set slated for January. You can pre-order via Amazon.com. No plans so far are in the works for season 2 and 3 so far.

I'm please to announce that Malachi Throne will be at October's Chiller. Malachi was a guest star on many IA shows, LIS,  LOG, 2 Voy, 2 TT, as well as It Takes A Thief and Batman's nefarious foe, Falseface. He is a charming and delightful man - It was a pleasure to talk to him and make the arrangements. After just a few phone calls, I feel like I've known him forever.  He'll be the first IA celeb confirm for Chiller. 

Bill  Mumy remains busy, narrating episodes of A&E's Biography (most recently episodes on "The Munsters" and Linda Blair), and of course, his new album is out!  His daughter Liliana is just as busy, co-starring in the Christmas hit "Santa Clause 2" and with a recurring voice character in Disney's upcoming Lilo & Stitch series

Angela Cartwright just finished a delightful return to" Sound of Music's" Austria with Heather Menzies as part of the Travel Channel's "Movie Roadtrip." 

Marta Kristen is currently in Finland, meeting a newly discovered sister. 

Mark  Goddard was featured in ADDitude magazine's monthly profile of "Teachers We Love." 

And congratulations to Kevin Burns who just picked up his second Emmy.

And finally I am working on getting an Official Irwin Allen fan club together that will cover all of Irwin's TV shows. I have approached Kevin Burns with the idea and we are working together to make this happen. I will keep you guys posted when we have it up and running. I hope many of you will be joining. It should be lots of fun!

With warmest regards,
Ray Dutczak
May 22 2003