Sandy Herrold

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Fan
Name: Sandy K. Herrold
Alias(es): the fannish butterfly
Alyx (writing alone and with Alys)[1]
JoAnne or Joanne
Sandy Hereld
sherrold
Type: vidder, author, activist
Fandoms: fannish butterfly
Communities:
Other: Confessions of a Fannish Butterfly
URL: sherrold at AO3
sherrold at Dreamwidth
sherrold at LiveJournal

Snadyfavicon.png Sandy's favorite LJ icon, Rose from Doctor Who


Subpages for Sandy Herrold:
Poems and Song
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Sandy Herrold was a big name in the 1990s. She contributed to Fanlore as user:sherrold and gave blanket permission to be quoted on Fanlore from all sources. She passed away on July 19, 2011. Two years later in November 2013, family and friends, working together with Texas A&M University, launched the Sandy Hereld Memorial Digitized Media Fanzine Collection, the world's first digital media fanzine collection.

Sandy and Her Fandom Intensities

Sandy said in 1992:

I have a much easier time admitting that I like gay male pornography, or even write gay male pornography, than I do admitting that I am obsessed by selected 70's T.V. shows. I can wax lyrical on the revolutionary nature of participatory culture or the empowerment involved in playing with our heroes and adjusting them for our own ends; but really all of that is to hide my own embarrassment. [2]

Sandy said in 1995:

Some fandoms I get VERY intense about, and burn through fairly quickly. Miami Vice drove all my friends crazy for a couple of months (every conversational topic reminded me of Vice), and then it was gone. B7 made me a crazy person, but only for about 6 months. Pros, on the other hand, I have loved since I eased out of Trek about 6 years ago. It is too soon to tell re Zep/Jimmy/Robert/Tris/Alex/Derrick/Allyn (the real problem with this fandom is it is too hard to write...) but I am WAY obsessed with it now.

Wiseguy on the other hand, I have enjoyed fairly calmly for 3+ years now. Maybe I should fear intensity...but where's the fun in that! [3]

Some Things She Did

Works

Notable Vids

In 2011, Francesca Coppa posted an interview with Sandy and Rache in which they discussed their vidding experiences, first as part of the Media Cannibals vidding collective and then later as the vidding duo Clucking Belles. Both the interview and the transcript are archived here.[5]

With Media Cannibals:

With Clucking Belles:

With Lynn C.

With Megan Kent

Other

How Sandy Found Fandom (or Rather How She Didn't...At First)

In 1994, the members of Virgule-L were discussing the role that BNFs and online fandom played in their lives when Sandy decided to share her path into fandom. From in meeting fans at conventions to netfans and back to in person fannish relationships, her travels mirrored much of what was happening in fandom at the time, but they always ended with the same result: if there was a fan to be found, if there was a fannish party going on, Sandy would eventually find it. And if there wasn't, she'd create it. It is reposted here with permission:

"I've been a slashfan since 78-79, but I only knew a couple of people. I was on the end of a pipeline, so I didn't have to buy much....

Those early acquaintances of mine gradually faded away, and my slash involvement went down, but I saw an ad for Cali-con. I couldn't go, but sending them a flyer got me on their mailing list, and the second year, I said--ha! I'm going. I convinced 3 other friends who'd been casually reading my slash, but who wouldn't have called themselves real slashfans to come too, and we all went to San Diego.

We were there 3 days, and we didn't really make any friends or contacts, but it didn't really matter: we saw our first song vids, and we found multi-media! We bought Man From Uncle, and came home with our first Pros vid (Blind Run--nearly put us off the series permanently!), I came home to Seattle, where I still didn't know any fans, except Rachael Sabotini.

Even though we felt that slashfandom was a little stand offish, we'd scored so much neat shit, that Raechel and I decided to go to the next CA (California) con that came up: Reunion Con, aka the Starsky and Hutch 15 anniversary con. We had a wonderful time, met Megan Kent and Charlotte Hill, and finally, sitting in a hotel room 25 driving hours from home, met a Seattle slash fan.

Whoo! Yippee! We exchanged addresses and phone numbers, and planned to meet back in Seattle. She soon introduced me to other Seattle slashfen, none of which did I seem to have anything in common with...sigh...

So, I found the net about then, and gradually started finding virtual slashfen friends. Once I realized I had written virtually the same thing to 4 or 5 people, and that I could save a lot of time if we just formed a mailing list (Virgule-L), I mentioned the idea and (*THANK* *GOD!*) *Betsy* ran with it...

Gradually, I met (or created) new slash fans here in town, and instead of introducing them to the existing slash types, I just introduced them to the other new people I had found. I shared my (fanzine) library with them, and gave them buying recommendations until they knew enough to shop for themselves; encouraged them to come to cons; encouraged them to join the e-mail list.

We started having monthly meetings--disorganized except for picking a time and place (having most of us on e-mail did make it easier to make sure we weren't duplicating potluck items. ;-)

We started, very casually, buying as a group; someone would say, 'Is anyone buying this?' Or, 'I'll buy this unless someone else is planning to, or I'll buy this if you'll buy that...'

Slashbashes after cons were a chance to show off our loot, and make arrangements to share."

Fun Facts

Remembrances

During the last days of Sandy's life, when it became clear that her battle with cancer was going to end soon, many of her friends posted letters to/about Sandy on their journals, some of which were hand carried to her for her to hold, read and hear. Another flood of posts about her materialized as news of her passing spread through her corner(s) of fandom. Below are excerpts from a few of the posts about her. In addition, some fans offered up poems or song lyrics to describe what she meant to them. They are collected here.

Gwyn wrote:

I didn't really enjoy going to cons when she wasn't there. Which is completely nuts, because she lived ten minutes from me, but as so many others have noted, she IS fandom to a lot of people, and her presence at a con was undeniable. You could hear here everywhere, her loud laugh (she once joked to me, the first time I had the Media Cannibals at my house, "Now you know why everyone wishes I came with a volume button!"), her infectious enthusiasm...
One thing I don't think many people realize is how influential she has been even to vidders who don't know her. Sandy was one of the early vidders who pushed this fannish art form into new directions, did things no one else had done previously. Her ideas about technique and style and theme have flown down to younger vidders, and they don't even know it. I wish more than anything I could spread that word -- that a lot of what many of us do right now came about because of Sandy pushing those envelopes back in the days when we made vids with bearskins and knives. Sandy is the original vidding hipster, babies.[7]

Cesperanza wrote:

When I got into fandom, there was no bigger, brighter, and better BNF than Sandy Herrold and dammit, that is still true and will always be true. I remember racing to All Jewels Have Flaws to see if omg she maybe liked something I wrote: that was THE rec list to be on as far as I was concerned. I remember seeing my first Media Cannibals vids and being blown away by them. I remember pouring over the VHS case and just being delighted by what the most brilliant vidding name ever and by the Cannibals' liner notes; and you know, Sandy took vidding seriously but not seriously; seriously hilariously; that was some serious comedy. I remember going to my first cons and hearing Sandy laugh from, like, miles away: down the hall, around the corner, possibly on another floor entirely. The goal was always to find whatever room Sandy was in, because there was the party, man. In my mind, Sandy is always laughing her ass off, wiping tears from her eyes from laughing so hard.[8]

Kass wrote,

"I can't imagine what my entry into fandom would have been like if I hadn't had Sandy to admire and emulate."[9]

Morgan Dawn wrote:

"Like many of you I've been thinking about Sandy. Actually, I've been doing a lot of thinking about Sandy this past year ever since her cancer spread. One of the reasons I've kept plugging away on Fanlore was because of her - I'd find bits of history, add them and send her the link to the Fanlore page. One night when she made an offhand comment that no one had documented the 'making' of fanzines (the mimeograph machines and binding types), I created several entries within a few hours and sent them to her. She was amused. "Wiki fairies!" But the other things I've been doing, with terrio's help, is scouring through old emails from the Virgule-L mailing list (the first slash mailing list that started in 1993) and getting permission to add convention reports, zine reviews and, of course, tasty Sandy Commentary (TM). I jokingly told her that my work on Fanlore was becoming part of her giant Internet prayer wheel (the Dali Lama has said that spinning gifs and spinning computer hard drives may be an acceptable modern substitutes for prayer wheels). So this past year has been a long interactive conversation with Sandy about what she means to me and fandom. But I still find it hard and painful and impossible to summarize the extent of her reach into my life, except to say: "Thank you for everything. You're awesome. Please don't leave. The party is still going."[10]

Sandy Justine wrote:

"No one, in fandom or otherwise, has been a better role model to me over the years for how to live a life filled with curiosity, how to reach out to people, how to hold anger and silliness and joy all in the same place."[11]

elynross wrote:

"Sandy, I don't think you have *any idea* how many people treasure you and their friendships with you, and exactly how much impact and influence you've had on fandom, as a fan, as a vidder, as a gorgeous, funny, confident, snarky, BFQ of a bitkah soul! You and Rache were the first two fans I met face-to-face, you made Escapade one of my favorite places, brought me to Virgule and the Other List, and altogether have always made me feel loved and valued, whenever we meet. I would be there to see you in person, if I could, but know that you and Brie and your families, born and chosen, are in my thoughts and prayers. May you always sparkle like the glitter queen you are!"[12]

Laurashapiro wrote:

"She made fandom bright with her laughter. She was always smiling. She was hilarious. She was a good kisser, an exuberant dancer, a brilliant panel moderator. She made great vids. She created wonderful things for fandom, built institutions and gave gifts that will endure." [13]

DJ Driscoll wrote:

"I just saw where sherrold has passed on. I had been so looking forward to receiving one of her fabulously squishy hugs and hearing her maniacally awesome laughter ring throughout VVC this year. There, the woe and empty space will always be with us all. Thanks for the mad giggles, babe."[14]

Heresluck wrote:

"sherrold was -- and will always be -- one of my most important fannish foremothers, to an extent that I only fully realized last year, right after VividCon, when lapillus showed me some vid tapes, including the first Media Cannibals tape. We were watching a vid that Sandy and Rache made and I turned to Carol and said, "Holy shit -- THIS is where we start to get POV signals and cutting on the beat!" lapillus, for whom this was not exactly a revelation, just smiled and nodded. I didn't know Sandy well, but I always looked forward to seeing her; I remember hearing her laugh at the first VividCon and thinking "Now that is a woman who knows how to have fun." And over the last year or so we shared notes on FNL and, after she lost a hard drive full of songs, on music. She described her favorite music as "modern-ish folk," and for that and other reasons, for the last couple of weeks, as I've been thinking about her and B., this is the song I've had stuck in my head. Natalia Zukerman, "Always": There's only stars witnessing. Her presence was a blessing I am so glad to have shared, even a little. My thoughts are with those who love her." [15]

absolutedestiny wrote:

"Sandy didn't just change my life, she shook it. She was a force, full of joy and passion. She had such self-knowledge and such self-assurance that she shone, intimidating to some and brilliant to others and to me. She was an amazing woman. Sandy's love of fandom and love of her friends was as true and important as anything anyone can experience in this world."[16]

Terri O. wrote:

"Sandy, you have enriched my life in so many ways. If I hadn't met you online, lo! these many years ago, I probably would never have attended a slash con, and the people who are my closest friends wouldn't be in my life. I would never have seen a vid, let alone gone to a whole entire con dedicated to them. (Oh, my aching eyeballs...! :-) I wouldn't know anything about LJ or Dreamwidth, and all the fic and socializing and just plain fun that goes on here. I would never have beta-ed a story, and would have missed out on the satisfaction of being able to make a contribution, however minor, to making a story just that little bit better. Some people make analogies about dropping rocks in a still pool, and watching the ripples spread. With you, it was more like you did a cannonball off the high dive platform, with the splashing and the shrieking and the huge enormous waves. Those waves are still spreading and will continue to spread through all of us and all of fandom, pretty much forever. Bright blessings, wherever your road takes you." [17]

Destina wrote:

"For me, she was one of the bright lights of fandom. When I was just a baby n00b, she was good to me, and now I can't think of her without hearing her laugh. As I said to her in the last note I wrote to her - she was the one, the only, the original fannish butterfly. "[18]

Maygra wrote:

"For someone I only got to see once or twice a year, if that, she made a huge impression on me when I first got into online fandom. In many ways, everything I know about fandom, I learned from Sandy, and from people in her circles...She taught me a shit ton about vidding, something I've never done, but something she, and wickedwords, taught me about from beats to POV, to a million small details that I likely would never have been aware of on my own. And she taught me about writing, about keeping my POV's clean, about understanding my audience, about how amazing it is when someone tells you something you wrote affected them....There are a lot of fantastic people in fandom, people who are bright lights and draw you in, make you comfortable, share easily and who you always feel right at home with;, who you can pick back up with no matter how many months or years have passed since you last saw them. Sandy was one of those people. She was funny, warm, loving, smart, and gave the best hugs. For me she was a huge part of the heart of fandom. But even outside of fandom she was someone I loved and admired and learned so much from."[19]

Rache wrote:

"She was my friend for 30 years, since we were in college: through the SCA, science fiction fandom, and slash fandom, not to mention our non-fannish lives. I already miss her. She was a community builder, and her passing has left a huge hole in many people's lives."[20]

Greensilver wrote:

"When I heard Sandy had died, I had a rush of small, almost inconsequential memories of her -- watching vids in the Escapade con suite, squished into a hotel room at VividCon, laughing in my kitchen, always laughing. I can hear her voice in my head clear as anything, teasing or reminiscing or just laying it all out there. She never held anything back. Tucked into one of my Escapade DVD sets there's a note from Sandy on a napkin that says, "omgwtfbbqpolarbear!" I don't remember the context anymore, but it makes me smile. I never once had a dull time with Sandy around -- she brought the fun with her. I can't imagine a con without her."[21]

arallara wrote:

"I wasn't super close to Sandy, but I considered her a friend, and I cherished her friendship nonetheless. One of the things I so love about our fannish community is the way it provides concentric circles of intimacy. I love that there are people in fandom I've known for years but only online and in on-topic fannish ways, I love that there are people in fandom who I know in very personal ways even if exclusively online, I love that there are people in fandom who have become some of my closest friends offline as well, I love that there are people in fandom who I know offline because I hang out with them every single year at the same cons even if we never see each other in person otherwise, and I love that there are a zillion other degrees and shades of friendship, intimacy, and community in my fannish experience. I am intensely, intensely grateful that I got to know and be friends with Sandy in so many of these different ways."[22]

Jan Levine wrote:

"The first time I encountered Sandy, she thought I was someone else. She gave me this great welcome on the Virgule list, but it was clear she confused me with someone else with the same first name. And -- this is the characteristic thing about Sandy -- once she realized her mistake, she was just as nice and welcoming as she had been before. We didn't correspond all that much, but when we did, she was an excellent long-distance mentor. She has always been enthusiastic about, well, whatever. She and [[movies_michelle] have always been my exemplars for fannish butterflying. I remember when she described watching a few episodes of TS and starting to read the fanfic: just dating, I think it was, but with a view to a more serious relationship. Sandy has always been one of the most welcoming and inclusive people I know, in a society that naturally gravitates toward tightish circles. She makes people feel special."[23]

minim_calibre wrote:

"Thank you, for being as awesome as Han Solo, as witty as Oscar Wilde, and more fun than a barrel of drunk monkeys on acid. Thanks for being so welcoming, so funny, so outspoken, and just for being there. Oh, crap. Haven't even touched on your fannish output, but thanks for that, too. You are one in a million, or in six or seven billion. I do, and will always, think of you and your beautiful B often. Like that song goes, you're simply the best.[24]

Jaime wrote:

"Sandy, You are threaded through my fannish existence. Vids from The Sentinel, then stories and rec lists all the way up through Live Journal and Dreamwidth. We've met a couple of times, at cons and at lunch and that random meeting on the street in Berkeley a few years ago when I got to meet B wearing the jewelry you commissioned for her to keep her heart strong. Every interaction has reminded me that not only can fandom be fun and laughed at, but so can life. Thank you for that." [25]

astolat wrote:

"Sandy, you are one of the giants of fandom whose shoulders we all stand on. Anything I've built can trace at least some of its roots back to you, and I hope to always keep your boundless joy in fandom as my model. Thank you so much and I love you." [26]

Mary Alice wrote:

"When I first saw Media Cannibals vids, I had some vague inkling of just how much work and time went into them. My reaction was that they represented a level of fannish crazy -- and creativity -- that I could only hope to some day approach. Then I met you at Escapade and had pretty much the same reaction to you. For years now, I've chosen panels to attend by figuring out which ones you were at, because you've always done such a great job of exuding fannish enthusiasm and just sheer joy, and you brought everyone along with you for the ride. You were even mostly human on con-last-days, a purely amazing feat." [27]

Sisabet wrote:

"Sandy, you are just so fucking important. My first Vividcon, I was being kinda quiet and shy (the first and last time) and then I heard you and you were openly discussing and DISAGREEING about a vid and it was a watershed moment for me and I thought and still think you were just fearless and amazing. I love when you speak up and I love when you vid and I love when you sit down at the table or I can find a place to sit down at a table where you are. I just plain love you."[28]

Destina wrote:

"Sandy, the first time I met you (which I think was at Escapade in 2000 or 2001), you intimidated me so. :) I was so quiet and introverted, trying to navigate fandom, and you were the poster child for embracing all the noisy, wonderful things about fandom that had me ducking my head. From that time, what I remember most is how welcoming and encouraging and fun you were, once I got up the nerve to start talking with you. You represent the joy of fandom, to me, all the things that are best about it, and the balance between Serious Fandom and oh, please, get over yourself. In my mind's eye, you are always smiling or laughing, and I think that says everything about who you are.
I started thinking about the things you helped teach me about fandom, and the list is long: how to embrace critique of my stories and vids and use it to make my stuff stronger; how to embrace our collective fannish history; how to move through fandom without taking any of it (or ourselves) too seriously; that everyone's kink is actually okay, no matter how many people try to tell them it's not; and much more. Without the MC and other vidding collaboratives in the late 90's/early 00's, I never would have really understood the big deal about vids in the first place. Your vids are some of the vids I have rewatched the most. And I never put credits on a vid without hearing your voice in the back of my brain, telling me, THE LOOK AND PLACEMENT OF CREDITS ARE SO IMPORTANT! I mean, I literally hear you saying it. Which always cracks me up. *g* You are the one, the only, the original fannish butterfly. All others are pale imitations. :)" [29]

Settiai wrote:

"Even though I've known it was coming for some time now, it still doesn't seem real that sherrold is gone. It just doesn't seem possible that there's a world without her in it. It hurts so much that I'm never going to get another comment from her on Dreamwidth, agreeing with me or teasing me or hugging me or thanking me for *ahem*ing Doctor Who episodes or laughing at me or telling me, hey, you're completely wrong and this is why (but always in a loving way). That I'm never going to see her at Vividcon again, that she's never to laugh with me again or hug me or grab the random Doctor Who action figure stuck in my name badge for a closer look. That there's so much I never told her over the years.
Sandy made the world a better place just by being in it. She was always smiling, and it was almost impossible to stay sad or angry or upset about something when you were around her. If she agreed with you on something, you'd never have a stauncher supporter, and if she thought you were wrong about something, she'd call you on it; it didn't matter who you were."[30]

kormantic wrote:

"It's very hard to explain how much Sandy means to me, considering the fact that we never spent much time together. But she was someone everyone knew, if not in person, and she built and shaped a great deal of my fannish experience - by reccing my stories so many years ago, by pointing me at other people's brilliant stuff, by making kickass and hilarious vids. She was like the oxygen of fandom, and even though I've been away from the real crush of it for a while, losing her makes it hard to breathe. Sandy was part of the world that sheltered and cared for me when I was alone and lonely, she built friendships out of the ether, made connections in invisible space. She was such a rockstar, revered and hugged by throngs at cons across the nation. I was lucky to know her, even a little, and I'll miss her. I already miss her."[31]

mollyamory wrote:

".. because she said so many things to make me laugh or smile over the years, but most of them were in person and I don't have them in handy quotable form. These, though - these I can keep..."I have to run, and reassurance is so not a strength of mine, but I'm there, okay?" and "This email made me so happy -- and so, in response, I did nothing."
Over the past few days, so many people around me have started sentences with some variation of I wish I had... and I'm here to tell you -- you didn't have to. She was a rotten correspondent a lot of the time, and totally understood how to love her friends from afar, and that we loved her the same way -- even if we only said it now and then."[32]

Dorinda wrote:

"Sandy, I am so glad to know you, and to know that the right answer to "Where's the party?" is WHEREVER SNADY IS RIGHT NOW. I've been eternally enriched by you, and all your work, and your thoughts, and the simple fact of lounging around a hotel room, expecting security to knock on the door any minute because of the joyful, creative, overflowing sounds of talk and laughter. Those sound waves are still traveling, and will go out past the solar system and ever on." [33]

birggitt wrote in the pros_newsletter

"Most of you know by now that, after battling for, oh so long!, against breast cancer, Sandy Herrold passed last July, 19th. She was a real BNF, a caring, welcoming, including, helping, enthusiastic woman who would make you feel amazed and hugged and just... happy. There is a reason why all those who were lucky enough to know her in the flesh will always talk about her infectious laugh. To me, she is joy. Always will be. As many others had told, almost everything I know of fandom, I learnt from Sandy. And she surely is responsible of my fannish butterfly-ism *smiles* I miss her, I really do. But I'm doing it with a big, goofy smile in my face. Bye, Sandy, until we meet again."[34]

braver_creature wrote:

"It's not just that Sandy Herrold's influence on fans and fandom is unquestionable. It's that it's unquestionably *excellent*...She touched so many people in such profound ways...before I was even *born*. I was looking forward to finally seeing more of her, and I can't help but feel cheated that I will never get the chance to know her better than my first (dazed and hopelessly n00b-tranced) Vividcon. Her feedback was...honestly it's the only feedback I can still clearly remember.
Personally, I will never know her any better than as the woman who boldly stated "This vid made me cry, but did not earn my tears" in Vividcon Vid Review in 2009. But I will not forget that moment. Because when you hear something like that, it is something that you *remember*. You take it with you, and it challenges you to demand more from media as a viewer, and more from yourself as a creator. And she was (hell, *is*) so important to people who are very dear to me. So frankly, if they credit her with even an ounce of the brilliant, lovely beings they are today, I have to consider myself lucky just to have entered her orbit."[35]

tenaya wrote:

"For the last couple of weeks, I've been expecting to hear that sherrold has passed on. It's been constantly on my mind, enough so that I actually had a 'con dream' and have thought about things I need to attend to while I've still the time. I know she was in pain. So it's both with sadness and relief that the news has come that she is gone.
Sandy was so vivacious, witty, insightful, fun and...nice. I can't think of her without smiling even though I have tears in my eyes. It's been slightly over two years now since Stuart left us, minotaurs. He was also a delight to be around, and again, a nice person. When at a con, it didn't matter what Stuart or Sandy were talking about, if they were modding a panel, my butt was in the audience. They gave so much to fandom, enriched our playground and made everything so fun and exciting. I'm still feel Stuart's loss. It's equally hard to grasp fandom without Sandy."[36]

msmoat wrote:

"Many of you will have seen the news and tribues on LJ, DW and elsewhere for Sandy H. I just wanted to add mine, and demonstrate the way fandom works, in all its amazing interconnectedness. I have only spoken with Sandy a few times through email. I have enjoyed her stories (in Pros and other fandoms), her Media Cannibals vids (oh, gosh), and her energizing presence in conversations.
But Sandy had a huge effect on me and my fannish life, in an accidental sort of way. See, Sandy, once upon a time, drew into Pros a particular person. That particular person introduced me to a certain someone. That certain someone, one day, said to me something along the lines of: "What I'd really like to see is a Pros story from you." Huh. And so I wrote, in a fandom that I once thought I'd never write in. That's the genesis for my first Pros story, "Waking from Dreams". This is one of the aspects of fandom that I love most--this incredible, meandering domino effect of influences. I am wishing the best for Sandy and her family. She is part of our fannish community, and our Pros community, and always will be."[37]

facetofcathy wrote:

Story 1: "I was tooling around on the web back before the Earth cooled, looking for fanfic and trying to figure out how fandom worked without, you know, ever actually talking to anyone, joining a mailing list or a usenet group or anything like that. I stumbled upon All Jewels Have Flaws. First, I love the name. I actually think of that name almost every time I post fic reviews or recs. Some of the best jewels have flaws, some of the most meaningful jewels have flaws, and it's okay to mention them. Out loud on the internet where everyone can see them. I wasn't sure I could ever not just lurk in fandom for a long time, but Sandy's site was always there to remind me that there's more than squee in fandom, and you can still squee even if you can see that little chip over there on the one facet. Facet, get it? I read many stories I've loved off of Sandy's rec lists. I love her attitude, her joie de vivre, her direct way of writing and I love that page of sparkly jewels (and I love that it's still there, no Wayback Machine required).
Story 2: A while ago, oh, hell, likely over five years ago, if not more, I used to hang out at one of the granddaughters of Salon's Table Talk. There was a thread on there guffawing about a Seattle online newspaper that had posted a piece of K/S fanart to illustrate a story about some kind of Trek cologne, I think--nothing whatsoever to do with fandom, K/S or fanart, at any rate. You've probably seen the piece, it was posted on Boing Boing a while back, unattributed, and that's where the Seattle site had got it from and they were posting it unattributed too. Now, I might have been a strict lurker in fandom, but that was not on--no stealing fanart, dammit! So I tracked down the source of the art, found out the artist, went to the site that had posted it and prepared to leave a comment requesting they attribute the art to the artist. And I didn't have to, because S. Herrold had already done just that.
And that's my two stories about Sandy, a beautiful jewel."[38]

sakana17 wrote:

"To me, she was fandom's sunshine: her enthusiasm and joie de vivre were infectious. I wrote once that if I hadn't seen Sandy posting to a Blake's 7 mailing list wayyyy back when, I doubt I would've stayed in media fandom. I feel very fortunate that our paths intersected when they did, because I stayed and met wonderful people, wonderful fandoms, and wonderful fanworks.
Sandy was one of the wonderful people I met, and even now, when I think of her, I imagine her grin -- which always seemed either the prelude or epilogue to a hilarious and possibly (probably?) NSFW comment that summarized whatever situation perfectly. I also can hear her laughing -- anyone blessed enough to have met Sandy knows that laugh!" [39]

Other Memories by Fans

It was 1992. All we had were non-graphic email listservs. I was into "Blake's 7" at the time and found a listserv for it, and noticed another fan with an email address indicating she was at the same university as me. So out of the blue, I sent her a note asking if she read fanfic (no mention of slash). I am normally not extroverted and don't do things like that, but fans were so few and far apart and hard to find back then, that I took a chance.

She replied, asked if I read slash, and named a few stories. Turned out I'd written one of them. So we got together in person, and she asked the fateful question, "So, are you also a fan of The Professionals?"

I'd not heard of it. She introduced me to her circle of friends, showed me some episodes, and I was so hooked that I never looked back at Blake's 7. That circle of friends, who I joined wholeheartedly, became the vidding collective, the Media Cannibals. And the fan who gave me my best friends and my best fandom ever was Sandy Hereld.

I am so, so grateful that I took that first step into the unknown, and that Sandy was there to guide me. [40]

This is our second personal, printed goodbye as representatives of Escapade to a fan who has been such an intimate part of both our lives and our convention.

Sandy was our unofficial convention hostess who gently complained about con problems needing fixing; who suggested great structural ideas and wisely refused to actually take them on, but got others to do the heavy lifting; who invited people and hilarity; who brought vids and love of our community and generosity with her, every time she attended and every panel she moderated. Sandy was a cornerstone of the party that is Escapade. From Escapade II forward, she only missed 3 years, always for serious health issues. When she was here, you could always find her at the center of the laughter, the insightful conversations, and the fun. If you didn't know Sandy already, this might give you a sense of who she was:

Sandy (immediately after recurrence of her cancer): "I know you don't watch Supernatural but I haven't seen the last 5 episodes of the season."
Charlotte, smiling: "If you weren't dying of cancer I'd say 'no'."
Sandy, laughing out loud: "If you'd said 'no' I was going to remind you that I'm dying of cancer, so you should say 'yes'."

The things we'll miss most about her at Escapade are that memorable laugh, her singing voice, her energy and enthusiasm for moderating panels, and the quiet times when we slipped off to the beach or a hotel room to connect in ways you really can't do as well in a room full of people. We'll miss the long, quiet meals of ordered-in steak. The things we'll miss most about her away from Escapade are too numerous, too varied, and too personal to even begin to put on single page. We are privileged to have known her, loved her, and been loved in return, and grateful for the many friends we'd never have known as well as we do if not for Sandy.

We miss her dearly. [41]

References

  1. ^ Sandy's email on Virgule-L mailing list quoting her pseud Alyx: morgandawn (2013-08-30). "The First Post To The First Slash Mailing List". Dreamwidth. Archived from the original on 2013-08-31.
  2. ^ comments by Sandy on Virgule-L, quoted with permission (16 Nov 1992)
  3. ^ comments by Sandy on Virgule-L, quoted with permission (January 13, 1995)
  4. ^ wayback machine view of Issues of Consent
  5. ^ Coppa, Francesca. 2011. "Interview with Sandy and Rache ('The Clucking Belles')." Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 6.
  6. ^ Who has been Tuckerized in Bujold's writings?, accessed August 15, 2010; confirmed by Sandy in 1993: "I love the series (and occasionally am a character — Trouper, and later Lieutenant Sandy Hereld...scary eh?)" -- Sandy said in Strange Bedfellows #2
  7. ^ My dearest, darling snady, July 8, 2011; WebCite.
  8. ^ Everything I Know About Being A Fan I Learned from Sandy Herrold, July 8, 2011; WebCite.
  9. ^ Old friends, July 8, 2011; WebCite.
  10. ^ Updates on Snady and fandom, July 10, 2011; WebCite.
  11. ^ To the next great adventure, July 19, 2011; WebCite.
  12. ^ Private comment left in stories for sandy, quoted with permission, July 7, 2011.
  13. ^ Sandy, July 19, 2011; WebCite.
  14. ^ Sandy, July 19, 2011.
  15. ^ remembering Sandy, July 19, 2011.
  16. ^ I'll never forget, July 19, 2011; WebCite.
  17. ^ Private comment left in stories for sandy, quoted with permission, July 7, 2011.
  18. ^ See you on the other side, July 19, 2011.
  19. ^ there is no goodby that can last long enough, July 19, 2011.
  20. ^ Gone, July 19, 2011; WebCite.
  21. ^ not sure what tosay, July 18, 2011; WebCite.
  22. ^ Sandy, July 19, 2011.
  23. ^ Sandy, July 15, 2011; WebCite.
  24. ^ Private comment left in stories for sandy, quoted with permission, July 7, 2011.
  25. ^ Private comment left in stories for sandy, quoted with permission, July 7, 2011.
  26. ^ Private comment left in stories for sandy, quoted with permission, July 7, 2011.
  27. ^ Private comment left in stories for sandy, quoted with permission, July 7, 2011.
  28. ^ Private comment left in stories for sandy, quoted with permission, July 7, 2011.
  29. ^ Private comment left in stories for sandy, quoted with permission, July 7, 2011.
  30. ^ Oh, Sandy, July 19, 2011.
  31. ^ comment in The struggle is over,], July 19, 2011.
  32. ^ Snady Things From Email, July 19, 2011; WebCite.
  33. ^ Private comment left in stories for sandy, quoted with permission, July 7, 2011.
  34. ^ Pros Newsletter Edition #214 - July 18 to July 25, July 25, 2011; WebCite.
  35. ^ A Few Words for Sandy Herrold, July 20, 2011; WebCite.
  36. ^ A Sad Day, July 19, 2011; WebCite.
  37. ^ Sandy, July 9, 2011.
  38. ^ I have a couple of stories, July 8, 2011.
  39. ^ Sandy, you are missed dated July 19, 2011; WebCite.
  40. ^ 2011 comments at How did you get into Pros fandom?
  41. ^ from the 2012 Escapade program book


Related Links
People Wickedwords, Megan Kent, Morgan Dawn, Merryish
Places Slashfic Hall of Shame, Trickster
Things Escapade, Media Cannibals, Clucking Belles, Bitkahs
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