Sheryl Adsit

Fan
Name:	Sheryl Adsit
Alias(es):
Type:	vidder, fan writer, fanzine publisher, fan artist
Fandoms:	Star Wars, Quantum Leap, Greatest American Hero, Q.E.D., The Professionals
Communities:
Other:
URL:
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Sheryl Adsit was a long time presence at the Michigan MediaWest convention and ran the Fannish Video Room and Fan Video Contest. Prior to that, she ran the Video Room for the Mos' Eastly Con convention. In the 1980s she published a Star Wars fanzine in Germany for American fans stationed overseas: Equal Space. She also wrote fanfiction, some of which appeared in fanzines. In 1983 a collection of her gen stories appeared in a series of zines: Irish Fool Special, The Sentimental Fool Special, and The April Fool Special. About this 3 zine set, one reviewer wrote: You know what's astonishing? To receive not one, but several unsolicited small zines in the mail — and they turn out to be terrific. Don't be misled by Adsit's "aw, shucks" attitude in her introductions; these stories are far from amateur."

In the early 1980s she also ran a Tron fan club in Southern California:

For those interested in Tron, there is also another fan club, this one Friends of Tron. The difference, says Sheryl Adsit of the latter, is that her group “consists of fans of the film, not the Tron philosophy.” That philosophy, says Ruskin, is the theme frequently found in myth and legend that humans can bring new life to humankind by their actions against a god or authority figure. Indeed, Ms. Adsit identifies so strongly with the film that she refuses to play videogames. “I hate getting derezzed,” she utters the Tron catchword. “I take it too personally.”

She passed away on January 8, 2022 at the age of 71.

Works

• Souveneirs of Alderaan by Sheryl Adsit, art by Virginia Lee Smith ("Han at his most Han-nish ("I'm here for sentimental reasons," he said. Yeah, he thought, the idea of all that money going to waste makes me wanna cry.) once again per forms a great service for the Alliance."), published in Time Warp #3
• Stereo Scenario by Sheryl Adsit ("Ralph and Bill have more than just a meeting of the minds when they try to stop a high-tech thief from stealing a valuable new microchip.") (The Greatest American Hero), published in Rerun #4
• Lesson Learned by Sheryl Adsit (Quantum Leap), published in Rerun #8
• To Pluck the Thistle The Professionals, published in Foxhole in a Graveyard
• The Ancient Warrior Reflects, published in Antithesis #11
• A Tort et A Travers, a Professionals/Star Wars crossover
• With the Tables Turned (Star Wars), published in Pegasus #6
• A poem in memory of Beth Nugteren (1950- 1984), published in Mascarada to whom the zine was dedicated (Blake's 7)

Additional work can be found linked here.

Sample fan art from Skywalker #4, a Star Wars fanzine

Memories/Recollections

“Sheryl was a beloved friend and part of the MediaWest*Con fannish community and staff for so many years and it was always great seeing her in person at least once a year, before Covid and advancing ages and deteriorating health and finances complicated matters. I still remember her appearance as a contestant on Jeapardy (sic), too; a dream many of us have held! Condolences to family and fellow friends.” - Lori Chapek-Carleton

I'm feeling particularly melancholy today (2/8/2022). The first thing I saw when I checked my messages on my cellphone this morning was a note from a MediaWest*Con friend saying she had seen third hand that our longtime mutual friend Sheryl Adsit had passed away. Some additional research on my part revealed that Sheryl did, indeed, pass away on January 8th in Downey, California, where she'd lived for many years..... However, considering she had battled numerous health concerns for over 20 years, and had not looked well the last two times I saw her, at MW*C in 2018 and 2019, her passing should most likely not be a surprise.

I've had Sheryl as a friend in my life since the early 1990s. I first attended the general fandom convention MediaWest*Con, in Lansing, MI in 1986, ultimately going from 1986 to 2019 (missing only 2016). Most of the time, I went with someone else, either friends/roommates or in more recent years, my wife. But two years in a row, 1988 and 1989, I flew by myself and roomed by myself. I also stayed over an extra day, so as to not have to deal with grand exodus of hundreds of fans all at once. One of those two years I "discovered" the Fannish Music Video room on the last day of the con, as all other traces of the convention were being torn down -- Fannish Music Videos were still being played to give those of us staying late somewhere to hang out and something fannish to enjoy. I immediately fell in love with "fanvids", and promised I'd learn how to make some myself. Sheryl Adsit was the MW*C staff member in charge of the Fannish Music Video room and annual video competition/premieres show. We had a nice chat that first year that I found those videos, as she came in to check the equipment and found me watching them. We had LOTS more chats as I finally started making VCR-to-VCR vids in 1994, starting my annual tradition of a Tribute Video to the actors who'd passed between MW*Cs (which I continued until 2014). Over the years, my involvement with the Fannish Music Video community at MW*C became more high-profile, and for several years, I basically served as Sheryl's unofficial assistant, helping to stay in touch with other vid-makers and corral everyone's contributions to the Vid Show the opening day of the con. The Vid show was, for many years, my main reason for attending MediaWest*Con.

Sheryl was notorious about not staying in touch in a timely fashion, either by e-mail or by phone, and her presence on Facebook didn't really improve that very much, as she was much more a "lurker" and not an active participant. There was one year when it appeared that Sheryl had literally dropped off the face of fandom and the fate of the Fannish Music Videos at MW*C was in question -- I volunteered to the con organizers to take over the program, but they wanted to remain loyal to their long-time staff, and wanted to give Sheryl a chance to surface and take charge of things again, which she ultimately did. (It was after that time that I became her de facto assistant for many years, to make sure she stayed on track.) Sheryl was also notorious about getting the Vid Premieres show on Friday night started late, too. But that became part of the tradition — waiting for her to show up at the vid room with her (often handwritten) schedule sheets and piles of DVDs (and before those VHS tapes), at which point she regale us all with a few stories before the show began…about 30 minutes late!

We had many great conversations at MW*C, on a wide variety of topics. She'd tell me about her quest to find and purchase fanzines (back in the days when they were still printed/bound/sold as physical items), for a friend back home who couldn't attend the con. She'd end up with huge stacks of 'zines that needed to be shipped back to California, but she was always happy to do it. She was fascinated with all the different methods Fannish Music Videos could be produced, and the creative decisions that went into the making of so many classic fanvids.

I know Sheryl was into Machinima, fannish videos made from video game footage -- she always talked about wanting to upgrade her personal computer equipment to allow her to make more of those. She was incredibly knowledgeable about actors and actresses -- she always appreciated my annual tribute videos and often could share little anecdotes about some of the obscure performers I'd include, even to the point of telling me about the actors who'd become friends with her.

I'm sad to say that we weren't what I would call "close" friends, but we'd bounce e-mails off each other a few times a year, and she'd occasionally surprise me with a call out of the blue just to chat, which I always enjoyed. We both lamented the slow dissolving of the prominence of Fannish Music Videos at MW*C over the last 15 years of the con, and held multiple brainstorming sessions on how to get more fans actively involved in creating and sharing vids at the con. But we also both came from an older generation of vid-creators, and hadn't kept up on the technological advances, which didn't assist us in our goals of revitalizing vids at MW*C. Her passing leaves an enormous gap in the knowledge and history of Fannish Music Videos -- I wish she'd sat down for an audio or video interview chat to talk about vids and MW*C, 'cause all that knowledge is now gone, with the exception of what public records I've been able to archive and share with other vidding historians like Morgan Dawn.

I always looked forward to seeing Sheryl once every year, and after I became Programming chair for MediaWest*Con in 2018 and 2019, I was pleased to know that she and I were on the same ConCom, even though we could see the writing on the wall for the coming end of that beloved convention (2019 was its final year).

Today, I grieve her passing, both as a friend and someone who shared a passion for Vids, but also as a link to such an important part of my life for the past 30 years. I just feel hollowed out and empty today, and am glad I'm not at work, because I'd have trouble working up any enthusiasm for work tasks.

R.I.P. Sheryl Annette Adsit, December 5, 1950 - January 8, 2022. I wish I'd known you better — you were a fascinating individual. You will be missed...

She was such a complex woman and always put on a great vidders show. Those are some amazing memories of a fantastic event attended by a wonderful world of people who 'got me' and my love for all things TV. I hope she knew the positive impact she made on so many of us and that she rests in peace.

For the first 2 or 3 years getting acquainted with Sheryl in regard to the Fannish Music Video programming, I wasn't sure what to make of her. Although I wasn't as close with her as Scott eventually became, she was always warm toward me and treated me like a good friend when we were interacting. I always felt bad for her with all her health woes but was impressed how she plugged along. I admired her devotion to the Vids and the Con.