Spirit of Light

Science Fiction Convention
Name:	Spirit of Light
Dates:	1983-1986
Frequency:
Location:
Type:	For-profit
Focus:	Doctor Who
Organization:	Spirit of Light Enterprises/Organization
Founder:	Norman Rubenstein
Founding Date:
URL:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Spirit of Light was a series of for-profit cons in the United States run by Spirit of Light Enterprises and Norman Rubenstein.

poster for the 1983 convention

poster for the 1984 convention

In 1986, fans could purchase tickets through Ticketmaster, the cost was $16 per adult.

The Spirit of Light organization was used as an example of the evils of for-profit companies moving in on fan-run, not-for-profit conventions, and was a topic in the Blake's 7 Wars.

Merch

It appears to have sold their own merchandise, such as these posters sometimes through the dodgy company, Star Tech.

Some Dates

• The Ultimate Celebration: 26-27 November 1983 was held in Chicago (Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton (1st con), Peter Davison, Nicholas Courtney, Ian Marter, John Nathan-Turner, Anthony Ainley, John Leeson, Janet Fielding, Elisabeth Sladen, Carole Ann Ford, Mark Strickson, Sarah Sutton, Louise Jameson, Mary Tamm, Nicola Bryant, Fiona Cumming, Ian Fraser, Gary Downie, Julie Brennan, Terry Nation, Peter Moffatt, Matthew Waterhouse)
• TARDIS 21: Nov. 23-25, 1984 was held in Chicago (Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Anthony Ainley, Nicholas Courtney, Nicola Bryant, Janet Fielding, Elisabeth Sladen, Lalla Ward, Mark Strickson, Frazer Hines, John Nathan-Turner, Terrance Dicks, Ian Marter, John Levene, Richard Franklin)
• Spirit of Light: Aug. 31-Sept. 2, 1985 was held in Philadelphia (King of Prussia) at the Valley Forge Convention & Exhibit Center
• Spirit of Light: Oct. 18-20, 1985 was held in Philadelphia (King of Prussia) at the Valley Forge Convention & Exhibit Center (Jon Pertwee, Anthony Ainley, John Levene, Janet Fielding, Nicola Bryant, Terry Walsh, Carole Anne Ford)
• TARDIS 22: Nov. 29-Dec. 1, 1985 was held in Chicago (Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Janet Fielding, Louise Jameson, Elisabeth Sladen, Mark Strickson, Sarah Sutton, Terry Walsh, Lalla Ward, John Nathan-Turner, John Levene, Richard Franklin, Anthony Ainley, Paul Darrow, Jacqueline Pearce)
• Whovent (with Aerosport Ltd): May 25-26, 1986 was held in New Brunswick, New Jersey at the Hyatt Regency (Colin Baker, Patrick Troughton, John Nathan-Turner, Lalla Ward, Frazer Hines, Louise Jameson, Bonnie Langford (1st con), Carole Ann Ford, Sarah Sutton, Mark Strickson)
• Whovent 86 (Spirit of Light and WHA): May 30-June 1, 1986 held in Madison, Wisconsin (Peter Davison, Lalla Ward, Louise Jameson, Mark Strickson, Sarah Sutton, John Nathan-Turner, Bonnie Langford)
• Whovent 86: eight separate events in September 1986 held in Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Nashville, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Chicago, Boston, and New York City (Tom Baker, Colin Baker)

The First One: The Ultimate Celebration

"The Ultimate Celebration" was the first one in the series. It was held 26-27 November 1983 in Chicago.

See a television ad for this con.

See some of the programming for this con Doctor Who - Troughton vs Pertwee - The '83 Match.

Doctor Who was very much cult viewing in the States. Appearing on several local PBS channels, sometimes late at night, it was a show fans sought out so a midweek broadcast was neither here nor there. It was also broadcast in conjunction with the other big convention of 1983, Doctor Who: The Ultimate Celebration in Chicago the weekend of 26th and 27th November.

Over 7,000 delegates descended on Chicago’s Regency Hotel that weekend for what was a huge event. The man behind it was successful Chicago-based lawyer Norman Rubenstein. He was keen to run a convention that was to be “run by a business as a business”. Truly the age of the fan convention being a commercial venture was underway.

Rubenstein wanted to host the biggest Doctor Who convention ever. Accordingly, he treated the invited guests in a lavish manner. He flew them over on First Class flights, put them up in hotel suites, and, rumour has it, paid each Doctor a five figure appearance fee.

Guests that attended what became known as the Spirit Of Light Convention (after Rubenstein’s company) included the four surviving Doctors, other stars such as Carole Ann Ford (Susan), Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), and Nicholas Courtney (the Brigadier) as well as directors, Fiona Cummings and Peter Moffat. Extensive advertising on local TV (with a commercial voiced by Jon Pertwee) and in the pages of Doctor Who Monthly meant 5,000 people had pre-registered for the event by the middle of October.

A Topic of the Blake's 7 Wars

From Linda Terrell, a fan who was passionate about keeping conventions smaller, non-profit, and fan-run:

Then we got Spirit Of Light - Rubenstein/Ettigers and Co. I had a de facto role in their organization so I was privvy to a lot of the crap that went on in their private meetings -- and the utter CONTEMPT with which they viewed fans, and even the actors. It was a money-making scheme, pure and simple. Fans were viewed as so many wallets, period. Which is why I have a bad taste for CREATIONS." Anywhoo, SOL's game plan was to be controlling the the cons by controlling access to the Guests. Having a "stable" of selected guests, with set, substantial fees -- rarely less than $3000 PLUS expenses.

Our original statement did speak of how DOCTOR WHO guests had been "ruined" tor Fan Cons by the same type of "Pro" Con approach. When guests become, quite understandably, used to business class airfare and several thousands of dollars in tees, how, indeed, can mere fan-run cons compete?

Some DW guests eventually came to see US fans as so many wallets - and virtually said so! There is no "friendship" when actors are swayed by that kind of money. It DOES happen! I've seen it happen in DW. No matter how good the intentions, how "close" the friendships, we watched some actors allow a ring through their nose in order to be "acceptable" to a Pro type Con organizer - SPIRIT OF LIGHT.

I personally spoke with several actors who were a basket case of nerves lest they say and do "something wrong" and find themselves kicked off the S.O.L. circuit! Is this what we want to see the B7 guests come to?

And that is what [A W] and I tried to tell the fans: "Let the buyer beware". Mr. Darrow made some very contemptuous statements which sleighted [sic] fans. I believed then and still believe that it should have been made Public so that tans could make their CHOICE accordingly.

Yes, it split the fandom. But, as in DOCTOR WHO, perhaps we can go on with a Darrow fandom and a B7 Fandom. B7 was never a Church of Darrow - let them form their own branch and lets us real fans get about our fannish business.

From Laurie Cohen was one of the fans who wanted to enter the world of for-profit, slicker conventions under her company, Decima Productions. She mentioned "Spirit of Light" as a business model she wanted to avoid:

I would like to believe that the misgivings expressed over the prospective tour have been generated by ignorance of the true facts and a genuine concern derived from the specter of too many "for profit" debacles like Spirit of Light.

Other Fan Comments

We filled up my parents' station wagon for this one! It was cloudy and warm, like 40s, rainy and drizzly, and was right after Thanksgiving. We took leftovers to snack on, lol.

I was there. Had a ball. The Cabaret act was hysterical!

Meta and Further Reading

• TARDIS draws on who's who of 'Dr. Who', 1985 article in the Chicago Sun Times
• Reviewed: Doctor Who's 20th Anniversary – At Last, The 1983 Show by Leon Hewitt (October 13, 2019)