View source for Tricon Reminiscence (Panshin)

===THE JELLYBEANS===

Some time last year, [[Harlan Ellison]] wrote a [[George Orwell#Nineteen Eighty-Four|1984]]-ish type story entitled "Repent Harlequin, Said the Ticktockman." One of the acts of its hero is to dump $150,000 worth of jellybeans on the moving sidewalks, causing no end of confusion as the passers-by stop to eat them. However, it is also stated that jellybeans had not been manufactured for more than one hundred years. Despite the resulting inconsistencies, the story did manage to win one of the few [[Nebula Awards]] that [[Roger Zelazny]] neglected to carry off and even got itself nominated for a [[Hugo]]. But all year, people had been going up to Ellison and asking him, "Harlan, what about the jellybeans?" So no wonder that by the time of the [[Con]], he was pretty well bugged out of his mind.

As a result of this sad situation, a group of kind-hearted [[Los Angeles|Angelinos]] decided to vary the routine to "Harlan, we don't mind about the jellybeans." Yet a further refinement was the purchase of four pounds of black licorice jellybeans. One pound was left with [[Banquet]] [[toastmaster|Toast-master]] [[Isaac Asimov]], in case Harlan got his [[Hugo]]. The remainder was divided into small packages and given to various people to be presented at intervals during the weekend. Even [[Boston]]'s own mild-mannered [[Hal Clement]]/[[Harry C. Stubbs]] is said to have sidled up to Ellison, muttering, "I believe these are yours." Now, the one kind of jellybeans that Harlan Ellison does ''not'' like happens to be black licorice. So if he had been bugged out of his mind before, now he was pretty well bugged out of the known universe. Which raised his inate  aptitude for [[Randy Garrett]]-insulting to a new peak and provided much amusement for the assembled spectators.