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Executive Team Bios
Becky Citrak
Chair
Becky Citrak began reading
science fiction books in
elementary school because
she had read all of the
horse books in the library.
Heinlein, Clarke, Asimov,
Bradbury, and Norton piqued
her interest in both the
physical and social
sciences. She read all of
the science fiction section
in the library at her high
school, and most of it at
her college.
She began participating in
convention fandom in 1981
when a co-worker introduced
her to Norwescon by inviting
her to run the office. Since
then she has attended or
worked on many conventions
in the Northwest but
Norwescon has always been
her home convention.
She enjoys reading many
different types of books
from many genres, although
she doesn't seem to have as
much time for reading as she
used to. She also likes many
types of music, enjoys
crafting and sewing, and
loves, loves, LOVES to
travel - especially on
cruise ships!
Jeanine Gray Swanson
Vice Chairman
Jeanine Gray Swanson has
always been passionate about
reading, but didn’t become a
fan of science fiction until
she accidentally became
involved with producing
Norwescon 4 (everyone else
in the household was doing
it). She became a voracious
reader of science fiction
and is occasionally known to
read some fantasy as well.
She has attended Norwescon
every year since Norwescon 4
and has supported the
convention by serving in a
number of positions over the
years.
The walls of the home she
shares with an enormous
German Shepherd Dog (GSD),
an angry cat, and a
terrifically supportive
husband are insulated with
books. Jeanine collects
earth globes and has more
than 150 in her home. The
exact count is unknown. She
stops counting at 150;
because more than 150 items
is no longer a collection,
it’s some kind of manic
obsession.
She is passionate about the
sci-fi community because of
the kindness of fen. She
says that she is always
touched that fen
consistently offer support
to each other in times of
trouble and enthusiastically
share the joy when it’s time
to celebrate.
Christy Berelman
Secretary
Christy Berelman’s first
introduction to the world of
science fiction occurred at
the tender age of seven. The
whole family had curled up
in the living room to watch
the first episode of Star
Trek: The Next Generation,
and all it took was one of
Picard's famous "Make it so"
gestures and she was hooked.
Although an ardent sci-fi
fan from a young age,
Christy didn't see her first
convention until the spring
of her junior year at a
conservative Christian
college. She desperately
needed a vacation, and one
of her friends suggested
Norwescon. After her first
day she knew she had
returned to the mothership
and was completely in love
with the con. She spent the
next few years blocking off
each Easter weekend to
indulge in her love of
sci-fi, fantasy, and
everything else Norwescon
has to offer. After a few
years she was itching to be
a part of the crazy group of
kooky kids who put on the
annual geekdom extravaganza.
She was terrified with the
thought that she was getting
in over her head, but she
nevertheless emailed
Volunteers (who were more
than happy to exploit her
free labor) and was told to
come to her first meeting.
There she was picked up by
J’wyl Dragon as a
Registration minion and four
short years later she ended
up where she is today: on
the Executive Team. So
remember kids, you too can
work for free as a con
monkey for a few years and
get a short bio on the
website!
Eric Weber
Treasurer
Eric Weber started reading
science fiction in
elementary school, and
developed a passion for it
that has lasted his whole
life. However, he didn't
discover fandom until he was
in college, when a friend
introduced him to a Doctor
Who fan group. This became a
"gateway hobby", and soon he
was dragged into attending
conventions, then
volunteering at conventions,
and finally to being on the
convention committee of a
local media convention. At
that point, Eric decided
he'd better find out what
other conventions were like,
and he went to several for
the express purpose of
putting in as many volunteer
hours as possible, which
eventually led to being on
the convention committee of
Norwescon. He decided that
wasn't enough work, so he
started devoting a large
portion of his spare time to
building mobile command
posts for local emergency
management organizations.
Mike Orosz
Business Director
Mike Orosz’s first
recollections of anything
remotely associated with
science fiction and fantasy
was a little book about
faeries he found as a young
child living somewhere in
Europe. He didn’t read The
Hobbit in preschool like
others (probably because it
hadn’t been written yet) but
he did eventually get around
to it, and the others in
that series (he found it to
be much easier reading than
Atlas Shrugged, but found
the endings to be similar).
Mike has always managed to
have a paperback in his back
pocket to fill in those
little empty spaces in his
day. He recalls being
influenced by a movies such
as Metropolis and Forbidden
Planet. His travels brought
him to Dr. Who on late night
TV, and it seemed that just
about everywhere he went he
eventually came across a
showing of the program, with
subtitles at times. Dr. Who
became a little link to home
for Mike. Many years ago, he
saw a sign in a pizza joint
about a Dr. Who Fan Club
meeting, which was attended
by a few local Norwescon
members. One of the members
had a pretty complete
library of Dr. Who Videos,
and we spent a couple years
rewinding them between
pizzas...
Rob Stewart
Convention Services
Director
Rob Stewart is a fan of both
science fiction and fantasy,
although he leans toward
fantasy. He started reading
early with a copy of The
Hobbit his brother gave him
while he was in first grade.
It took him a long time to
read that book and the rest
of the trilogy, but he was
forever changed by those
darn hobbits! From there it
was on like Donkey Kong as
he explored other genre
related fields such as
gaming (hobby and video),
comics, and historical
reenactment. He has been
involved with the running of
conventions for 27 years
here in Seattle and in his
hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
He is husband to a wonderful
wife and two great boys to
whom he is passing along the
joys of fandom.
Charlie Knoedler
Member Services
Director
Charlie Knoedler was
introduced to science
fiction through comic books
and all those great black
and white science fiction
movies. His favorites were
Them and Invasion of the
Saucer-Men. He discovered
science fiction books while
in school when he had to
read ten books off the
Newberry Awards Book List.
He read A Wrinkle in Time
which then opened the door
to Andre Norton and Edgar
Rice Burroughs, who are
still his favorites.
He first heard about
Norwescon around convention
number 9 and began
participating as a vendor in
the Dealers Room the next
year. By Norwescon 18, he
was volunteering for the
convention and has been ever
since. He and his wife Tracy
own Everett Comics.
Jim Sullivan
Personnel Director
Jim Sullivan was raised in
the San Francisco Bay Area.
All signs pointed to him
finding fandom; from being
the first kid on the block
with a Commodore VIC-20 to
creating a D&D type
adventure for the 5th grade
book fair. As a teenager
misspending his youth, he
discovered some true blue
friends - Rocky Horror, and
SF/F conventions. He had
arrived in fandom! Over the
years he went from regular
attendee to convention
committee member to
Executive Team member; it
was clear that working
conventions was his vice of
choice. Even moving to
Seattle, WA did not stop him
from volunteering at Bay
Area conventions! In
Seattle, he left behind the
technical industry and began
studying psychology, a field
he finds more rewarding.
Three years ago he was
invited to work Norwescon.
The following year he found
himself running the
volunteers division. When he
is not working conventions,
he keeps busy with LARPing,
writing, and cracking wise.
This is Jim's fourth
Norwescon.
Jaimie (Sunny Jim)
Morgan
Programming Director
Sunny Jim Morgan comes from
a family of readers; so it's
no surprise that she picked
up The Hobbit at age 8, and
read The Lord of the Rings
for the first time at age 9.
She loved it so much that
she read the whole series
more than 50 times, along
with most of the local
library's fantasy and
science-fiction section, a
large chunk of their
mysteries, a few
biographies, and every
newspaper, magazine, cereal
box back and billboard she
comes across. Jim was
dragged into the world of
cons while working as an
event planner at Western
Washington University in
Bellingham, when the
co-worker who had the
VikingCon contract needed an
evening off. Although she's
occasionally been involved
in other conventions,
Norwescon is the only one
she attends every year. This
year is Jim's 10th Norwescon.
Don Glover
Publications
Director
Don Glover has been involved
in Seattle fandom for over
32 years. As a young lad, at
the tender age of 11, he was
forced to read science
fiction and found that he
liked it. Half a decade
later he joined the Olympia
chapter of the Puget Sound
Star Trekkers and that
winter ventured north to
PSST con II. He spent the
entire convention
volunteering in one place or
another. After moving to
Seattle to attend college,
he joined the Norwest
Science Fiction Society and
attended Norwescon 1. Don
has attended every Norwescon
since and volunteered in
some capacity or another at
the last 30 conventions.
Over the years he has had
the opportunity to work on a
number of conventions in the
Northwest, including
Dreamcon, Westercon, and
OryCon. He is a fan of
authors such as David Brin,
Harry Turtledove, J.R.R.
Tolkein, Roger Zelazny, and
Keith Laumer. When he is not
working on conventions he is
putting in time at Microsoft
and studying karate.
Peggy Stewart
Special Events
Director
Peggy Stewart entered fandom
from a different angle than
most here - she began
attending conventions
because of the costuming.
She has been a costumer for
as long as she can remember.
Her first convention was a
Star Trek con in 1978
followed by a Dr. Who
convention. She eventually
found her way to Marcon and
its masquerade which she ran
for many years until she
moved here in 1996, and
joined Norwescon's
convention committee in 1997
as, what else, the
Masquerade director. She has
held other positions since
then; but her first and
deepest love has always been
anything to do with
costuming and furthering its
cause. As the Special Events
Director, she hopes to bring
this passion to all the
special events that
Norwescon has this year.
When she is not working on
costuming or Norwescon, she
is being a mom to two great
boys who she likes to dress
up and four cats who she
doesn’t dress up as she
wants all of her fingers in
one piece. She has a great
husband who always has his
nose in a book and who has
the best timing in the world
as he always calls when she
sits down to read. They both
love to read and they have
instilled that love of
reading in their sons.