HelpVera

I am sure that most of you have heard about the troubles of publisher Vera Nazarian and the efforts going on to help her. For those that have not, please go to http://community.livejournal.com/helpvera/751.html?view=7663 to read the story.

Short form: Vera has lived a life helping others and has had a run of bad luck. Combined with the current economy, she and her mother are close to losing their house. They're asking for donations.

On the surface, it's the same story that we've all heard a great many times, and many of us are in situations where we want to help, but can't, largely because the economy is horrible and we have to save/build our own nest egg. So I'm not asking for donations of that nature. (Unless you really want to, there's a paypal button over there and everything.)

Instead, I want to point you all to what's going on over at helpvera

A community of writers, crafters and other artisans are holding an auction to raise money to help out. It's truly astonishing what and who have come out of the woodwork for this. There are some incredibly rare books up for auction (which interests me) as well as some truly imaginative crafts and services being offered.

Many years ago, I had some "bonus" books signed by Spider Robinson, with the intent that when someone in the #callahan community needed help, they could be auctioned off. Since that community has morphed somewhat over the years, I think that putting them up for this cause is fundamentally the same thing, if not as Spider-centric. So, later tonight, I hope to be able to put them up for auction. I'm also trying to get my local scifi club put up some of the books and things that have been bouncing around from house to house for the last several years.

So, if you're interested in bidding, join helpvera and watch for my auctions.