Samuel Conway

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Dr. Conway at Midwest FurFest 2005
Dr. Conway at Midwest FurFest 2005

Dr. Samuel C. Conway (born June 4, 1965 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania[1]) is an American researcher in the pharmaceutical, biomedical and agrochemical fields of organic chemistry. Outside of the scientific community he is better known as Uncle Kage (pronounced [kɑ ˈgɛ]), chairman and chief organizer of Anthrocon, the largest furry convention in the world.[2] He is also an volunteer entertainer and auctioneer, and a published author.

Contents

[edit] Academic and scientific activities

A graduate of Ursinus College, Pennsylvania in 1986, Conway subsequently studied at Burke Chemical Laboratories, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, where he obtained his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1991.[1][3][4] His doctoral thesis concerned the attempted generation of indolyne (an aromatic compound related to indole).[5] His work has been published in various scientific journals, including Synthetic Communications,[6] Organic Preparations and Procedures International[7] and Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry.[8]

After college, Conway took a postdoctoral appointment in Chicago, and subsequently worked as a contractor for the Food and Drug Administration, a researcher for Bionetics, a medicinal chemist for Avid Therapeutics and researcher for Message Pharmaceuticals. He has been employed by Cerexagri since May 2001.[1]

Conway has eleven professional publications and three patents to his name,[1] including one for recyclable packaging material.[9]

[edit] Fandom activities

Conway is widely known within the furry fandom, due to his involvement in fan activities from the early 1990s to the present day. He has acted as a representative of furry fans to the science fiction fandom, and to the wider world.

[edit] Convention chairman

Conway talks to KDKA-TV reporters outside Anthrocon 2006
Conway talks to KDKA-TV reporters outside Anthrocon 2006

Conway became the chairman of Anthrocon in 1999, after his invitation as a guest of honor in 1998.[10] Under his leadership, Anthrocon was incorporated and moved to Philadelphia. The convention's attendance grew from 804 to 2,489 over the period 1999 to 2006,[2] necessitating a further move to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Conway is the public face of Anthrocon; he is also responsible for public relations, negotiating hotel contracts, managing the convention's finances, damage control and numerous other activities before, during and after the convention.

[edit] Media dealings

Conway has historically dissuaded members of the fandom from responding to the mass media and news media, due in part to sensationalist coverage like the 2001 Vanity Fair article in which he was quoted.[11] His standard response to the media has been: "Anthrocon is a private event held on private property. Its membership is not interested in being the subject of your documentary."[12]

Conway revised his policies slightly with Anthrocon's move to Pittsburgh in 2006. While no television program, magazine or "tabloid" representatives were present, several newspapers were invited to attend, and did, including the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,[13] the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,[14] and the Pittsburgh City Paper, which printed both a preview and an extensive review.[15][16] When local television station KDKA-TV showed up, Conway gave a short television interview outside the convention hotel.[17] In November 2006 he gave a radio interview to Dublin 98FM.[18]

[edit] Storyteller

Uncle Kage auctioning off a brick
Uncle Kage auctioning off a brick

Conway styles himself as "Furrydom's Storyteller", and makes an annual appearance on the stage of Anthrocon in what has come to be known as Uncle Kage's Story Hour. The entertainment typically consists of four or five extended personal anecdotes of a humorous nature. His stage name was the result of his first storytelling experience at Further Confusion in 1994, and is a derivative of his fandom name Kagemushi Goro.[10]

Conway is regularly invited to tell his stories as a guest of honor at other conventions, both within and without the furry fandom, including I-CON,[19][20] Eurofurence,[21][22] ConClave,[23] and Camp Feral!.[24] Gross sales from recordings of his Story Hours were over US$2600 in 2004; no profit was realised, as the intention was to increase membership and awareness of Anthrocon.[25][26]

[edit] Auctioneer

Conway's first auction was at Albany Anthrocon 1997.[27] Since then, he has presided over auctions which have raised over US$66,000 for a variety of local wildlife charities at Anthrocon alone.[28] He has performed similar services at other fan conventions, including Midwest FurFest.[29] Conway says his techniques — which are influenced by Phil Foglio and Joe Mayhew and often include humour and appeals to pity, novelty or scarcity[11] — have been declared "unprofessional" by some other auctioneers; but they achieve results, including the sale of the "last brick" from a previous year's demolished hotel for US$200 in 2006.[30]

[edit] Published fiction

While Conway is best known for his spoken word, he is also a published author of several short stories.

Conway's works include:

  • "Tweaked in the Head", in Flights of Fantasy (December 1999)[31][32]
    Conway was invited to write this story due to his interest in birds of prey, particularly the Red-tailed Hawk[10]
  • "The Secret of Wollknäul", in HistoriMorphs I (June 2001)[33]
  • "Six", in Anthrolations #5 (July 2002)[34]
    Nominated for the 2002 Ursa Major Awards as "Best Anthropomorphic Short Story"[35]
  • "Dead End", in Breaking the Ice: Stories from New Tibet (January 2004)[36]
  • "The Good Bird of Nanking", in HistoriMorphs II (June 2004)[37]
  • "It Takes A Fox", in HistoriMorphs III (June 2006)[38]

[edit] Other activities

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Conway, Samuel C.. Uncle Kage - The Man. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  2. ^ a b Cooksey, David. Anthropomorphic Fandom Convention Information Sheet. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  3. ^ Mad Scientist Network Hall of Fame - Samual C. Conway. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  4. ^ Conway, Samuel C.. unclekage - User Info. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  5. ^ Conway, S.C.; Gribble, G.W.. "Approaches to the Generation of 2,3-Indolyne". Heterocycles vol. 34, No. 11, 1992 pp. 2095-2108.
  6. ^ Conway, S.C.; Gribble, G.W.. "Synthesis of 1-(Phenylsulfonyl)Indol-3-yl Trifluoromethanesulfonate". Heterocycles vol. 30, No. 1, 1990, pp. 627-633.
  7. ^ 1992 publications of the Gordon W. Gribble Research Group. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  8. ^ Holder, C. Lee;Preece, Steve W.;Conway, Samuel C.;Pu, Yu-Ming;Doerge, Daniel R. (2006-07-31). "Quantification of heterocyclic amine carcinogens in cooked meats using isotope dilution liquid chromatography/atmospheric pressure chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry". Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, Vol. 11, No. 15, pp. 1667-1672.
  9. ^ U.S. Patent No. 5,362,776 - Recyclable cellulosic packaging material
  10. ^ a b c Uncle Kage - The Storyteller. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  11. ^ a b Gurley, George, Pleasures of the Fur, Vanity Fair, 2001-03-01.
  12. ^ Conway, Samuel C. (2003-04-29). "Tabloid shows, Confurence, and lay off of Darrell already". alt.fan.furry.bleachers. (Google Groups). Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  13. ^ Kurutz, Daveen Rae. "It's a furry weekend", Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 2006-06-17. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  14. ^ Belser, Ann. "All about 'furry fandom' at confab", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2006-06-18. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  15. ^ Meinzer, Melissa. "Fur Ball In the Works", Pittsburgh City Paper, 2006-02-02. Retrieved on 2006-11-25.
  16. ^ Meinzer, Melissa. "Animal Passions", Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 2006-06-29. Retrieved on 2006-11-25.
  17. ^ Furries Descend On Pittsburgh, KDKA (June 16, 2006), accessed on 2006-08-27
  18. ^ Muth, Douglas (2006-11-08). Radio Interview about Furry Fandom on Dublin 98 FM. Retrieved on 2006-12-04.
  19. ^ I-CON 22 - Anthropomorphics. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  20. ^ I-CON 24 Guests - Dr. Samuel Conway. Retrieved on 2006-08-26.
  21. ^ Eurofurence 8 (2002-06-22). Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  22. ^ Uncle Kage - How was Eurofurence 8?. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  23. ^ Duckon Reference for Fan Gallery. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  24. ^ Feral! - WikiFur. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  25. ^ Conway, Samuel C. (2004-05-15). "Anthrocon, Inc. - IRS Form 990 - Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax".
  26. ^ Conway, Samuel C.. Uncle Kage's videos. Retrieved on 2007-08-28.
  27. ^ Conway, Samuel C.. Uncle Kage: The Auctioneer. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  28. ^ Anthrocon Charity Auction FAQ. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  29. ^ Midwest FurFest - WikiFur. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  30. ^ Anthrocon 2006 Charity Report. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  31. ^ (1999-12-01) in Lackey, Mercedes & Greenberg, Martin H. (ed.): Flights of Fantasy. Daw Book Collectors. ISBN 0-88677-863-8. 
  32. ^ Dobbs, George T.. The S.F. Site: Flights of Fantasy, a review.. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  33. ^ (2001-07-01) in Fields, Lanny (ed.): HistoriMorphs I. Sofawolf Press. Retrieved on 2006-08-27. 
  34. ^ (2002-07-27) Anthrolations #5. Sofawolf Press. Retrieved on 2006-08-27. 
  35. ^ The Ursa Major Awards - 2002 winners (2003-04-25). Retrieved on 2006-08-28.
  36. ^ (2004-01-01) in Susman, Tim (ed.): Breaking the Ice (Stories from New Tibet). Sofawolf Press. ISBN 0-9712670-0-6. Retrieved on 2006-08-27. 
  37. ^ (2004-06-25) HistoriMorphs II. Sofawolf Press. Retrieved on 2006-08-27. 
  38. ^ HistoriMorphs III. Sofawolf Press (2006-05-31). Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  39. ^ MadSci Search Results for Samuel Conway. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.

[edit] Further reading


Persondata
NAME Samuel C. Conway
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Uncle Kage, Kagemushi Goro
SHORT DESCRIPTION Chemist, author, fandom conventioneer and entertainer
DATE OF BIRTH 1965-06-04
PLACE OF BIRTH Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../s/a/m/Samuel_Conway_1c0f.html"