Edward E. Kramer

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Ed Kramer
Born Edward Eliot Kramer
(1961-03-20) March 20, 1961
Brooklyn, New York
Occupation Editor
Nationality American
Genres Science fiction, fantasy, horror, Historical Fiction, Nonfiction
Notable work(s) The Sandman: Book of Dreams, The Crow: Shattered Lives and Broken Dreams, Elric: Tales of the White Wolf, Free Space

Edward E. Kramer (born on March 20, 1961) is an American editor of numerous science fiction, fantasy, and horror works, and co-founder and former part-owner of the Dragon*Con commercial media convention in Atlanta, Georgia. He lives in Duluth, Georgia, and has worked as a clinical and educational consultant.[1] He is the former program director of the Metropolitan Atlanta Council on Alcohol and Drugs.[2] Before pleading guilty to three counts of child molestation, Kramer was the subject of a long-running legal battle.

Early life

Kramer was born in Brooklyn, New York. He holds a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Emory College and a Master of Public Health in health administration and planning from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University School of Medicine.[1][3]

Career

Editing

Kramer is the editor of the anthologies Dark Love and Grails (Roc Books); The Sandman: Book of Dreams by Neil Gaiman (HarperPrism); The Crow, by James O'Barr (Random House); Free Space (Tor Books); Forbidden Acts (Avon Books); Elric: Tales of the White Wolf and Pawn of Chaos: Tales of the Eternal Champion (based on the works and characters of Michael Moorcock); Dante's Disciples, Tombs, and the Dark Destiny trilogy[4] (White Wolf); and Strange Attraction: Turns of the Midnight Carnival Wheel (Bereshith Publishing). He has also worked for over a decade as a music critic and photojournalist.[1]

Dragon Con and other events

In 1987, he co-founded Dragon*Con, a for-profit convention dedicated to science fiction, fantasy, comics, gaming, and the popular arts.[5] He has not been involved with Dragon Con planning or activities since 2000;[6] but still owned 34% of the business[7] until Kramer's relationship with the convention was ended in July 2013 in a cash-out merger.[8]

He has also chaired the 1990 Atlanta Origins convention, the 1992 Georgia World Fantasy Convention, and the Nebula Awards Weekend, and both the Atlanta World Horror Convention, and the North American Science Fiction Convention (NASFiC) in 1995.[1][9]

Criminal allegations

Kramer was arrested on August 25, 2000 following an anonymous tip, and charged with molesting three teenage boys. The ensuing investigation revealed that Kramer had previously been accused of molestation in 1997 before the alleged victim recanted.[10]

Kramer's first attempt to serve his pre-trial detention in house arrest lasted only a week due to a reported visit by a teenage boy. After Kramer suffered a spinal injury in jail, Judge Debra Turner allowed him to go back to house arrest in January 2001.[10] This lasted until 2008 when his travel ban was lifted.[11]

In September 2011, Kramer was arrested after Connecticut police found him in a motel room, unsupervised, with a 14-year-old boy despite being banned from contacting boys under 16. [12] The felony "risk of injury to a child" was added to the list of charges for which Kramer must stand trial.[13]

In September 2012, it was reported that Kramer was being held at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution, a maximum security facility in Suffield, Connecticut, awaiting extradition to Georgia.[14][15] He was extradited to Georgia in January 2013.[16] On April 26, 2013, he was denied the chance to post bail, as the presiding judge concluded based on past behavior that he was likely to break the conditions of his bond.[17]

Ed Kramer has had the most delayed trial in the history of Georgia,[18] and in 2007, Congressman Bob Barr said, "There is an overwhelming sense of injustice that pervades all of what has happened to Petitioner Appellant Edward Kramer."[19] Protests to "Free Ed" have gained the support of science fiction writers Harlan Ellison, Anne McCaffrey, Robert J Sawyer and J. Neil Schulman.[20] Conversely, Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter said in September 2010 that Kramer had "done nothing but delay and blame everyone else but himself", agreeing with an assessment that the Georgia Court of Appeals gave in September 2007: "The record strongly indicates that Kramer either sought or knowingly acquiesced in the great majority of the delay and did not want a speedy trial." Kramer and his lawyers disputed this, stating that he had serious health issues that prevent him from sitting through a long trial.[10][21]

On December 2, 2013 Kramer, in a plea bargaining deal, pled guilty to one charge for each of the three victims, just before his trial was scheduled to start.[22][23]

Bibliography

  • Tales of Riverworld (1992)
  • Grails: Quests, Visitations and Other Occurrences (1992), a World Fantasy Award nominee for Best Anthology
  • Quest to Riverworld (1993)
  • Confederacy of the Dead (1993)
  • Phobias (1994)
  • Michael Moorcock's Elric: Tales of the White Wolf (1994)
  • Grails: Visitations of the Night (1994)
  • The Dark Destiny trilogy is set in White Wolf publishing's World of Darkness:
    1. Dark Destiny (1994)
    2. Dark Destiny II: Proprietors of Fate (1995)
    3. Dark Destiny III: Children of Dracula (1996)
  • Dante's Disciples (1998)
  • Excalibur (1995)
  • Tombs (1995)
  • More Phobias (1995)
  • Forbidden Acts (1995)
  • Dark Love (1996), a World Fantasy Award and International Horror Guild Award nominee for Best Anthology
  • The Sandman: Book of Dreams (1996), a British Fantasy Award nominee for Best Anthology
  • Michael Moorcock's Pawn of Chaos: Tales of the Eternal Champion (1997)
  • Free Space (1997), recipient of the first Prometheus Special Award
  • The Crow: Shattered Lives and Broken Dreams (1998)
  • Strange Attraction: Turns of the Midnight Carnival's Wheel (2000)
  • Grails: Quests of the Dawn (2004)

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Aussiecon Three Biographies". Aussiecon Three. Retrieved 2011-02-21. 
  2. "Cocaine No. 1 concern at drug council". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 1986-08-21. 
  3. "Philanthropy: Donor Report 1997-1998". Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Fall 1998. Retrieved 2011-10-09. 
  4. Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. p. 220. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7. 
  5. Cohen, Benyamin (September/October 2004). "Truth, Justice, and Ed Kramer". The Atlanta Jewish Times. 
  6. "LAWRENCEVILLE: DragonCon founder arrested in Connecticut". WXIA-TV. 2011-09-15. Retrieved 2011-10-09. 
  7. Simmons, Andria (November 19, 2011). "DragonCon faces appeal; Co-founder fights dismissal of case against event". Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  8. Pantozzi, Jill. "DRAGON*CON OFFICIALLY SEPARATES FROM FOUNDER, ACCUSED MOLESTER, ED KRAMER". The Mary Sue. Retrieved 8 July 2013. 
  9. "1992 World Fantasy Award Winners and Nominees". World Fantasy Convention. Retrieved 2011-02-21. 
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Scott, Henry (2002-01-30). "The wizard of Dragon*Con stands trial". Creating Loafing Atlanta. 
  11. Henry, Scott (2009-10-29). "Ed Kramer finally to stand trial?"". Creative Loafing Atlanta. 
  12. Simmons, Andria (2011-09-16). "$50K bond for DragonCon founder Kramer". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 
  13. Simmons, Andria (2011-09-16). "Court to decide where to prosecute DragonCon founder first". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 
  14. Department of Correction, State of Connecticut (April 6, 2012). "Connecticut Inmate Information". Retrieved April 6, 2012. 
  15. Henry, Scott (September 1, 2012). "In the Shadows". Atlanta Magazine. Retrieved September 2, 2012. 
  16. Reddy, Frank (21 January 2013). "DragonCon co-founder booked into Gwinnett jail". Gwinnett Daily Post. Retrieved 21 January 2013. 
  17. Simmons, Andria (2013-04-26). "DragonCon founder denied bond". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 
  18. Scheinman, Larry (2008). "Ed Kramer Legal Defense Fund". Yahoo. 
  19. Bob Barr, J Neil Schulman (2007-08-03). Former US Rep Bob Barr on legal prosecution of Ed Kramer (YouTube). 
  20. "Free Ed - Just let Ed Kramer go". National Center for Reason and Justice. 2007. Retrieved August 28, 2013. 
  21. Boone, Christine (2010-09-04). "Molestation charges linger against Dragon Con founder". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 
  22. http://www.11alive.com/news/article/314570/40/Dragon-Con-co-founder-trial-set-to-begin
  23. http://www.11alive.com/news/article/314570/40/Dragon-Con-co-founder-trial-set-to-begin

External links

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