are mainstays in the San Francisco Bay Area’s filk community. They are long‑time members of San Jose fandom, filkers, gracious hosts, and purveyors of fine mutant fruit.
Steve and Colleen are famous for the parties they hold at Grand Central Starport, their book‑lined and computer‑filled home. For over twenty years, they’ve had an open gathering of local fans for talk, gaming, food, and filk there every Wednesday night — even when they’re not at home.
In 1989, Steve and Colleen engaged in an action that forever changed the face of filk in the Bay Area. The BayFilk convention had become politically charged because of the Off‑Centaur/Firebird discord, and many filkers were no longer welcome there. Curiously enough, BayFilk didn’t have a con suite. To fix both of these points, Steve and Colleen decided to take a suite for the weekend, stock it with food and drinks, and let it be known that anyone who wanted to filk could do so in their suite. They dubbed it “The Neutral Zone,” and it was packed all weekend. By the end of the weekend, BayFilk was declared dead and Consonance was born. To top it off, Steve and Colleen had the foresight to arrange for recording equipment in the suite. The tape “Filking in the Neutral Zone” is one of the best collections of filk from that region and era.
Steve and Colleen have continued to be active in the filk community. Colleen has run filking at BayCon and Silicon. She has also served as Con Suite Director and Hotel Liaison for Consonance, using her brand of “chocolate diplomacy” to get favours out of the hotel. She has also run filk lounges at several worldcons, and mentored other conrunners.
Steve is a performer and excellent songwriter whose songs include “Rocket Rider’s Prayer”, “Vampire Megabyte”, and the Pegasus‑winning “World Inside The Crystal”. He has just released a CD, “Coffee, Computers, and Song.” He’s also a computer geek par excellence. His web log has detailed how to set up computerized home recording systems and offered advice and assistance to others doing the same.
Steve and Colleen are also the owners of a plant that would be right at home in a production of “Little Shop of Horrors”‑‑ the mutant lemon tree in their backyard. For reasons unknown to science, the tree produces lemons the size of grapefruit. A number of these bizarre fruits have found their way into various Interfilk auctions.
For these contributions to filk music and the filk community, Steve and Colleen Savitzky are inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame this fifth day of April, Two thousand and eight.
Colleen RIP 2021