Marty Gear Passes:

Marty Gear, 74, (Martin Gear) died in his sleep sometime early on July
18, 2013. Marty's son Danny plans to hold a memorial, however, no other
plans have been made as yet. We will send notice when plans are
finalized. Marty was Balticon 21 Con-Chair in 1987, coming back from the
first of his heart attacks early that year, to lead his Balticon to a
triumph. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient from
CostumeCon in 1991. He managed and served as Master of Ceremony for
almost every Balticon Masquerade since Balticon 15 in 1981. Marty served
as committee on many science fiction and costuming conventions including
WorldCon and CostumeCon and just weeks ago completed service as Hotel
Liaison for Discworld Con. Marty served on the Baltimore Science Fiction
Society Board of Directors as Parliamentarian and continued his long
time role as Jack L. Chalker Young Writers� Contest Coordinator. He also
served as the liaison to the school for the BSFS Books for Kids program
. He had last week announced his intention to leave the BSFS BOD in
September to concentrate on the Balticon Masquerade and Young Writers�
Contest. He was active in the Costumers Guild of America and
particularly the Greater Columbia Chapter of the Guild. In
non-SF-fandom, Marty managed his own company Martin Gear Consulting Ltd.
He will be missed by all of SF fandom.