Having never been to a Discworld Con before, I'm reading through the traditions page on the website to familiarise myself with some of what to expect.
This entry is lovely:
Silas T Firefly
Sir Terry Pratchett was always happy to engage with his fans and attended the DWCons when he could, usually as Guest of Honour. Before becoming a famous author, Terry was a fan himself and understood how Conventions worked from both perspectives.
This led to him fostering a good relationship with his fans and when he could, he would sit with folks in the bar, or other communal spaces of the hotel and chat casually with anyone and everyone. There was respect on both sides, but (whisper it not!) even famous authors get tired and need personal space.
When Terry felt the need to be left alone, he would subtly indicate this by switching his badge to one that read Silas T Firefly. It was made common knowledge that if you were to meet someone around the hotel who had this badge that it might look like Terry Pratchett, but this was a completely different person. A very private individual who just wished a little peace…
The name may be a reference to the Groucho Marx character Rufus T. Firefly in the 1933 movie Duck Soup.
In memorandum, one Convention membership and badge is left free each year under this name.
#GNUTerryPratchett #DWCon26
