PHILIP K. DICK FESTIVAL

We are the fans of Philip K. Dick. We've read as many of his novels and stories as we could find, we've read the available biographies and seen the movies based on his work.

We are from many places around the world and we speak many languages, we are of many ages. But whoever we are we believe that Philip K. Dick is one of the greatest writers ever in the English language.

Some of us were there when BLADE RUNNER, the movie, came out in 1982 and we were proud that 'Phil' had made it big at last after a lifetime of struggle. We believe that PKD, as he is known, wrote for us. We lived the lives he portrayed in his novels, he expressed himself as we wished we could. He was a writer of the people. He was one of us.

We're the fans of Philip K. Dick and we're sad that he is dead and only caught a glimpse of the riches his imagination generated. But we're happy because he did make it big - and now we want to celebrate!

I am a particular fan, my name is Dave Hyde and I live in a cabin in the mountains of Colorado (near where the PKD festival will be held). I use the pseudonyms of 'Lord Running Clam' or 'Lord RC' or 'R. Clam' because one of my favorite PKD books is THE CLANS OF THE ALPHANE MOON wherein is found the character of Lord Running Clam (a Ganymedean slime mold - telepathic and overly-friendly).

I joined 'The Philip K. Dick Society' in 1985 after I found the address in the front papers of one of PKD's novels. Once a member of the PKD Society I contributed to the PKDS Newsletter and when Paul Williams closed PKDSN in 1992 after ten years of publication I was shocked by this sudden loss of what I felt was an important link to the PKD fan community. So I decided to publish my own follow-up zine to PKDSN.

The first edition of For Dickheads Only (FDO) I published in 1992. Between 1992 and 1996 (with the help of lots of PKD fans) I published six issues of FDO. During this time I corresponded with PKD fans the world over, sometimes writing 50 or more letters a week (this was before the Internet).

I was aided in this task of keeping the fans together by Greg Lee and his PKD zine Radio Free PKD (RFPKD) which Greg published concurrently with FDO.

In 1999 I constructed a PKD web for the internet. Jason Koornick published this PKD website as a subsidiary to his own website www.philipkdickfans.com My PKD web is still online and although in need of a major update it can be found here: http://philipkdickfans.com/pkdweb . This website contained the last edition of FDO - #7 (2000) which I renamed E Dika for online display.

In 2007 I published my book 'PINK BEAM: A Philip K. Dick Companion' (Lulu Press) which was well received. To preview the book and order a copy, please go to here: http://www.lulu.com/content/549268 . If you click on the 'preview' link you will go to the section of the book on THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE. All proceeds from sales of 'PINK BEAM: A Philip K. Dick Companion' will go to preparing this PKD Festival.

PKD fan Patrick Clark picked up the publishing job after FDO ceased and published PKD OTAKU. With the help of Marc Oberst, Patrick has put out many issues of this fine print and e-zine. In 2010 it is still in publication. I am proud to have contributed to PKD OTAKU. It can be found online here: