The History of the DunDraCon Dragon
By Kate Wadey
I first met Clint and Janet Bigglestone, in the mid 1960s, shortly after they were married, as we were participants in the masquerade at the, I think, 1965 Westercon. The friendship grew, and after my husband and I got back from his military tour of duty, we started attending SF conventions again and re-connected with a lot of our LASFS and Renaissance Pleasure Faire friends. Janet was playing Lettice Knowles, the queen's cousin, at both California Renaissance Pleasure Faires, and Clint would often have to come down to the LA area on business, during which times we would host them at our place.
Early in 1978, Clint flew down on business, and after getting back to the house from LAX, we were standing around in the kitchen talking and drinking sodas, and generally recovering from the flight and the traffic. As I recall, Clint said that he and a few friends, Steve Perrin, Jerry Jacks, and Adrienne Martine, were going to start a convention up in the Bay Area that would be geared toward Dungeons & Dragons, other games, SF, a bit of costuming, and a lot of fun. From there on the conversation went something like this:
Clint: We want/need a logo. Would you be interested in designing one for us, and what would it cost?
Me: Yes, and I dunno. What do you want, how do you want to use it, and how many colors?
Clint: Well, a dragon because it's Dungeons & Dragons; a spaceship of some kind, for the SF; a shield for the SCA and costuming; and whatever else works, stars or planets, maybe. Black and white. It will go on letterheads, envelopes and publications.
Me: Ok-a-a-y. How soon do you need it?
I do not recall what Clint said about time constraints, or what we decided about the final design fee. I do know that the second design I sent up to him in 1978 was approved, and the one in use today, soon to become better known as "Ol' Sparky."
We held a contest in the lead-up to DDC 33 to name our Dragon, who had been nameless until then. The contest generated almost 100 entries.
The winner was Sparkithrax Dundraconus (AKA Ol' Sparky), submitted by Simon Kiefer