Oldest science fiction book store burns in Minneapolis uprising, fandom feels the heat
by Patch O'Furr
Dr. Peter Venkman : This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.
Mayor : What do you mean, “biblical”?
Dr. Raymond Stantz : What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff.
Dr. Peter Venkman : Exactly.
Dr. Raymond Stantz : Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!
Dr. Egon Spengler : Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes…
Winston Zeddemore : The dead rising from the grave!
Dr. Peter Venkman : Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!
Mayor : All right, all right! I get the point!
– Ghostbusters (1984)
Can you feel it? The Covid-19 pandemic makes it dangerous to give hugs (the furry handshake.) A new Great Depression might be on the way with millions unemployed. People are rising for justice while cities burn.
Uncle Hugo’s burned. It was a book store in Minneapolis, the oldest independent science fiction book store in the USA. One of the furry fandom’s original members worked there since it opened in 1974. Ken Fletcher was co-founder of Vootie, the voice of “The Funny Animal Liberation Front”, which helped to launch the furry fandom. He’s out of work for now (and might do a Q&A with me soon).
Directly south of the store, nine blocks down Chicago Street, was where the fire got a reason to start. On the corner at East 38th, Officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd. Viral video of the incident showed bystanders begging for help while other police stood in the way. It spurred national outrage against a white-on-black power flex. Soon, nothing could hold back the wrath of half a city rising against injustice, and burning a police station and more.
Oldest Independent Science Fiction Bookstore in the US Burned Down in Minneapolis Riots https://t.co/b2p8CCanBY
— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) June 9, 2020