Kwintus Kublius

Kwintus Kublius (Kubla Khan 5) was held May 6-8, 1977 at the Quality Inn Parkway in Nashville, TN. (It had originally been scheduled for June 3-5.) The GoH was Harlan Ellison, the Artist GoH was Kelly Freas, and the Fan GoH was Frank Robinson.

Dan Caldwell writes:
The con moved to the downtown Quality Inn, where we had the entire penthouse (rumor had that it had been originally built for Elvis) for a con suite. The con grew again, nearly filling the hotel. Much craziness at the banquet.

One year, Ken Keller was at Kubla promoting his Worldcon in Kansas City, MidAmericon, otherwise known as Big Mac. He heard Ken’s plaintive mutterings about a worldcon in Nashville and at the banquet came out with revelations about the soon-to-be-launched "Nashville Worldcon Bid," complete with cute vote getting slogans like "Nashville is Neat in 100 degree heat." But Ken underestimated Khen's desire for a worldcon right here in Nashville. Khen took the hoax bid to heart and tried to make it real. (Ghod forbid he ever inherits a cornfield.) Khen knew he needed a large hotel and they were just starting work on the Opryland hotel. Somehow Khen got a copy of the floor plans, which showed that a worldcon was indeed possible there. Khen carried these around to various cons for several years trying to generate interest in his plans (both sorts).

"With his blueprints underneath his arm,
"He can smof for hours."

Finally, his efforts died out, only to be replaced by the better organized L&N Nashville bid, originally scheduled for, you guessed it, the Opryland hotel.

Kubla stayed at the Quality Inn until Kubla IX in '80. Attendance peaked at around 550 in the years when the GoH was Harlan Ellison (1977) and Stephen King, just before he became a national celebrity (1980).

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