The Phil Dick newsgroups have very little traffic, and usually even less content. Traffic on the PKD list was also somewhat less than exciting. Now it appears to have died. Eric A. Johnson maintained the list for several years. Then yr pal cal took the lead. The FAQ is given for historical purposes. There was a time when you would get this FAQ about once a month. Now wait for last year.
Out of the ashes, www.yahoo.com offers two groups on PKD: philipkdick and the phildickian. The philipkdick group seems to be a platform for Dana Beal. Neither have much traffic. Join if you feed the need to belong.
Welcome to the PKD List. This online list is devoted to the discussion of the creative works and life of Philip Kindred Dick. In addition to sharing thoughts on this central topic, the list welcomes other messages on things phildickian. Some examples of this might include: PKD sightings (in the media, in other books, in song lyrics, or on tortillas); writers and writings influenced by PKD; information on where to buy first editions and other hard-to-find books by or about PKD; and news items with a phildickian flavor ("Scientists Admit: Reality Not All It's Cracked Up To Be").
This list is automated and run by Majordomo. While the list owner may be subscribed to the list, posting unsubscribe requests to the list will be ineffective. It just doesn't work that way. To unsubscribe, send a message to pkd-request@jazzflavor.com and and simply type the word 'unsubscribe' in the body of the message. It's that simple.
If you are having problems with the list itself, the list software, or other list members, please contact the list owner at owner-pkd@jazzflavor.com.
No, the PKD List is not moderated. As long as all the members behave responsibly and the list stays SPAM, flame, and mostly problem free, it will continue this way. However, due to several past disturbances, the PKD List now has a ZERO TOLERANCE policy towards flaming.
'Flaming' is defined as the repeated posting of email messages that are insulting or derogatory toward an individual member (or members) of the list. Those who are deemed by the list owner to be 'flamers' will be asked to stop. If they continue to flame, they will be asked to leave the list. If they don't leave and don't stop their flaming, they will be removed from the list. And if they come back under another name... well, we can't speak of such things. Let's just say something very bad will happen to them.
Like this: "John, all of us noticed lately you seem to be having some trouble with reality. We all put our heads together and we came with this incredible idea: a vacation on Mars!"
Seriously: To subscribe to the PKD List, send a message to pkd-request@jazzflavor.com , In the body of the message, just type the word 'subscribe.' You will then be asked by Majordomo to confirm your request: this annoyance is made necessary by the fine people who brought you unsolicited commercial email. Respond to the verification message as instructed and you will be added to the list and be able to post messages. It's that complicated.
The list's email address is pkd@jazzflavor.com -- just send mail to that address and it will post to the list. Rumors that Phil Dick himself actually posts the messages are unconfirmed. Other rumors that Mr. Dick works at Jazz Flavored Coffee are difficult to confirm due to the policy of rampant hyperbole practiced by the staff.
That's hard to say. The list probably averages about ten messages a day. However, it does tend to be somewhat manic depressive. There can be days without a single message followed by a week of frantic activity with over 20 or 30 messages a day. Possible film versions of PKD novels seem to generate the greatest amount of mail, as do sightings of Phil's visage on flour tortillas in Escondido, New Mexico. So make sure to check your email account regularly.
This list is new, so there is no archive (yet). Posts will be archived, but since there are no posts (yet), there are no archives (yet).
The "old" PKD List had archives. (In fact it has two of them, thanks to the efforts of Jamie Rowse, Joe Morris, and Tony Pfarrer.) They may or may not still be accessible. If you are interested in checking out previous discussions on the old PKD List, visit the following site:
http://www.mindspring.com/~jolomo
The Mother of All PKD List Archives is currently under construction (covering messages from the earlier WANG and DRACO PKD Lists) and can be found at the following address:
http://jrowse.mtx.net/pkd/archives.html
New subscribers please note that some of the older subscribers have been on the various PKD lists for as long as six years and have already had their fill of certain topics. So, if you ever wonder why there is little or no response to a your post about whether Deckard is or is not a Replicant, this might be an explanation. (This might also explain your torched front lawn and why someone has carved the word HUMAN on your front door.) Please browse the archives to see what has been talked about in the past. Please.
The unofficial web site of the PKD List is run by Jamie Rowse in Australia. This site has a lot of excellent information about PKD and contains links to most of the other PKD resources available on the Web. Make sure you bookmark the following URL:
http://jrowse.mtx.net/pkd/pkd.html
The PKD List is run by Jazz Flavored Coffee. A few words from the sponsor:
The official policy of Jazz Flavored Coffee is to respond to such questions with a wildly inaccurate number so as to put off any further inquiries of this nature.
Over three hundred thousand people are subscribed to the PKD list. Please be aware that while English is the language of discussion on this particular list, it may or may not be the first language of many of your fellow subscribers.
There may be. OneList ( www.onelist.com ) has at least two lists registered on their site. One is in French, so unless you parlez Francais pretty bon you won't be interested. The other is in English (which, we would like to point out to all the French, was the language of Jerry Lewis).
As to what happened to some of the old PKD lists, it is quitean interesting tale. The WANG PKD List became the DRACO PKD List. The DRACO PKD List then disappeared. It was eventually replaced by the BEST PKD List, which also absorbed the PKD TALK List and the LO-FI PKD List. Someone finally put a stop to the mad feeding frenzy of the BEST PKD list; that someone was Sir Eric, a gallant Knight of the Wire [KoW] and defender of the PKD Immortal Flame of No Flaming. The battle was fierce, and Sir Eric retired due to exhaustion.
The best and most up-to-date PKD bibliography is called _Philip K. Dick : Metaphysical Conjurer_. This must-have book was compiled by Phil Stephen-Payne ( 73212.16@compuserve.com ) and the late Gordon Benson, Jr. It is available in the US for $9 (plus $2 postage) from Chris Drumm Books ( cdrummbks@aol.com ). If you are in Europe, you might want to contact Mr. Stephen-Payne in the UK who sells copies for 6 pounds sterling (plus postage). If you are a collector or otherwise interested in the variety of PKD editions published, this bibliography is a *must* and will answer most of your questions about what appeared where--and when.
Daniel Levack's PKD bibliography is both long out-of-print and out-of-date.
Besides emailing Chris Drumm and asking to be put on the mailing list for his catalog, Willis Howard ( wehoward@alphane.com ) has put together a web site devoted to helping people find PKD's books. Check it out:
http://www.alphane.com/moon/index.html
While many of them are found linked on Willis' pages, you might want to check out what PKD items are currently available from the following stores and publishers:
Mark V. Ziesing Books [_The Dark-Haired Girl_ + new/used PKD]
http://bigchair.com/ziesingCharles F. Miller Books [_In Pursuit of VALIS_ + new/used PKD]
708 Westover Drive, Lancaster, PA 17601, USACambrian Publications [_Gather Yourselves Together_]
http://www.cambrianpubs.com/PKD/PKD.htmlUnderwood Books [_The Selected Letters of PKD_]
PO Box 1609, Grass Valley, CA 95945, USAEdwin Mellen Press [_Search for PKD_ by Anne Dick]
PO Box 450, Lewiston, NY 14092-0450, USA
Help keep the small press and independent booksellers alive by buying directly from the folks listed above. If it weren't for them, many of PKD's works would never have been published and would be even more difficult to find than they are now.
These days, there are also several Internet sites that will allow you to browse the collections of thousands of used book stores at once. A particularly good selection can be found on Bibliofind's site (amazon.com uses them all the time and charges you extra for it):
While there is only one PKD, the old DRACO PKD List compiled a "Buzz List" of other writers and works that should be of interest to most dickheads. You can check out the last version of the PKD Buzz List by visiting the following URL:
http://jrowse.mtx.net/pkd/buzzlist.html
The best place to start would be Lawrence Sutin's biography of PKD called _Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dick_. It was originally published by Harmony Books in New York with an ISBN of 0-517-57204-4. It was reprinted by Citadel in trade paper with an ISBN of 0-806-51228-8. Both editions appear to be out of print but you may be able to find them at your library or at a good used book store.
Yes. There have been at least three PKD zines to date. They include:
1) _The Philip K. Dick Society Newsletter_ which was published from 1983-1992. If you are interested in acquiring any of the 30 back issues, you might want to try contacting the editor, Paul Williams ( paul@cdaddy.com ). You might also want to ask Mr. Williams if he still has any copies of his memoir of PKD, _Only Apparently Real_. The PKD Society is currently dormant.
2) _For Dickheads Only_ which began in 1991 with the goal of devoting one issue to each PKD novel. Issue no. 6 was the last issue published and it appeared in 1996. This project is now on hold because the editor, Dave Hyde, is otherwise occupied. If FDO comes back to life, you can expect to hear about it on the PKD List.
3) _Radio Free PKD_ which is editor Greg Lee's ongoing project. Issue no. 1 appeared in 1993 and issue no. 7 just recently came out in August 1998. You can email the editor for subscription information ( radiofreepkd@mindspring.com ) or check out the following URL:
http://jrowse.mtx.net/pkd/radio/free.html
All three print zines include a vast amount of information about PKD, his life, and his work. They are a good resource for answering many of the more obscure questions asked on the PKD List.
The Blade Runner Bible is Paul M. Sammon's _Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner_ published by HarperCollins. The ISBN is 0-0610-05314-7 and you might want to get your copy now while it is still in print. It will answer every question you ever had about _Blade Runner_ including "Is Deckard a replicant?" You might also want to check out the following _Blade Runner_ resources on the web:
http://www.bit.net.au/~muzzle/bladerunner/
http://www.devo.com/bladerunner/blade_runner.html
You are. If you are on this list. Welcome aboard.
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If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or complaints about the PKD LIST FAQ, please send them to the list owner ( owner-pkd@jazzflavor.com ).