Uncle Kage

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Uncle Kage
Unclekage.jpg
Real name Samuel Conway
Other names Kagemushi Goro, Kagemushi, Uncle Kage, Kage (IPA: [kɑ ˈgɛ])
Born June 4,[1] 1965
Profession or hobby Fandom organizer, fursuiter, chemist, storyteller, auctioneer
Character species Cockroach
Website
Uncle Kage at Anthrocon 2008
2, the Ranting Gryphon (left) and Uncle Kage at Furry Weekend Atlanta 2007
Uncle Kage auctioning off the "last brick" of the Adam's Mark Hotel
Uncle Kage wearing the Chester Ringtail fursuit at Further Confusion 2002

Uncle Kage is a fandom organizer, chemist, storyteller, and auctioneer who lives in the United States.

Biography[edit]

Dr. Samuel Conway holds a doctorate in chemistry from Dartmouth College and is a professional research scientist.

Fandom involvement[edit]

Uncle Kage is the Chairman of Anthrocon, and regularly attends many other furry conventions. He has been a guest of honor at numerous venues, both in and out of the furry world, including Albany Anthrocon, Feral!, ConClave, Duckon, Eurofurence, I-CON, MiDFur, ConFuzzled, Furlaxation, Philippine Anthro Festival, Fur Reality, and Arizona Fur Con. He was introduced to the furry fandom by furry artist Jim Groat at Noreascon in 1989.

He became a regular of FurryMUCK in 1991 and still spends time there in the evenings.[2]

His name is an abbreviation of Kagemushi Goro, or the Samurai Cockroach, his selected fursona (kage mushi is Japanese for shadow bug; this is, in turn, a pun on the Japanese term kagemusha).[3] In 2001, Uncle Kage went incognito to Mephit Furmeet 5 as "The Unknown Furry", wearing a cheaply-designed fursuit, including a mask made from a paper bag.

Chairman[edit]

Uncle Kage has been the chairman of Anthrocon since 1999, after his invitation as a guest of honor in 1998.[4] Under his leadership, Anthrocon was incorporated and moved from Albany, New York to Philadelphia, where the convention tripled its attendance in 7 years.

Kage remains the public liaison for Anthrocon, handling such things as public relations, hotel contracts finances, and even damage control, as well as numerous other activities before, during, and after the convention.

As the chairman of Anthrocon, Uncle Kage has a distinct hatred of Target since they purchased and closed the Adam's Mark Hotel in Philadelphia in late 2004, forcing Anthrocon's move to Pittsburgh in 2006 and making him find a backup hotel for 2005. This hatred was demonstrated at Megaplex 5 when, visiting 2, The Ranting Gryphon, in the Dealer's Den, he received a package of sandwich crackers; upon hearing they were Target brand, he pulverized the crackers within with repeated karate chops in an uncharacteristic show of rage.

Uncle Kage [5] stated on his LiveJournal:

   
Uncle Kage
I cannot help but be irked at the way some of these ideas are presented, especially when they are offered by people who have (a) never seen the hotel and (b) never run a convention, who scoff and say, "I see no reason why we can't...." I call these people "armchair conchairs."

They are experts in running a convention, even though they've never done it, and they know every inch of the hotel even though they've never been there, and in some cases, have never even looked at the hotel's floorplans. They are the first ones to run to the newsgroups and proclaim, "It would have been better if only they had done it my way!".

   
Uncle Kage

Storyteller[edit]

Uncle Kage is well known for his storytelling, always told with a glass of wine in hand, often based on everyday experiences - Uncle Kage's Story Hour is a popular addition to the schedule whenever he is present at an event. The Story Hour often involves a few humorous anecdotes from his own experiences. His stage name was the result of his first storytelling experience at ConFurence in 1994, and is a derivative of his fandom name Kagemushi Goro.

He is regularly invited to tell his stories as a guest of honor at other conventions, both within and without the furry fandom, including I-CON,[6][7] Eurofurence,[8][9] ConClave,[10] and Camp Feral!. Gross sales from recordings of his Story Hours were over US$2600 in 2004; no profit was realized, as the intention was to increase membership and awareness of Anthrocon.[11][12]

He has also published several short stories under the proper name of Dr. Samuel Conway. Most of these were in titles printed by Sofawolf Press, although his best-known work, Tweaked in the Head, can be found in the anthology Flights of Fantasy, edited by artist Mercedes Lackey (Daw Books, 1999).

Auctioneer[edit]

Uncle Kage also manages to make charity auctions fun, to the detriment of the wallets of many con-goers. Sometimes co-auctioneering with 2, the Ranting Gryphon, Uncle Kage is very rarely seen auctioneering without his trademark glass of wine, although he has been known to exchange it for water (or Japanese sake) on occasion. He also is known to express displeasure at people who bid in multiples less than five.

One of his most famous auctions was the sale of the "last brick" from the recently demolished Adam's Mark Hotel in 2006.[13]

Fursuit[edit]

Even lesser known to the fandom is the fact that Uncle Kage used to wear the fursuit of artist Terrie Smith 's character Chester Ringtail (Chester Magreer) incognito in early 2000, which he admitted around 2009-2010 on a few occasions, in particular, at MFF 2010.

Convention attendance[edit]

(*) Chairman
(**) Fursuiter

References[edit]

  1. Uncle Kage's profile on X. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  2. 'Tis The Voice Of The Cockroach - interview by Phil Geusz. Retrieved ?.
  3. Uncle Kage: Why A Cockroach?. Retrieved?.
  4. Uncle Kage - The Storyteller Retrieved ?.
  5. Armchair Conchairs post on LiveJournal. Retrieved ?.
  6. http://www.iconsf.org/archive/icon22/anthro.htm
  7. http://www.iconsf.org/archive/icon24/anthro_conway.php
  8. Eurofurence 8 home page
  9. Uncle Kage - How was Eurofurence 8?
  10. Duckon Reference for Fan Gallery
  11. Anthrocon, Inc. - IRS Form 990 - Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax
  12. Uncle Kage's videos
  13. Anthrocon 2006 Charity Report. Retrieved ?.

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

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Furry Hall of Fame inductees
Goldfur Chakat and Uncle Kage (2008) · 2, The Ranting Gryphon and Paul Kidd (2009) · Stan Sakai, Big Blue Fox, Jenner and CynWolfe (2010) · Fred Patten (2011)  · Sofawolf Press and Steve Gallacci (2012) · Dark Natasha and Uncle Kage (2013) · Alector Fencer and EZwolf (2014)