W. Randy Hoffman IF HoF

W. Randy Hoffman, a lifelong resident of Southwestern Pennsylvania until his relocation to Maryland in 2013, attended his first con and his first open filk at Marcon in Columbus in 1989. While there he wrote his first filk song (which, fortunately for humanity, has been lost to history) for which he was accompanied on guitar by a red-haired gentleman whom he never saw again.

After that he remained active in fandom, but didn't return to filk until he listened to a basement tape produced by his college buddies Rand Bellavia and Adam English and said, "Boy, these guys need an appreciative audience, and I know where they can find one!" He accompanied said buddies to several open filks and filk concerts over the following two years and finally decided he liked the scene himself. (Rand and Adam went on to form the nucleus of the renowned filk band Ookla the Mok.)

Since 1989 he's written dozens of poems and over 150 filk songs; some of them serious, more of them funny. A lot of these are available on his four solo albums and on the album that he recorded with his late singing compatriot Kira as the duo "Partners in K'RHyme".

He's won songwriting contests at numerous Eastern and Midwestern conventions and has placed in the top three in such contests more often than almost any other filk songwriter over the past twenty years. Partners in K'RHyme were Interfilk Guests at Consonance and Toastmasters at Concertino and were slated to be Toastmasters at OVFF in 2017 before Kira's untimely passing; Randy carried on alone with that duty.

His contribution to the filk community of which he is most proud, however, is probably his organization and presentation of the filk programming at Confluence in Pittsburgh since 1995, including full-weekend tracks since 2002.

Representative Work for the 2019 Pegasus Awards

The Rocket "Science" (mp3)

Copyright ©2003 by W. Randy Hoffman- All rights Reserved
written for the "Rocket Science" songwriting contest at Concertino 2003
Used by Permission

Goddard started sending up rockets; they symbolized our mounting hope
That human technology could haul up society to greatness like a sturdy rope
But men are still men, and men hate and kill, and V2s soon fell like black rain
Why can't the future we're making be like what we see for a dime on the screen?

Give me a rocket named "Science," and "Progress" and "Justice" as well
And "Stalwart" and "Dauntless" and "Freedom," and a silent-E "Liberty Belle"
Give me the rocketmen in leather jodhpurs, the cold of Mars frosting their breath
Who sword-fight the bad guys and save the space princesses from those fates much worse than death
All hail the captains who sail the galaxy, aviator goggles worn high
Their science and ideals rising like rocket trails into the dark airless sky

The nations started sending up rockets; they symbolized our mounting pride
That our form of government was best of all governments would be known the star system wide
But men died on the pad or in transit; two dozen walked the moon—that was all
Why can't the future we're making be like in the flickering box 'gainst the wall?

Give me a starship named "Science," "Intrepid," and "Jupiter 2"
And "Enterprise" and "Yamato," and a time-spanning call box or loo
Give me the starship crews in colored sweaters or an eye-catching, thigh-baring dress
Who stun-blast the bad guys and woo the space princesses and whatever else might say "yes"
Salute the brave engineers who save the galaxy with new inventions each week
Their science and ideals boldly outgoing, new civilizations to seek

Today we're still sending up rockets; they symbolize much for our race
While they still carry men to our outposts (again), we still have manned missions in space
But it's cheaper for rockets to carry machines, or warheads in a fatal flight
Why can't the future we're making be like what we dream in our dreams every night?

Give me a station named "Science," and "Janus" and "Babylon 5"
"Downbelow" and "Deep Space 9", "Sector General" to keep us alive
Give me the stationers of every stripe and species in books, films, and shows
Who reform the bad guys and sock the space princesses right in their prosthetic nose
Skoal to the smart stationmasters who chart the galaxy's political way
Their science and ideals a standing place in a universe changing each day

So give me a science named "rocket," and "physics" and "astronomy"
And "orbital mechanics" and—what the hey—"nanotechnology"
Give me ideals like a cosmos of life to cherish the individual spark
Full of things that will laugh at my lousiest jokes and spit in the eye of the dark
Give me a starfleet that's faster than light so we can start out after we arrive
And give me SF to feed my fat head and be rocket fuel for my drive

the end