Orange Mike

Michael James Lowrey is a member of science fiction fandom from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, known to fannish and other circles as Orange Mike for his habit of wearing orange clothing on days which are not St. Patrick's Day. At science fiction conventions and on other occasions (union bargaining sessions and conventions, testimony at legislative hearings, political conventions, and others) this goes as far as head-to-toe orange clothing (he once confessed to a reporter that he owned more than 60 pairs of orange underwear).[https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/orangemike Snyder, Molly. "Orange Mike: one bright guy" OnMilwaukee.com; June 4, 2014 
== Fannish background ==
A native of rural West Tennessee, he first encountered science fiction fandom (and the Society for Creative Anachronism) at the University of Chicago in 1971. After returning to Tennessee, Lowrey joined the N3F (serving one term on its executive board) and in 1975 joined the Nashville science fiction club (then led by Ken Moore) and again became active in the SCA. He attended his first SF convention (a Midwestcon) in 1975, and his first Worldcon (MidAmeriCon) in 1976. During this period, he attended a number of midwestern conventions such as Rivercon and Chambanacon, and often ran into an Iowa fan called Cicatrice du Veritas.
=== Chattacon ===
In 1976, Lowrey was membership number three at the first Chattacon, which drew 81 members. He is now the only person left who has attended every single Chattacon, a fact which occasionally draws attention in press coverage of the convention.
== Milwaukee ==
In 1977, Lowrey moved to Milwaukee, and connected with local fandom and the local SCA. He served on the convention committee for X-Con, and continued to attend conventions, where he continued to encounter Cicatrice. In 1979, she moved to Milwaukee, and in 1981 they were married at X-Con 5. (He and Cicatrice were briefly interviewed on the BBC World Service programme Outlook; the broadcast may be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p017cq6l with them nearer the end than the beginning, discussing their wedding at a con.) They remained active in local fandom, and the SCA (both receiving Awards of Arms from the local SCA kingdom to acknowledge their volunteer work). A long-time wargamer, he encountered Dungeons and Dragons about this time, and attended his first Gen Con in 1980. In 1984, Lowrey had a casual discussion with Gary Gygax at the bookstore where he (Lowrey) had been working since 1978, and Gygax encouraged him to submit an article to Dragon magazine. They bought the article; it was his first commercial sale. He has continued to work sporadically as a freelance writer of non-fiction (particularly book reviews) ever since.
He and Cicatrice both joined MilwApa when it was formed in 1984, although his participation has been more sporadic. He has also been a member (briefly) of FAPA and the Turbo-Charged Party Animal APA. During this period, he was recruited into the Great Dark Horde of the SCA. In 1995, he and Cicatrice were blessed with their one and only fanspring, Kelly J.A. "Ink" Lowrey.
In 2000, he was Fan Guest of Honor at ICON 25.
He published two issues of his own fanzine, Vojo de Vivo, in 2000 and 2001. He appeared in the 2004 feature-length documentary film Finding the Future: A Science Fiction Conversation, and their child Kelly appears in the "Bonus" section of the DVD thereof. 
He began to edit Wikipedia in 2004 after a panel discussion at Wiscon; his first six edits were about science fiction fandom and science fiction fanzines. He is one of the 600 most active editors in the English-language Wikipedia, and is now an admin there. (He also edits Fancyclopedia and Fanlore, and wrote the first version of this article.) 
=== Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund ===
In 2003, Lowrey made an unsuccessful bid to be a delegate for the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund (TAFF). He again ran unsuccessfully for TAFF in 2018. In 2019, he was elected the 2020 North America-Europe delegate for the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund, and was preparing for a Spring 2020 visit scheduled to include Sweden (the Swecon), Finland, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom (Eastercon). Due to the COVID pandemic, that trip has been postponed for some time; but he currently plans to attend the 2022 Eurocon in Luxembourgh, and the 2022 Eastercon in southern Britain.Glyer, Mike. "Eastercon 2022 Announced" File 770 April 4, 2021. At this point, barring horrific news, I will be taking my 2020 TAFF delegate trip to Luxcon/Eurocon the weekend before this and then coming on to Reclamation, with further voyaging on whichever side of the twin weekend has more to offer in the way of hosts and invites. Comment dated 9-15-2021
== References ==
== External links ==
*IMDb listing
Category:Convention Organizers
Category:Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund
Category:Fanwriters