Speaker 1: On Friday twenty first of August twenty twenty six, it
Speaker 1: will be time to step out of the fiction once
Speaker 1: again and onto the very real streets of Binghamton, New
Speaker 1: York for Sailing First twenty twenty six. But this year
Speaker 1: it's not just Sailing Fest. It's sailing Fest X, a
Speaker 1: special celebration marking a whole decade since fans started gathering
Speaker 1: to honor the life and legacy of Rod Sailing. There
Speaker 1: is something very special about walking the very streets that
Speaker 1: Rod's Sailing strolled through, riding the carousel in Recreation Park,
Speaker 1: and standing shoulder to shoulder with other Twilight Zone and
Speaker 1: Sailing devotees beneath the shadow of his statue, a monument
Speaker 1: made possible in part by the generous donations of fans
Speaker 1: just like us. It's as if for a weekend, every
Speaker 1: one of us finds our tribe. Now, every year that
Speaker 1: Sailing Fest rolls around, it grows more fans, bigger names,
Speaker 1: more writers and filmmakers paying homage to the man who
Speaker 1: invited us to step into the fifth dimension, and true
Speaker 1: to form, this year is no exception. So who is
Speaker 1: said to appear at sailing Fest X in August let's
Speaker 1: check out some of that guest list. First and foremost,
Speaker 1: we have members of the Sailing family themselves, Rod's daughter
Speaker 1: and Sailing, author of the beautiful memoir As I Knew Him,
Speaker 1: my dad, Rod Sailing. Now, I've had the privilege of
Speaker 1: sharing some genuinely warm conversations with Anne over the years,
Speaker 1: and also this year. We have Rod's daughter Jodi, who
Speaker 1: I finally met at Sailing Fest in twenty twenty four,
Speaker 1: and I have enjoyed some lovely interactions with her since. Now,
Speaker 1: if you're familiar with the tale of the Odyssey of
Speaker 1: Flight thirty three, then you'll know that Rodd's brother, Robert
Speaker 1: Sailing had a hand in crafting that episode. A very
Speaker 1: successful man in his own right, and he had a
Speaker 1: great career as an airline pilot. Now Robertson Jeff Sailing
Speaker 1: now plays a big part in organizing Sailing Fest as well,
Speaker 1: and he'll be there too. Now, there are too many
Speaker 1: to mention in this podcast alone, but I will just
Speaker 1: mention some of the people who I'm excited to meet.
Speaker 1: Chris Alexander, filmmaker and former editor of Fangoria magazine, a
Speaker 1: huge Twilight Zone fan, and if you're a horror fan,
Speaker 1: definitely someone who you want to shake hands with. Frank Spotnitz,
Speaker 1: writer of countless X Files episodes and much more. He's
Speaker 1: going to be there as well. Television writer Joseph Dougherty,
Speaker 1: who joined me on the show to discuss his book
Speaker 1: Rod Sailing at one hundred and he was a fantast
Speaker 1: pastic guest and I've really wanted to meet him in
Speaker 1: person ever since. But not only are they going to
Speaker 1: be people who write about the Twilight Zone there, there
Speaker 1: are going to be actors from the twilight Zone. Twilight
Speaker 1: Zone star Mary Badam, known for hair role as Sport
Speaker 1: in The Bewitching Pool, but she's going to be there
Speaker 1: live and in person. So if you've never met a
Speaker 1: Twilight Zone actor, now's your chance. And virtually and exclusively
Speaker 1: for the event. I don't believe this is going to
Speaker 1: be online is Twilight Zone Royalty Bill Murmy, and he's
Speaker 1: going to be there for a live virtual interview for
Speaker 1: people who are there at sailing Fest. Now, these are
Speaker 1: just a handful of the guests. There are more, and
Speaker 1: if you go over to rodsailing dot com you can
Speaker 1: browse the full line up see who else is joining
Speaker 1: the festivities and buy your tickets to s Sailing Fest X.
Speaker 1: Those are only a few of the names. And if
Speaker 1: you caught my coverage of Sailing Fest in twenty twenty
Speaker 1: four when I last attended, then you'll know that things
Speaker 1: didn't quite go as planned for me, and I left
Speaker 1: with a sense of unfinished business. So this year, I'm
Speaker 1: determined to settle that score, and I will be crossing
Speaker 1: the pond to be at Sailing Fest twenty twenty six. Now,
Speaker 1: just as I said last time, I will say it again. Now,
Speaker 1: if you listen to this show and you're going to
Speaker 1: be at Sailing Fest, then I want to meet you.
Speaker 1: Even though I wasn't at my best at the previous
Speaker 1: Sailing Fest, not have made me happier than someone stopping
Speaker 1: me for a chat about the Twilight Zone, rod sailing
Speaker 1: or what the podcast means to them. You know, I
Speaker 1: treasured every single one of those interactions and I absolutely
Speaker 1: cannot wait to see you there. Now. I've always said
Speaker 1: what happens on stage, what happens at the fest itself
Speaker 1: is great, but what really elevates the magic is just
Speaker 1: meeting other Twilight Turned fans, meeting other road sailing fans
Speaker 1: and those interactions that you have outside the event. And
Speaker 1: I always try and be a bit of a beacon
Speaker 1: really that if you are there on your own or
Speaker 1: you only know a couple of people, and I usually
Speaker 1: have a telegram group where people can catch up or
Speaker 1: say we're going to this place, We're going to eat
Speaker 1: over here, we're going to have a drink over there,
Speaker 1: and everybody is invited, nobody is excluded, and even if
Speaker 1: you do go alone, you have got friends there. You've
Speaker 1: got a friend not only in me, but all of
Speaker 1: the other people who I know at sailing Fest. It
Speaker 1: is one of the things that all of us love,
Speaker 1: just meeting new friends, and it really is a special
Speaker 1: part of the event. So please head over to rodsailing
Speaker 1: dot com and get your tickets for sailing Fest X. Now,
Speaker 1: when I have been before, I have been very lucky
Speaker 1: in that listeners to the show have pledged a couple
Speaker 1: of books to you know, help with the cost of
Speaker 1: that trip, because I do like to put on a
Speaker 1: good show, do some great coverage, and bring Sailing Fest
Speaker 1: to the people who may not necessarily be able to
Speaker 1: make it. So you know, I won't be labeled this
Speaker 1: too much. But August when it takes place. It is
Speaker 1: the most expensive time of year to be coming across
Speaker 1: the pond in terms of flight and accommodation and so on.
Speaker 1: So if anyone can throw a couple of books in
Speaker 1: the pot to kind of help with those costs, I
Speaker 1: would really appreciate it. But you know, I know, times
Speaker 1: are hard, prices are sky high, and if you can't
Speaker 1: then that's no problem. Just enjoy the coverage because one
Speaker 1: way or another it will be there. But if you
Speaker 1: are able to help, then you can do it in
Speaker 1: a couple of ways. If you go to the twilight
Speaker 1: Zone podcast dot com slash donate, you have two options.
Speaker 1: You can sign up to the after Hours Club on Patreon,
Speaker 1: where you get access to a whole library of podcasts
Speaker 1: about things like Night Gallery, The Outer Limits, the Eighties,
Speaker 1: Twilight Zone, and much more. Or if you prefer to
Speaker 1: just make a one off donation, there is a link
Speaker 1: to another site on that page called Coffee. If you
Speaker 1: click on that one, then you can just make a
Speaker 1: one off donation of you know, five ten. However many
Speaker 1: books you want to make. People have been incredibly generous
Speaker 1: in the past. I really don't take it for granted.
Speaker 1: Anything that can come my way is much appreciated, and
Speaker 1: in the past when people have made one off donations
Speaker 1: like this, then I usually try and thank them in
Speaker 1: some way with either a voice message I've done video
Speaker 1: messages before, or you know, whatever it might be. This time,
Speaker 1: I've tried to formalize it a little bit more so
Speaker 1: that you know, you kind of know what kind of
Speaker 1: thank you you're gonna get. But that's all I'll say.
Speaker 1: So if you go over to the twilight Zone podcast
Speaker 1: dot com slash donate and choose either of those options,
Speaker 1: it would be much appreciated. And in that vein, I
Speaker 1: need to thank two people who have already contributed to
Speaker 1: my sailing fest this year. We have Josh in Rhode Island,
Speaker 1: a super generous guy who has got me up and
Speaker 1: running on my sailing fest costs this year. So thank you, Josh,
Speaker 1: I really appreciate it. And also we have Johnny Green
Speaker 1: who has also given some support. So thank you, Johnny.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening, and thank you for your donation. Okay,
Speaker 1: so I know people are waiting for the Twilight Zone
Speaker 1: podcast proper to come back, and believe me, I am
Speaker 1: waiting for that too. I think I got myself in
Speaker 1: a kind of similar situation to when I took a
Speaker 1: bit of a break and I was coming back to
Speaker 1: the Nightmare of twenty thousand Feet episode, which turned out
Speaker 1: to be a bit of a monster no pun intended.
Speaker 1: And this time the episode that I'm coming back to
Speaker 1: as well has a big story behind it too, So
Speaker 1: I really need to kind of take the ball by
Speaker 1: the horns and get this one done so we can
Speaker 1: get back to a regular episode. But in the meantime,
Speaker 1: there will be some special episodes. Before that, There'll be
Speaker 1: a couple of episodes about the comic book, which seems
Speaker 1: to be running and running at the moment, but also
Speaker 1: a very special one where I hand over the mic
Speaker 1: to a friend of the show who reports live from
Speaker 1: a very special rod Sailing event. But that's all I'll
Speaker 1: say about that, So stick with me. Good things are
Speaker 1: coming soon, and I appreciate all your support, and go
Speaker 1: to rodsailing dot com for your sailing fest tickets so
Speaker 1: I can meet you in Binghamton this August. By for now,