Acknowledgements
Kevin H. Evans, February 2, 1956 to December 23, 2020
Karen C. Evans, June 27, 1955 to March 30, 2021
It was so long ago that I don’t remember clearly when I first met Kevin and Karen Evans. Karen’s memory was that it was at the 2007 WorldCon, but that was the one held in Yokohama, Japan, and I wasn’t there. Besides, it had to have been earlier than that because the convention in Yokohama was held in the fall of that year and Kevin’s first article in the Grantville Gazette, “Steam: Taming the Demon,” was published in the February 2007 issue of the magazine—which means he must have written it in 2006. I think she was misremembering and we actually met at the WorldCon that year, which was held in Anaheim, California. That was the first WorldCon I ever attended.
Fifteen years ago, in other words, which seems about right. Kevin and Karen go back to the early years of the Ring of Fire series project, which began with the publication of my novel 1632 in February of 2000. Over the years, the two of them—sometimes working together, sometimes writing alone—produced many stories and articles for the magazine, as well as three volumes for Ring of Fire Press: No Ship For Tranquebar, Fire on the Rio Grande and Tales From the Mermaid and Tiger.
Aside from his writing, Kevin and his sometimes-partner-in-fiddling Rick Boatright would build equipment designed to prove to nay-sayers that, “baloney, people in the seventeenth century COULD have built that gadget.” Kevin built two firearms, a slam fire shotgun of his own design and a rifle based on a design by Gorg Huff, both of which could have easily been constructed at the time. Gorg’s rifle was the AK series that figures prominently in the Russia novels of the Ring of Fire series (of which there are two, so far: 1636: The Kremlin Games and 1637: The Volga Rules). The best known rifle of that series is the AK 4.7, named after the seventeenth-century designer (in the novels; he’s not real) and gunsmith Andrei Korisov. After the first novel came out, Kevin built a working model of the AK 4.7, which figures prominently in two battles in the sequel, 1637: The Volga Rules.
Yes, the gun works. So does Kevin’s shotgun. We took them out and tested them on firing ranges.
Kevin’s great love, though, was steam power. He and friends of his built a full-size working steam locomotive. He also built and tested a half-scale model of the steam engine that is used several times in the Ring of Fire series to power dirigibles. And it was he and Rick Boatright who explained to David Carrico and me just how devastating a steam explosion can be, which we used in a critical episode in our novel 1636: The Devil’s Opera.
Kevin was born in Rexburg, Idaho, on February 2, 1956. He joined the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) in 1970, at the age of 14, and was knighted ten years later. That same year, he joined the National Guard Green Berets.
He and Karen met in 1984 and got married in 1987 and moved to Pirmasens, Germany. In 1982, they transferred with their two children to Fort Reilly, Kansas. In 1996, Kevin left the army and they moved to Norman, Oklahoma.
Kevin got a job with the FAA in 1996 and moved to Texas two years later, when he was promoted to Airway Systems Specialist. He and Karen transferred to Rio Rancho, New Mexico, in 2001. That same year, they began attending science fiction conventions.
Karen was born in El Paso, Texas, on June 27th, 1955. She studied at Eastern Washington State College and continued her studies at Southern Utah University, where she graduated with a BA in English and Elementary Education. Karen joined the SCA in 1983 and became Kevin’s Squire in 1984.
She traveled to Recife, Brazil, on her mission as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints later that same year and returned in 1986. She and Kevin began dating when she returned. They married June 5, 1987.
Karen had a love of languages. She understood several ancient Celtic languages and could speak both Portuguese and German fluently. She and Kevin both were part of the chase crew for the Possmann Bembel balloon at the International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico for many years.
Karen was the chocolatier par excellence for the fans of the Ring of Fire series. She gave a memorable talk at one of our conventions on the history of chocolate, which included providing everyone with samples of cocoa and chocolate going back centuries to its Mesoamerican origins.
Kevin and Karen are sorely missed and will be for many years to come.
—Eric Flint
April 16, 2021