Before we end Bouchercon, let's pay tribute to the man for whom the conference is named. We turn to Jeffrey Marks, who has written a biography of Anthony Boucher, for insight into this "tireless force for genre fiction":

Bouchercon, the annual world mystery conference where authors and fans of all types of mystery meet and talk about their favorite books, was named after Boucher, a renaissance man in genre fiction. He mastered the novel, the short story, radio, and genre criticism in not only mystery but science fiction. Boucher suffered from ill health his entire life and passed away at the age of 56 from lung cancer. Following Boucher’s death, the mystery community decided to honor him by starting a conference in his name.

The first Bouchercon hosted 82 mystery fans and writers, including Robert Bloch, best known as the author of the book on which Psycho was based, as guest of honor. Bloch and Boucher had known each other for years through their mutual love of science fiction.

The following year the conference was moved to October to avoid conflicts with the annual Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar dinner, held in late April in New York City. The conference was a success, in that they had enough funds to plan future conferences. Phyllis White, Boucher’s widow, was still given membership number one and she attended each Bouchercon until her death in 2000.