My husband Brian reminded me today, a day when we found it impossible to focus on anything else, that Alaska science fiction writer David Marusek (whom I have mentioned in a recent post, shown at left) wrote a short story about an Alaskan vice president, called “Cabbages and Kale or: How we downsized North America” in his excellent collection GETTING TO KNOW YOU (2007) which will be reissued in paperback on Dec. 30. (Not too early to pre-order a copy!)
The VP has such a love for his Alaska garden that he rarely goes to Washington DC physically, preferring instead to visit by holographic proxy, a habit that leads to trouble when the proxy goes haywire. There ends up being a political vote about a reproductive rights issue — more hints of the real future there, as well.
Brian wonders: will there be yet more realistic parallels, as when Sarah refuses to be in DC during salmon season?
Thanks for this info; heading to the library to get it tomorrow morning! Somehow the SP4VP smacks of SF; there is an unreality about a potential VP saying the office will help her help Alaskans in many ways! Wait a minute, this is VP of the whole USA, isn’t it?
Kay in Anchorage