Needle in a Timestack (Introduction)

This untitled, unsigned introduction is to the short story. Do not merge with similar titles.

Essay starts: "Long, long ago I was at a science-fiction convention in Los Angeles, and was talking with Bill Rotsler, a very good friend of mine, when a young man intruded on our conversation and began bothering us. Bill turned to him and said, 'Go away, kid, or I'll change your future.'"

Essay finishes: [...]"attention of John Ridley, the Oscar-winning writer of 'Twelve Years a Slave.' Ridley snapped it up, wrote a splendid script totally faithful to my story, found financing, and directed the film. Which led, finally, to the present story collection, in which story title and book title come together at last, half a century after Betty Ballantine set it all in motion." [Source: PR# 834559]