The 34th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as MidAmeriCon (abbreviated "MAC"), was held on 2–6 September 1976 at the Radisson Muehlebach Hotel and nearby Phillips House hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. The convention committee was chaired by Ken Keller, who had also chaired the "KC in '76" bid. Participants Attendance was 3,014, out of 4,200 paid memberships. Guests of Honor The Professional Guest of Honor at the convention was former Kansas Citian Robert A. Heinlein. He did not prepare a formal guest of honor speech, as such, but gave a generally well received one, immediately following the convention's Hugo Awards ceremony at the nearby Art Deco-inspired Music Hall section of the Kansas City Municipal Auditorium. Heinlein came with an alarm clock and put it on his center stage podium and spoke casually until his own preset time period ended with the alarm going off. Heinlein was previously the Guest of Honor at the 3rd Worldcon (1941) and the 19th Worldcon (1961). He remains the only science fiction writer honored three times by the annual World Science Fiction Convention. Heinlein attended many MidAmeriCon events, including a blood donation drive and later donor reception held at the nearby Hotel Continental, one of the Worldcon's overflow hotels. Being someone with a very rare blood type, Heinlein had organized the blood drive and reception to honor those anonymous donors who had donated blood, saving lives during surgeries, including his own earlier in the decade. Longtime fan artist George Barr was the convention's Fan Guest of Honor. He created MidAmeriCon's official black-and-white logo artwork and painted the full-color, wrap-around dust jacket artwork used on the convention's 8.5″ × 11″ hardcover program book. Barr's hardcover art book, Upon the Winds of Yesterday from Donald F. Grant, Publisher, also made its debut at MidAmeriCon. It collects many examples of Barr's color and black-and-white fantasy and science fiction illustration. Well known, long time fan and fan writer and professional science fiction and mystery writer Wilson Tucker (aka Bob Tucker) served as the convention's Toastmaster. Programming and events The Star Wars display Listed in the MidAmeriCon pocket program was "The Star Wars Display" in Muehlebach Towers meeting room 364 (aka The Chapel). Charles Lippincott, Star Wars Corporation's vice-president of advertising, publicity, promotion, and merchandising, producer Gary Kurtz, and actor Mark Hamill were on hand promoting the upcoming George Lucas film, that would be released 9