Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe WESTFORD, Mass., March 24 (UPI) -- J.R.R. Tolkien fans from across the country are gathering in a Massachusetts town for the "3rd Conference on Middle-Earth," decades after the previous event. Organizer Jan Finder, 72, of Albany, N.Y., said the Saturday conference at the Regency Inn and Conference Center in Westford is the first "Conference on Middle-Earth," a reference to the setting of Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" series, since a 1971 gathering at Cleveland State University, The Boston Globe reported Thursday. Advertisement Finder said he organized the first conference in 1969, while he was a graduate student at the University of Illinois. "I just finally said, 'I want to do it, and I don't give a damn if I lose money -- I'll pay for it,'" Finder said. "This is something I've wanted to do for 40 years." The event is planned to include panel discussions, paraphernalia sales and a party.
