Oh dead, that's depressing (about Polanski, I mean) - especially given the reasons stated in that article.

Someone else you ought to know about for your conference (and possibly already do) is Ika Willis (http://www.bristol.ac.uk/classics/aboutthedepartment/staff/academic/willis.html), who will be coming to speak to the Leeds branch of the Classical Association (http://www.classicsnet.plus.com/LADCA/prog.htm) in May on 'Science Fiction and the Romans'. She is on LJ, but prefers to keep her professional and LJ identities separate.