Fanstuff 41 It Got Me Thinking About Sam and Then the General Topic of Fuggheads and Fuggheadedness

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In a letter of comment a few issues back, Andy Hooper suggested that an award for “Most Creative Fugghead” should be given in the name of Sam Moskowitz. Andy was trying to drive home a point with amus- ing exaggeration. I read it with the same light spirit in which he wrote it.

Yet Truth often lurks beneath a thin veneer of humor. Andy’s quip raised some intriguing questions. Fanstuff 41 It got me thinking about SaM and then the general topic of fuggheads and fuggheadedness. (I’ll get to Sam Moskowitz later in this issue.) “Fugghead” ranks as the most incendiary fanspeak insult. If you want to make a new enemy in Fandom, smacking them with “fugghead” is a Bill of Fare fine start. It’s a strange word, too. Almost every fan knows what “fugghead” means and most can cite examples of the breed in all its infinite variety. The only hitch is that each Cover Essay fan’s list of fuggheads is a little different from all of the others. Fuggheads: Yet no one has proposed a comprehensive, accurate definition. A Closer Look Lack of an objective standard makes it a highly subjective judgment. Arnie/1 One fan’s “fugghead” is another’s BNF. A fan once described a fugghead as “someone who never has second thoughts.” That’s clever, and true as far as it goes, but it’s incomplete. Who Gets An Exemption? It isn’t that simple. Hasty, visceral responses are more likely to veer Arnie/2

Fen Den Who Gets a Free Pass? SaM & Me: Trufans, in general, aren’t rules-worshipping bureaucrats. In our sub- A Brief Memoir culture, few think in terms of “zero tolerance” and the letter of the law. Arnie/3 We tend to consider extenuating circumstances and prefer to temper the spirit of the rule. Mainstream society’s legal system has gradually moved in that direc- The Origin of ‘Fugghead’: tion. Today, most people distinguish between a criminal murderer and The History of a someone who kills without understanding the nature of the crime due to Fanspeak Word youth or mental impairment. Arnie/4 Fans don’t treat the following types of fans as fuggheads, even when their words and deeds would otherwise earn them that label:

Was Moskowiz a • The Mentally Challenged . Fandom has offered a refuge to a few Fugghead? individuals who were significantly below average in intelligence. Arnie/4 • The Mentally Unbalanced. The truly crazy are treated differently, just as they are in the Mundane World. Names Withheld • Neofans . Newcomers get leniency, but the excuse quickly wears Arnie/5 thin. • The Highly Talented . Many fans will accept a certain amount of boorish fuggheadedness from someone who demonstrates a great The Fanzine Reader’s deal of writing and/or drawing ability in Fandom. Bill of Rights • Drunks . The fannish tradition of over-indulgence in alcohol often David B. Williams/6 earns a well known fan forgiveness for behavior that might be called fuggheaded if done by a sober person. loccer room • Hot Women . Guys are guys, in and out of Fandom. I know quite a YOU & me/12 few who’ll excuse anything from larceny to fuggheadedness if the fan is attractive enough.

Are there other exempt categories? Send your nominations.

2 into fuggheadedness than well-considered responses. Still, quick responses aren’t automati- cally fuggheaded. SaM & Me: A Brief Memoir Fandom’s greatest wits often respond In the name of fair and full disclosure, I’ll write about my relationship with SaM. quickly without being branded as fuggheads. I met Sam at my first con, the one-day 1963 Lunacon. I shuffled up “Lack of second thoughts” speaks more to to him and his be-suited cronies and introduced myself. the likelihood of fuggheadedness, not its na- I’m sure this meeting made a stronger impression on me than it did ture or cause. on him. He retained no conscious memory of that meeting -- or any of our many subsequent contacts over the next seven years. Our fanac was so different. I was a Fanoclast and a fannish fanzine Since I couldn’t compose a dictionary fan. SaM hadn’t paid much attention to fanzines since WW II. When he definition, I turned to other approaches. wrote for Fandom, it appeared in a serious SF fanzine. (You’re invited to send your definitions. SaM and I were on opposite sides of the cultural canyon known as Maybe, working together, we can develop the Generation Gap. He had short hair, wore suits to fan meetings, dis- one.) liked rock music and kept his distance from long-haired rebels like me. I finished graduate school in 1970 and started to hunt for a job. The first thing I realized is that the noun Andy Porter, my roommate at the time, got me an interview for the job (fugghead) and the adjective (fuggheaded) of Editorial Assistant of Quick Frozen Foods . are significantly difference. The Editor of this business press monthly was Sam Martin. And Sam A fuggheaded act is one behavior. And Martin was the non-stf pseudonym of Sam Moskowitz. we’re all imperfect enough to say or do Fortune smiled at me. The interview went very well and I had two plus-factors working for me: something fuggheaded. • Sam liked that I was a fan. He didn’t know that his enemy Ted One flub doesn’t make someone a fugg- White was one of my two main fannish mentors. head. It usually takes chronic fuggheaded • Sam liked that I was a fanzine editor, as he had been before he behavior to get a fan branded a fugghead. turned professional. He probably imagined that my fanzines Theoretically, a fan can earn the fugg- were like Fantasy Commentator or at least Andy Porter’s Algol . So I became Editorial Assistant at QFF . Three months later, after head tag with one spectacular burst of fugg- the previous Editorial Assistant washed out as Assistant Editor, SaM headedness, but it’s extremely rare. It would allowed me to convince him to give me the position. have to be pretty awful to remold a fan’s Sam taught me a lot about writing and editing. Though no literary reputation overnight. stylist, he excelled at structuring articles. He taught me the nuts and More commonly, fans judge a fugg- bolts of editing, though my style owes much to several others. I also learned things not to do from observing him. headed behavior in light of what the source Working with SaM let me see him less as a fan image and more as a of the behavior has done in the past. A fan person. I’ve tried to be even-handed in my comments; its for you to who’s known as reasonable and sensible gets judge whether or not I have been so. judged less harshly than one who has repeat- edly blundered. Even though neofans get some leeway, Fanstuff #41, December 16, 2013, is a frequent fan- it’s still much easier for a newcomer to get zine from Arnie Katz [email protected]) . called a fugghead. A neo has no good acts to balance the fuggheaded ones. Fanstuff is available from me and at efanzines.com, Many neofans enter Fandom with an out- sized opinion of themselves. Arrogance can thanks to kindly Mr. Burns. lead the neofan into offensive statements and excessively negative responses to even well- meant, constructive criticism. Published: 12/16/13 Some new arrivals adjust better than others. But for one who continues to display Member: fwa Supporter: AFAL fuggheaded behavior, the fugghead image sticks. Of course, repeated acts of fuggheaded- 3 The Origin of ‘Fugghead’: Was Moskowitz a Fugghead? History of a Fanspeak Word Sam Moskowitz, as Andy Hooper’s Modest Proposal suggests, is Unlike such popular fanspeak words as “gafia,” “BNF” and “fanzine,” the a controversial fanhistorical figure. His 70-plus years as a fan and pro term “fugghead” wasn’t invented by contain many highs and lows. There’s plenty of ammunition for both fans. Our subculture imported it from SaM’s admirers and detractors. The truth lies between those two ex- the nonfan world. tremes. My opinion may be colored by two factors: I worked for him The term was in wide usage among for four years and we were on opposite sides of the 1960’s Generation blue collar workers in southern Califor- nia at least as far back as the start of Gap. The former gave me a higher opinion of SaM; the latter had the World War II. It is, as you may expect, a opposite effect. euphemism for a much stronger insult. Among his contributions to Fandom are:: My late friend rich brown told me that • Prime mover in the east coast conventions that led to the first when he said “fugghead” at the family dinner table, his father, who knew the World SF Convention. stronger version, backhanded him across • Co-chairman of NyCon I the room. • First faan fiction writer. Charles Burbee and Francis Towner • Graphic innovator with silk screen covers. Laney, those two lovable LA Insurgents, • brought “fugghead” to Fandom. Fought to keep Fandom from adopting a specific political They both worked as machinists in agenda. southern California during the war • Author of the memoir, The Immortal Storm . years. They picked up “fugghead” in the • Founder and guiding spirit of the Eastern Science Fiction As- shop and used it with great gusto in their fanwriting. sociation, the northern New Jersey-based formal science fiction club. He also did some outrageously fuggheaded things. The ego- inflated mock-heroic prose of The Immortal Storm is kind of funny, but the same can’t be said of SaM’s prosecution of Ted White. And his mean-spirited filibuster at the NyCon 3 banquet was nothing short of shameful. But let’s not go into behavior of SaM, or any of the other fans embroiled in the late 1940’s fan war. Most of them were teenagers and, perhaps, shouldn’t be held accountable for their youthful excesses. I don’t see SaM as a fugghead, but he sure could do some fuggheaded things.

ness add up. Repeated fuggheaded acts can sour an established fan’s reputation. It just takes longer for it to happen. How many incidents does it take? That depends on the record of the fan, the number and severity of the fuggheaded acts and the fan making the judgment. The target of a fuggheaded act is likely to give it more weight than a fan who isn’t person- ally interested.

Next, I turned my attention to the connotations of “fugghead.” To me, fuggheads are not just wrong; they are ag- gressively, arrogantly and tenaciously wrong. Though fuggheads come in many styles, bullying, personal attacks and im- munity to reason often are present, too. Many fans use “fugghead” to describe anybody who habitu- ally says and does dumb things. I understand the temptation to 4 tar the clueless with that broad brush, but it’s better if we don’t succumb Names Withheld to it. I’ve saved this little blue box I think the vague definition encourages overuse. It stigmatizes fans (outlined in black) to bring up who are “guilty” of nothing more serious than expressing an unpopular something that’s troubling my mind. opinion. As you’ve noticed, my material about Gafia has a paucity of fans I seldom call any fan a fugghead these days. I honestly can’t remem- labeled as fuggheads and citations ber the last time I did. I’d like to attribute it to maturity, rather than cow- of fuggheaded behavior. That’s a deliberate choice, made in an effort ardice. to keep from tainting the discussion “Fugghead” is a demonizing label. Calling someone a fugghead ends with inflammatory insults. meaningful communication with that person. It may also gain you a life- As my essay states. I don’t want long enemy. -- Arnie to throw around a demeaning label like “fugghead” because it’s a demonizing term that ends constructive discussion. Now, It’s Your Turn We all prefer conversation to There are lots of comment hooks about fuggheads and Sam Mosko- mud-slinging. I can’t imagine a witz. Since confession is good for the soul, you might even want to re- more wasteful use of “loccer room” count some fuggheaded thing you once did. Maybe you’d like to sound than to make it the home of raging off about a particular type of fuggheadedness that really bugs you. debates about who is a fugghead. I may even offer my “The Seven Danger Signs of “Fuggheadedness” I don’t vote in polls to pick for and “Fuggheadedness and the New Media” and “Feuding with a Fugg- the worst this-or-that, either. head,” that were crowded out of this issue. Can we keep that kind of thing out of fanstuff ? I’m counting on it.

5 Whew! I just missed jury duty. I received a notice back in March that my name had been drawn for potential jury duty in April, May, and June. July 1 passed a few days ago, so the suspense and dread are over. This is what you get for exercising your citizen rights in a democracy. The list of potential jury conscripts is pulled from the voter registration rolls. Go ahead, the government says, vote, we dare you – and if you do, we'll call you for jury duty. The county courthouse is 20 miles away, the cases are sordid, and you'll pick up a fast $20 per day. Now, you know I never write on topics unrelated to SF or fandom. So what's all this got to do with our Revered Litera- ture or our Invisible Empire of the Imagi-Nation? Well, it oc- curs to me that the vote registration system is like a paper fanzine's mailing list. Fail to vote in two elections and you get deleted from the registered voter rolls; fail to provide “the usual” to a paper fanzine and you get expunged from the mailing list. Today there are growing differences between printed and online fanzines – not just physical differences but differences in the demands placed on readers. The online faned may produce a few paper copies to send to selected recipients – those who don't have Internet access and

6 those with a deep aversion to reading fanzines online. But mostly, he or she just assembles an issue digitally and e-mails it to the mailing list and/ or posts it to the eFanzine.com site – no cost, no delay, no collating, no envelope stuffing, no anxious page counting to stay within the tolerable postage limit. Oh yes, and no response from readers (or very little, compared to the paper fanzines). It's almost every online editor's lament. And the stodgy, money-burning paper fanzine pubbers rub it in, running 20-page letter columns. It wasn't always like this. Before online fanzines, every fanzine had a declared subscription price. This was partly a holdover from the earliest days of fandom, when the faneds pretended they were publishing real magazines, just like the prozines. Prozines had a cover price and a subscription rate, so fanzines had a single-copy price on the cover and a subscription rate. The cover prices soon disappeared; they seemed a little pretentious. But for fifty years there was never a major fanzine you couldn't obtain by subscription. But lately, paper fanzine publishers have gotten snippy. Some offer no subscription option at all. Send “the usual”, they declare, or suffer the consequences. Others begrudgingly admit that, as a last resort, their fanzine is available for so many dollars per year, but they strongly hint that they would dislike such an arrange- ment and would much prefer an article, artwork, or letter of comment. Some paper faneds even insert threatening notices between the pages of their latest issue, informing readers that if they don't respond, this is the last issue they will receive. It's not enough that we read and enjoy their publications, we must participate or be cast into the outer darkness. Don't get me wrong, I love paper fanzines. This old and tired fan likes the feel of paper between his fingers and the convenience of portability. My only computer is a desktop model located, not surprisingly, on a desktop. So there's only one place I can read online fanzines – not in the recliner while ignoring reruns on TV, not outside under a tree with a glass of lemonade. That said, however, I must confess that I am a little dismayed by the quality of today's paper fanzines – the fine grades of paper and the sharp offset printing. I am probably dating myself when I say that I miss the

7 slightly shabby feel of mimeo paper, the “I did this myself” repro of hand-cranked duplication. I was looking through a box of old fanzines the other day, stuff from the early 1970s: Outworlds , Prehensile , Focal Point , Science Fiction Review , that sort of thing. And I noticed that, except for a couple of hits in SFR , I didn't have a single letter of comment in any of them. You see, I subbed to all those fanzines. I supported the publishers by helping to pay for their printing and postage. They may have wished for another kind of response from me, but they couldn't demand one. I had already “contributed”. Fanzine success used to be measured by paid circulation. A fanzine with 400 subbers was obviously more of a focal point than a fanzine with 50 subbers. An editor knew where he stood. Now, in the online era, editors are in a tizzy. In the absence of subscribers, they are laying awake at night, fretting: How many readers do I really have? That's why there's such a desperate craving for letters of comment. If you post your fanzine online and receive six locs, at least you know that six fans read your zine. Sadly, there are more than a few online pubbers who would be thrilled to receive six locs. So, why do paper fanzines get a better response from readers? Guilt and intimidation. The editor whose fanzine gets posted on eFan- zines.com doesn't know who reads his fanzine (heh heh). I can click on a link, enjoy the latest fascinating issue, and the poor guy or gal has no idea that I did it, so I don't feel any guilt about not responding. The editors who e-mail their zines do know that I am receiving them. But they don't spend upwards of $3 to print and mail each copy. Sure, they include those sad little pleas for letters of comment. But since it costs them nothing to send me their next issue, why would they bother to cut me from the mailing list if I don't comply? It may seem odd that fanzines are eliminating subscriptions just when printing and mailing costs are reaching dizzying new heights. You'd think any faned would be grateful for a few bucks to help defray those expenses. But the spirit of fanzine publishing has changed. Faneds no longer see themselves as pale imitations of the pro publishers. Nowadays, fanzine publishing is seen more as a gentle- manly hobby, like horse breeding or collecting Faberge eggs. Producing a fanzine is an exercise in pure fanac, they sniff; fanzines aren't supposed to pay for themselves. Another reason for the disappearance of fanzine subscriptions may be the online revolution. Now, innumer- able online fanzines are available at no cost. A paper faned would have to have a pretty high opinion of his zine to believe that he could charge readers to receive it while his worthy rivals are giving theirs away for free. So both online and paper fanzines are provided at no monetary cost. The online fanzines are essentially help- less to demand payment in any other form, but the paper fanzines have leverage: they will provide sustenance (fanzines) only in return for la- 8 bor. What we have here is a form of indentured servitude. I always thought it was the editor's job to fill a fanzine with content. But apparently, editors believe that it's the readers' job to write copy to fill a third or half of the next issue. The editors are getting all the egoboo, why are we expected to do so much of the work? Then there's yet another reader affliction, imposed by the prolifera- tion of ensmalled fanzines. Some paper faneds attempt to elude the high costs and extended labors of pubbing their ish by producing zines of only six or eight pages (then they cancel out the savings in printing costs and postage by publishing more frequently). Of course, like all the other paper faneds, they demand response – even though they have no room to print that response! So now, to keep receiving these estimable publications, I have to strap myself to the chair in front of my computer and sweat out letters of comment, whether I have the time or not, whether I have anything to say or not. And for each fanzine I have to do this every few weeks, because these little fanzines don't take a lot of time to produce and they just keep coming. But the worst part is, I have to do this in the full knowledge that my loc is unlikely to see print! The ensmalled fanzine may receive dozens of locs but has only two or three pages in which to print them. The best I can usually hope for is a brief excerpt or, *whimper*, a mere name credit in the WAHF department, that sad little concentration of failure

9 and disappointment at the bottom of the last page. Something ought to be done. Maybe as an alternative to locs we could adopt a reader certification system. The fanzine reader would raise his right hand, place his left on the Purple Book of Ghu, and swear or attest that he or she has, does, and will for- ever read each and every issue of the designated fanzine. Hav- ing been certified, the reader would then be excused from writing letters of comment for future issues. To replace the egoboo of a long lettercol, the editor could publish the statement, “This fanzine has 327 Certified Readers” and, if those readers include a good sprinkling of BNFs, even list the names. It would save a lot of space and spare the CRs from having to respond to each issue. This scheme would apply to both paper and online fanzines, finally placing both types on an equal footing. Of course, we all see the flaws in this proposal. The readers of paper fanzines would make an effort to become certified so as to keep receiving them. But the readers of online fanzines, who are already too listless to respond, would probably not get off their duffs and get certified. History would repeat itself, with online pubbers sighing about their skimpy CR lists while the paper pubbers proclaimed their big totals on their covers. Maybe what we need is a fanzine reader's Bill of Rights (or, to put it in terms that the countless viewers of The Big Bang The- ory can understand, a Roommate Agreement). Article One would state that if a reader makes the effort to compose a thoughtful and lengthy letter of comment, the fanzine editor is obliged to publish it. All of it. It is gratifying to note than Fan- stuff is in full compliance with this First Article. Article Two might grant the right of fanzine readers to substitute cash for articles, artwork, or locs. You know what they say, words are cheap. Show me the money. I leave it to my fellow fanzine readers to propose addi- tional Articles. One might require paper faneds to print their zines in font sizes readable by fans who have attained the dig- nified status of Advanced Middle Age. Referring again to those 1970s fanzines, you wouldn't believe how tiny the type was. Driven by the postal service's insatiable greed, the photo-offset zines reduced their original 10-point typer copy by 50 percent for reproduction, and the mimeo publishers used micro-elite typers with smaller, more compressed letters to cram more copy onto each page. Anything to limit the number of pages and, therefore, the mailing cost. This trend continues today, aggravated by the fact that paper fanzines are now mailed at First Class rates (yikes!). Postage is assessed by weight, not word count, so faneds are using smaller

10 and smaller font sizes to squeeze more copy onto a fixed number of pages. You'd think they would appreciate not hearing from me; my lack of response leaves more room for other content. I have considered other solu- tions, at least to lighten my personal burden. I have a spare bedroom. Maybe I could take in a fannish boarder who would earn his keep by ghost- writing letters of comment for me (or earn her keep; hmm, now I'm imagining fanac with bene- fits). Or, perhaps one of those loccing maniacs out there could add me as a co-author. I've never seen a loc with two signatories, but times are desperate and new thinking is needed. Now I've got to get back to fulfilling my obli- gations to paper fanzines. In the time it has taken me to write this, I could have composed several meaty letters of comment. And I'm send- ing this to Fanstuff , which is readily available at eFanzines.com, so in providing this contribution I'm not even earning my next issue! What was I thinking?

Arnie: Please mention in one of your sidebars that you are publishing this essay as a bit of fa- cetious whimsy. I don't want to get blacklisted by any paper faneds who suffer from Humor Deficiency Syndrome (HDS) or drag you down with me through guilt by association.

— David B Williams

11 The ‘Loccer Room’ House Rules “Loccer room” aspires to be a fair, open and unfettered discussion forum.. Here in brief are the rules. The “loccer room” is an “equal op- portunity” forum . I print all locs; the fans in “WAHF” have sent simple ac- knowledgements or communications not intended for publication. Lloyd Penney Locs appear in approximately the same order as received . It would be un- Got issue 37 of fanstuff…I’m not sure if this is the latest issue. We’re usual for any loc to be printed out of order, recovering from a huge storm that left us in the dark for a day and a half, though the possibility exists. and now the desktop is misbehaving. Anyway, comments coming your Letters are never interrupted by editorial comments. My comments are in the way. narrow columns. I’ve been very pleased with the FAAn results and its administration When a writer addresses a topic the over the years. Andy had my vote of confidence. A tweak here or there? full text is always printed . It’s like posting to an e-list, except it’s easier to read No problem, nothing is perfect, and tweaks can make it even better. Carry and won’t bury your contributions at the on, Mr. Hooper… end of a seemingly endless thread. Most awards seen to deal with five blanks on the ballot, so I don’t see There Are No Ambushes . No one will ‘respond’ to your loc in the same issue, why the FAAn ballot can’t. Are there any other awards out there in which except me. Everyone else can air their nomination count decides the winners, instead of nomination and final views in the next issue. ballots? Apologies for disagreeing with me are unnecessary . I don’t care what you write Wish I’d been able to get to the Portland Corflu, but I just can’t travel as long as you write intelligently. Fact is, I these days. Same goes for the Richmond Corflu coming up. I'll just have don’t even have a firm opinion on many to keep getting fanzines to see how the Corflus roll. I got many of the fan- subjects raised in fanstuff . zines listed in Murray’s report, but I will always take more… The Loccer Room…Chris Garcia has a Maker Faire coming up in the BArea, and we’ve got one coming up in Toronto in September, and we To Lloyd Penney are definitely going. Blank Thoughts We found it’s a great place to find new attractions for our local conven- You make a good point about five- tions. I now know Jim Mowatt’s schedule, and my weekend is already blank categories being the norm for many other awards. Maybe we’ve be- busy, but I am sure I can squeeze in some time to pay my respects. come too lazy, or at least too diffident, Not much to add…it’s a Friday as I type this, we’ve got to take the about doing something as basic to our computer in to have it set right, and without the Internet, there’s not a lot Fandom as giving egoboo to those to do. Guess I’d better concentrate on locs and the job hunt until it gets whose contributions make our subcul- sprung. I’ll keep an eye out for further issues. Until then… ture so enjoyable. Taking a few min- utes with the ballot once a year seems a small price to pay for what we get. Wolf von Whitting Between Counterlocks and Fanstuff I'm hardly given enough time to think anymore. The heat is the worst. I can't bear the July heat of Italy and More to Lloyd Penney frequently wish me away this time of year. In Sweden it was the long, Irony Katz Rides Again! cold dark of winter which had me wishing myself away. Yup, I moved Does your comment about fanzines from the fridge to the oven. mean that Fandom is reversing? Fans Let's see if I can get my wits together when it is necessary. conceived conventions as a way to get together with fans they “met” in fan- Because I've been thinking a lot lately. About the cha-cha-changes of zines and correspondence; now you fandom. It has been speculated a lot about fans and in what way they want to keep up with convention were different than the rest of humanity. Some thought we might be more friends by continuing to read their intelligent. "Fans are Slans!" was their rallying cry. Perhaps we never fanzines. were particularly brighter than the rest, but one thing I know for certain Nothing wrong with that, especially since you’re a top loccer, but it’s an is; "We were not followers!" Had we been followers, there would have intriguing phenomenon. been a thousand and one more popular hobbies to turn to.

12 It has been said that 99% of the people are followers. That is most likely To Wolf von Witting underestimated. But let's stay with this number, for arguments sake. After The Nature of Fankind Star Wars and Star Trek, the Next Generation of sf-fans suddenly no Any discussion of what makes fans longer find themselves under siege by public opinion. There is CASH in different must first define the scope of the conversation. Fans who focus on it. And where there is money to make, you don't laugh in its face. Now sf- one of the other Special Fandoms ex- fandom also contains 99% followers, just like the rest of the world. hibit personality traits that are distinct But, this is not the time to surrender to commercialism. Not as the from the typical participant in the Tru- global economy is on its way down the drain (with the United States fan subculture. Fans of Cosplay figure spearheading). If you have any doubts, that the US is financially finished, to have rather different personalities than Trufen. look at your National Debt which since February this year has been strug- I think you’re on the right track with gling to stay under 16, 8 trillion dollars. The Federal Reserve are printing your comments about leaders and fol- dollar bills like crazy to buy your bonds and kicking the can further down lowers. I’d rather conceptualize it as the road before the collapse. Look at the current account balance sheet in inner directed and other directed. the CIA World Factbook (available online). China and Germany are mak- The pioneering fans, and most of those active in our subculture today, ing a profit of more than 200 billion each/year while the US keeps paying tend toward introspection and ulti- more than both of them earn combined. Nobody is buying American mately come to depend on their own goods anymore. judgment, ethics and tastes rather than And what's wrong with Okun's law in the US? If unemployment is im- allowing those of others to strongly proving, then how come your GDP doesn't? Your debt is still more than influence them. (Our bunch loves the path less traveled, while most of the 110% of your GDP. Bottom line, tomorrow your dollar may be void. fans who attend the large conventions This is not the time to sell out fandom. This is rather the time to invest glory in the fact that so many others in friendship. are doing what they’re doing. There are fools who believe they can protect themselves and their fam- Another way to look at the topic is ily with bomb shelters and guns. It is short sighted and doomed to failure. to consider why people become fans like us. You need to establish small communities. No one who stands alone will Our subculture puts a high value on prevail. There is so much knowledge needed to keep a community alive intellectual creativity. It also respects and a single person may know a lot, but hardly enough. Yup, I've been knowledge, eccentricities and idiosyn- hovering over the doomsday/aftermath-genre a lot. Would hate to think I crasies. wasted my life trying to understand something which never will be These things may make such a person feel alienated. Trufandom is a needed. On the other hand, perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad thing either, subculture which treats such people in if I was wrong. Anyway... keeping bees looks like a good hobby to pick a more sensitive way. Our subculture up. Honey and wax will always be useful and just as good as money. is a comfortable environment for folks Back to fandom. Commercialism is creeping up on us, whether we want who don’t find mainstream society. it or not. It crept up on German fandom and they're now hopelessly lost in nearly as congenial. it, it seems. Suddenly I feel myself like one of the last outposts of fannish fandom on continental Europe. I will keep fighting back. It's the only More to Wolf von Witting thing I can do. I just can't convert to a system which I believe is doomed. Genre Declines as Popularity Grows Yes, there are indications (Eurotopia) that I may have sympathies for the Hugo Gernsback’s most lasting contribution may be that he turned imagi- opposite. But I believe it doesn't work so well to fight something head on, native literature into a genre. That like a bull. We have to show our contempt for commercialism, just like made it easier for people to define Ghu shows his contempt for wealth by those he chose to receive it. More themselves as SF fans — and made it or less how you phrased it in Fanstuff # 38, Arnie. an easier target for detractors. I'm reading so much Andy Hooper lately. Not only Flag and Chunga, The genre appears to be in its death throes. The magazines are nearly but this guy is incredibly productive and provides interesting reading. It gone, many SF publishers have re- feels terribly inadequate, when the most relevant comment I can come up trenched or folded. The backlists have with is; "Gosh!" or, slipping into French: "Encore!" shrunk and sales-per-title are falling. Methinks Dick Lupoff had a point there, in his LoC (to Ish #37). Which Yet the same people who’ll tell you brings me to the 'misspelling' of my name. First I thought it was a typo. they don’t like SF will line up for films like Avatar . Then I realized it wasn't. And then I felt both honored and uncomfortable. 13 Still More to Wolf von Witting Honored, because I know what it signifies and uncomfortable because I The Selling of Fandom am far from worthy of such honor. Please, don't do it again. I am a zen I would never sell out Fandom, be- master, but I have to point out that all it takes to become a zen master, is cause I would never sell out my that one has or has had a student. At least in my school, which I call friends. And I say that as someone who had a Big Offer to do that and "simple zen", because I like things to be simple and easy to understand. Joyce and I turned it down flat. To become an ascended master, I feel like it was in "The Right Stuff" in I was just trying to have some fun at the bar with the wall full of test pilot pictures. A test pilot asked what it the expense of those who substitute a takes to get ones picture on that wall. "You have to die!" love of money for a love of the subcul- So let us live by Hávamál 77: "Beasts die, brethren die. Every man is ture. Trufandom means many things to me, but one of them isn’t that it’s a mortal. way to turn a profit. But I know one thing that never dies, the verdict on the vanished dead." (my own translation) Or in the translation of W H Auden & P B Taylor: "Cattle die, kindred Yet More to Wolf von Witting die, Every man is mortal: In Praise of Andy Hooper But I know one thing that never dies, The glory of the great dead. Andy’s perennial strong placing in the FAAn Awards proves that you are far from alone in your admiration of Bill Plott his prose (and editing). Since I didn't see my name in the WHAFs in fanstuff40, I'm assuming As someone who has worked with you did not receive my loc on the gafia issue. Here 'tis again. I think you him professionally and in Fandom, I will find it interesting. believe that Andy still has potential as both a fan and pro that he will fulfill in So that’s where you’ve been. I had had a couple of fleeting thoughts the next few years. about the whereabouts of fanstuff . After all, it and Bob Jennings’ Fade- away are my two primarily links to mainstream fandom today. (More on that later). Yet Still More to Wolf von Witting Dealing with gafia is indeed an interesting topic because so many of us Creeping Commercialism I’m shoulder to shoulder with you have been there. When I saw my first fanstuff last year I kind of assumed in a united front on this one, Wolf. you had been in fandom since we were in Southern Fandom Press Alli- When I hear about a fan wanting to ance together in the ‘60s without a break. Now, I learn that you left for a get paid for what has always been time and returned in the ’80s as did Robert Lichtman and others. Well, I defined as hobby activity or listen to daresay I may hold the record for a personal Second Fandom. How about con-runners crow about the bottom line instead of what they delivered to this timetable: the members of the con, it bothers me --Larry Montgomery franks Sporadic 13 , for which stencils had been a lot. Probably, more than it should. cut for December 1964, SFPA Mailing #14. Fafia put it on back a burner I think it’s because creeping com- until I moved to Anniston, AL in fall of 65. Larry Montgomery franked it mercialism is just one element of a for me in Mailing #21, August 1966. mega-trend, Creeping Mundania. Mundane attitudes have leaked into --Spring of 1969 I visit Al Andrews in a Birmingham nursing home. Trufandom, mostly due to fans who My last active involvement in fandom. want us to operate by rules they find --Spring of 1982, the Auburn University science fiction club brings old comfortable. Cons are full of friend Lloyd Biggle Jr. in for a lecture or reading. He asks that they con- “weekend fans” for whom it is a brief tact me and we are reunited for first time since late 1960s. However, this escape from the norm rather than a social alternative. I think it’s great was not a return to fandom, just an interlude with an old friend. that so many people now enjoy a --February 2011, at Guy Lillian’s urging I write a three-page essay, weekend in Science Fiction-land. But reminiscing on what fandom meant to me in the ‘60s. Guy runs the piece if they shared our perspective, they in his genzine Challenger . He sends me a copy of the article but not the would simply join us. zine itself. “It’s a proud and lonely thing to be a fan” goes the adage. Balancing --May 2012, I stumble across an internet reference to DSC 50 in Hunts- flexibility and a welcoming spirit with ville, AL and with little hesitation signing up, largely to see another old pride in our subculture sounds like a friend, David Hulan, who is Guest of Honor. I am blessed with an under- good idea to me. standing wife who will not likely ever be a fan although she can enjoy a 14 good sci-fi book or film with the rest of us. But when I said, “Nance, This To Bill Plott is something I’ve got to do,” she seemed to understand it was seminally There and Back Again important. Joyce and I entered into the Glades --June 2012, I attend DSC 50, renew acquaintance with Hulan, ShelVy of Gafia circa 1977. Most of our close friends had left New York and our Vick, and Jerry Page, meet Larry Montgomery and Guy Lillian. A few careers monopolized our time. We did days later I begin to regret having left the con a day early. Overcome by a pro wrestling magazine in the late madness, I send a dues check to Robert Jennings and in August 2012 1970’s. Then, with Bill Kunkel and (Mailing #288), produce my first fanzine in 46 years . Joyce, I created the world’s first video Looking back on my connection with fandom, I really think your term and computer magazine. Once Electronic Games hit the jack- Dafia is most appropriate. I did not consciously leave fandom for any of pot, the three of us became entertain- the plausible reasons you list. I was not forced away by any compelling ers and even minor celebrities). That occurrences in my life, but I did drift away because of those Real Life opened the door to game design and events. the three of us invented about 25 What happened to fandom in the interim is overwhelming to someone games released by major software publishers. We also drifted into a returning after such a long time. I guess it’s not unlike a SF novel – say rather brisk business of pre-release When the Sleeper Wakes , etc. The broadness of fandom today is amaz- game doctoring. Publishers would ing. In the ‘60s there was the basic literary orientation with attendant send us a title, have us do a full analy- subcultures of comics and movies. Today there are dozens of subcultures sis and offer suggestions for revision. I based on everything from TV shows (Trekies are still out there) to epic think we did about 250 or those. When the video game market col- book series such as The Well of Time and the Game of Thrones. The lapsed in late 1984, Reece Communi- multiple tracks at cons blow my mind, so much so that I can’t imagine cations fired us. We rebuilt our in- going to a worldcon again. Indeed, the DSC has been a bit disconcerting. come stream by doing monthly sec- I miss the intimacy of the old days and by ensconcing myself in a provin- tions about games for several software cial setting I can reclaim a bit of that. I am in SFPA, the Southern Fan- magazines an each of us also sold freelance articles. dom Confederation and Southern Fandom Classic internet forum. Al- Steve Harris hired us to revive Elec- though there are still scores of folks I don’t know, this is manageable and tronic Games , Bill Kunkel began writ- enjoyable. ing game strategy books and British Still, I do enjoy very much fanstuff and Fadeaway because of the expo- sales of a few of our game gave Joyce, sure they give me of the Big Picture of fandom these days. Discovering Bill and me the money to move to Las Vegas. A postcard from Mark Black- all of the new writers who have come along since I left fandom so many man informing me that TAPS, an apa years ago has been fun. I read the first books in the Wheel of Time and Lenny Bailes and I co-founded, was Game of Thrones series and enjoyed both very much. But when I finished about to celebrate its 25th anniversary. the Jordan doorstop book, I thought, 14 volumes to find out what happens I wrote something, they seemed to like to these folks? I don’t’ think so . Martin’s writing is much tighter and I it and I dabbled in TAPS for six months. TAPS had some nice mem- may yet get back to Winterfall. bers and one or two who reminded me At my leisurely pace I have enjoyed meeting the writings of Connie of fuggheads I had known. Though I Willis, Seanan McGuire, Lois McMasters Bujold, Paolo Bacigalupi, Joe was grappling with a cataract in my Haldeman, Orson Scott Card and others. I am, at this writing, about half- right eye, I decided to return to the way through my first Neil Gaiman novel, Anansi’s Boys . Waiting for my fans and Fandom I’d known. I de-gafiated for a cluster of rea- attention are books by Ben Aaronovitch and a few author repeats. sons: I missed all my fabulous friends, All of this reminds me a little of another hobby, which was also atten- my career made it hard to have close dant with gafia, fafia and dafia. In the ‘70s I got immersed in the beer can friends besides Joyce and Bill and I and breweriana collecting hobby for a while. When I drifted away from it, was tired of being The Celebrity Ora- I kept a core group of cans that I felt sure I had emptied myself and an cle. (I still don’t have a cell phone, because I got Very Tired of middle-of- assortment of signs, trays, etc., just packing them away. In the ‘90s I went the-night phone calls.) I felt that I to breweriana show in Birmingham, compelled by the geographic close- could do well in 1990 Fandom, but I ness to go and just say hi to a couple of old collecting friends. I left the also knew that it would all be within a show with a renewed membership. The funny thing is several of my for- context of basic equality. mer buddies said they had all left that hobby because they discovered Fame is ok, but friends are better. 15 To R Graeme Cameron girls, cars, and other interesting things. Dafia, if you wish. Now, they No Slight to Canada were back. (My return there has been modest and provincial, also, just You’ve misconstrued, and therefore enough activity to make it enjoyable, not controlling.) embellished, my suggestion that the I wonder, though, if it is possible to define Trufandom today, given the website embrace fanzines outside Canada. I apologize for any inadver- incredible diversity reflected in the con tracks. There are Trekies, tent hurt this may have caused. Wheelies, gamers, costumers, comics collectors, pulp collectors, film If an American fan had proposed a fans, (I was amazed to see Famous Monsters of Filmland in Barnes comparable site, I would’ve suggested &Noble this week, still flourishing), etc. I would be interesting in seeing that the fan look beyond the borders of what kind of definition you could put on Trufandom today. the United States when picking fanzines to post. Of course, all of these new diversions is where you see the young peo- If the site aims to interest fans in ple, the lifeblood of any hobby that lasts. The literary crowd appears to be Fandom’s intellectual creativity, then largely us old farts. Some, like yourself, have made the fanzine transition it should emphasize quality and acces- from paper to the internet. Those of us clinging to the smell and feel of sibility over point of origin. A good paper are steadily diminishing. fanzine is more likely to intrigue someone than a bad fanzine. Graeme Cameron On The Hopeless Task of Promoting Fanzines. More to R Graeme Cameron Pleased I am to see your review of my ‘Open Letter to Canadian Fan- Is Trufandom Inherently Negativ? dom.’ If you think it reeks of despair and frustration, wait till you read my I’ll probably have comments once next SPACE CADET wherein I rant about the built-in negativity of tru- I’ve read your piece in Space Cadet , but I admit I’m dubious. fandom. I suspect it will enable you to extend your “Where Graeme Went Wrong” article “to infinity and beyond….” I take issue with some of your comments. The need to expand my web- Still More to R Graeme Cameron site to include all of zinedom, for instance. Not my intention. I just want Why Promote Trufandom? Broad-brush promotion of Fandom to acquaint modern Canadian fen with their fannish heritage. The last doesn’t work, because there are so few thing I want to do is beat them over the head with the insignificance of potential Trufans. We need to keep the Canadian fandom compared to American Fandom. Reviving the tradi- subculture open and accessible and tional Canadian inferiority complex is not one of my goals. I want Cana- then nurture any incipient interest we dian fen to be proud of their heritage and seek to add to it. detect. I also disagree that website archives are useless. Evidently you believe only trufen peruse them, never newbies, and thus websites merely serve Yet More to R Graeme Cameron the already converted. I beg to differ. Ways &Means: Since I established my website (June 17th) it has received 211,631 hits, Arnie Elaborates My suggestions about the content of a total of 23,326 visitors, and is currently averaging 279 visitors a day. your projected fanzine archive website Taral is of the opinion 99.99% are non-fans looking for Grunge Rock are based on my experience. zines or such-like, and turn away from my site in disappointment. Since I don’t claim that my methods are the very address of my site < www.cdnsfzinearchive.org > mentions ‘SF’ the only ones that can work or that my I suspect the majority of viewers have at least a vague interest in Science method would necessarily work as well for anyone else. And, of course, Fiction. here’s no guarantee that something Furthermore, to date 176,367 files have been downloaded from my site. that worked in the past will continue SOMEBODY is reading them, and I strongly suspect more than just a to do so in the future. few. (If it is just one fanatic collector the guy is a real weirdo…) What I claim is that it was the ap- Taral disputes my figures because he believes only faneds read fan- proach that worked dozens of times for me, and that the website is essen- zines. I, on the other hand, believe the majority of zine readers have no tially “more of the same” approach interest in writing. Maybe, just maybe, exposure to enough intriguing that you assert didn’t work for you zines may convince them to participate. Just one such convert would sat- during the same time-frame. isfy me. I think you’ve given me an idea for I do agree most SF fans aren’t interested in zinedom. A fandom devoted an article... to fandom rather than science fiction is a concept most science fiction 16 fans find very difficult to wrap their heads around. “Oh, so it has nothing to To Shelby Vick do with me,” is the usual response. Through Darkest Gafia I argue that zinedom has everything to do with “me,” that it is in fact the With Knife, Fork & Mug perfect hobby for passive fen to build a sense of accomplishment at their Your mention of Starbucks will help many Gafia-bound fans. In the same own pace (as opposed to the frenzy of the internet). An old-fashioned spirit, I want to alert everyone to the hobby to be sure, a kind of super-duper penpal-dom which I find intriguing fact that the Glades of Gafia borders and great fun. And since I am normal – “cough, cough” – I assume other on the mysterious, malevolent and more-or-less normal people capable of sharing my enthusiasm do exist, po- downright mystifying land, Parts Un- tential converts all. known. Warning to all potential Gafiates: If I haven’t given up hope yet. you suddenly notice that everyone else is wearing a full-head mask and that Shelby Vick the garbage bins are full of broken Not responding in kind, Arnie – weighing machines, run! No kind of story, that is. No kind of article. No kind of wit, for that mat- If you tarry too long in Parts Un- known, the only way you will be able ter. (I only make it halfway to wit, anywee.) to return is as a masked wrestler for Gafia? I've been there so often that I no longer need a map! Starbucks has Vince McMahon’s WWE (World THREE stores there, by the way.... Wrestling Entertainment. The latest issue of Planetary Stories - www.planetarystories.com/ PS29.html - was a recent reason for a visit (I forget what number that was on your list, but I'm sure 'Busy with other things', or something to that ef- More to Shelby Vick fect, was there.) Walking the Aisle Well, that ish was due out October First. The First came and went, but PS Those who have an unquenchable desire (which I do not share) to pro- was still not ready. I was getting real up-tight. Finally, when the Tenth mote Fandom might consider making came and went, I said to myself, "It's so overdue by now, let's forget about our bunch more colorful and exciting the pressure. Just relax, take a day off, then start again slowly, no pres- by borrowing the techniques perfected sure." by professional wrestling It worked. In fact, it worked too well! When #29 was finished, I took an- I see you at ringside, flaying your tag team’s babyface foes with your other day off. It felt so good that I took ANOTHER day off, and went to aluminum briefcase. As The Southern Gafia to visit old friends.... Gentleman, you’d be smiling and Then Fanstuff 39 showed up, and did its duty. G'bye, Gafia! friendly in the interviews, but sneaky and vicious during the matches. In Dick Lupoff other words, you’d talk like a face, but you’d act like a heel. I'm delighted to see fanstuff back and as handsome as ever. Wd like to You’d need entrance music, of send an extensive LoC but I've got to spend I-don't-know-how-many hours course. How about “Going Down listening to my novel The Comic-Book Killer. Yes. Listening to it. John South” by RL Burnside? “Sweet Betancourt's Wildside Press has reissued the whole Lindsey-and-Plum se- Home Alabama?” ries--eight novels plus a collection of associated short stories--in a very handsome trade paperback edition. Now Wildside is preparing to release all nine books in audio format. And To Dick Lupoff Keep Pluggin’ Along I just received the first book from them, and have to sit here listening to the I hate it when friends don’t get their book with a copy of the paper edition at hand, on the alert for the audio full measure of deserved egoboo. The version of typographical errors. debut of The Comic-Book Killers au- Argh! dio reminds me that Comic Book Fan- But as a consolation prize, I'll attach the planned cover for Volume 3 of dom should really be lionizing you as one of the fans most responsible for its my anthology series of the early 1980s. Two volumes were issued at the creation. (Ted White and Bhob Stew- time. The third was literally killed in-press by the bean-counters at Pocket art are invited to correct my impres- Books. Now--at last--a mere thirty years late--the book is about to be pub- sion that EC Fandom didn’t directly lished. and immediately lead to modern Shd be available before the end of November! Comic Book Fandom…) 17 To Bruce Gillespie Please feel free to run the cover in fanstuff. Fandom’s Deadline Tradition And now -- we return to those thrilling days of yesteryear...! Missing the Deadline is a venerable fannish tradition. It consists of four Bruce Gillespie steps: 1. Missing the Deadline. And very welcome Fanstuff is. 2..Wallowing in Guilt. I've had some time-problems distributing stuff, also. The messages I 3. Exaggerated promises of improve- sent out this week to people notifying them of the downloadable SF ment. Commentary 85 are a month late, because of work commitments, and 4. Missing the next Deadline. I've still had time to write only a few envelopes for the print copies. I’m trying to break that cycle and consider all fanstuff deadlines as well- Real life can be just a bit annoying at times, as you know. intentioned guesses. This issue of fanstuff was intended to Jay Kinney be distributed November 29. Joyce had Good to see Fanstuff back in action. I can't claim that I read all of a stretch of ailments, none very serious every issue, but I do read some of each issue, which I like to think is in isolation, that delayed the proofreading. pretty good for a digital fanzine. (No slight intended to PDF fanzines, And no one wants me to send out just an acknowledgment that I'm more likely to skim a fanzine on my fanstuff without proofreading. computer screen than one physically held in my hands.) A few thoughts regarding Gafia... I guess I don't think of Gafia as either a disease or a syndrome, but as More to Jay Kinney a useful tool for keeping one's life in balance and one's priorities Creativity and Fan Activity The relationship between the artist straight. Fandom is largely a hobby for most of us, and each of us is tak- and creativity, I’ve observed, is highly ing time away from other possible pursuits by participating in Fandom. individual. Each of us conceives creativ- For someone with a non-creative day job, Fandom may be their creative ity in a unique way. And how we define outlet par excellence, and thus may lay claim to much of their free time. our creativity has a lot to do with the Nothing wrong with that, unless it steals time away from (non-fannish) effect fanac might have on professional output. friends and family. I can’t blame anyone who feels they But as someone who has spent most of my life pursuing creative pro- need to cut fanac in order to channel jects in more or less professional capacities (whether drawing, writing, creativity into professional work. After editing, or publishing), I've experienced Fandom as a competitor for my all, it’s their creativity and they should creative time and energy. (I suspect that you might have felt the same apply it as they think best. As for me, I guess I’m lucky. Time way during your gafiated years.) During the 15 years when I was pub- and stamina limitations have occasion- lishing and editing Gnosis Magazine as a quarterly newsstand magazine, ally led to reducing fanac to expedite I was almost completely gafiated as I didn't have time to do much of professional writing and editing, but anything besides Gnosis. I maintained some fannish friends and partici- I’ve never felt compelled to ration crea- pated in a private apa for some of that time, but as far as Trufandom or tivity. I view my creativity like water flow- fanzine fandom (or whatever) went, I was largely gafiated. I also social- ing out of a faucet, not as a jar out of ized with local fannish friends through all those years at monthly par- which I spoon a lump of creativity. I’ve ties, but the impact of that on Fandom at large was nil. always gone full-out as a writer and In other words, gafia was for me a natural response to the circum- editor and operated as if creativity was stances of my life. If my free creative time was already booked by pay- inexhaustible. Some day, I may neglect to pay the ing, deadline-based jobs, there was little time left over for fannish com- bill and creativity will slow to a trickle mitments. I don't view that as a fannish failure so much as a logical rele- and then stop. gation of my time. In fact, in the course of any given year, I may gafiate I recognize the truth of that predic- two or three times, perhaps for a month here or two months there, not so tion, but that’s at some nebulous point long as anyone would notice, but nevertheless as circumstances demand. in the future. In the present, I do my utmost to totally ignore it. It’ll happen So, all in all, I view Gafia as a natural accompaniment to my participa- when it happens, if it does. Meanwhile, tion in Fandom. Indeed, it may be that my fannish activities float upon I feel like the more I use the creativity an ocean of underlying Gafia. the faster it flows. 18 Tom Johnson To Tom Johnson Thanks for Issue #39. Nothing really to comment on this time around. Sometimes, Disillusionment You know, as we get older our priorities change, and none of us are get- Can Become Self-Abuse ting any younger, so it's reasonable to start feeling let down with things. Disillusionment is almost inevitable when someone clings to an idealized In college, many got hooked on fandom of one sort or another, but even- image despite incontrovertible, contrary tually jobs and families pulled them away from fannish activities, but evidence. there was always a tiny spark that reminded them of the fun times. But Most neofans approach Fandom with we have to face facts, and things are different now than they were 40 or utopian pre-conceptions. The reality is 50 years ago. All of us dug comic books at some point in our life, but that fans and Fandom are no more perfect than other people and institutions. like everything else, comic books should have given way to other priori- Most of us learn to set more realistic ties, yet there are still fifty year olds collecting and reading comic standards and accept such flaws as part books. And some of us are still struggling in our fannish hobbies. So life of life. goes on, we just have to be in charge of ourselves. Some folks don’t develop that mature I think, though I'm rambling, and probably going about it the wrong perspective. They shed friends for trivial failings and may also ignore and reject way, I'm just telling you that whatever you decide is your decision and anything that would blemish their ideal- no one else's. Hey, I do my own thing, and never worry about what any- ized view. one else may think. Your friends will support whatever decision you The price of ignoring reality is that, make. sooner or later, it’ll bite you on the ass. When someone hits the tipping point, the moment the idealized vision can no Robert Lichtman longer be sustained, disillusion is likely While the return of fanstuff is welcome, it’s arriving at an inopportune to strike. time for a detailed letter of comment. The day it turned up, I was hav- I think that process may have pow- ing serious problems connecting (and staying connected) to the internet. ered the virulent Insurgentism of Fran- It seemed on the face of it that the wifi card installed on my computer cis Towner Laney. He started fanning in Idaho and knew only one fan, Duane back in 2005 was crapping out because I kept being inexplicably Rimel, in person. When he moved to dumped. I had a technician from Staples in Berkeley—whose services Los Angeles, his disillusionment as- we’d used before on Carol’s computer and who’d done very good sumed epic proportions. work—come out and install a USB-connected wifi device to replace the onboard one. Being newer technology, it was definitely faster but it did- n’t cure the connectivity problem. I brought the computer in for them to More to Tom Johnson Late Life Letdown run a diagnostic, and the news was Not Good. The hard drive on my I agree that some people feel growing ancient computer—bought in 2000 to be compatible with Y2K—was disappointment with their lives as they very weak, I was told. It could go at any time ! age and that the letdown may include The only thing to do for it was to get a new computer, and fast. Be- Fandom. I think the re-shuffling of priorities as people move through the vari- cause I didn’t want to deal with Windows 8, they searched and found an ous stages of life is probably a stronger HP Pavilion that was powerful enough for my modest needs and priced factor in the onset of Gafia. low on a clearance offering. I limped along on my old computer until I’m a lucky guy. I’ve had a wonderful the afternoon of Halloween, when the new one arrived with a technician life so far and, if circumstances allow, who set it up and took nearly three hours getting things the way I needed hope to continue to derive great pleasure and satisfaction. them. (Part of that time was sitting around when, after a required re- Only someone without an ounce of start, Windows had to install *111* updates at its own pace.) Since then imagination fails to contemplate roads I’ve been doing other things to make the new computer work to my sat- not taken and goals unreached. Yet I’ve isfaction, and am really enjoying its speed, silence and responsiveness. satisfied most of my ambitions and am This is my first LoC on it. still vigorous enough to continue my pursuit of others. Of the factors listed in your article, I’d say that “major life changes” I can’t emphasize strongly enough would most apply to me. I moved from San Francisco in May 1971 to that I publish fanstuff because I love be one of the founders of The Farm. Suddenly I had essentially no time doing it and because I love the opportu- for fanac, although I did read the few fanzines that made their way to nity to entertain and interact with you my new address in Tennessee—and I wrote a handful of LoCs during fine fans. 19 To Robert Lichtman the decade, most of them to John D. Berry. About Inconvenient Visitors You write that “The change in Trufandom’s demographic profile broke I’m opposed to unannounced visi- this pattern. Starting in the 1980’s, fans began returning from protracted tors. That’s why I’ve trained each and every file of fanstuff to wait silently periods of Gafia. Among the revenants were Robert Lichtman, Vincent and respectfully in the email queue Clarke, Art Widner, Joyce and me.” I don’t know what you mean by that until a propitious moment. change so far as it applies to me. I always figured I was fafia rather than gafia, and when I left The Farm in 1980 it wasn’t long before I recon- nected. That’s all he wrote. More To Robert Lichtman Sympathy for the Sage Dian Crayne I truly do empathize about computer woes. Joyce’s machine went down for Yep, I missed you. But what I miss most are the old days of SNAPS, a week right after Thanksgiving and I when have had a couple of devastating Un- I could keep up with what people were doing. It was like a collection of planned Shut-downs since then, too. electronic genzines and I miss it. As for fandom and GAFIA, in my case it wasn't even FAFIA -- it was more like "if I don't get out of this nut house I'll probably slit my throat." I don't think that there is an acronym To Dian Crayne for that. Still, I can think back to my first four years as a neofan and re- Musings on the Undoing of SNAPS member a lot of joy, enthusiasm and delightful people. Those were the I, too, miss SNAPS. I regretted watching it sink under the well-meant good times and sometimes I feel rather regretful that they did not last. abuse of a couple of its members. Well… let’s give the idea a try. See Dave Haren the next section. I think you'll find that Graeme is much like yourself, his enthusiasm and activity aren't always rewarded with visible results. That is not the same as having no results. Join TEPE The e-world is a lot different than meatspace, since most people have The Trufannish Electronic Press Exchange been conditioned to consider themselves spectators rather than partici- TEPE is an electronic amateur press pants in the drama going on around them. association. Any group that is made up of active participants has far greater clout How it works : Members send their than they know even when it seems to be like shouting into a well hoping TEPEzines to the Custodian, who for a distant echo. combines them into a file and sends a copy to every member. Keep up the good work. Content : Each member’s contribution is a TEPEzine under their total Taral Wayne control. Content can include ram- One thing I believe you could do right away that would help spread the blings, articles, emailing comments (to gospel of fanzine fandom is print the email addresses of your loccers! discuss previous emailings with the rest of the group) or whatever the Where is a fanzine editor to find new readers if he doesn’t pinch them member wants to share. from another fanzine editor? I combed this issue and only found Stven Frequency : Emailings are monthly. Carlborg, and then only because he was directing you use his gmail addie. Minimum Activity : A contribution Graeme and I have discussed his various projects to infuse new life into every other emailing. The maximum is fanzine fandom for several months … if not years. He can’t be faulted 12 pages per member per emailing. Privacy : TEPE won’t be posted and for enthusiasm or for lack of ideas. content may only be reprinted with the Just as I can’t be faulted for not being overly optimistic about his permission of the relevant member. chances of success. The Canadian fanzine archive he began – http:// Dues : There are no dues or other www.cdnsfzinearchive.org/ – is only the latest project. While he’s made costs. a good start, it’s hard to predict how extensive his reach will be. To live

Obviously, that’s a brief summary. up to Graeme’s goals, it won’t be enough to store a mere smattering of Email me for elaborations and an- DNQs , a few Monthly Monthlies , a handful of Lights , the Energumens swers to questions. and Amors that I scanned a few years ago, and a glut of recent zines pub- If there are 10 fans who want to join lished only in the last few years. But can Graeme find a significant Dian, Joyce and me, we’ll give it a try. 20 source of Queebshots, A Bas, Macabres , CanFans, OSFic Quarterlies, To David Haren Orcas, Simulacrums, Winding Numbers, Brazzors, Thangorodrims, Words of Welcome Pantekhnicons and all the dozens of other Canadian fanzines that made at — And a Clarification least some ripple in the ocean of fanzines in their day? Welcome to Fandom’s friskiest forum and digital carnival. There is the question, too, of whether such an archive serves fandom best My respect for Graeme along with by specializing. It’s your opinion that an archive serves fandom best by his theme, prompted my response to ignoring national boundaries. On the other hand, it is Graeme’s particular his “Open Letter.” interest to compile Canadian fanzines … and it does no harm. Who, after Graeme’s worth as a fan is definitely all, is fully knowledgeable about all of fanzine fandom? In my own writ- not at issue. We’re discussing whether we should promote Trufandom and, if ing about fanhistory I’ve mainly focused on Canadian fandom because it so, the best way to do it. was what I knew about … and who else would write about it? Everyone else is busy immortalizing their particular corner of the fannish universe. Will Graeme’s archive bring any new fanzine fans to the fold? I doubt it, To Taral Wayne and have said so forcefully on several occasions. But Graeme claims that Paranoia Bites Fandom Posting the addresses of letter writ- his site enjoys a large number of hits – certainly more than my defunct blog ers would be a positive step. I've al- ever did, or it might not be defunct. What neither of us can answer, ways shared addresses with other though, is whether people searching for fanzines are looking for ours … or faneds, because it’s important to re- looking for fanzines about pop music, breeding goldfish, collectible an- member that we’re fellow fans, not tiques, modern poetry or model railroading … and likely going away disap- competitors. Sadly your good idea collides with pointed. So far, Graeme hasn’t discovered a single newbie for fanzine fan- one of Fandom’s most pathetic as- dom out of all those hundreds of hits. I don’t find that encouraging. pects. There are an appreciable num- But Graeme is ever hopeful. ber of fans who believe that if their There is also Graeme’s Canadian annual fanzine achievement award. email address is published, Nameless This has been problematical from the start. There are so few Canadian fan- Malefactors will swoop in and steal their identity. Paranoia and naiveté are zine fans that there is a real danger of giving the awards to the same half- a powerful shield against reason. dozen or so people every year. The first two year’s were selected by How about this: If a loccer puts their Graeme himself, and were as predictable as you might expect. With one or name at the end of their eletter and two eccentric choices of Graeme’s, it was the same the year after. There then their email address on the next was an actual ballot this, the third year, but, for the most part, the names lie, I’ll pot it with their letter. Loc- smiths can avoid having their email were still familiar. I’m not sure what can be done about it. In Canadian address posted by simply not putting it fandom there are only two clubzines and three fan editors such as myself below their name at the end of the who anyone outside of some tiny enclave is likely to ever know about. letter. (And our fandom is itself a tiny enclave!) There is only one fanartist, three It’ll be in next issue’s “house rules.” fanwriters and two letter hacks. Another three of four Canadian fans attend Now, if the rest of the fanzine editors will adopt this new standard, we Corflu when they can … for what that’s worth. can promote info-sharing within Tru- But Graeme is ever hopeful. fandom. It all started, of course, with his massive encyclopedia of Canadian fandom, online at http://canadianfancyclopedia.shawwebspace.ca/ . Although incomplete and likely never to be finished, it is a treasure trove of informa- More to Taral Wayne Fmz Archives, Canadian & Others tion about Canadian fandom that I suspect is sadly underutilized. I’m wholeheartedly in favor of fan- Graeme’s latest attempt to revitalize fanzine fandom lies in his regular zine archives — and even stronger in fan column at Amazing Stories, http://amazingstoriesmag.com/ . To present my support for putting the Great Fan- date, they’ve run 8 or 9 or Graeme’s articles, and I have to admit they have zines online. For that matter, I wish to been brisk and entertaining. They would look good in any fanzine … for see faneds with hard copy fanzines post electronic versions on efan- that matter, they might raise the quality of Graeme’s own fanzines, if he’d zines.com. I think archives are pretty care to dwell on the irony of doing his best writing for someone else. Also much worthless for recruiting trufans, writing for the “club house” section of Amazing stories are Steve Fah- but online posting makes it possible nestalk and Earl Kemp. Graeme has even suborned me into lending a for more fans to enjoy a greater meas- hand, though so far my involvement has been limited to a single, as yet un- ure of Fandom’s treasures. 21 published cartoon for one of his upcoming columns. Surprisingly, the “club house” columns at Amazing Stories might just reach receptive souls among the readers. I don’t have great expecta- tions, mind you. Just because a fan reads science fiction, and reads about science fiction, it doesn’t follow that he wants to write about it, or – even less likely – write about the subculture that formed around science fiction. But I think the columns at Amazing Stories have a better chance of finding fresh blood for fanzine fandom than any other plan I’ve heard lately. And Graeme, for once, may have reason to be hopeful. I have never gotten into magazine collecting. Although some of my earliest SF reading consisted of used magazines that I bought for as little as 15 cents, they were ratty, dog-eared, stained, marked up, written on and frankly not very edifying reading. The odd thing was that I wasn’t Coming Attractions: buying them from a bookstore or newsstand or anywhere you might ex- A Peek at Next Issue pect, but from a corner Ma & Pa grocery down the street from where I What better way to start a preview lived in 1972. I’d go there with $2 from my mother to bring home milk than to tell you that the Cover Essay and butter, and spend the change on a copy of some garishly covered for fanstuff #42 is a Great Big Se- magazine that I hoped was interesting. cret? Seriously, I won’t elaborate, Later on I subscribed to Analog . It was one of those things you were but I think you’ll find it of some interest supposed to do if you professed to be a science fiction fan. For about a There’ll also be articles by Terry year I religiously read every issue as it arrived in the mail. Inevitably, I Kemp and Neil Williams. The for- began to fall behind in the second year, and by year three I had more mer returns to fanstuff with a de- than a dozen unread back issues. I never made much of an effort to lightful tour-de-force, while the lat- catch up – novels that I was buying at the time were always more inter- ter provides his response to Graeme esting than a catch-as-catch-can collection of unknowables. By year Cameron’s “Open Letter.” four I cancelled my subscription, and, eventually, sold off the collection. Letters from Robert Lichtman I needed the shelf space. John Purcell and Andy Porter, which I also used to have some “slick” SF magazines such as Omni and Ver- arrived too late for this issue, will tex . Sold those a few years ago also. lead off the next installment of Of all the magazines I bought, I only kept the F&SF “author” issues “loccer room,” which I hope will th also include a loc from you. and its 25 anniversary ish. I have a beaten-up issue of Fantastic that contained a tiny ad for OSFiC in the back, the very ad that was responsible for bringing me to fandom. I kept a new-bought issue of Fantastic that has Mike Glicksohn’s only published story in it. I also have one Last Call issue of an obscurity called Satellite, because of the article on Al Capp Throw Arnie on the Train, and L’il Abner in it, and an issue of Future because of a rare short story A Kiss by Margaret St. Clair that appears in no collection of her work. For That’s all for this time. more than that handful of magazines, I have no desire. Important as the I’ll be back with fanstuff #42 in magazine phase of science fiction history is, it never formed an impor- about a week. (Frequency of Publi- tant part of my own personal experience. cation should improve now that Joyce may be emerging from two months of assorted minor ills.) I hope you’ll join me for another We Also Heard From (WAHF): chapter of this saga. Your thoughts Ed Meskys, Woody Bernardi, John D. Berry, Theresa Derwin, Terry in the form of a letter of comment Kemp, Taral Wayne, John Purcell, Jenn Walker, Neil Williams, Andy would also be most welcome. Hooper Meanwhile — keep fanning! — Arnie 22