The J. T. Oliver Photo Collection

The J. T. Oliver Photo Collection, May 2013, is a one-shot published by Bill Plott, 190 Crestview Circle, Montevallo, AL 35115 for SFPA Mailing 293. Other contact information: 205- 665-5538; [email protected]. Editing assistance by Lillian Plott. This is Banshee Press publication No. 34.

J.T. Oliver’s house at 315 27th Street, Columbus, Ga.

In my teenage years when Southern fans were few and far between I picked up the nickname of “The Traveling Fan” for a while, largely due to my quest to find kindred spirits. I made trips to meet Al Andrews in Birmingham, Dave Hulan in Huntsville, James ayers in Attalla, AL, Shelby and Suzy Vick and Norm Metcalfe in Panama City, James Ayers in Attalla, Ala., and Emile Greenleaf in New Orleans. I also visited J.T. Oliver in Columbus, Ga. J.T. was among a small group of active fans in the 1950s in Georgia. Others included Lee Hoffman in Savannah, Roger D. Aycock in Rome, and the coterie of fans that formed that Atlanta Science Fiction Organization. Aycock, by the way, was also a pro who wrote under the name of Roger Dee.

Since Columbus was only 30 miles from Opelika, I made several trips to visit J.T. I thought nothing of it at the time but realized later that he lived in one of the mill villages and probably worked in one of the mills. I remember him explaining that the Columbus high schools were culturally dispersed. Baker drew the military kids from Fort Benning, Jordan the working class kids and Columbus High the remainder.

Although he had no great faunching to get back into active fandom, J. T. took an interest in my youthful enthusiasm. He gave me a number of old fanzines, including at least one copy of Lee Hoffman’s great fanzine Quandry. According to zinewiki.com, Jay, Paul Cox, Van Splawn and John Kelly Jr., published Worlds Apart, a single issue fanzine in February 1951. I do not recall if he gave me a copy of it. However, he did give me an envelope full of photos, which are shared in this one-shot photo album. I have identified and annotated the photos to the best of my ability. Much of the annotation comes from internet sources.

1 Our indefatigable SFPA genealogist Larry Montgomery did a lot of the legwork for a brief biography of Jay, based on nothing more than his home address in Columbus.

“Wow, you’ve posed a challenge…not much to work with. But I think I‘ve ‘found him.’ If his first name was Joseph then I’ve got him. “Let’s try J. T. Oliver, born Macon, Ga., 10-07-1927 and died in Columbus, Muscogee County, Ga., 05-16-1988. Buried in Parkhill Cemetery in Columbus. That comes from findagrave.com. Social Security Death Index with just J.T. Oliver and Columbus, Ga., input gives back Joseph T. Oliver with these birth/death dates, last address as Columbus.”

That was the first indication I ever had of J. T.’s given names. The only reference I ever saw to a first name was Jay. His father was Robert Tombs Oliver and Larry speculates that Jay was Joseph Tombs Oliver. The 1940 census has him in Macon with a widow mother (Emma) and a brother.

Lee Hoffman, J.T. Oliver and Paul Cox, sometime in the ‘50s. Lee lived in Savannah and published highly respect fanzine Quandry. She published an acclaimed 100-page annish one year. Paul had a long career as a sports writer and editor.

2 I obtained his obituary from the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer through the Columbus Public Library. It listed him as J. T. Oliver, 60, of 4807 Woodruff Road. He died in Doctors Hospital of some undisclosed ailment. The only survivor was a brother Robert. His predeceased parents match the names that Larry found.

The obituary did offer a little more on his career. It said he lived in Columbus for 42 years and was retired from the engineering department at Swift Textiles.

Of the people in the Jay’s circle, I only knew a couple of them. I never met Lee Hoffman, which I regret very much. She was gone from the area before I met Jay. Since I didn’t see any signs of fanac during that time I just assumed she had gafiated. Boy, was I wrong. I urge everybody to check out the web page http://gary-ross-hoffman.com. He is Lee’s nephew and she is obviously his favorite aunt. He has several great links to her, including an eight-page autobiography that detail both her fannish and professional careers. This carries her through moving to Port Charlotte, Fla., in 1976 and an unclear number of years afterward.

My contact with Paul Cox came later and I knew him as a sports writer and editor. Even though I was vaguely aware of his fannish background, it was not something we ever discussed when our paths crossed in journalistic endeavors. He was not active at the time I got into fandom. Paul died in May 2012 at a nursing home in Auburn. He covered most major sports events in his long career, but I would guess a highlight had to be the only perfect game in the World Series, Don Larsen’s performance in 1957.

A crossover friend with Paul was Millard Grimes, another Opelika-Columbus-Phenix City newspaper man. Millard had had at least some peripheral involvement in fandom. He and I became friends in 1964 when I interned at The Columbus Ledger, the sister paper to the Enquirer where he was an editor. Although I turned down a job offer in Columbus when I finished college and our contact was inconsistent, Millard and I remained friends. In the early 1980s he had some role in bringing Lloyd Biggle Jr. to Auburn University. I think there must have been a local SF group that asked him to make a guest author appearance. Since Lloyd and I had been corresponding friends for a number of years I was invited to a party/reception for Lloyd at Millard’s house. It was the first time we had seen each other since either Pittcon (1960) or Discon I (1963).We had a pleasant reunion, thanks to Millard.

Through Jay I became a brief correspondent with Roger Dee. Looking back, I’m surprised that I didn’t make a trip to Rome, Ga., to visit him, given my predilection for visiting other fans in those days.

Of the photos that Jay gave me, only two of them were of fans per se. The others were all writers. The most fascinating picture is the one on the next page, obviously taken at some kind of science fiction gathering. Was it a convention? A writer’s conclave? Whatever, it’s a great shot. Following the photo are some short bios, drawn largely from the internet, of the other writers featured in headshots.

A gathering of writers, probably 1950s, occasion unknown. Following information is from typed IDs on back of the snapshot. From left, Bill Crawford, former publisher of Marvel Tales, now publisher of Fantasy Book; Jack Williamson; Julius Schwartz; Charles D. Hornig, former editor of Wonder Stories & Science Fiction; Edmond Hamilton, now married to Leigh Brackett; Russ Hodgkins; Henry Hasse.

Henry Hasse (1913-1977) is best known for being co-author of Ray Bradbury’s first published story, “Pendulum” in the November 1941 issue of Super Science Stories. Some of his other writing has been anthologized in Adventures in Time and Space and Before the Golden Age.

Ralph Milne Farley was the pen name of Roger Sherman Hoar (1887-1963). In real life he was a state senator and assistant attorney general for the state of Massachusetts. He wrote a lot of pulp fiction including The Radio Man series. He also wrote under the pseudonyms of Robert S. Lerch, R. S. Lerch and L. R. Sherman.

Roger D. Aycock (1914-2004 lived in Rome, Ga., and wrote under the name of Roger Dee. He was a World War II veteran, serving in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. A lengthy list of his novels and short stories can be found on Wikipedia. He was a U. S. Postal Service letter carrier for many years and was an accomplished musician. In the photo that accompanied his newspaper obituary, he appeared to be playing a fiddle..

4 Ray Bradbury (1920-2012). This shouldn’t require any serious annotation from me. He and Isaac Asimov brought a level of mainstream credibility to our genre. The signed photo suggests just how accessible Bradbury and other writers were to their relatively small group of admirers in those days.

G. T. Fleming-Roberts (1910-1968). Another bizarre, tenuous connection between my wife and fandom. He was born George Thomas Roberts in her hometown of Lafayette, Ind. She knew neither him or his father who taught at Purdue, though. His agent suggested a name change to boost his career and Fleming-Roberts was born. He wrote primarily mysteries particularly detective-magician tales. Two of his characters were the Green Ghost and Captain Zero.

Wilson (Bob) Tucker (1914-2006). One of the great SF writers. I always felt like he was underappreciated as a novelist. His novels The Long Loud Silence and The Year of the Quiet Sun were two of the best books I read in my younger days. I did not realize just how extensive his fanac was until I saw his bio on Wikipedia. His fanzine, Le Zombie, was published from 1938- 2001.

Walt Sheldon (1917-1966), a mystery and pulp writer. He produced one Ellery Queen mystery novel, Guess Who’s Coming to Kill You? He also wrote as Shel Walker. WFIL was owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer and was the second television station to air in Philadelphia. A Billboard story on the station’s debut listed Sheldon as editor of The Inquirer Television News. Presumably he hosted a news program.

Lester Dent (1904-1959) was best known for his character Doc Savage. Most of his novels were published under the pseudonym of Kenneth Robeson. He was a hugely prolific writer. Available on the internet is a fascinating document called “The Lester Dent Paper Master Fiction Plot,” in which he describes the basic outline he used for every novel. He is quoted assaying, “No yarn of mine written to the formula has yet failed to sell.”

5 .

Henry Hasse. Note on back says, “The one on the left is me.”

Ralph Milne Farley

Roger D. Aycock who wrote as Roger Dee 7

Ray Bradbury in a dated photo.

G. T. Fleming-Roberts, creator of the Green Ghost and Captain Zero.

Wilson “Bob” Tucker. On back: “For J. T. Oliver. I LIKE mystery fans. Wilson (Bob) Tucker,12-12-49.

Mystery writer Walt Sheldon also worked at Philadelphia’s second TV station. WFIL debuted in September 1947. 11

Lester Dent, creator of Doc Savage and The Avenger.