The Fan Activity Achievement (FAAn) Awards have reflected well on our subculture since the poll was intro- duced in the mid 1990’s. The vote-getters in each cate- gory generally merit the egoboo and I don’t think there’ve been any voting irregularities. 1 The FAAn Awards differ from the Fan Hugos in two important ways: • FAAn Awards voters are usually more familiar Tucker Awards in Perspective I’m grateful to Toni Weiskopf, Tim Bol- with the material. geo and Rich Zellich for dispelling our ig- • The FAAn Awards give egoboo to many deserv- norance of the existing Tucker Awards. ing fans in each category, not just the “winners.” Their article in fanstuff #35 was illuminat- ing in several respects. Again, I want to thank everyone who gave points to fanstuff , the The fact that so many of us were unaware of the awards is further evidence that, de- contributors and me. The fanzine’s strong showing in its first year spite considerable overlap, the various Spe- pleased me and I’ll do my best to keep fanstuff worthy of your at- cial Fandoms within Mass Fandom aren’t tention and support. very well connected to each other. My only regret is that some fans voted for fanstuff as a person- It also reminds us that one of the alzine. I’m grateful to those voters, whom I know were acting from strengths of Fandom is that there are so many ways for an individual to connect the best of intentions, but fanstuff would be a mere shadow without with it. Our way is attractive to us, because all its great contributors. of the type of people we are and what we Andy Hooper, the FAAn Awards Administrator for the last two want out of Fandom. Other Special Fan- years deserves applause for his excellent performance. In particular, doms fulfill different needs for people who the memory-joggers Andy has provided are a valuable innovation might not wholly enjoy Trufandom’s ap- proach to the hobby. that I hope will become standard practice in the future. Wrong for us; right for them. It seems likely that Andy will supervise the 2014 FAAn We’d never give “Best Partier” awards or Awards, which is fine by me. He’s honest and accurate and is virtu- use them to honor Bob Tucker. The confans ally guaranteed to do a first-class job. who support the Tucker Awards aren’t go- The only argument against Andy continuing to administer the ing to give awards to “Best Letterhack” or “Best Fanzine Cover,” either. FAAn Awards is the same one that would apply to any person who Our opinions about the awards they give held the job for a comparable period of time. Leaving the awards in is as irrelevant as their opinions about the the hands of one person might make it hard to introduce new ideas. honors we distribute. Our views on their That could make the FAAn Awards unresponsive to changing condi- awards simply don’t matter and the reverse tions and changing opinions. is also true. Convention Fandom can give the awards Frankly, I don’t think that’s valid with regard to Andy. He’s they think best and Trufandom can do the smart, creative and hard-working. Andy Hooper is a man of firm same. We don’t have to like the awards they convictions, but I’ve always found him willing to consider others’ give and they are free to think ours are ideas. And since no one has done better as FAAn Awards Adminis- equally ridiculous. trator, I would be delighted to hear that Corflu Richmond has put the Bob Tucker is a multi-faceted legend. If Confandom wants to salute Tucker’s con- 2014 FAAn Awards in his care. going exploits, they can and should do so. If Nothing is so perfect that it can’t be improved, including the we want to salute his seminal influence on FAAn Awards. Fandom and our Trufandom subculture, it’s I feel some fine-tuning could make the FAAn Awards even bet- our business. ter. I’ll offer a few possibilities in the balance of this essay. I’m sure In today’s diverse Mass Fandom, what’s needed is some mutual respect among the others have ideas they’d like to put on the table for discussion, too. Special Fandoms. We must not hinder them Here are some of my suggestion to start the conversation. Your from commemorating Tucker in their own turn comes in fanstuff #38 : way — and they need to reciprocate. The existing Tucker Awards are fine for • Convention Fandom and that’s all that mat- Give the Fan Activity Achievement Awards ters. If Trufandom decides to honor the nickname “The Tuckers.” There’s a lot of Tucker’s name by attaching it to the FAAn sentiment for doing something to honor Bob Awards, that’s our business. Tucker. Most fans who have commented seemed Fans must be free to enjoy their vision of to like this idea and it’s time to make the change fanac, whether we share it or not. (AK) 2 – or at least put it up for a vote at the next Corflu. Bill of Fare • Increase the number of blanks, at least for the ma- jor categories. The purpose of the awards is to honor Cover Essay excellence, not pick a single “best.” Three blanks per Thoughts on the category has the effect of concentrating the votes on a FAAn Awards few fans in each category. More blanks means that the Arnie/1 votes will be spread much more widely. There’s no evidence that fewer blanks leads to more participation, so we ought to remain true to the spirit of the awards Fen Den by saluting as many fans as possible. Tucker Awards In Perspective • Reduce the difference in value between a blank and Arnie/2 the ones above and below it. Them Daze • Adding more blanks would also decrease the differ- ence between a first place vote and a second place Break Out My Cape vote, a second-place vote and a third-place vote and so Dick Lupoff/4 on. That would be truer to the “egoboo poll” concept that spawned the FAAn Awards. The more blanks in a Faan Fiction category, the finer the gradations in scoring. Ah, Sweet Towner! Art Widner/6 • Refine the way Number-One Fan Face is deter- mined . The current method is based on total points. There are categories that would represent substantial Corful XXX Report areas of fannish creativity that aren’t represented in Willamette, Damn It!! the poll, which penalizes the fans who are prominent Murray Moore/14 in those areas. Since each category has the same num- ber of points available, the total vote method doesn’t loccer room place enough value on “Best Genzine,” “Best Fan- writer” and “Best Fan Artist.” YOU & me/16 • “Best Humorist” and “Best New Fan” should be polled. I understand the objection to adding catego- ries, but perhaps those categories and “Best Cover Art” could be rotated. • Produce a Detailed Results Booklet with write-ups The next fanstuff, #38 , should hit of high finishers in each category. Despite my good your inbox about Tuesday, June 25. intentions, it turned out to be one more thing than I That’s assuming Life doesn’t spring one of its periodic Dumb Surprises. could do for Corflu Glitter. A fan who wasn’t simulta- The articles are by Dick Lupoff, neously putting on Corflu, supported by a few willing Andy Hooper and me. The letters and writers, could turn it out fairly easily. (hopefully) accounts of Corflu XXX experiences will be by you fine fans. So much for my thoughts. Feel free to like, dislike and suggest revi- All letters of comment received by Saturday, June 22, are guaranteed. sions for any or all of them. After that, I’ll try my best to include It’s your turn now. them, though I can’t promise. — Arnie Katz — Arnie 3 I enjoyed Arnie Katz’s essay about flop superheroes. But I don't think you ever saw a few of my favorites. Uh, I use that word in a very special way. And I might have a few comments on some of your favorites. The Black Hood, for instance, was the lead feature in a pulp magazine. I've never actually laid eyes (nor less hands) on a copy, but I've seen pictures of the pulp, and it's definitely the same guy. As I recall, he wore a standard set of yellow tights plus—right!—a black hood. If anybody out there has a copy of a Black Hood pulp, please do get in touch with me. You mention the Shield, who was a World War Two patriotic superhero. His costume looked as if it was stitched together from roll-ends at a flag factory. He was, of course, a low-budget imitation Captain America. And in the 1950s still an- other Captain America clone was created by Jack Kirby, who had created the origi- nal Cap. This time he was called Fighting American (and had a "Bucky" analog called Speedboy). The Wizard, as far as I can recall, was the only comic book superhero who actu- ally lost a battle with the bad guys and was killed. His brother was so incensed that he fashioned himself a set of lovely green tights with a knotted hangman's rope for a belt, dubbed himself The Hangman, and set out to resume his deceased brother's war against crime.