SF Commentary 3
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number three 00OOO000000900000000000000000OOO00OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO O OOOOOOO OOOOOOOOO OOOOO OOO O 00 OO 8 00 00 O OOOOO OOO non non nnn n nnn n RSn n g °°°°ooo °°°888888 88888 888 8 88 88 8 §0 88 8 OO°88 OOO OOO OOO 000 8 000 8 000 8 ooooo §§S 888888888 SSSSS ggg g gg gg g 88 gg 8 88888 888 888 888 888 8 8 88888 888 00000000000000000000000000000080880880808808808000008088008080008088808080008800888 THE J A M PACK A Sort of Collection of Things that Should have Gone Elsewhere............. DISCUSSED, MALIGNED, PRAISED...OR MENTIONED... IN THIS ISSUE BRIAN ALDISS:Poor Little Warrior/34-5// ISAAC AS. IMOV:Nightfall/33-4/ •.Holmes-Ginshook Device743, 45// J.G.BaLLaRD: Coms at AngeIs/437/ a. J. BUDRYS: Galaxy Bookshelf/46// JOHN W CAMPBELL:AnalOR magazine/6,7, 8, 43, 44-5// GREGG- CONRaD: Mental Assassins/45// CORROSIVE R0T/20-21// SAMUEL R D EL AN Y: H j gh W e ir 74677 LESTER DEL RibY:WnrLds of Fantasy maga- zine/46// Garth/17-187/^H L GOLD: Quote/11// ROBERT a HEINLEIN: Blow ups Happen/ 25-6// HOiuaR : Iliad/ 19// ALDOUS HUXLEY : Brave New World/"" 23-4/7 COLIN KAPP: I Bring You Hands/45// DaNIEL KaYaS: Flowers for Algernon/23// ROBERT LORY: 1 or ever746// M T McINTOSH: Bliss of_ Soli- tude732-3// BARRY MaLZBNRG: Fantastic Magazine/45// GEORGE ORWELL: 1984/24// ARTHUR PORGES: The Ruum/31-2// FREDaRIK POHL:If Magazine/ 43, 46/ :Galaxy magazine/43// MaCK RaYNOLDS:Computer Conspiracy/43// CHARLES SCHULTE: Peanuts/lb// SCOTT MEREDITH AGENCY/7// OLAF STAPLEDON • Last_and First Men/2 577 TH HODORS STURGaON:Thunder and Roses/24-5// GEORGE TURNER: General/28// H G 'WALLS :Fjrst Men in the Moon/29-30// and JACK W0DIL1IS: General/5-10, 15, 37-40, 41-2, S4-5/ : TryAga in/45 / Split Personality/44-5/// THIS ISSUE is dedicated to JaCK WODHAMS, without whom it could hardly have existed. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED: This is purely obligatory, Because all fanzines are marvellous anyway, and youTll get a trade if you send me your sheet. However, there are avaricious Blokes like myself who want advertising: A.N.Z.A.P.a. The local apa? open to overseas member..' on a vaguely lim ited basis. $2 a year. Official Editor: Leigh IM.vnds.P 0 Box 74, Balaclava, Victoria, 3183, Australia. Highlight of last issue was a Christian Revolutionary Interpretation of Simon and Garfunkel, By Alex Robb. : : AUSTRALIA! SCIENCa FICTION REVIEW No 19. Good stuff. Better than this. F'oyster edited 19", but Bangsund in charge,P 0 Box 109, Ferntree Gully, Victoria,3156, Australia.:: EOS sort of odd sheet edited by Ron Clarke. Sorry I didnrt answer then, Ron.:: exploding madonna 6 - the best little fanzine in the world, which I can now mention Because itTs folding. ItTs still so secret I canrt tell you who publ ished it.:: THE MENTOR No 15. Ron Clarke.^8 -Redgrave Rd., Noimanhurst, N.S.W.2076, Australia© a worthy journal/pubSisheS all sorts of things I wouldnrt touch, like Fan Fiction, and a cover illustration. Well worth investigation by overseas people.Subs? Only an LoC or article. NEW FORaRUNNaR.AustraliaTs only newszine«, Gary Mason,Warili Rd, Frenches Forest,N.S.’W. 2086.:: SCIaNCa FICTION REVIEW. CreditaBle articles, crummy reviews, But astounding letter column. And it takes two nights to read.Richard n Geis. P 0 Box 3116, Santa Monica, California,90403, U.S.A. ^3.00 for six. 3033309300 0 9 O3 0 3 3 0 3 0 0 39 0 30 30 3 3 0 -3 3 9 3 9 9 9 0 OO0 0 9 0 33 0 0 00 9 '>.30033 S F C 0 Ji il K N T A R Y 40o EACH NUMBER 3 1969 $3.00 FOR 9 0033 3 39 030 0 0 3 33 90 0 ^3 3 0 0 3 9 3 0 ~ 0 39 3 3 9 3 393 9 3 3 ? 30 3 3 90 30 9^ 303 3 0 1966 MELBOURNE SCIENCE FICTION CONFERENCE : REPORT INTRODUCTION Bruce Gillespie 4 THE GUeST-OF-HONOUR’S SPEECH 5 Jack Wodhams Lee Harding presiding THE DISCUSSION PaNEL Damien Broderick 11 Lee Harding George Turner Wynne Whiteford Jack Wodhams John Foyster presiding FICTION MACHINES : American Magazines Oct-Dec 1968 42 Bruce R Gillespie 03 009 9.9 39 9 00 39 3Q 3 ? 03 909.9 900 903309 3 900 3 390 009 00 9 00 00 0 3 000 S F COMMENTARY No 3, is edited and typed by BRUCE R GILLESPIE, of P.O. Box 30, Bacchus Marsh (-’edited from a drunken bog”), Victoria, 3340, Australia. Printing and collating, unless things get Jiggered again, by LEE HaRDING, of Olinda Road, The Basin, Viet aria,3154, Australia. The duplicater is John Bangsund’s, the stencils come from Roneo, the paper from Gestetner, the Underwood typewriter from my father, and anything else you can blame on me. Subscriptions? I’d still rather letters and things, but money will do. But send me something. I’m no ^joilaij-^ 3 S F CQviLiENTaRY III 3 000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 THE 1 9 6 8 MELBOURNE CONFERENCE GUEST-OF-HONOUR’S SPEECH DISCUSSION PANEL Introduced by Bruce R Gil1 cspie 00OOO00000000000000 000000?; ■ • 00 00 0 30 ■? C C00000000003000000 0000 For some months (some years?) there has been an ugly rumour that there would not he a -report on the 1968 Melbourne Science Fiction Conference. The successful completion of the 1969 8th Australian Science Fiction Convention, also held in Melbourne, has only added to these rumours. But, despite skulduggery, cri ies (like stealing a Confer ence tape for use in S 5 COMMENTARY No 2), and other ass orted entertainments of which only Melbourne fandom is capable, we hear present the major documents of the Conf erence. A couple of transcriptions that American authors sent to the Conference, have not yet surfaced from the Bangsund slushpile. Fear not. They’ve been swimming upwards for awhile now, and any day they may reach Bacchus Marsh. The documents presented here, are, I suggest, worth far more than a nostalgic glance to see when that fan twitted that author, and to see how many times Jack Wodhams laughed. The authors who sat on a ricketty stage out at Boronia, raised many many points that remain as import ant now as then. Many points are even more urgent /ft?Sn they were then. In other words, I would very much like to see the reactions of S F CQMivIENTARY readers to the material here presented. For instance, I feel that somewhere in the middle of the very strong views expressed by Damien Broderick, Jack Wodhams, George Turner, Lee Harding, John Foyster, and even that Voice from the Audience, there remains a central point not even touched. Damien vividly presented the rotting effects of too much science fiction. John Foyster was even more righteously indignant in his horror at the s f author’s carelessness in craft. For George Turner, science fiction was mainlv entertainment, (Then why does he write so well about it?) All hedged around the point that I would have made if I’d been an author, and had not been sitting half-asleep in the audience. Damien’s point is essential. Why is science fiction so destructive to the sensibilities of the unsuspecting (Continued on Page 42) 4 S I* COimdiiji^TixRY III 4 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODOOOOODOOOOCDDCl!-: JACK 'J 0 D H A IY! S the GUEST-OF-HOI\IOUR'S ADDRESS transcribed by Tcny Thomas Lee Harding presiding OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOC3 (Sustained applause. Cries of "Good on you, Sack", "You beauty", "Speech", &c) WODHAiYiS Well, fellers, I’m very glad to be here. I don’t really know what to say to you all. When Pm rich and famous I probably won’t speak to you rabble again. Pve learnt a lob. I don't mix socially with people up there, being a hermit, and Pve sort of been stimulated to come down here... ERIK HARDING He’s a funny man, isn’t he, Dad? WDDHAWS Quietl What are you laughing al? Pp.'s so funny about that, eh? Ah, now I'ue lost the throne • i, i had a thread - which I didn’t have, a thread. Ahmmm, I don’t think 1.era's a great deal I can say. HARDING Well, tell us how much you make from Analog. WODHAIYIS How much I make from Analog. Well, not enough yet. Ah, hut actually Pm hoping to get better. You're all science fiction fans here. Pm not sure that I’ll go on for ever and ever in science fiction, It might be science fiction but certain persons might not call it science tion; but I don’t write science fiction purposely to write science fiction. you know, it's sort of, ah, to try to say what I want to say in the science fiction manner that happens to be a science fiction manner, you see. What I’m trying to say is that science fiction just happens to be the way it looks when it comes out. So that's it, fellers. I can't think of any automatic way to make a fortune or anything. Pm still finding that out myself, or trying to find it out. I'm hoping to find a way. Pm not curious by any means. I write for money, purely, simply, first off. When Pm rich I can afford maybo to write other things. I don't consider myself a good writer by any means. HARDING fflodest. WODHAmS Ah, it's not modesty, no, there's so much more to,.