Tolkien Fandom Review 1965

Tolkien Fandom Review 1965 by Sumner Gary Hunnewell (Hildifons Took) 2010 First Edition (December 2010) 60 copies © 2010, The New England Tolkien Society Sumner Gary Hunnewell (Hildifons Took) 2030 San Pedro Dr., Arnold, Missouri 63010 U.S.A. [email protected] Tolkien Fandom Review: 1965 Table of Contents Dedication . 2 From the Archives of Hildifons Took . 2 A Short Overview of Tolkien Fandom in 1965 . 2 A Few Comments on the Fanzines Covered . 4 Fanzines . 5 Author index . 14 Artist index . 24 Art index by subject . 25 Addenda (1956-1964) . 27 A Few Comments on the Fanzines Covered . 27 Fanzines . 27 Author index . 27 Ephemera . 28 Errata . 28 Glossary . 29 Bibliography . 29 1 Tolkien Fandom Review: 1965 Dedication This installment is dedicated to Ed Meskys and Richard Plotz, who ushered in Tolkien fandom’s original Golden Age. It is dedicated to the memory of Greg Shaw and Donald A. Wollheim. From the Archives of Hildifons Took The first installment of this project was sent without much explanation or fanfare. My desire to chronicle Tolkien fandom existed since my early days of fandom in the late 1970’s. It has come in fits and starts. Originally, Tom Santoski and I had envisioned a Periodic Guide to Tolkien Literature but it never got past the 8” high stack of index cards, which I created. Spurred by the Tolkien centenary and on-going work with Marquette University brought about the Tolkien Year End Reviews in 1992 and 1993. The 1994 and 1995 years were started but never completed. In a project like this, it is difficult to abstract evenly. An off-hand remark will be noted as would a literary criticism spanning many pages. Any misrepresentation of the original author’s intent can be placed on me. I do not have the breadth of knowledge (literarily, politically, linguistically) needed sometimes to understand all nuances. Also, the nature of fanzines, APAzines, and genzines is that items will be missed1 or known fanzines with Tolkien content of which this author knows but either does not have the inclination or financial resources to obtain or fanzines that are lost to history / the trash heap. In the coming Tolkien Fandom Reviews, the Tolkien focused fanzines will outnumber science fiction fanzines considerably. The reviews of the earlier installment were well received. This, of course, provides enough egoboo to spur on the 1965 version even earlier than I had expected. A Short Overview of Tolkien Fandom in 1965 Soon after the publication of The Lord of the Rings in America, Donald A. Wollheim realized that the American editions carried no copyright notice. Although he admitted he was no devotee of Tolkien, he was a businessman and what he would do in 1965 would change the face of Tolkien fandom… ACE Books did not break any laws when they produced their edition of The Lord of the Rings – without consent of its author. The British and American publishers, knowing that they had no legal right to sue, decided to try ACE’s editor, Donald A. Wollheim, in the court of public opinion. This included fanzines. Both Niekas and Yandro, two highly regarded and well-read fanzines2, received letters from representatives of Tolkien’s publishers, George Allen & Unwin and Houghton Mifflin, resp. Fans came down on both sides of the argument but when blame was assessed it was put squarely on the shoulders of Houghton Mifflin, the copyright laws or both. Any coals heaped on the head of Wollheim seemed to come from people who were already on their way to ACE Books, shovels in hand. Wollheim rebutted all 1 This Review uncovered mistakes I made from my earlier published From the Archives of Hildifons Took, Formerly of Tuckborough: A Collection of Items found in non-Tolkien fanzines, written and drawn by Fans and Students of the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien (1991). 2 Yandro won the best fanzine Hugo in 1965. Niekas followed two years later. 2 Tolkien Fandom Review: 1965 comers and published his own account in Terry Carr’s fanzine, Lighthouse (Carr was a fan editor as well as a professional editor – at ACE Books). Jack Gaughan’s ACE edition covers brought mixed reactions. However, everyone (including Tolkien) was bewildered at Barbara Remmington’s cover illustrations for the Ballantine editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. To fill the vacuum of I Palantir’s anemic production and the quietness The Fellowship of the Ring, a young Los Angeles fan, Greg Shaw, published some Tolkien items in his genzine, Feemwlort. With David Hall of Missouri, he started Entmoot, a Tolkien fanzine independent from a club. Shaw seriously plumbed Tolkien’s work by way of its Elvish linguistics and writing styles. It met with mixed reviews…as did most Tolkien discussion. There seemed to be little gray area. Either fans were excited by The Lord of the Rings or they could not understand what the hubbub was all about. Most of this discussion was set off by Al Halevy’s Middle-earth glossary, which appeared in sequential issues of Niekas. The pages and pages of Tolkien character names and descriptions delighted some and baffled others. This year was the year of the “list makers” and there was a paucity of fiction or introspective and scholarly essays, which were common in the earliest days of Tolkien fandom.3 Prior to the uproar with ACE Books, Richard Plotz placed an advertisement in The New Republic, inaugurating the New York Tolkien Society (later, the Tolkien Society of America), which was totally outside of science fiction fandom.4 At that time, there were not many distinct author-based fandoms in the U.S. other than fans of Burroughs and Lovecraft. Within a few months, the Society had over 100 members. Lest anyone think there is anything new under the sun, these are Tolkien fandom firsts published during this time: • The taking of Tolkien fan names5, • Question whether Balrogs had wings, • Who was the Eldest, Bombadil or Treebeard?, • Reports of people naming their children after Tolkien characters, and • Elvish looks Finnish. Tolkien fandom in 1966 would look a lot like 1965. It would start out on its own (outside of SF fandom), under the banner of The Tolkien Society of America… A Few Comments about the Fanzines Covered Most fanzines were created in limited quantities and are difficult to track down, so this (by no means) is a complete list of fanzines that contain Tolkien content (in some cases I have only a photocopy of a page or two). Much of the discussion appears in clubzines or APAs, which were a 3 Other Tolkien-named fanzines with no Tolkien content include Barad-dûr (Chalker), Barad-Dur (Klassen), The Hobbiton Herald (Johnstone), Lonely Mountain (Wells), and The Mirkwood (Klassen). 4 For the genesis of the Tolkien Society of America, see Grotta-Kurska’s The Biography of J.R.R. Tolkien: Architect of Middle-earth (1978): 137-38. 5 One might argue that Marion Zimmer Bradley was the first, using Elfrida Rivers, however this was a psuedonym (not a fannish name) used for her two “Arwen” stories in I Palantir. 3 Tolkien Fandom Review: 1965 common vehicle for distribution. However, some of these zines (for example, Niekas) could certainly stand on their own. Later in the 1960s, as science fiction fandom became less of an influence within Tolkien fandom, APAzines had negligible impact. Often mimeographed and dittoed fanzines would use capital letters for titles or other artistic scripting. In cases like this, titles were standardized. Here is a list of those fanzines covered and any affiliation (see the Glossary for additional information). Amra. Published in Chicago, Illinois, by G. H. Scithers; independent. Day*Star / Allerei. Published in Berkeley, California by Marion [Zimmer Bradley] and Walter Breen for FAPA. Entmoot. Published in Crystal City, Missouri, San Bruno, California, by David Hall and Greg Shaw; independent. Feemwlort. Published in San Bruno, California, by Greg Shaw, for N’APA. Gallant Gallstone. Published in Los Angeles, California, by Jack Harness for APA L. Grimoire. Published in Columbia, Missouri, by David Hall; independent. Lighthouse. Published in Brooklyn, New York, by Terry Carr for FAPA. maLAise. Published in New York by Dave Van Arnam for APA L. Mallorn Leaf. Published by Barry Gold for APA F and APA L. Niekas. Published in Livermore, California, Palo Alto, California, and Center Harbor, New Hampshire, by Ed Meskys and Felice Rolfe for N’APA. O. Published by Dan Alderson for APA L. PASTell. Published in Garden Grove, California, by John Trimble and Al Lewis for Project Art Show. Ratatosk. Published in Los Angeles, California, by Bruce Pelz; independent. Ring Cycle. Published by Dick Eney; independent. Tolkien Journal. Published in Brooklyn, New York, by Richard Plotz for The New York Tolkien Society and The Tolkien Society of America. Sagana. Published in Brooklyn, New York, by John Boardman for APA L. Voice From A Hot Water Bottle. Published in Burbank, California, by Phil Castoria for APA L. Yandro. Published in Hartford City, Indiana, by Robert and Juanita Coulson; independent. 4 Tolkien Fandom Review: 1965 Fanzines X 1965 W PASTell 17 (January 1965) Trimble, Bjo. “Trimble News.” 5. Notes the birth of “Kathryn Arwen Trimble.” [Trimble, Bjo?]. “Art Show Awards - 1964.” 6-7. Fellowship of the Ring award given at the Worldcon had honorable mentions given to Cawthorn and Stopa (Stopa was also fifth in the Popular Award voting for another Tolkien piece). Berman, Ruth. “Judges’ Reports.” 12-13. Felt that Stopa’s Lothlorien art in the art show did not raise to a winners category for the Fellowship of the Ring award. Lewis, Al.

Load more