Many ways to think Arrive through what others tell. Restrain no freedoms, Tolerate discords, knowing Yet nutrition comes from them.
Marty Cantor (1935-2023) left our stage Saturday morning, April 29. Advanced cancer, which for a while had been held back by treatment, finally overcame him.
He was active in fanzines. His fanzine Holier Than Thou (with Robbie Bourget, then his wife) was a three-time Hugo finalist; his later No Award (I wrote to him “You are worthy of No Award and No Award is worthy of you”) too was applauded; he helped run Corflu IX (fanziners’ convention; corflu = mimeograph correction fluid, largely historical by Corflu I but once indispensable) and chaired Corflu XXXIV; he served three separate terms as Official Collator of APA-L (its sole officer; APA or apa = amateur press ass’n, in which contributors’ fanzines are collated and the whole then distributed to each); he helped found LASFAPA (L.A. Scientifiction Fans’ Apa, our old word scientifiction by then historical) and served as its Little Tin God (sole officer; accused of taking a high-handed attitude to the apa rules and behaving like a little tin god, he so changed his official title, LTG for short, then began the HTT fanzine; when Corflu XXII was called “Corflu Titanium” [Ti = 22] and people were given elemental nicknames, his was Tin); he (with Mike Gunderloy, Mike Glyer, Mark Sharpe) brought Shangri-L’Affaires into one of its bursts of life (clubzine of the L.A. Science Fantasy Society, begun in the 1940s, Retrospective Hugo finalist); he (with Glyer) published the 6th Edition of TheNeo-Fan’s Guide; he edited and published Phil Castora’s memoir Who Knows What Ether Lurks in the Minds of Fen?; he edited De Profundis (a later LASFS clubzine; “LASFS” as if rhyming with a Spanish-English “màs fuss”).
He and Robbie were elected DUFF (Down Under Fan Fund) delegates to Aussiecon II the 43rd World Science Fiction Convention; each wrote a DUFF report, both published head-to-tail like Ace Books’ double titles; his was Duffbury Tales. He was an agent for the successful Britain in ’87 bid to hold the 45th Worldcon. He was given the Evans-Freehafer (LASFS’ service award).
From the mid 1950s through the early ’60s he was a folksinger and instrumentalist (also a poet published in the little magazines of that time), playing 6-string and 12-string guitar, gut-bucket, jug, washboard; he carried two guitars strapped to his motorcycle from coffee-house to coffee-house; Dave Van Ronk (1936-2002) taught him an open-C guitar tuning; he jammed with Jim Kweskin (1940- ), David Lindley (1944-2023), the New Lost City Ramblers.
Later he managed a tobacco shop and then was the only full-time clerk at another, from which he managed to get leave for his DUFF trip five months into his employment. During those years he was often seen with a pipe; so portrayed on the cover of Duffbury Tales. Later than that he managed a U-Haul shop; later than that, his apartment building, hosting tabletop board games in the garage when COVID-19 precautions eased. He and Robbie met at Chicon IV the 40th Worldcon, were married the next January; divorced after sixteen years; no children; managed to stay on good terms.
One of our more cynical – and self-deprecatory – sayings is The Golden Age of science fiction is 12. Cantor found SF fandom at 40. He joined the LASFS in May 1975. His Evans-Freehafer Award came in 2016.
He hated snow. One day Charles Curley driving along an L.A. freeway noticed the mountains could be seen clearly (they were sometimes obscured by smog) and were covered with snow. Here in Los Angeles! Practically on Cantor’s doorstep – aha! So Curley recruited some friends and shovels and a tarpaulin and a pickup truck; drove into the mountains; loaded the tarp with snow; and in the still of the night drove to Cantor’s place and piled snow by the outdoor entrance. Cantor was really touched that they cared enough about him to pull this stunt, but added “Don’t ever do that again.”
He didn’t forsake classical music. In his school orchestra he had been Principal of Second Violins (an orchestra has two violin sections, Violin I and Violin II, with different parts), calling for both musical quality and leadership. As an adult he loved Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto (1878) and Praetorius’ Terpsichore (1612) – two very different works, in case you don’t know.
In print, including electronic media, he could be vigorous in his opinions. He did not keep his mundane political views away from his fanac (our old word for fan activity); for example, in APA-L he waxed wroth upon such subjects with Karl Lembke, who also did much for the LASFS (chaired the Board of Directors twenty years, substantial donor, E-F Award 2010) and local conventions (often ran Hospitality, contributing his own cooking and brewing; chaired Loscon XXXII) but was as firmly on the Right as Cantor was on the Left. Yet Cantor punctiliously enagaged in fanac with people whose views were far from his – e.g. Lembke. It was a point of honor with him.
By Ahrvid Engholm: I’ve known Maths Claesson for — if I calculate it correctly — 43 years. He was an energetic fan, a BNF if there ever was one, a major fanzine publisher cranking the Värnamo (his original hometown) fandom Khuken Olsson mimeo, long time SF-Bookstore pillar (the last few years the chain’s CEO) and also author of the YA book series about a boy named Linux longing for riding a rocket to space.
But some my adventures with him was on bicycle. Out of many episodes, here are two.
The first time I met him was when he and fannish friends Glenn and Thomas took their Volvo to an sf con in Stockholm, August 1980. As the fannish tradition is to find non-locals free crash space (it’s a proud, lonely and economically challenging thing to be a fan…) I could arrange for our bunch to stay the night in the SFSF HQ, at legendary 45 Pioneer Street, also housing the first SF Bookstore. I was on bicycle and they followed in their car. I rode the wheels like a rocket and Maths complained they had a hard time keep up! I had a beanie and they could see its propeller spinning wildly at a distance…
Another memory. Sweden has a state-owned alcohol monopoly. At the time their shops closed at 6pm and it was closed during weekends. If you missed the hours, you were out of luck. We a group of fen planned a weekend sailing excursion in the Stockholm archipelago. Friday at ten to six we found that the Hornstull blog shop to our horror had a computer error and couldn’t sell us the hot dog grilling accessories! Me and Maths hit our bikes for a Tour de Fans dash to save the weekend! We reached it 5:59 breathing heavily. I remember having some Hungarian Tokaj as the sun set on the island and the fire glowed and crackled.
His demise of cancer at the much too young age of 64 (May 7, survived by wife and two genetical offsprings) was deemed important enough for national TV’s “Culture News” to cover it (circa 5 minutes in; use a VPN).
Just a short note: Maths did a lot for sf and fandom, but the SF Bookstore he didn’t found. It started already in 1977 by the Scandinavian SF Association (involving e.g. Stieg Larsson!) on Pioneer Street, the legendary place of fannish lore, where we headef that August evening…
By Chris M. Barkley: We may not give it much thought, but we dance with death on a daily basis.
We evade death every day by doing little things; not crossing against the street light, using our turn signals, putting on a life jacket before boating, taking our daily medications and watching our step on mountain trails.
We take these precautions almost unconsciously, with the almost reckless assurance that we will wake in the morning and go soundly to sleep at night.
But none of that is true.
We live in a very perilous world where calamity, disease and sudden death are dealt out wholesale on a daily basis. And occasionally, we are reminded that it is closer than we can possibly imagine.
On Saturday afternoon, April 29, I was preparing to go to one of the irregularly scheduled meetings of the Cincinnati Fantasy Group with my partner Juli.
We were excited to see our CFG friends who were gathering at our friend Karen’s residence for an impromptu wake for a recently deceased member, Frank Johnson. There had been very few gatherings (and no annual Midwestcons) since 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. This meeting marked a return to something resembling normalcy. But we were all mistaken.
As I waited for Juli to get ready, I was checking the CFG Facebook account (which I am a co-administrator of) and noticed we had received a urgent notification from a fan named Rita Deering Webber:
“Hey, folks, I need a favor.Ric Bergman hasn’t posted on FB for around 6 weeks and that’s not usual for him. I’m in Chattanooga so aside from the telephone I have no way to check on him. If any of you have the ability to go by and see if he’s okay I’d really appreciate it. I’ve called multiple times and left messages. Now his voicemail is full and he’s still not answering. Another friend in New York has tried also. I have his phone number and address if anyone is willing to go over there. Just message me if you need it. I’d hate to think something has happened to him and nobody knows.”
Ric and Rita Deering Webber, Midwestcon 1978. Photo by Stephen Leigh.
I knew Ric Bergman, but not as well as some of the other members. He was a longtime and well known member of CFG. But no one in the group had seen him in the past few years; in fact, the last time I remember seeing him was at one of our annual picnics in 2018 or 2019.
I messaged her and asked for his current address so Juli and I could conduct a wellness check. Ms. Deering responded immediately. And as it turned out, it was on the western side of town and not too far out of our way to Karen’s house.
Childhood portrait, late 1950’s
Richard Charles Bergman was born in Cincinnati and was a graduate of Western Hills School in 1967. You might say he was born to be a fan. In September of 2013, Ric wrote on Facebook:
“Sixty-four years ago I was born, 1949 September 5th, 5 maybe 6 miles away at the Hotel Metropole the banquet was happening at Cinvention and at Deaconess Hospital at 7:27 pm, I was born. I love Doc E. E. Smith, he was there, I love Fritz Leiber Jr.’s Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories, he was there. And now I’m a part of it, small part, but that’s probably for the best.”
When I discovered the CFG in June of 1976, Ric was hard not to notice or like. Back then, we had been gathering annually for several years at the Quality Inn Hotel in Norwood, Ohio (which, sadly, was recently demolished and razed for new development). Ric, who was well over six feet tall, possessed an unruly bush of reddish hair, had a great sense of humor and a booming laugh that could be heard several hotel rooms away.
And while I wouldn’t describe us as close friends, we had many mutual friends and we got along well enough and I certainly regarded him as a valued member of the CFG family.
A demonic portrait of Ric at Midwestcon 1982. Photo by Stephen Leigh.
After Rita transmitted Ric’s address, I googled it and looked at the area. I’ve lived in the area a majority of my life and was familiar enough with the part of Cincinnati where the apartment complex was located.
We arrived at the huge, sprawling complex on top of a hill just before sunset. The parking area and driveway was mostly composed of potholes, loose gravel and cracked pavement. I found a parking space right in front of the Ric’s building.
Juli elected to stay in the car. I made my way inside and knocked on what I thought was Ric’s apartment door. I say that because the person who answered the door was Hispanic and was not fluent in English.
As I started to go through my brain’s rolodex of Spanish phrases, the man held up his hand and reached for his smartphone. It took a couple of tries but eventually he got his English to Spanish voice translator to work. A person I assumed was the man’s partner looked on with a bemused look on her face.
When I asked if he knew Ric or his current whereabouts, he said he didn’t have any idea. Despondent, I thanked them and returned to the car. I checked the apartment number with Juli. I discovered that I was one digit off; it was actually the door next to the one I knocked on.
I went back inside and used the brass knocker on Ric’s door. Several times. There was no response.
I then did something I really did not like doing; I put my nose to the edge of the door to test for noxious odors.
Nothing.
Which didn’t surprise me all that much because I could see that there was some sort of seal with bristles bordering the edges, which probably reduced any noise as well.
A thought occurred to me as I stepped back outside; Ric has a car. Maybe it was still here. I texted Rita and asked her if she knew what kind of car Ric drove. She responded: “He has an old white sedan. I think a Chrysler.”
I glanced out and noticed just such a car, parked right next to our car.
I took a photo and sent it to her. “Is that it?”
Rita said: “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen it.”
I went over to the car and examined it. It was covered with grime and dust. There were also leaves and dirt accumulated under the tires. Although the evidence was purely circumstantial, it certainly did not look good.
Off to the west, I could see a line of storm clouds advancing towards the complex. After consulting with Juli, we agreed that there was no telling how long it would take for someone to check the apartment so we decided to proceed to the CFG meeting and arrange for an official wellness check by the police and EMT’s from the fire division.
I can’t speak for Juli but I can freely admit I also had absolutely no interest in being present when they opened Ric’s door…
I texted Rita an update on how we were doing and we left.
For many years through the 1970’s through the 1990’s, I saw Ric in the company of Diane Devorn. They were a lovely couple and enjoyed each other’s company and ours as well.
Ric, Diane & Denise Leigh, September 1982. Photo by Stephen Leigh.
Ric and Diane on their wedding day, March 20, 1981.
Ric Bergman and parents on his wedding day.
From reports that I have since received from fellow CFG members, they were married in 1981 and for a time moved to California for a while. There was an amicable divorce towards the end of the century and Ric eventually moved back to Cincinnati. Ms Devorn died of cancer sometime afterwards.
(I was unable to verify any more of this as of this publication. Friends and acquaintances of Mr. Bergman and Ms. Devorn are free to contact me or comment on this File 770 post for corrections and clarifications).
If you were to scroll through the last two years of Ric’s posts (and I did), you can tell that he was fiercely against war, economic inequality, hypocrisy, sexism and racism. He was also a HUGE fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who and Star Wars. I also noted that the both of us shared the same sorts of political memes and jokes.
Ric and Diane with family members at Thanksgiving in California, circa mid-1980’s. Photo by Ric Bergman.
Being white, Ric could have easily used the societal privilege granted to him to his advantage but from what I could tell from his Facebook posts, he consciously chose to speak up and speak out about things he saw in his life that were wrong. I admire him for that.
Juli and I arrived at Karen’s house at dusk. After greeting our friends and apprising them of the situation with Ric, I commandeered a bedroom, closed the door and began to make phone calls.
My first call was to the housing management company which was located in northern Kentucky, across the river from Cincinnati. I did not expect anyone to answer at that hour and no one did. I left a lengthy voicemail about being concerned about not hearing from Ric and that I was calling the proper authorities to arrange a wellness check.
The next call was to the local police district; I spoke with an office who took all of my information and a narrative of everything that had happened up to that point in time. I also shared everything that Rita told me, including the condition of the car which we thought was Ric’s parked in front of the unit. The officer on duty told me that a wellness check by paramedics and police would be scheduled as soon as possible and that they would call me directly with any updates.
Sitting there on the bed, I decided to check Ric’s recent social media posts; he did not have a Twitter account so I went to his Facebook account. Besides Rita’s entreaties for help, the last known post Ric made was on Friday, March 10.
My heart sank. If Ric was not hospitalized somewhere (something the police said they would check on as well), all of our worst fears would certainly be realized.
From Ric Bergman’s September 2013 Facebook post:
“It’s hard for me to get to many meetings, I need a new pair of knees and steps and inclines are rough on me, but when I can’t walk and have to be put away someplace, I’m still gonna want Bill to keep me on the list. The only benefit I know is the people I’ve met and get to hang around with sometimes. I met my late, ex-wife at a Rivercon, she was part of The Terran League out of Columbus. I met my late best friend Wally Franke. I played D&D for maybe 9 years with the best DM possible, a Science Fiction writer. andrew offutt invited me and Di to his house for the weekend and he sent me galley proofs (?) of several of my favorite of his books. You’ve even sent me books, Mike.”
(The “Bill” mentioned in this post is Bill Cavin, the current head of the Cincinnati Fantasy Group and “Mike” was undoubtedly the late Hugo and Nebula Award winning local author, Mike Resnick.)
The wait for the call was almost intolerable. I can say almost because I was among my CFG friends and it was better to share Ric’s ultimate fate with them than face it alone.
After about forty-five minutes, my phone rang. It was a call from the police.
I identified myself and said, “I hope you have good news.”
“Well, I’m afraid I have bad news for you…”
The office explained that they found Ric in the apartment, deceased. By the look on my face, several CFG members seated near me acknowledged the news; Ric was gone.
Socks, Ric’s dog, 1982. Photo by Stephen Leigh. Ric Bergman self portrait, circa July 2017.Ric, Michaele Jordan and Ray Beam, circa 1980’s. Photo by Stephen Leigh.
The officer went on to explain that from all indications, he had suffered some sort of sudden medical event and had died very quickly. The county coroner was summoned and would be there shortly.
They went on to explain that they had to breach the door and wanted to know if I would be able to come by and give some more information and take custody of his house keys once they found them. I said sure and concluded the call.
As I told other assembled members, there was much despair. More so for our host, Karen, whose beloved partner Frank Johnson has succumbed to cancer five years ago.
I told Juli that we were wanted over at the apartment and we said our goodbyes. Since the car was parked several hundred yards away, I opted to get the car and drive back to pick Juli up.
The promised rain showers had just begun to strike the pavement as I walked down the hill. It was a full-fledged downpour as I pulled up to Karen’s house. As we rode, I told Juli that I wasn’t sorry that we went by or got involved. Because I had no doubt that if we had not answered Rita’s inquiry, Ric may not have been found until the apartment managers came to collect the overdue rent.
When we arrived at the complex, two police cruisers were parked in front of Ric’s unit. As I parked, Juli asked, “Do you want me to come with you?”
I sighed and said, “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I would welcome your company.” She squeezed my hand and we got out of the car. The rain was coming down pretty hard as we approached the entrance. There was an officer underneath the awning and it seemed as though he had been waiting for us.
We introduced ourselves. He introduced himself and stated that he was among the personnel who entered the apartment. He said that Ric was found, face down in the hallway. His estimation was that he had been there for at least two weeks. I shuddered, thinking about Ric’s last Facebook post in March.
He then asked us about our involvement with Ric and I shared Rita’s phone number and showed him our text messages we shared over the past few hours. When I asked why they were still there, he stated that the county coroner had not arrived yet.
Juli and I paused and let that sink in.
The officer said that he noticed that Ric had a Stargate poster on his wall. I said that he was a long time fan of science fiction and that so were we. Ric was truly one of us…
And with that, Juli and I walked in the rain back to our car and went home. Saddened by the loss of our friend, but happy that we were the ones who made sure he was found. I’m certain Ric would have done the same for any of us.
As of this post, the coroner has not released a cause of death. CFG member Tanya Carter reported eight days ago:
“I called the Hamilton County Coroner’s office. “L. L”. is the investigator assigned to Ric’s case. He is putting an ad in the papers to try and locate next of kin and will try for 10 days to find someone. After that…. he will give me a call if they find someone or not. If the club wants to do something about arrangements, we can do so as far as they are concerned. Otherwise, the county will treat him as an indigent, and do whatever they do in such a case. It sounds like we could dispose of any assets he had to help defray expenses, and make arrangements as necessary. Guess we need to discuss this…”
More ten years ago, Ric Bergman wrote the following to his friend Rita Deering Webber after she made a comment about a mutual friend’s memory loss;
“That’s horrible, that was always like my greatest fear, you know, like Alzheimer’s. I don’t mind dying, but I want all of me to go all at once. I don’t have anyone that could take care of me and nothing could be as lonely as losing your memories.”
And I saw and heard from Ric so infrequently that he faded from my memories as well as others, too.
The point must be made that what happened to Ric Bergman could have been avoided.
It is ironic that in a world that is more interconnected and socially active that people everywhere are feeling an alarming amount of alienation and loneliness.
The advice I would impart to fandom, our families and friends is this: stay safe, keep in touch and know that you are loved and valued.
I’d like that put on my headstone. Ric Bergman, 50 year member of The Cincinnati Fantasy Group. – FIAWOL – -Richard Charles Bergman, September 2013
Ric Bergman and the late Frank Johnson at Ric’s wedding, March 1981. Photo by Stephen Leigh.
Devoted fanzine fan and longtime LASFS member Marty Cantor died April 29 of cancer. He was 88.
Cantor started reading science fiction when he was 10 but did not find fandom until he was 40, joining the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society in May 1975.
Years before discovering fandom Cantor lived in the San Gabriel Valley in Sierra Madre Canyon. He helped save the wash – a natural channel for rain runoff — from being paved over by the Army Corps of Engineers, and was appointed to Sierra Madre’s Downtown Youth Plan committee. I used to tell him the idea of a city where Marty Cantor helped run the government is awesome – of course, this is also the city where outdoor location shots for the Kevin McCarthy Invasion of the Body Snatchers were filmed.
As a brand new LASFSian in the Seventies Marty plunged into club life, writing for its weekly amateur press association, APA-L, eventually serving as its Official Collator. He later helped start a second local apa, LASFAPA, which he ran as official editor (or the title he preferred, “Little Tin God”). Together with Mike Gunderloy he even briefly revived the club’s legendary genzine Shangri-L’Affaires in 1980.
For many years Marty was married to Robbie Bourget (Cantor). As Marty told it, he arrived at Chicon IV, the 1982 Worldcon, “as a 47- year-old, more-or-less confirmed bachelor and left in a lovely emotional turmoil, thoroughly in love.” A few weeks later he proposed and they wed in January 1983. No sooner had Robbie’s name joined his on the masthead of their fanzine Holier Than Thou than they immediately scored three consecutive Best Fanzine Hugo nominations (1984-1986). They also were elected the Down Under Fan Fund delegates to Aussiecon II (1985). Each wrote a DUFF trip report which they published in the format of a kind of Ace double – with Marty’s Duffbury Tales on one side, and Robbie’s Tales of Duffbury on the reverse, a single volume of over 100 pages.
Their marriage ended in divorce around 1998.
Originally, Marty was a tobacconist by trade. He had his own shop for a number of years, then later worked for another tobacco store owner. While that was a way to encounter Hollywood characters and gather colorful anecdotes, it never approached his bizarre experience in 1994 while working as the manager of a U-Haul facility — when he auctioned off an unclaimed locker the winning bidder found several decomposing corpses inside. (Eventually the renter was tracked to Jakarta and arrested for murder.)
In later years he produced the genzine No Award (although I don’t really believe he was opposed to the idea of winning one if offered).
On the conrunning side, he organized Lasfapacon, helped run Corflu 9, and chaired Corflu 34.
Late in life Marty continued to be one of LASFS’ most active members, editing issues of the clubzine De Profundis. He was honored with the club’s Evans-Freehafer Award for service in 2016.
His remains will be cremated, says John Hertz, and there will be a memorial service.
John Hertz, DUFF delegate Clare McDonald-Sims, and Marty Cantor in the LASFS library (2016).
By Bruce Gillespie. [What Bruce says is an “immediate, non-comprehensive response”– with much more to be considered later for his fanzine SFC.]
Lee Harding, Australia’s senior SF writer (although he did not regard himself as a writer of SF during the last 30 years or so), died yesterday at the age 86. There is almost too much information to summarise for a newszine obituary — the entries in both Wikipedia and the SF Encyclopedia have no inaccuracies that I can spot. They also don’t tell the whole story.
Much of the flavour of Lee’s life, especially in his last years, can be found in Belinda Gordon’s (Perth-based daughter) account, which I’ve just put up on Fictionmags, and transcribed on Facebook yesterday. [Note: that post is friends-locked.]
In 1952 at the age of fifteen Lee was one of the founder members of the Melbourne SF Club, along with Merv Binns, Race Mathews, Dick Jenssen, and a few others. Merv left us in 2020, but the others were in good health up to about five years ago. Lee dropped out of fandom in the late 1950s, but in 1962 he met John Bangsund. Lee was already selling stories to E J Carnell’s magazines in England, but Bangsund knew nothing of SF or fandom. That meeting eventually led to the launching of Australian Science Fiction Review (ASFR) in 1966, from which all SF-related events in my life proceed — in fact the whole future of Australian fandom. John wrote an amusing account of meeting Lee for the first time, which Sally Yeoland (John’s widow) has placed on her Facebook page more than once.
Lee Harding and John Bangsund at Syncon 72. Photo by official photographer Syncon 72.
I met Lee in December 1967 as a result of being invited by John Bangsund to meet the ‘ASFR crew’ in Ferntree Gully over a weekend. John was a shy person, compared to his paper personality, so it was Lee who took me under his wing and conveyed all his enthusiasms, especially for SF writing and classical music.
A photo of the ‘ASFR’ gang, taken on the weekend Bruce Gillespie first met them in December 1967 or not long after. L-R: John Bangsund (without beard), Leigh Edmonds (without beard); Lee Harding, John Foyster (without beard), Tony Thomas, Merv Binns, Paul Stevens. Photo probably taken by Diane Bangsund (John’s first wife).
During 1968 I entered Melbourne fandom, and visited Lee and his first wife Carla as often as possible. During 1969, Lee was selling stories to the new Vision of Tomorrow, launched by Sydney rich bloke Ron Graham, but the magazine folded after a year. Lee had been a professional photographer for at least ten years, but during his time of regular writing took jobs in bookshops in Melbourne, including the famous Space Age Books (from the beginning of 1971 until 1976). He and Carla split up in 1972, and soon after he and Irene Pagram met. Their daughter is Madeleine, who still lives in Victoria. Lee and Irene married in 1982, and at the same time Carla and her children with Lee (Erik, Belinda, and Stephen) moved to Western Australia.
John Foyster, Lee Harding and Madeleine Harding. Photo by Helena Binns.
Lee put on the first writers workshop in Australia in 1973, then edited The Altered I (1976), the book that came out of the Ursula Le Guin workshop in 1975. He had his greatest success as a writer at the end of the 1970s and beginning of the 1980s, with Displaced Person (Australian Childrens Book Award winner 1980) and Waiting For The End Of The World. It was never clear to his friends why a successor to Waiting was never written. I lost contact with Lee and Irene for long periods during the 1980s. He and Irene split up in 1997. During the last 40 years he has been able to visit Perth every year to visit his extended family there.
Lee Harding in 1982. Photo by Elaine Cochrane.
During the early 1990s Race Mathews and Dick Jenssen, also original members of the MSFC, made contact with Lee, and we saw a fair bit of him over dinner during the 1990s until just before the Covid epidemic lockdowns. However, Lee’s health began to deteriorate about six years ago, and he began to suffer from falls and some memory loss. Eventually, after a bad fall, he was advised not to return to living by himself. He moved to Perth at the end of last year, and his old friends had to be content with phone calls from him. The only original members of the MSFC still alive are Dick Jenssen and Race Mathews.
Race Mathews, Merv Binns, Dick Jenssen, and Lee Harding in 2000. Photo by Helena Binns.
I remember Lee best for his enthusiasms, and his help at various times. I am most grateful to him for turning me onto classical music in 1968, after a decade of listening and listing Top 40 music during my teens. Twenty of my favourite original LPs are those sold to me by Lee when he was really desperate for cash at the end of 1969. He was a great advocate for Australian SF, and encouraged many new writers and SF enterprises during the 1970s. His interests turned elsewhere during the last thirty years, but he remained a fan of great films, and was always pointing me and Dick toward some new masterpiece he had just discovered.
Lee Harding and John Clute. Photo probably by Helena Binns.
One link with Lee: he was almost exactly 10 years older than me (his 19 Feb 1937 to my 17 Feb 1947). But I doubt he was as jolly about celebrating birthdays as I’ve been over the years.
It is very hard to consider life without Lee Harding being part of it in some way or another. He sent cheery emails until recently, but had to admit that his old days as a bon vivant were over. He leaves great memories.
Joseph Wrzos in 1998 at I-Con 17 Long-Island, NY. Photograph by John L. Coker III
By John L. Coker III: U.S. teacher and editor Joseph [Henry] Wrzos of Saddle River, New Jersey (born in Newark, New Jersey on September 9, 1929) aka Joseph Ross, died on April 7, 2023.
Yesterday afternoon I received an e-mail message from Ken Wrzos. He wrote: “Hello, John. I’m sorry to inform you that my dad, Joseph Wrzos, passed away today, April 7, 2023.”
BACKGROUND. Joseph Wrzos received his B.A. (cum laude) in 1952 from Rutgers University, joined Phi Beta Kappa and was a graduate student at Columbia University. During 1953-54 Joe was Assistant Editor at Gnome Press in New York. For the next several years he was high school librarian in Roselle Park, NJ. During 1957-95, Joe was an English teacher at Millburn Senior High School, Millburn, NJ, and chairman of the English Department during 1969-72. He was a member of the National Education Association and the New Jersey Education Association.
FROM THE SCIENCE FICTION ENCYCLOPEDIA.
“He was the Managing Editor of Amazing Stories and Fantastic 1965-1967. He edited The Best of Amazing (anth 1967), selecting only stories from before he became editor; and Hannes Bok: A Life in Illustration (graph coll 2012). His influence on the field has not been well publicized. He helped Sam Moskowitz with his Robert Duncan Milne collection – Into the Sun and Other Stories: Science Fiction in Old San Francisco, Volume II (coll 1980) – and wrote an article about it in the Winter 1982 Fantasy Commentator. He helped Peter Ruber with most of his projects at Arkham House but may only be formally co-credited on the Seabury Quinn collection Night Creatures (coll 2003). He also compiled the August Derleth collection In Lovecraft’s Shadow: The Cthulhu Mythos Stories of August W Derleth (coll 1998) to which he contributed the introduction. Derleth’s final sf anthology, New Horizons (anth 1998), was put into its final shape by Ross, who again provided the introduction. He was a consulting editor on the newly revamped (from 2012) Amazing Stories. In 2009, Joseph Wrzos received the Sam Moskowitz Archive Award from First Fandom and he was elected to the First Fandom Hall of Fame in 2016.”
BY JOHN L. COKER III. There are quite a few members of fandom who knew Joseph Wrzos for more than fifty years, a lot longer than me. I met Joe Wrzos in 1998 at I-Con 17, Stony Brook University, Long Island, NY. For the next 25 years, we maintained a written correspondence and worked together on several book projects. I learned a lot about writing from Professor Wrzos.
I got to know Joe as someone who was cordial, smart, knowledgeable, intelligent and bright, caring, industrious, a person who sought the highest results. He was a gentleman, a teacher, a mentor, and a friend to many. He earned and maintained his excellent reputation.
Joseph Wrzos enjoyed living the life he chose. For decades, he was in academia, imparting wisdom in his teaching and in his writing. He embraced the fields of science fiction and fantasy literature. He was an avid reader and collector, someone who developed genuine expertise in many areas. He set the highest standards for his personal work and established those same expectations with students and collaborators. During his long career, he got to work with many big-name fans and pros of the highest caliber, producing a large body of meaningful material for the genre magazines and books. He seemed happy, finding real love with Helen de la Ree, someone who shared his many interests, and a dear person who worked hard to achieve the very best for both of them.
Joseph Wrzos and Helen de la Ree (I-Con 17, Long Island, NY, 1998). Photograph by John L. Coker III.
FAMILY HISTORY AND FORMAL ARRANGEMENTS. The family obituary says:
He was predeceased by: his former wife Anita Wrzos; and his siblings, Mae Gaborski, Chester Wrzos and Dolly Wiley. He is survived by: his wife Helen; his sons, Michael Ross (Eiko) and Kenneth Wrzos (Michelle Llado-Wrzos); his grandchildren, Philip Ross (Jillian), Nina Ross, Rachel Ross, and Emily Wrzos; and his great grandchild Harlan Ross.
Visitation will be held on Wednesday, April 12th 2023 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Dancy Memorial (9 Smull Avenue, Caldwell, NJ 07006). A funeral mass will be held on Thursday, April 13th 2023 at 10:30 AM at the St. Aloysius Church (219 Bloomfield Ave, Caldwell, NJ 07006). A burial will be held on Thursday, April 13th 2023 at the Prospect Hill Cemetery (326 Bloomfield Avenue, Caldwell, NJ 07006).”
In lieu of flowers, please donate in Joseph’s name to the American Heart Association.
By Steve Vertlieb: It was in September, 1965, when I first “officially” entered the world of film and science fiction fandom. My brother, Erwin, and I had received an invitation from Forrest J Ackerman (Forry or 4e) to attend the very first “Famous Monsters of Filmland Magazine Convention,” being held at Loew’s Midtown Manhattan Motor Inn in the heart of New York City. It was at that convention that this eager nineteen-year-old fan met Forry, along with other youthful movie fanatics such as Allan Asherman (author of The Star Trek Compendium), famed collector Wes Shank, and actor George Stover (Editor of Cinemacabre, and Black Oracle magazines, as well as the subject of a recent documentary film, “No Stopping The Stover.”). Now, Wes working as a film editor at the local Philadelphia CBS Television affiliate, WCAU TV and, through Wes, I was introduced to yet another film editor and science fiction film fan by the name of Bill Longen. Bill and I began our friendship somewhere around 1966 when I was a mere lad of twenty years. In the decades that followed, Bill and I would often see one another, either at his home in Clifton Heights, PA, where he lived with his mother or, perhaps, at Wes’s home theater where a variety friends, and science fiction aficionados would congregate for an evening, laugh, and talk about their favorite films. I would often chat with Bill on the telephone and, from time to time, he would visit my home. I was working in television, as well, in the capacities of a film editor, cameraman, and sometimes “announcer” at our local Taft Broadcasting affiliate, WTAF TV 29, and so we were able to share many war stories.
Steve, Forry and Erwin
Some years later Bill decided to move to San Francisco where he worked for quite some time as a senior film editor at the local CBS television station in the Bay area, but we always managed to remain in touch, either by mail or on long winded telephone conversations. Television was changing rapidly, however, and Bill decided to leave the industry for newer, greener pastures. Wishing to stay in his beloved San Francisco, Bill eventually left the TV station, and found work as the manager of the world renowned Castro Theater, a one-time elaborate movie palace that had now become a haven for classic film lovers with cult film festivals and art house screenings.
In the Fall of 2007, I received a telephone call from Bill. He was thinking about scheduling a major retrospective of classic films featuring the music of three time Oscar-winning composer Miklos Rozsa, and asked if I’d be interested in programming the festival. Needless to say, I agreed quite enthusiastically, and chose the seventeen films that were to be included in the nine day event. I also wrote the liner notes for the printed program, describing in some detail the backgrounds, stories, and technical information surrounding each film.
Now, earlier in the year, I had attended a unique, celebratory, one hundredth birthday event honoring Dr. Rozsa at The Hungarian Embassy in Washington, D.C. I’d heard that the composer’s daughter, Juliet, was scheduled to appear, along with her daughters, and famed concert cellist Janos Starker who was an old friend of Miklos Rozsa. I had been corresponding with the composer for many years, and had spent some quality time in his company, but I had never met his daughter. Having written profusely about the composer’s career in a variety of publications for many years, I found myself introduced to the audience by the then Hungarian Ambassador to The United States, Dr. Ferenc Somogyi, and invited, along with Juliet Rozsa and her family, to the “royal residence,” following the ceremonies for a state dinner.
Steve Vertlieb with Miklos Rozsa.Steve with Juliet Rozsa and her daughter, Nicchi.Vertlieb with famed cellist Janos Starker at the Hungarian Embassy in Washington, DC in 2007.Hungarian Ambassador to The United States, Dr. Ferenc Somogyi and Steve Vertlieb.The Rozsa proclamation presented by the Hungarian ambassador.
I had remained in touch with the Ambassador and so, when Bill asked me to put together a Rozsa festival, write the program notes, and host the event, I invited Juliet and her daughters to attend, and asked Dr. Somogyi if he would consider writing a special Embassy Proclamation, honoring the late Hungarian composer. He told me that he would be quite pleased and delighted to do so, and that I might present it to Juliet on the stage of the Castro Theater. Juliet and her daughters drove to San Francisco from Los Angeles, while Juliet joined me on stage for a thirty minute in-person interview, discussing her famous father’s career. After our interview a 35 millimeter print of Ben Hur was run for an appreciative audience of some seven hundred movie goers on the giant Castro screen.
I arranged for The Mayor of San Francisco to offer a written tribute to Rozsa, which I read from the stage, as well. When Ray Bradbury got wind of the tribute, he asked if he might contribute to the festivities with his own remembrance. He had written the Orson Welles’ narration for MGM’s production of King of Kings, which Rozsa had also scored, and had sat in on some of the recording sessions in Los Angeles with Rozsa conducting. The festival was covered by the local press, and was exceptionally well received.
The Castro TheaterSteve Vertlieb
After some years of ownership changes at The Castro, Bill moved on yet again, and found himself managing a prestigious chain of movie theaters. He would visit me at my apartment from time to time, whenever he happened to find himself in Philadelphia once more. We would continue to exchange birthday and Christmas cards … until Bill grew ill with Cancer. I spoke with him at length by telephone in December, and he spoke hopefully of a surgery he’d agreed to that might, at last, render him cancer-free. I received a message on Facebook the other day from another old mutual pal, David Gregory Lee, who let me know that Bill had finally succumbed to his illness, and passed away on January 2nd, 2023. I knew Bill for some fifty-six years. He was bright, funny, knowledgeable, and charming. He was a good and loyal friend. I’ll miss him terribly.
Graham Connor, Charles Partington, Jonathan Cowie and Laura Wheatley (former Warwick U. SF Society) at a Festival of Fantastic Films in the 1990s.
By Jonathan Cowie: Charles Partington, the British SF fan and writer, has died aged 82. Much, if not all, of Chuck’s adult life was in part SFnally related and much with his friend from his school days, Harry Nadler, who was also his life long business partner. He, Harry, Anthony (Tony) Edwards, Ina Shorrock among others, were members of the Delta SF Group that made spoof SF films (occasionally with SF notables such as Harry Harrison. Delta SF members, including Chuck, were also a mainstay of MaD SF, the Manchester & District SF Society (not to be confused with BaD SF down the A666 Devil’s highway in Bolton): in many of its heyday years (1970s and ’80s) MaD met fortnightly at the Crown & Anchor near Piccadilly Gardens station and meetings continued into the 2000s with Chuck invariably in attendance.
Chuck, along with the afore fans mentioned, were also Knights of St. Fantony: a group of fans who would help introduce new SF aficionados into fandom and generally support good causes. For example, Chuck and Harry were responsible for printing the Ken Bulmer Bibliography for BECCON Publications, as well as printing the first edition (1987) of the zine, the SF2 Concatenation back in its pre-online paper days: we have always been appreciative that Chuck and Harry were part of our team and associated with our founding. They also printed the programme book for the BECCON ‘ 87 Eastercon at which SF2 Concatenation was launched. This was particularly notable as it was the first time an Eastercon’s programme book had a colour cover: Harry processed the artwork to create the plates and Charles printed.
Charles was inducted into the Knights of St Fanthony at the 1967 British Eastercon, a convention they regularly attended from the 1960s to ’90s. With Harry Nadler, Charles was on the committee of three Eastercons and so was known for his national-level fanac. Arguably, his serious fanac began with Harry and Tony Edwards when they produced the fanzine Alien between 1963–1965. This evolved over three issues into the, sadly short-lived, semi-prozine Alien Worlds (1965). Charles’ own semi-prozine, irregularly produced in the 1970s and 1980s, was literally Something Else. With high production values, despite it being the pre-desktop era, and paying its contributors, Something Else attracted some high profile writers including Michael Moorcock with whom he had a friendship over many decades.
In 1976, with Dave Britton and Mike Butterworth, he co-founded the Savoy Books publishing house. Though Charles was only involved in the publishing house’s formation, Savoy Books lasted over three decades and celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2006. It too attracted high-calibre writers, some of whose output was considered by the major publishing houses as non-commercial. These writers included the likes of Samuel Delany, Harlan Ellison and Charles Platt. Savoy was infamously subject to censorship and notably for the very dark, humorous, satirical and graphic Lord Horror (1989) which landed one of its editors (not Charles) a brief time in jail. Savoy published the magazine New Worlds no.213-216 between 1978 to 1979.
Harry and Charles’ business for many years was the Manchester Print Centre based in a basement of the Corn Exchange. This commercially viable venture enabled it on the side to produce a number of SF conventions’ progress reports, programme booklets and promotional leaflets.
In the 1980s, at the very start of the software games industry era, while keeping the Print Centre, the pair created Red Rat Software that devised and published approximately thirty 8-bit, 16-bit and IBM PC compatible computer games, some of which were genre-related. Its games included a Tilt d’Ore prize in 1992 for ‘Best Puzzle Game’.
Around the time when Harry and Charles ‘retired’, Harry, as is well known in British SF film fandom, established the Festival of Fantastic Films (initially along with the fellow SF fan, and also fellow Knight of St Fantony, Tony Edwards, which was a thriving convention up to Harry’s passing in 2002. Albeit much reduced, such was the momentum the Fest gathered that it has continued to the present day (see SF2 Concatenation’sconvention reviews link list for past Fest con reports) and Charles could always be found at these Fests in the bar chatting to old friends right up to the late 2010s.
Charles also wrote stories beginning with ‘The Manterville Inheritance’ in the anthology Dark Things (1971) edited by August Derleth. Others appeared in editions of the New Writings in SF anthology series edited by Ken Bulmer. His only novel was the young adult book Winter Hill (2015). This was meant to be the first of a series but sadly others never arrived. Old age subsequently took its toll and many of us saw little of Charles from the late 2010s onwards. Nonetheless, he packed much into his life and was a true master of SF fandom. A chapter of northwest English SF has closed.
SF writer and Rotsler Award winning fan artist Ray Nelson died in his sleep overnight November 29/30 his son, Walter, announced today on Facebook. He was 91 years old.
As an author Ray Nelson was best known for his short story “Eight O’Clock in the Morning,” which became the basis of John Carpenter’s film They Live. He also had a short story, “Time Travel for Pedestrians,” in Harlan Ellison’s Again Dangerous Visions (1972). Nelson collaborated with Philip K. Dick on The Ganymede Takeover. His 1975 book Blake’s Progress, in which the poet William Blake and his wife are travelers in space and time, has been called his best work by critic John Clute.
As an artist, in the 1940s Nelson appropriated the propeller beanie as a symbol of science fiction fandom. His fannish cartoons were recognized with the Rotsler Award in 2003. He was inducted to the First Fandom Hall of Fame in 2019.
The Ray Nelson website, which Walter set up, has more bibliographical information, and samples of his artwork. There you can also read a humorous article about Ray’s collaborator, “The Last Days of Philip K. Dick”.
Nelson was born in Schenectady, NY in 1931. He became an active science fiction fan while attending high school in Michigan. After graduation, he went to the University of Chicago (studying theology). In the Fifties he lived for four years in Paris, and met Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso and William Burroughs among others of the Beat Generation, as well as existentialists Jean Paul Sartre, Boris Vian and Simone de Beauvoir. He subsequently co-edited Miscellaneous Man, the first “Beatnik” little literary review. In Paris, he worked with Michael Moorcock smuggling Henry Miller books out of France.
Honors Nelson received as a writer included a special citation from the Philip K. Dick Award in 1983 for The Prometheus Man. As a fan, in addition to the awards already mentioned, he was a Best Fan Artist Retro Hugo finalist in 2001 (commemorating work done in 1950) and received the 2014 FAAn Lifetime Achievement Award.
By John Hertz: (partly reprinted from Vanamonde 1520)
Justin Edwin Anton Busch (1959-2022) left for After-Fandom last month, on the first day of Corflu XXXIX (fanziners’ convention; usually in the Spring, this year 21-23 Oct). He had been living in St. Paul, Minnesota, and was a member of Stipple-Apa. His own fanzines were Far Journeys and Dreams Renewed. He had been active in the Nat’l Fantasy Fan Federation, contributing a monthly fanzine-review column “Fanfaronade” to FanActivity Gazette and editing Films Fantastic. The First Fandom organization had just given him a Merit Award, which it does not present often.
He had two books published by McFarland, The Utopian Vision of H.G. Wells (2009) and Self and Society in the Films of Robert Wise (2010; RW [1914-2005] inter alia directed The Day the Earth Stood Still [1951] and the first Star Trek movie [1979]). The publisher and titles may suggest academia: a good inference, he had a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Queen’s University (Kingston, Ontario, Canada).
He was a composer. A 2008 audio Compact Disc from TraumSpiel has his “Destiny and Desire”, “Consent”, “Meditations”, “Obsessions”, and works of Anton Rubinstein (1829-1894); its notes say Busch’s
compositions … have been performed internationally … a chamber opera, two sinfoniettas … six string quartets … works for choral ensembles, and dozens of songs and piano solos. Several dance and theatre groups have commissioned him to create new music for their productions. He is a past prizewinner of composition contests held by the Anchorage Flute Society and Zeitgeist, a St. Paul, Minnesota, new music ensemble…. wine columns in two separate independent magazines … writings on music, film, and philosophical topics [in] The Clarinet (U.S.), Wagner (U.K.), CineAction (Canada [“The Centre Cannot Hold: Betrayals in Alfred Hitchcock’s Topaz”, No. 66, 2005]), and Aspekt (Slovakia)…. fiction in Hooligan Follies and Challenging Destiny [“In the Sight of Eternity”, No. 12, Apr 2001].
About himself he wrote (W. Breiding’s Portable Storage 5, pp. 6-7),
I’ve been fascinated by the fact of print for pretty nearly as long as I have memories…. pleasure in the tactility of books…. Before I was ten I’d read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Lord of the Rings, Catch-22, The Scarlet Letter, and War of the Worlds…. I read Sam Moskowitz’s The Immortal Storm before 1974. I didn’t know about Harry Warner’s fan history books until years later. I attended Discon II [32nd World Science Fiction Convention]…. practically every SF book or story before Star Wars is obscure to modern fans. The idea of doing [Dreams Renewed] as miniature pamphlets was inspired by Jack Speer’s fanzine A, although I needed a bit more space than [his] 1×1.5 inch size.
About his use of “Fanfaronade”, he wrote (FanActivity Gazette Nov 2021),
So far as I can ascertain, the first person to use the title was Jeff Wanshel … three issues … #1, dated 1960; #2, dated April, 1961; #3, dated July, 1961…. Terry Carr attached it to a single column, “Fanzine Fanfaronade,” in the April, 1964 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction…. Carol Kennedy’s column, “Fanfaronade” … ran in Mnstf’s clubzine Rune from issue 51 (1978) to issue 61 (1980)…. in … Rune 61 [she wrote] “I prefer to live in a world in which people draw the lines they think are beautiful, rather than a world in which everyone draws the lines I think are beautiful.” Further comment would be otiose.
Here are some of his notes on fanzines.
Banana Wings Claire Brialey & Mark Plummer; 59, Shirley Rd; Croydon CR0 7ES; England, U.K. “Fanfaronade” 17, Gazette Dec 2021
each issue begins with a widely ranging article, “Roadrunner”, by Mark Plummer…. smoothly and engagingly written…. a similarly expansive essay by Claire Brialey…. readers supply, in the guise of letters, their own essays, some quite extensive … edited [but] given plenty of room to develop their ideas, arguments, memories, and associations…. The result, as so often is the case with extensive lettercols like this, is greater than the sum of its parts
Beam Nic Farey & Ulrika O’Brien; Farey, 2657 Rungsted St.; Las Vegas, NV 89142; E-mail <[email protected]>; O’Brien, 418 Hazel Ave. N., Kent, WA 98030, E-mail <[email protected]>; available at <efanzines.com> F 25, G Sep 22
another of the worthy successors to Bill Bowers’ renowned Outworlds: a substantial zine … presenting an extensive mix of personal, fannish, and sercon essays, capped … with a zestful lettercol … art and photographs ([which] would, in decades past, [have] been a bountiful harvest of fillos from a wide range of artists)…. What appears to be the conclusion [of an essay by O’Brien in B 16] is nothing of the sort; general discussion of scientific principles and their application suddenly, seamlessly, becomes a deeply personal account of the process necessary for Beam itself to exist…. depicted beautifully and with unexpected touches of humor…. “Be ready to change your mind…. You can practice … by regularly considering ideas you disagree with”
Christian * New Age Quarterly Catherine Groves, P.O. Box 276, Clifton, NJ 07015; four issues “and plenty of extras” for US$12.50. F22, G May 2022
a zine, edited by one person for decades, with what appears to be a limited focus…. [but] despite the specificity of the zine’s remit, and the often personal foundation of the articles, it somehow manages to provide (that is, its editor insists upon) essays upon a wide range of often unexpected topics [and] critical yet generous letters of comment
Tommyworld Tommy Ferguson; <http://tommyworld.net>; 85125 Haypark Ave; Belfast BT7 3FG; Northern Ireland, U.K. F11, Nameless News Jun 2021; F 14, Gazette Sep 2021; F18, G Jan 2022
In just four pages [T 84, May 2021] the heartfelt tributes to [Paul] Campbell [1949-2021] bring him to life vividly and touchingly. If you care about fan history, and you should, you will enjoy…. This [T 87] is normally a two-pager; it says much for its loyal audience that the lettercol issue this time around needs four pages, and could easily have been four pages longer still (seven letters; eleven WAHFs)…. the whole lettercol is so energetic that…. this is a publication well worth investigating…. Ferguson … revealed that he “has a tattoo of Lenin on his person” (he didn’t say where)…. Chatty, pleasant, and very fannish: if you’re a fan of fannishness, pluck this one
Vanamonde John Hertz; 236 S. Coronado St., No. 409; Los Angeles, CA 90057 F14, G Sep 2021; F19, G Feb 2022; F25, G Sep 2022
a … cabinet of wonders, with Hertz as the cheerful proprietor…. a terse but informative account of the high points…. one of the most efficient writers in fandom…. Hertz is … aware of context, and takes … pleasure in making … connections…. genial, amusing, and educational…. ranges over topics fannish and mundane, usually several per issue, in his urbane and often witty prose
Requiescat in pace.
Singing “Johnny, we hardly knew you” about Justin is due to Jerry Kaufman. Corflu = mimeograph correction fluid, once indispensable; First Fandom = those active at least as early as 1936, or maybe the 1st World Science Fiction Convention (1939), also a club in their honor founded 1953; fillos = fill-in illustrations (or other drawings), lettercol = letter column, Mnstf = Minnesota Science Fiction Society, stf (pronounced “stef”) from Hugo Gernsback’s word “scientifiction”; sercon = serious and constructive (sometimes a compliment), Stipple-Apa, an amateur press ass’n of Minneapolis & St. Paul; WAHF = we also heard from (correspondents whose letters weren’t printed)
