Fortieth Anniversary of File 770

It was 40 years ago today
Sgt. Saturn taught the band to play…

Okay, never mind the rest of that… but on January 6, 1978 File 770 began life as a paperzine with issue #1.

Several friends have been along for the entire ride, like artist Taral Wayne, who had an illo in the first paper issue, and also is the creator of the banner art for this blog. Or Steve Davidson, mentioned in a news item on page 2. Not to mention the many who were on the mailing list from the beginning.

I also want to thank Linda Bushyager, editor of Karass, which preceded File 770 as fandom’s newzine of record, for passing the baton those many years ago.

And thanks to the generosity of everyone who has shared their stories, events and concerns in these pages over the years.

We’ll be celebrating this anniversary — and the 10th anniversary of this blog on January 15 — over the next 10 days with a series of special guest posts, too. Watch for the logo!

61 thoughts on “Fortieth Anniversary of File 770

  1. Congratulations! That’s quite an accomplishment, to keep a labor of love going so long.

    Brings to mind this video (I first saw because of a pixel scroll about a year ago) of a MidAmeriCon panel about zines, from ’76 – maybe it inspired the File 770’s creation?

  2. Happy Anniversary, Mike! I can’t believe it’s been almost 3 years since The Great File 770 Fan Incursion. Thank you for all of the wonderful content you collect and post, which has created the environment where this fantastic fan community could develop and thrive.

     
    bandit, Albuquerque: Can you tell the story about how/why/where you started the zine? I have heard various (probably unreliable) versions. Why the name?

    If you click on “About File 770” at the top of the blog, it goes to an about page which says “File 770 is named for the party in Room 770 at the 1951 Worldcon that upstaged the convention.” and links to an archived fan glossary. Here is the relevant entry:

    ROOM 770

    — This was a St. Charles Hotel room registered to fans Max Keasler, Roger Sims, Rich Elsberry and Ed Kuss at the 9th Worldcon — nicknamed NOLacon — held in New Orleans in 1951. Frank Dietz had been hosting a room party which was asked to quiet down by a hotel detective, and Dietz resolved the matter by taking eveyone to room 770 circa 11:00 PM Saturday night, whereupon a massive party developed which lasted till 11:00 AM the next morning. Numerous fans drifted in and out, including the legendary Sam Moskowitz, and just possibly, Canada’s Norman G. Browne for whom this was his first convention.

    Time has transformed the room 770 party into an iconic fannish emblem, but the truth is it did have a pervasive impact on fandom right from the beginning, it was an instant legend in the making. As Harry Warner Jr. put it, room 770 was “…an unforgettable demonstration of the gradually developing fact that people really went to worldcons to have a good time, not to listen to lectures or debate business. Room 770 played a part in the philosophy and orientation of a substantial part of fandom for years thereafter.” So much so that Mike Glyer chose it as the title for his newszine, presumably because it strikes the right note of fannish fun. (HWJ)

  3. Congratulations, Mike, and thanks for all the hard work. May you & File 770 both continue to flourish for many years to come.

  4. Happy anniversary, Mike, and congratulations on the long and continuing run. I don’t know if I received your very first issue, and I know a missed a lot of them from my gafiation in the 1980’s onward. But I certainly have a lot of old File 770’s in a box in my closet to attest to your legacy.

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