Ruth Kyle (1930-2011)

Ruth Kyle

Ruth Kyle died January 5 after a brief illness. She had turned 81 only the day before.

She met her future husband, noted fan Dave Kyle, at a convention in 1955. The next year she served as Secretary of the Worldcon in New York, which Dave chaired, and the year after that they married, trufannishly honeymooning at the 1957 Worldcon in England, traveling there with 53 friends and in-laws on a specially chartered flight.

A memorial service will be held in the spring. In lieu of flowers, contributions in her name can be made to Trinity Church, 8 Maple Street, Potsdam NY 13676-1181.

Ruth and Dave’s nephew, Dave Knechel, posted a short reminiscence here.

Dave Kyle told about the first time he met Ruth in “Sex in Fandom”, published in Mimosa 10:

Ruth Kyle, my wife, entered fandom as Ruth Landis, a minister’s daughter from New Jersey. Months before the 1955 Clevention, she read about the worldcon in Astounding Science Fiction. A genuine sf enthusiast, she decided she wanted to meet those who were bringing her such enjoyment. Knowing no one and not being familiar in any way with fandom, Ruth showed up alone at the Manger Hotel in Cleveland. I became aware of her presence when Ken Bulmer and his wife Pamela alerted me….

She was very attractive and I considered myself lucky. (Bless Ken and Pam!) For one brief moment I left Ruth unattended while I crossed the lobby to speak to a new arrival. “Excuse me, Ruth. Be right back.” My back was turned, the unexpected took place, and Isaac Asimov torpedoed me. He touches upon this in his autobiography. What happened next was a simple case of TDOM (The Dirty Old Man), the Good Doctor, spiriting off this pretty young thing for himself. He saw her, grabbed her arm, wondered what she was doing all alone and, commanding, “C’mon!” started to rush her toward the elevator. “We’re going to a party!” “I’m with someone,” she protested feebly. “Who?” he asked. “Dave Kyle,” she said. “Fine! Dave’s going to the party, too.” And without further discussion, whisked her away. I returned. She was gone. Obviously, I had struck out….

[Thanks to Andrew Porter for the story.]

4 thoughts on “Ruth Kyle (1930-2011)

  1. Thank you very much for posting a link to the reminiscence I wrote on my Aunt Ruthie. I miss her tremendously, and I will for the rest of my life.

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