TAFF Collects Ted White’s Amazing and Fantastic Editorials in Two Volumes

The latest Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund benefit books are two trade paperbacks with Ted White’s editorials and book reviews from Amazing and Fantastic from his time at the helm of both magazines.

These are physical books, not ebooks, and are offered at a fixed price, not as free downloads.

Ted White became active in SF fandom in the Fifties, won the Best Fan Writer Hugo in 1968, and was a guest of honor at the 1985 Worldcon, Aussiecon II. He has written over a dozen sf novels as well as many short stories, and edited a number of U.S magazines, including Amazing Stories and Fantastic from 1969 to 1979.

Ansible Editions is proud to present Ted’s collected editorials and book reviews from his years with both these magazines.

From the Foreword to The Fantastic Editorials by Ted White

I had dreamed, since my early adolescence, of editing my own professional sf magazine (or “prozine”), and my inspiration – at least for my editorial presence in one – was Ray Palmer, during his early Other Worlds editorship, in the early ’50s. What I liked about Palmer was his willingness to talk directly to his readers and to share with them his ideas and aspirations. He put himself into his magazine, not only in his editorials but also in his sometimes long responses to letters in the letter column. I appreciated that. It sucked me in and made me identify with Other Worlds. So I wanted to do that with Fantastic.

From the Introduction to The Amazing Editorials by Mike Ashley

A magazine isn’t the same as a book, leastways, a very good magazine isn’t. The big difference between a good book and a good magazine is that the magazine has a personality. That personality may in part be a product of the contributors but its chiefly created by the editor – and of an editor who loves what they’re doing.

That’s what made Ted White such a good editor. He was at heart a fan – he’d won a Hugo Award as Best Fan Writer in 1968 – and a die-hard fan knows what other fans want, even if at times he has to tell them what they want. Ted was known for his fan columns both before and after his editorship of Amazing Stories and Fantastic and he never fought shy of an argument if he felt he had a valid point. He was no stranger to controversy and he could not avoid being controversial in his role as editor for publisher Sol Cohen, as some of these editorials reveal.

GET THE INSIDE STORY. The above photograph of Ted White is taken from the back cover of his friend Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle (1965 Penguin UK paperback) – Dick had deliberately sent this picture as a joke. The full story is told in The Amazing Editorials.

ORDER TODAY! In US dollars, The Amazing Editorials paperback is $16.50. The Fantastic Editorials paperback is $16.00 Each is a print on demand book from Lulu.

[Based on a press release.]

Sandra Bond Wins 2023 TAFF Race

Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund administrators Mike Lowrey and Fia Karlsson announced today that Sandra Bond has been elected as TAFF delegate to Pemmi-con 2023, the NASFiC. Further details about her upcoming trip will be released as they come.

Votes 2023Sandra BondMikolaj KowalewskiNo preferenceTotal
North American votes *336342
European votes4845295
Total81515137

VOTING ANALYSIS. Sandra Bond and Mikołaj Kowalewski were the candidates. A total of 137 votes were submitted. The two from Asia and Australia have been rolled into the North American count to protect voter anonymity.

Sandra Bond received a majority of the votes, and was the only candidate to satisfy TAFF’s requirement that a candidate must at least 20 % of the Europe and the North American regions’ votes, which in this race amounted to 19 European votes and 8 North American votes.

The winner’s statement and technical details about three invalid votes are in TAFFest #2.

VOTING FEES RECEIVED. The total ballot donations in different currencies was: Euro: 231.04, Pound: 582.67, Dollar: 414.82.

Sandra Bond. Picture by Oliver Facey.

Naczyńska Wins Inaugural European Fan Fund Race

European Fan Fund Administrator Marcin “Alqua” Kłak today announced that Matylda Naczyńska of Poland has been voted the fund’s first winner. She will attend 2023 Eurocon in Uppsala, Sweden.

Although Klak did not release the number of votes received by Naczyńska and the other candidate, James Shields, he said 33 valid votes were cast by fans from eight countries: UK 11; Poland 10; Ireland 4; Germany 2; Spain 2; Sweden 2; Finland 1; USA 1.

There also were 6 invalid votes lacking the voting contribution.

The funds received before subtraction of any fees amounted to 38 EUR, 77 GBP, and 353.62 PLN.

Klak said, “I would also like to thank Claire Brialey and Fionna O’Sullivan who helped me with starting the fund. I also want to express my gratitude to everyone who supported me and EFF till now. If not for the League of Fan Funds, Administrators of TAFF and GUFF, Konflikt Eurocon Team and many fans who donated money and items for the Fan Funds we would not be able to have this race. Please accept my deepest gratitude.”

Drawing by Tim Kirk

Free Walt Willis Collection from TAFF

The Harp That Once or Twice, a collection of columns by renowned Irish fanwriter Walt Willis, has been added to the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund’s library of free downloads. If you enjoy it, a donation to TAFF is a fine way to express your appreciation. All are available in several electronic formats.

 “The Harp That Once or Twice” was Walt Willis’s famous column that ran from 1951 to 1969 in four different fanzines: QuandryOopsla!Warhoon and Quark in that order, plus a final return to Warhoon. There were 44 installments, all collected here with the exception of two entire columns and a number of shorter segments within columns that formed part of the serialization of his 1952 US trip report, separately collected as the TAFF ebook The Harp Stateside.

First published as an Ansible Editions ebook for the TAFF site in March 2023. Cover artwork by Atom (Arthur Thomson) for Cry of the Nameless 164 (November 1962). 95,000 words.

From the Introduction

The harp that once through Tara’s halls
The soul of music shed,
Now hangs as mute on Tara’s walls
As if that soul were fled.
– Thomas Moore, Irish Melodies

Only the harp. Lovely. Gold glowering light. Girl touched it. Poop of a lovely. Gravy’s rather good fit for a. Golden ship. Erin. The harp that once or twice.
– James Joyce, Ulysses

This ebook collects almost every instalment of Walt Willis’s legendary fanzine column “The Harp that Once or Twice”. These columns were widely appreciated for their insight into science fiction and science fiction fandom; for genially engaging humour in strong contrast with the rare intervals of deadly seriousness (such as the polemic on Heinlein and Starship Troopers in the twenty-eighth instalment); for cunningly crafted puns that sometimes didn’t detonate until a second or third reading; and for broad erudition modestly and entertainingly presented. (The learned Instalment 43, “The Rats that Ate the Railroad”, was incorporated almost unchanged into Walt’s professionally published 1969 book about his country, The Improbable Irish as by Walter Bryan.) There has been nothing quite like them in fanzines, before or since. They remain eminently readable today.

[Thanks to David Langford for the story.]

2023 Canadian Unity Fan Fund Extends Nomination Deadline

By Fran Skene (CUFF 2019 Delegate to CanCon in Ottawa): Canadian Unity Fan Fund (CUFF) nominations are still open for selecting a fan delegate to Pemmi-Con (the 2023 NASFiC) in Winnipeg. Deadline for applying has been extended to March 15.

One nominee has already come forward (Garth Spencer); however, nominations remain open until March 15, for any others who are still considering it. If we end up with more than one candidate, we’ll have a vote.

Any fan from anywhere in Canada, active for at least the last two years, can qualify as CUFF delegate to Pemmi-Con, the 15th North American Science Fiction Convention in Winnipeg this July 20th through 23rd.

Note: This year, former CUFF delegates may also apply.

The primary responsibilities of the delegate are to:

  • Attend the convention, take part in programming, and report back to your fellow fans on the event.
  • Assist in raising funds for the next year’s delegate.
  • Administer (with the assistance of other Canadian fans) the process to select the next year’s fan delegate.
  • Promote Canadian genre-related media and fan activities.

Each nominee needs to apply to Fran Skene, the current administrator, saying why they would be a good delegate. Also, they need six nominators, three from the east and three from the west (separated by Manitoba-Ontario border).

Nominators need to contact Fran separately. If a nominator is possibly not known to Fran, they should include info or a link to something that will verify the nominator’s bona fides as being active in Canadian fandom for at least the last two years.

As well, we are asking for a bond of $20 CAD from each nominee, which will be added to the CUFF funds. This (and all donations) can be sent to Fran Skene via PayPal or Interac e-transfer, using this email address: fskene(at)shaw.ca

(To pay another way, email or message Fran to negotiate.)

The trip will be paid for by CUFF funds (donations very welcome), Air Miles from Fran for plane fare; and Pemmi-Con will comp the con membership plus a two-queen bed room shared with another fan fun delegate (DUFF or TAFF) during the convention.

In summary:

In order to be nominated for the CUFF this year an application must be submitted by March 15, 2023 to fskene(at)shaw.ca that includes a bond of $20.  It should contain a brief fan-related bio and how you hope to make this trip beneficial for you and the Canadian fan community. The application must have a minimum of three fan supporters from the east and three in the west (six total).

If we have more than one candidate, voting will open March 15 and close April 15th, in order to give the successful candidate enough time to work with Pemmi-Con programming and to schedule their visit.

Two More Free Books from TAFF

Two more classic trip reports have been added to the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund’s library of free downloads. And if you enjoy them, a donation to TAFF is a fine way to express your appreciation. All are available in several electronic formats.

Ron Bennett was the third UK fan to win TAFF, the second actually to make the trip to the US Worldcon (Solacon in South Gate, California, 1958), and the first to publish a full-length report of his experiences: Colonial Excursion, published in 1961.

The Ansible Editions ebook was prepared for the TAFF site with the kind permission of Ron’s son Andrew Bennett and released on 1 March 2023. 48,000 words. Cover photograph of Ron Bennett by Terry Jeeves, taken at the 1957 UK Eastercon.

Though Walt Willis is better known for his accounts of US conventions and travels in The Harp Stateside and Twice Upon a Time (included in TAWF Times Two), he also reported extensively on British cons. The Harp in England collects all seven of these reports – from the long and controversial account of the 1951 Festivention, through other 1950s events culminating in a mosaic of pieces for various fanzines on the first London Worldcon in 1957, and finally his return after a long absence from fandom to experience the infamous 1976 Eastercon.

First published as an Ansible Editions ebook for the TAFF site on 1 March 2023. Cover artwork by Atom (Arthur Thomson) from the front cover of Hyphen 14, June 1955. Close on 34,000 words.

[Thanks to David Langford for the story.]

2023 Canadian Unity Fan Fund Nominations Are Open

By Fran Skene (CUFF 2019 Delegate to CanCon in Ottawa): Nominations are now open for the 2023 CUFF delegate. We are looking for a fan from anywhere in Canada to travel to and attend Pemmi-Con, the 15th North American Science Fiction Convention, to be held in Winnipeg July 20-23. A hotel room has been reserved for the delegate, and the registration is comped.

Note: This year, former CUFF delegates may apply (no restriction to only new folks).

The delegate is welcome to stay longer than just the convention and hang out with local fans. Also consider visiting Winnipeg’s famous Royal Aviation Museum.

In order to be nominated for the CUFF this year, an application (see further info below) plus emails from the six nominators must be submitted by March 10, 2023 to Fran Skene at fskene(a)shaw.ca.

As well, we are asking for a bond of $20 CAD from each applicant, which will be added to the CUFF funds. This (and all donations) can be sent via either PayPal or Interac e-transfer to Fran at the above email address. (If you’d like to pay another way, email Fran to negotiate.)

In exchange for funds that will hopefully cover all costs for the trip (this will include Air Miles for the airfare from Fran), the primary responsibilities of the delegate are to:

  • Attend the convention, take part in programming, and report back to your fellow fans on the event.
  • Assist in raising funds for the next year’s delegate.
  • Administer (with the assistance of other Canadian fans) the process to select the next year’s fan delegate.
  • Promote Canadian genre-related media and fan activities.

In order to be nominated for the CUFF this year an emailed application must be submitted by March 10, 2023 to fskene(a)shaw.ca plus a bond of $20.  It should contain a brief fan-related bio and how you hope to make this trip beneficial for you and the Canadian fan community. The application must have a minimum of three fan supporters from the east and three in the west (six total). (The Manitoba/Ontario border separates east and west.)

If we have more than one applicant, voting will be open March 15 and close April 15th, in order to give the successful candidate enough time to work with Pemmi-Con programming and to schedule their visit.

Nominating: Any Canadian fan or pro may individually nominate a fan to be this year’s CUFF delegate. Just email Fran from your personal email, saying briefly why you’re nominating that fan.

If you (the nominator) are not likely to be known to the current fund administrator (Fran Skene), please give the name and contact info for a fan who is likely to be well known and can confirm you are an active fan, or links to information that will make your involvement in fandom clear. The same process will hold true for voting.

Voting: Voting, when open, will be permitted by anyone who has been active in Canadian fandom for two years or more. Voters are urged to make a donation to the fund of at least $5.00 to assist with the candidate’s expenses. Votes can be sent to fskene(a)shaw.ca.

Inaugural European Fan Fund Race Begins

Voting has begun in the first European Fan Fund race. Matylda Naczyńska from Poland and James Shields from Ireland are candidates to become the EFF delegate to the 2023 Eurocon in Uppsala, Sweden. .

Balloting will continue until April 10 at 23:59 British/Irish Time: UTC+1), with the winner announced online as soon as possible after voting has closed.

The EFF is using a preferential voting system similar to that used by TAFF and GUFF. Voters rank candidates in order of preference. In order to win candidate must gain over 50% of the votes. If this doesn’t happen in the first round of counting, the lowest-ranked candidates will be eliminated from the race and those votes redistributed in subsequent rounds according to the next ranking. This will be repeated until one candidate has a majority of votes. Alternatively, fans can vote to Hold Over Funds to another year, or vote No Preference.  Any fan active in fandom prior to January 2022 can vote providing they donate at least 3 EUR (or 3 GBP or equivalent) to EFF.

The candidates’ platforms and nominators follow:

Matylda Naczyńska

My story with fantasy started when I was a teenager but I wasn’t introduced to the Fandom until Covid pandemic and tabletop RPGs community going full on-line in early 2020. I started to sink in participate in various RPG-related events. In 2021 I decided to dive head first and made my first time on a Convention as volunteering! Soon after that I co-organised an on-line part of a small, local convention! I decided to join a fantasy-oriented association and really quick I became a volunteer, co-organizer and even section-chief in 3, couple-hundred participants, conventions (on-line and off-line). Recently I was chosen to join the board of association of Fantasy-fans association Avangarda (based in Poland, Warsaw). This allows me to manage the (disliked by everyone else) administrative and financial aspects of our association. I’m still an active tabletop RPG player and huge sci-fi literature fan (all hail Stanislaw Lem!!!). I am not a veteran convention-goer but in just a few years I became very close to the Fandom and I believe it belongs to the brave and bold so I am asking kindly for Your votes in EFF so that I can continue my journey on Eurocon. See You in Uppsala!

  • Nominators: Julianna Grefkowicz (PL), Mikołaj Kowalewski (PL), Esther MacCallum-Stewart (UK)

James Shields

I’m very excited to be standing for the European Fan Fund. I think it’s a fantastic idea to promote Eurocon and greater links between European fan groups. I’ve been attending Eurocons when I can since 2011, and I co-chaired the Dublin 2014 Eurocon. I have been on many convention committees over the years. I’ve experience with fan funds as I was a prior GUFF delegate and attended Aussiecon 4 in Melbourne, and contributed to and helped run many fan fund auctions since then. I would be keen to bring that experience to the EFF, and help develop the fan fund into the future. I’m also a big fan of LEGO, and plan to produce a special EFF minifigure to come on the trip and be passed on to future delegates.

If selected as EFF Delegate, I would take as full a part in Konflikt as possible, participating in programme, and the social events of the convention. I would write blog posts in the run up to, and during the trip. After the trip I would aim to produce my trip report within a year and do my best to make the 2024 EFF trip even better than the 2023 one.

  • Nominators: James Bacon (IE), Mihaela Marija Perković (HR), Borys Sydiuk (UA)

Donations should be sent via PayPal to [email protected] (choose the option to send money to friends and family if you can). Please note during the payment process that the payment is for EFF 2023 (the location varies; typically ‘Add a note’ or ‘Email to recipient’).

Votes can be provided via the online form: https://forms.gle/uzXzS4t9qimmczmZ9; on a paper ballot (PDFdocx) – please write to [email protected] for the address to send the paper form to (or hand deliver it at to the EFF representative at Conversation 2023 (Eastercon), April 7-10.)

Three New Digital Editions of TAFF Trip Reports Help Start 2023 Right

Three classic trip reports have been added to the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund’s library of free downloads. And if you enjoy them, a donation to TAFF is a fine way to express your appreciation. All are available in several electronic formats.


A Fake Fan in London by Bob Madle (1957 TAFF trip)

Robert A. “Bob” Madle (1920-2022) was the first North American TransAtlantic Fan Fund winner to travel to Europe at TAFF expense and the first to write a trip report on his experience. He attended the 1957 London Worldcon, the first to be held outside North America. A Fake Fan in London includes a detailed examination of the controversy (reflected in the title) resulting from the fact that many UK fans had preferred the rival candidate Dick Eney, a much newer fan whose activity was more visible across the transatlantic gulf between fandoms. All was amicably resolved. Madle died in October 2022 at the ripe age of 102, the last surviving member of the real First Fandom.

Ansible Editions ebook added to the TAFF library on 1 February 2023. Over 37,000 words. Cover drawing by Linda Miller from the first collected edition published in 1976.


The Moffatt House Abroad by Len and June Moffatt (1973 TAFF trip)

Len and June Moffatt were the 1973 US TAFF winners, travelling from California to that year’s UK Eastercon, OMPAcon ’73, held in Bristol. Their joint trip report The Moffatt House Abroad followed promptly in 1974.

Cover artwork by Bernie Zuber for APA-L, used as an interior in the 1974 edition. Ansible Editions ebook added to the TAFF site on 1 February 2023. Over 44,000 words.


The Squirrel’s Tale by Ron Ellik (1962 TAFF trip)

Ron Ellik (1938-1968), nicknamed “Squirrel”, was a popular Los Angeles fan highly active from the mid-1950s, co-editing the Hugo-winning newszine Fanac with Terry Carr. He won the 1961 TAFF race against Dick Eney and travelled from the USA to the 1962 UK Eastercon in Harrogate. The ensuing lively trip report The Squirrel’s Tale was serialized in the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society’s Shangri L’Affaires in 1962 and 1963, revised by Ellik in 1965, and published by LA friends a year after his tragic death in a January 1968 car accident.

Ansible Editions ebook added to the TAFF library on 1 February 2023. 27,000 words. Cover photo of Ron Ellik in squirrel costume from the Ethel Lindsay collection; photographer unknown.

[Thanks to David Langford for the story.]

So You Want To Start A Fan Fund

By Mike Glyer: Whenever you think everything has already been invented, count on being surprised. Fan funds to bring across the seas people others only knew through their fanwriting got started seventy years ago and it turns out the idea has by no means been used up. TAFF, DUFF, and GUFF, organized to continually raise money to exchange fans between distant parts of the world, are a model for the latest effort announced a few months ago to add a European Fan Fund to the mix.

What does it take to create a fan fund to send a delegate from one area to another? Probably a good place to start is to identify hub convention in each area that can be the target for the person to attend. Then price out what the fund has to pay for in order to send someone to either con so you have a fundraising goal amount. Transportation, hotel room nights, meals, appropriate other thingies (whatever they might be).  Let’s say for the sake of discussion it’s $1,000.

Next question is — how can you generate $1000. That can be raised through: Direct donations. Auctions. Sales of donated stuff.

Direct donations requires the least amount of labor (people points).

Auctions — there are often TAFF/DUFF/David Gerrold/whatever else auctions at cons, so there are issues of finding a way to peacefully co-exist with these other efforts and at the same time avoiding giving fandom at large the impression of going to the same well too often. Those goals can probably be achieved, but they need to be thought about.

Sales of donated stuff — Running a fan table for purposes of publicizing the fan fund and selling donated stuff is time-intensive. What are ways of doing this collaboratively with fans who need to do the same thing for their causes. Which are compatible with raising money for this fan fund?

Sources of donated stuff can be individuals, and it’s likely you can tap into publishers (book, game, etc.) who want to publicize themselves by donating product. The risks of going to the well too often are not so great because the companies probably aren’t going to have a bad attitude, they will just say yes or no according to their own priorities and resources.

Fan fund publicity in general: The ever-popular press release sent out to likely suspects, and the use of social media, are pretty effective at getting the word out. These create an awareness of the fund’s existence, which is valuable, though the other in-person efforts described above are needed as follow-up to actually harvest money for the fund.

How will the fund be awarded? By vote or application to a directorate? It’s not always easy to find people who want to be fan fund candidates, and there’s also the question of whether the winner will be expected to administer the fund and assure it continues in existence.

Those are the broad strokes of the picture – your knowledge about fandom in your area will be needed to fill in the many other details involved.