Tag Archives: FAPA

Special Plans For FAPA’s 80th Birthday

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Steven and Vicki Ogden write:

ATTENTION FAPA MEMBERS PAST AND PRESENT!

The next mailing of FAPA (Fantasy Amateur Press Association) will mark the 80th year of FAPA (Aug 1937 to Aug 2017) and we intend to do something special by inviting all members past and present to contribute something and include some historical musings about their time in FAPA or Science Fiction/Fantasy fandom in general.

Anything you can provide will be appreciated! If you want to send us an email or mail us something (one copy will be sufficient) or post something on the Facebook page we’ll include it in the mailing. Anything and everything will be accepted for this one special occasion (text, art, reprints of old articles or stuff). This is an important milestone and we’d like as many people as possible to voice their sentiments about FAPA, their involvement with science fiction fandom in general or any aspect of science fiction that touched their lives. Please note that we go to press Aug 12, 2017, so all submissions need to be in my hand before that date.

Please help in this endeavor by forwarding this invitation to past members you may know that might be interested in participating. Thank you so much for your participation!

If you are not currently a member of FAPA, I can’t promise you’ll get a copy of FAPA (unless someone wants to become a member of FAPA, which I would LOVE to happen!), but Vicki and I are planning on putting together our own personal contribution with all of the folk’s contributions and I could provide a copy of that if someone wants one.

The Facebook page is called “FAPA — SF Fandom’s Oldest Apa” and is accessed at https://www.facebook.com/groups/409930185866875/

Our email address is [email protected]

Our mailing address is:

Steven & Vicki Ogden
10200 Long Meadow Road
Oklahoma City, OK 73162

Widner Named First Lifetime FAPA Member

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Art Widner at Torcon III in 2003.

Art Widner at Torcon III in 2003.

Robert Lichtman, Secretary-Treasurer of the Fantasy Amateur Press Association (FAPA), has announced that Art Widner is the organization’s first Lifetime Member, “forever freed of any obligations to pay dues and/or to contribute to the mailings.”

FAPA is fandom’s earliest apa, founded in 1937 by Donald Wollheim and John Michel. (An apa works this way: Members send their printed zines to the OE, who sends back a bundle containing a copy of every contribution. FAPA has a quarterly cycle.)

How did Art Widner qualify for this honor? Lichtman explains –

First, it helps to be 97 years old.  And having a longtime membership doesn’t hurt.  Art first joined FAPA in September 1940 and left in November 1950.  In the Fantasy Amateur for that mailing (the 53rd), it says he was dropped for “dues, activity and square dancing.”  (I take the latter as code for “raising a family and having a career.”)  He rejoined in May 1979 and has been with us ever since.  That’s a total of 46 years, more than half the life of the organization.

This was a surprise for Art, who wrote back —

“Thank U Robert & Happy New Year to all the members.  I will try to be worthy of the honor.  I want to say ‘humble’ but that’s a tricky one — the moment u say Ur Humble — U arnt.  R!”

[Thanks to Robert Lichtman for the story.]

Michael Waite (1936-2013)

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Michael Waite, fanzine publisher and member of the Fantasy Amateur Press Association, died January 1 at home in Ypsilanti, MI with hospice care. He was 76 years old.

Among the details in the full obituary posted by the funeral home are his military service – four years in the Air Force, his education – an MFA (1983) in photography and art history, and his faith – he converted from Lutheran to Catholic in 1960.

Michael worked as a photographer in the 1970s and thereafter before beginning a career in human resources at SOS Community Services where he was employed from 1985 until 2011.

[Thanks to Robert Lichtman for the story.]

Brust Treated for Congestive Heart Failure

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Steven Brust was hospitalized with congestive heart failure on April 19. He visited a dentist for treatment of severe tooth pain but the dentist, suspecting there was a more serious issue involved, referred him to urgent care. There an EKG looked doubtful so they sent Brust along to the ER. The heart problem was diagnosed and treated:

I’m now on more drugs: something to keep my heart beat regular, and a mild diuretic.   I’m told I could use an operation to insert something into my chest that will shock my heart if it goes into, uh, I don’t remember.  Ventrical a-fib, maybe?  But it’s supposed to keep me alive.  I can no more afford the operation than I can pay the hospital bills I just incurred, BUT….

I met with a social worker, who seems confident she can get me heath care–enough to help with those bills, and get the operation, and fix my teeth, and even deal with the fucking polyp in my nose that’s been making life interesting for several years.  This is very, very good news.  I am actually feeling hopeful.

I’ve never forgotten Jack Chalker’s autobiographical essay for the Fantasy Amateur Press Association that described in frank detail his severe dental problems, and echoed the warning he’d received that dental infections can lead to heart trouble.

It’s such a common problem that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a warning in this PSA:

Having bad teeth seems to be related to having a bad heart. A look at data on close to 42,000 people finds that the risk of heart disease goes up with the number of teeth people lose. The report in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine said eight and one half percent of people who lost all their teeth had heart disease.

But what could link teeth and hearts? Researcher Paul Eke of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention thinks gum disease may be the common culprit:

“Gum disease is caused by a silent, chronic infection of the tissues surrounding the teeth, that can lead to tooth loss. It is the systemic consequences of chronic infection that may increase your risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke.”

Good to know Brust got a timely diagnosis.

[Thanks to Lee Gold for the story.]

Vale, Bob Sabella

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Fanzine fandom lost one of its most faithful and frequent contributors when Bob Sabella, editor of Visions of Paradise, died Saturday, December 3.

He’d recently been hospitalized and diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and Robert Lichtman received this word late Saturday night from Sabella’s son Mark:

“I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but my dad passed away this evening in the hospital. The final diagnosis was an inoperable, malignant brain tumor (a stage 4 gliobastoma). Over the course of the past week, his condition deteriorated and the doctor’s outlook to even the short-term prospects became grim. He was unresponsive through the end, and went peacefully and without pain.”

At the time Bob Sabella was Official Editor of fandom’s oldest apa, the Fantasy Amateur Press Association. Curt Phillips has volunteered to take over the reins.

[Thanks to Steve Green and Robert Lichtman for the story.]

Corflu Zed Auction Is On!

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Corflu Zed logo

Andy Hooper is running an auction on eBay to raise money for Corflu Zed. “He has many rare and fascinating items for sale, including books, fanzines, and magazines,” writes Randy Byers. At this moment, several Harry Warner FAPAzines are on the block. “Search for the character string ‘[Corflu Zed]’ on eBay to find these items. Any support would be greatly appreciated!”

And don’t forget to check http://www.corflu.org for the latest news about Corflu.