Monthly Archives: October 2008

Jack Narz (1922-2008)

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Jack Narz, who passed away October 15, is someone I mainly remember from TV game shows. But while television was in its infancy, and so was I, Narz lent his voice to two well-known science fiction programs.

He was an announcer on the popular 1950s children’s science-fiction program “Space Patrol“.

“Narz is fondly remembered by many baby boomers as the announcer who got us to scarf down cereal that tasted like cardboard so we could get box-top premiums for ’25 cents in coin,’ ” Jean-Noel Bassior, author of the 2005 book “Space Patrol: Missions of Daring in the Name of Early Television,” told The Times in an e-mail.

He also narrated the first episodes of “Superman”:

Steve Beverly, game shows historian, said Narz narrated in 1951 the two-part opening episodes of “Superman.” The story, “Superman on Earth,” outlined how the character became Clark Kent and, ultimately, the Man of Steel.

2009 Corflu Posts First PR

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Randy Byers announces that the PDF of the first Corflu Zed progress report, AmaZed and CorfluZed #1, is now available at eFanzines:

We’re attempting something more fanzine-like in our progress reports, so this one features an exhortation by John Hertz and a reprint of a 1960 piece by Wally Weber (you’ll want to read that if you want to understand the cover), along with the usual brass tacks of convention-related information. If we get any LOCs, we’ll have a lettercol in the next issue. You can send letters to Luke McGuff at pubzed (at) corflu.org.

A Bald Statement of Support

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Joel Zakem recently posted this fannish fundraiser information from David Rowe on Timebinders and Trufen with his permission, adding “Some of you may remember Sandy [Jordan] from her time in Cincinnati Fandom.” I offered to post the info here, too, and Dave agreed, with thanks.

Original message from: David Rowe:

We recently got the news that our very good friend Sandy Jordan was in hospital with a tumor on her lung and another on her brain! Her Mom was Jackie Causegrove, nee Frank, who drew an almost unending stream of beautiful fan-art in the 70s and beyond.

This is how her husband Greg put it at the beginning of the month “My wife Sandra has been sick for a while, and was recently found to have a tumor on her lung and another in her brain, with her lymph system also ‘affected.’ … She had an MRI on Friday [Sept 26], and was sent immediately from there to the ER, where she was admitted. She’s been given medications to lessen the swelling around the brain tumor … Her main symptoms right now are headaches, aphasia, and partial loss of vision. She can still talk, walk a little, and somehow even laugh and make jokes. … She’s coping rather well, given the circumstances, and is surrounded by a loving family and friends.

She had an op for the brain tumor on Monday the 6th which was so successful she was back home on Wednesday! Now there’s chemo &/or radiation to go through and the lung tumor to remove.

Her husband Greg and son Josh are planning a fund raiser for the American Cancer Society. They’ve both been long-haired for the past 15 years but as Sandy is now bald they’re going to have their heads shaved too. The hair will go to Pantene Beautiful Lengths which makes wigs for children who are bald because of chemotherapy etc., and their asking friends and acquaintances to donate $10 or more per person (anything from $1 up will be accepted). The goal is to raise $2,000!

If you wish to donate to this scalping contact Josh via: locknbar (at) gmail.com

How Fan Artists Avoid Starvation

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Jim Barker, a leading British fanartist in the Seventies, was in Baltimore for last weekend’s Bouchercon, reports Martin Morse Wooster. (Martin saw Jim but did not manage to talk to him.) Barker now sells magnets with his cartoons to tourists, and also does promotions, public relations, and “personalized cartoons“. To see his latest work, check out Monday Cartoons. You can add yourself to the distribution list, if you like:

Every Monday I send out a cartoon to brighten up your Monday mornings. This is a free service and is designed only to get your week off to a good start. You can see an archive of previous cartoons here. To be added to the list of people receiving the cartoon, simply sign up here.

Dave Langford’s account of the 1978 Novacon quoted in Then shows why Jim Barker was a leading fanartist of the Seventies:

“Famed fanartist Jim Barker — inspired by evil Graham Charnock — lovingly created the cardboard Peter Weston Moustache. Soon this Fuhrer-like symbol was affixed with Blu-Tack to scores of upper lips, and scores of clenched-fist salutes were given — to the dismay of Chairman Peter. Some loyal Westonites found it difficult to adopt the new insignia: Kev Smith, for example, discovered that he already had a moustache with which Blu-Tack could become irretrievably intermingled. In a burst of lateral thought, he compromised by wearing his Peter Weston Moustache on the end of his nose. (Who said the sense of wonder was dead?)”

Update 10/16/2008: Martin Morse Wooster e-mailed a small correction: “I never actually saw Jim Barker at Bouchercon. I only saw his brochure. But thanks to you, I did sign up for his weekly cartoon! Yours, Martin (who did NOT expect to see 1970s fan cartoonists at Bouchercon.)” / Update 10/30/2008: Corrected attribution of Novacon report.

The Rights to Forever

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Variety reports that Ridley Scott has obtained the rights to Joe Haldeman’s Forever War:

Fox 2000 has acquired rights to Joe Haldeman’s 1974 novel “The Forever War,” and Ridley Scott is planning to make it into his first science fiction film since he delivered back-to-back classics with “Blade Runner” and “Alien.”

Scott intended to follow those films with “The Forever War,” but rights complications delayed his plans for more than two decades.

Uncanny to recall we were speaking about Blade Runner just the other day.

 [Thanks to Joel Zakem for the story.]

2008 Anthony Awards

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Courtesy of Martin Morse Wooster, here are the winners of the 2008 Anthony Awards, presented for work in the mystery genre, by Bouchercon 2008 during the October 9-12 weekend:

Website:  Stan Ulrich, Stop, You’re Killing Me!
Special Services:  Jon and Ruth Jordan, Crimespree Magazine
Best Critical Work:  Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower, and Charles Foley,
              Arthur Conan Doyle:  A Life in Letters (Penguin)
Best Short Story: Laura Lippman, “Hardly Knew Her” (Otto Penzler, ed.,
               Dead Man’s Hand (Harcourt))
Best Paperback Original:  P.J. Parrish, A Thousand Bones (Pocket)
Best First Novel:  Tana French, In The Woods (Viking)
Best Novel:  Laura Lippman, What the Dead Know (Morrow)

When the Economy
Goes Off the Rails

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It’s hard to visualize all the economic connections that are tangled up in the current crisis. It’s easier to understand practical examples, like the long trains of freightcars that link farmers with city-dwellers.

A Filknet discussion reminded Kay Shapero about Leslie Fish’s “The Grain Train“.

I forget who said it, but it’s true that when you try to pick up just one thing you invariably find it’s hitched to the rest of the universe.

Leslie Fish explained, “I wrote that song in Chicago, which sits at a huge rail-junction, and at the southern edge of one of the Great Lakes, AND at the edge of the Wheatlands. If the trains stopped rolling, even Chicago would be in serious trouble.”

[Thanks to David Klaus for the link.]