Breendoggle History Wiki

Walter Breen, late in life (year unknown).

Walter Breen, late in life (year unknown).

The recent tsunami of interest in the history of Marion Zimmer Bradley and Walter Breen has inspired the launch of a Breendoggle Wiki within the past few days. The Breendoggle is the term for the controversy over Walter Breen’s exclusion from Pacificon II, the 1964 Worldcon.

Its main feature so far is the text of Bill Donaho’s circular to selected fans in advance of the con titled “THE GREAT BREEN BOONDOGGLE OR ALL BERKELEY IS PLUNGED INTO WAR.”

The Wiki editors begin with this necessary caution —

TRIGGER WARNING. This newsletter discusses child sexual abuse in graphic detail.

Donaho supplied a wealth of details and specific allegations about Walter Breen’s behavior (children’s names have been redacted in the online copy) and, having settled on the idea that Breen should be banned from local fandom and from the upcoming Worldcon (Pacificon II) because he was harming children, Donaho asked a wide group of friends for advice on how to achieve this.

Most of the wiki editors use handles. However, anybody can read the complete PDF of Donaho’s circular for themselves, for a copy is available on the site.

Bill Donaho in 1956.

Bill Donaho in 1956.