Remembering Harry

By Rich Lynch: Today we celebrate what would have been the 100th birthday of Harry Warner, Jr., who was perhaps the best-known stay-at-home science fiction fan of all time.

Harry was a lifelong resident of Hagerstown, Maryland and a fan for most of his life; his fan activities began in 1936, when he was in his early teens, but by then he had already been a science fiction reader for several years: “My father got a couple of Jules Verne’s novels from the library for me to read [and] I read a little science fiction in the Big Little books, which were popular a long, long time ago.  But I didn’t discover the prozines until 1933 – I bought my first Amazings and Wonders in that year.”

The path that Harry took into fandom was via the prozines.  When he was 13 years old, he wrote a letter to Astounding’s “Brass Tacks” letters column, printed in the October 1936 issue, which mentioned that he would like to “correspond with someone of my own age or a little older”.  Soon afterwards, he received about a dozen letters as well as a few fanzines (called ‘fanmags’ back then) in response, and began a letter exchange with some of the people who had written to him.  One of these was James S. Avery, a fan from Maine, who convinced Harry they should co-edit their own fanmag, and in November 1938 the first issue appeared.  This was Spaceways, a general interest fanmag which became one of the best fan publications of the pre-war years.

Spaceways was not destined to be a collaborative effort – it turned out that Avery never did contribute any material or effort to the publication so he was soon dropped as co-editor.  As for Harry, it turned out that one of his talents was in persuading good writers to contribute to Spaceways; this included such notables as H.P. Lovecraft, Jack Williamson, Bob Tucker, Fred Pohl, Forrest J Ackerman, Sam Moskowitz, and Robert Lowndes.  Harry also took great pains to keep Spaceways (and himself) above the fan politics and feuds that were endemic to the fandom of the late 1930s and early 1940s.  By doing this, he made many friends and very few enemies.

Harry gained a reputation in fandom as ‘The Hermit of Hagerstown’, this from his reluctance or inability to travel far from home.  As a result, he was frequently visited by those who were passing through the region on their way to or from various fan gatherings.  One of these, in 1943, was the notorious fan freeloader Claude Degler, whom Harry described as actually behaving like a gentleman, but: “He left Hagerstown without getting into my home, an accomplishment for which I have never been sufficiently recognized.”

Over the years, Harry actually did leave Hagerstown to attend a few science fiction conventions, including the 1971 Worldcon where he was the Fan Guest of Honor.  He was never very happy with the large crowd scenes, though, preferring the written word as his way of communicating with other fans.  In the last decades of his life, he limited his contact with other fans to groups of two or three at the largest, so if you wanted to meet him you had to go visit him in Hagerstown. 

All of his fanac then was done from home, either by publishing fanzines, writing articles for other fanzines, or as a correspondent.  His prozine letterhack days were pretty much over by the time he became a fanzine publisher, but he remained a prolific letter writer for the rest of his life, usually in response to the myriads of fanzines he received in the mail.  Harry always found positive, constructive things to say about even the most abysmal of crudzines, and it was always a badge of honor for a fanzine publisher to include a Harry Warner letter of comment in the Letters Column.  Many volumes could probably be published of the entertaining letters he wrote to fanzine publishers; at least partly for this prolificacy he was voted the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer twice, in 1969 and 1972, winning out over such notables as Walt Willis, Terry Carr, and Susan Wood.

Harry also received one other Hugo Award, in 1993, for Best Non-Fiction Book.  His large accumulation of fanzines provided him a resource from which to research the fandom of the 1940s and 1950s, and resulted in two books that he referred to as “informal histories” – All Our Yesterdays (Advent, 1969), about fandom of the 1940s, and A Wealth of Fable (SCIFI Press, 1992), about 1950s fandom.  The Best Non-Fiction Book Hugo did not exist in 1970, or both books would likely have won the award.

Harry’s influence as a writer and historian on fandom is huge, and not only in the United States.  Noted Swedish fan and writer John-Henri Holmberg wrote that: “What struck me about [Harry’s] letters, as well as his many fanzine essays, was his reasonableness, his sense of proportion, his quiet humor and good sense.  In many ways, I suspect that Harry Warner was the ideal fan, in the sense that he managed to avoid both the wild-eyed fanaticism and the angry disillusionment which devour so many of us.  He could see both sides to most conflicts, but even more importantly, he could also see that neither was particularly important.”

Harry leaves behind no relatives; only his writings survive him.  And even though he was a lifelong bachelor, he was as much a patriarchal figure as has ever existed in science fiction fandom.  Not long after Harry’s death in February 2003, fan historian Moshe Feder noted that: “[Harry] may not have any surviving blood kin, but we are his family, and his proper mourners, as is any faned anywhere who will never again receive a Harry Warner letter of comment.”  And he’s right.

Revisit “Fighting Forties” LASFS in Rob Hansen’s Bixelstrasse

Did “Shangri-LA” or Ah! Sweet Idiocy! best describe the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society of the 1940s? The answer is – Yes! – as readers of Rob Hansen’s new fannish ebook will discover. Bixelstrasse: The SF Fan Community of 1940s Los Angeles is the latest addition to TAFF’s library of free downloads. 

The story emerges from the participants’ own words – famous and notorious figures like Forrest J Ackerman, Charles Burbee, Claude Degler, Francis Towner Laney, “Tigrina” and “Morojo”, as well as pros of the day including Ray Bradbury, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ray Harryhausen, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, Fritz Lang, Fritz Leiber and A.E. van Vogt.

It’s another huge compilation — 193,000 words — and available in multiple formats at the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund’s website, where they also hope you’ll make a little donation to the fund. Find it here.

From Rob Hansen’s Foreword:

The Bixel Street era of LASFS has fascinated me since I first read about it in Harry Warner Jr’s All Our Yesterdays. Yes, there have been other occasions on which fans have shared premises in varying degrees, but to have a community of fans centred around a clubroom and living in nearby rooming houses on the same street gave rise to all-week, around-the-clock fanning of a sort not seen before or since. […]

This set-up, the whole “fannish village” they established, was immensely appealing to me in my twenties (though seeing so much of each other inevitably exacerbated personality clashes, of course). Add in the large numbers of fans from around the country who passed through Los Angeles thanks to the war, many of them processed via the Induction Center at nearby Fort MacArthur before being sent off to fight, and you have something unique in the history of fandom, a saga featuring fans and pros, communists and homosexuals, madmen and mystics, Hollywood stars and spies.

Within the confines of mundane South Bixel Street lay the Bixelstrasse, a name that describes the tight cluster of dwellings on that street that housed its fannish community….

From Bixelstrasse: The SF Fan Community of 1940s Los Angeles.

Fans appearing in the cover photo taken at the 1941 LASFS Xmas Party are as follows. Rear: Helen Finn, Dorothy Finn, Eleanor O’Brien, Morojo, Art Joquel, Ed Chamberlain, Gerald Miller, Henry Hasse. Front: Paul Freehafer, Peggy Finn, Walt Daugherty, Forry Ackerman, Norwin Johnson. Sign over door reads SHOTTLE BOP. See also the 1940s LASFS Gallery at Rob Hansen’s site.

[Thanks to David Langford for the scoop!]

Free Read: Homefront – Fandom in the UK (1939-1945)

The cover photo shows the remains of The Red Bull, the first pub to host London fandom’s meetings, after it was destroyed during an air raid on 16 April 1941. Photo courtesy of Holborn Library.

Homefront – Fandom in the UK (1939-1945), a massive fanhistorical compilation by Rob Hansen focusing on British fandom during World War Two, is available as a free download from the TAFF website. (Donations to the fund appreciated.)

Hansen brings together first-hand accounts of wartime experience through fannish eyes, showing how the lines of communication between fans continued during that huge national disruption – and so, somehow, did the fannish sense of humor.

It chronicles how against all the odds a handful of dedicated individuals kept that community together in circumstances inconceivable to any who didn’t live through them. Despite being bombed out of their homes, called up to serve in the armed forces, or facing the hostility of tribunals in order to register as Conscientious Objectors, they somehow succeeded in keeping our eventually far-flung fandom together when it could all so easily have just faded away. Many of those who feature most prominently in Homefront went on to be the first post-war generation of British SF writers and there is much here that should be of interest to scholars of their work.

Hansen says “I’ve also included as a prologue Chuck Harris’s funny and evocative account of his 1930s childhood amid poverty and the British Union of Fascists in London’s long-gone Jewish East End.”

To accompany Homefront, he has set up an online photo gallery of fans in uniform during World War Two.

The Ansible Editions ebook is available in several formats. 161,500 words.

CoNZealand To Host
1945 Retro Hugos

Co-chairs Norman Cates and Kelly Buehler have announced that CoNZealand, the 2020 Worldcon, will present Retro Hugo Awards for 1945, acknowledging notable works published in 1944.

The Hugos are the most prestigious award in the science fiction and fantasy genres. First presented in 1953, they honor literature, media and fan activities, and have become the key event held during the annual World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon).

Since 1996, Worldcon committees also have had the option of presenting Retrospective (Retro) awards to honor works published in the earlier years of Worldcon when no Hugos were awarded. No Hugo Awards were given out in 1945, when Worldcon was on hiatus due to World War II, and CoNZealand will take place 75 years after the awards would have occurred.

The 2019 Irish Worldcon, held in Dublin last month, presented the 1944 Retro Hugos for the 1943 calendar year; Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Ray Bradbury were amongst the winners.

“Some of the works created during the World War II years have become classics and it is a great opportunity to be able to formally celebrate them,” said Cates and Buehler.

Nominations for the 1945 Retro Hugos will open at the same time as the 2020 Hugo Award nominations.

In addition to the Hugos and Retro Hugos, CoNZealand will host the Sir Julius Vogel Awards, which recognize excellence in science fiction, fantasy, or horror works created by New Zealanders and New Zealand residents.

[Based on a CoNZealand Press Release.]

Happy 99th Birthday Bob Madle

1930’s Fan Bob Madle and the slightly younger Fan Curt Phillips; May 1, 2019.

Bob Madle, turns 99 today. A founder of First Fandom, Bob attended the 1936 event in Philadelphia considered by some the first sf convention, went to the first Worldcon in 1939, co-founded the Philadelphia SF Society, was a finalist for the 1956 Best Feature Writer Hugo, won TAFF in 1957, and was Suncon’s (1977) Fan GoH.

By Curt Phillips: I visited Bob at his home two weeks ago just before Corflu 37, which was held in Rockville, MD this year.  Bob is doing very well, and in spite of some health issues over the past couple of years is active, sharp as a tack, and still loving science fiction and fandom as much as ever.  He’s still selling rare science fiction books and magazines too and during my visit I parted with a few hard earned dollars to buy some Wonder Stories and some other magazines that I’d been looking for, but the best part of my visit was to simply sit in Bob’s enormous pulp warehouse and talk about early science fiction with him.  He’s known everybody in science fiction and fandom over the decades and has fascinating stories to tell.  I only had a few hours to visit, but I could have stayed for days. 

First Fandom founder, WWII veteran, science fiction’s master bookseller; Robert A. “Bob” Madle. He was there at Fandom’s beginnings and he’s with us still.

1943 Retro-Hugo Winners

The winners of the 1943 Retrospective Hugo Awards were announced on Thursday, August 16 at Worldcon 76.

Best Fan Writer

Forrest J Ackerman

Best Fanzine

Le Zombie, edited by Arthur Wilson “Bob” Tucker

Best Professional Artist

Virgil Finlay

Best Editor – Short Form

John W. Campbell

Best Dramatic Presentation – Short Form

Bambi, written by Perce Pearce, Larry Morey, et al., directed by David D. Hand et al. (Walt Disney Productions)

Best Short Story

“The Twonky,” by Lewis Padgett (C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner) (Astounding Science-Fiction, September 1942)

Best Novelette

“Foundation,” by Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science-Fiction, May 1942)

Best Novella

“Waldo,” by Anson MacDonald (Robert A. Heinlein) (Astounding Science-Fiction, August 1942)

Best Novel

Beyond This Horizon, by Anson MacDonald (Robert A. Heinlein) (Astounding Science-Fiction, April & May 1942)

The administrators report 703 valid ballots (688 electronic and 15 paper) were received and counted from convention members.

The Hugo Awards, presented first in 1953 and annually since 1955, are science fiction’s most prestigious award, and one of the World Science Fiction Convention’s unique and distinguished institutions.

Since 1993, Worldcon committees have had the option of awarding Retrospective Hugo Awards for past Worldcon years prior to 1953 where they had not been presented 25, 50, or 100 years prior to the contemporary convention, with the exception of the hiatus during World War II when no Worldcon was convened. A recent change in this policy has now allowed for Retro Hugos to be awarded for the years 1942-1945.

Where To Find The 1943 Retro Hugo Finalists For Free Online

By JJ, with content provided by Nicholas Whyte, Kat Jones, Carla H., Joe Siclari, Edie Stern, FANAC.org, Bill Burns, eFanzines.com, and The Internet Archive

Since the 1943 Retro Hugo Voter’s packet has not yet arrived, if you’d like to get a head start on your reading, you can use this handy guide to find material which is available for free online.

The Professional Artist images are taking quite a long time to locate and format into galleries, so I have gone ahead with this post so that people will be able to start reading works. When the galleries are finished, I will post an update.

Related articles:

Best Novel

  • Beyond This Horizon, by Anson MacDonald (Robert A. Heinlein) (Astounding Science Fiction, published as a two-part serial: April 1942 and May 1942)
  • Darkness and the Light, by Olaf Stapledon (Methuen / S.J.R. Saunders)
  • Donovan’s Brain, by Curt Siodmak (Black Mask, September-November 1942)
  • Islandia, by Austin Tappan Wright (Farrar & Rinehart)

(the published book is 1,014 pages; this archive is 2,293 scanned pages of the original unpublished, uncut manuscript and related materials, and if anyone can provide the page range of a 100- to 200-page segment of this archive as a recommended reading sample, it would be appreciated)

Best Novella

Best Novelette

Best Short Story

Best Dramatic Presentation – Short Form

  • Bambi, written by Perce Pearce, Larry Morey, et al., directed by David D. Hand et al. (Walt Disney Productions)  trailer
  • Cat People, written by DeWitt Bodeen, directed by Jacques Tourneur (RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.)  trailer
  • The Ghost of Frankenstein, written by W. Scott Darling, directed by Erle C. Kenton (Universal Pictures)  trailer
  • I Married a Witch, written by Robert Pirosh and Marc Connelly, directed by René Clair (Cinema Guild Productions / Paramount Pictures)  trailer
  • Invisible Agent, written by Curtis Siodmak, directed by Edwin L. Marin (Frank Lloyd Productions / Universal Pictures)  trailer
  • Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book, written by Laurence Stallings, directed by Zoltan Korda (Alexander Korda Films, Inc. / United Artists)  trailer

Best Editor – Short Form

John W. Campbell

Oscar J. Friend

  • Captain Future 1942 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter)
  • Startling Stories 1942 (Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Nov)
  • Thrilling Wonder Stories 1942 (Feb, Apr, Jun, Aug, Oct, Dec)

Dorothy McIlwraith

Raymond A. Palmer

Malcolm Reiss

  • Planet Stories 1942 (Spring, Summer)
  • Jungle Stories 1942 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter)

Donald A. Wollheim

Best Professional Artist (galleries still under construction)

  • Hannes Bok
  • Margaret Brundage
  • Edd Cartier
  • Virgil Finlay
  • Harold W. McCauley
  • Hubert Rogers

Best Fanzine

Best Fan Writer

* if you encounter any invalid links, please let me know in the comments *

Source links:

 

1943 Retrospective Hugo Award Finalists

The finalists for the 1943 Retrospective Hugo Awards were announced on Saturday, March 31, 2018

There were 204 valid nominating ballots (192 electronic and 12 paper) received from members of the 2017, 2018, and 2019 World Science Fiction Conventions.

The final ballot to select the winners will open in April 2018. The winners of the 1943 Retrospective Hugo Awards will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday, August 16.

The Hugo Awards, presented first in 1953 and annually since 1955, are science fiction’s most prestigious award, and one of the World Science Fiction Convention’s unique and distinguished institutions.

Since 1993, Worldcon committees have had the option of awarding Retrospective Hugo Awards for past Worldcon years prior to 1953 where they had not been presented 25, 50, or 100 years prior to the contemporary convention, with the exception of the hiatus during World War II when no Worldcon was convened. A recent change in this policy has now allowed for Retro Hugos to be awarded for the years 1942-1945.

1943 Retrospective Hugo Award Finalists

Best Fan Writer

  • Forrest J Ackerman
  • Jack Speer
  • Arthur Wilson “Bob” Tucker
  • Harry Warner, Jr.
  • Art Widner
  • Donald A. Wollheim

Best Fanzine

  • Futurian War Digest, edited by J. Michael Rosenblum
  • Inspiration, edited by Lynn Bridges
  • The Phantagraph, edited by Donald A. Wollheim
  • Spaceways, edited by Harry Warner, Jr.
  • Voice of the Imagi-Nation, edited by Forrest J Ackerman and Morojo
  • Le Zombie, edited by Arthur Wilson “Bob” Tucker

Best Professional Artist

  • Hannes Bok
  • Margaret Brundage
  • Edd Cartier
  • Virgil Finlay
  • Harold W. McCauley
  • Hubert Rogers

Best Editor – Short Form

  • John W. Campbell
  • Oscar J. Friend
  • Dorothy McIlwraith
  • Raymond A. Palmer
  • Malcolm Reiss
  • Donald A. Wollheim

Best Dramatic Presentation – Short Form

  • Bambi, written by Perce Pearce, Larry Morey, et al., directed by David D. Hand et al. (Walt Disney Productions)
  • Cat People, written by DeWitt Bodeen, directed by Jacques Tourneur (RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.)
  • The Ghost of Frankenstein, written by W. Scott Darling, directed by Erle C. Kenton (Universal Pictures)
  • I Married a Witch, written by Robert Pirosh and Marc Connelly, directed by René Clair (Cinema Guild Productions / Paramount Pictures)
  • Invisible Agent, written by Curtis Siodmak, directed by Edwin L. Marin (Frank Lloyd Productions / Universal Pictures)
  • Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book, written by Laurence Stallings, directed by Zoltan Korda (Alexander Korda Films, Inc. / United Artists)

Best Short Story

  • “Etaoin Shrdlu,” by Fredric Brown (Unknown Worlds, February 1942)
  • “Mimic,” by Martin Pearson (Donald A. Wollheim) (Astonishing Stories, December 1942)
  • “Proof,” by Hal Clement (Astounding Science Fiction, June 1942)
  • “Runaround,” by Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science Fiction, March 1942)
  • “The Sunken Land,” by Fritz Leiber (Unknown Worlds, February 1942)
  • “The Twonky,” by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner (Astounding Science Fiction, September 1942)

Best Novelette

  • “Bridle and Saddle,” by Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science Fiction, June 1942)
  • “Foundation,” by Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science Fiction, May 1942)
  • “Goldfish Bowl,” by Anson MacDonald (Robert A. Heinlein) (Astounding Science Fiction, March 1942)
  • “The Star Mouse,” by Fredric Brown (Planet Stories, Spring 1942)
  • “There Shall Be Darkness,” by C.L. Moore (Astounding Science Fiction, February 1942)
  • “The Weapon Shop,” by A.E. van Vogt (Astounding Science Fiction, December 1942)

Best Novella

  • “Asylum,” by A.E. van Vogt (Astounding Science Fiction, May 1942)
  • “The Compleat Werewolf,” by Anthony Boucher (Unknown Worlds, April 1942)
  • “Hell is Forever,” by Alfred Bester (Unknown Worlds, August 1942)
  • “Nerves,” by Lester del Rey (Astounding Science Fiction, September 1942)
  • “The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag,” by John Riverside (Robert A. Heinlein) (Unknown Worlds, October 1942)
  • “Waldo,” by Anson MacDonald (Robert A. Heinlein) (Astounding Science Fiction, August 1942)

Best Novel

  • Beyond This Horizon, by Anson MacDonald (Robert A. Heinlein) (Astounding Science Fiction, April & May 1942)
  • Darkness and the Light, by Olaf Stapledon (Methuen / S.J.R. Saunders)
  • Donovan’s Brain, by Curt Siodmak (Black Mask, September-November 1942)
  • Islandia, by Austin Tappan Wright (Farrar & Rinehart)
  • Second Stage Lensmen, by E. E. “Doc” Smith (Astounding Science Fiction, November 1941 to February 1942)
  • The Uninvited, by Dorothy Macardle (Doubleday, Doran / S.J.R. Saunders)

Retro-Hugo Voters Can See Original 1942/1943 Fan Category Material

By Joe Siclari: As a major site for preserving and providing free access to our science fiction fan history, FANAC.org is supporting the Retro-Hugo Fan Awards Programs of Worldcon 76 in San Jose and Dublin 2019.

We are putting online facsimiles of fanzines from 1942 (eligible for Worldcon 76) and from 1943 (eligible for 2019) to enable more fans to knowledgeably nominate and vote on the Fan Retro Hugo awards. FANAC.org currently has over 120 individual issues from 1942 online with more being scanned every week.

You can easily navigate to these zines by clicking on http://fanac.org/fanzines/Retro_Hugos.html As more zines are scanned and put online, the page will be expanded with the new links, so it will remain current.

We don’t have every issue of every fanzine published in 1942/43. If readers and collectors have 1942 or 1943 fan material which they would be willing to scan to help in this effort,  please write to me at [email protected].  Our goal is to get as much up before nominations close as possible.

For all kinds of fanhistorical material visit our websites:

San Jose and Dublin Worldcons To Award 1943, 1944 Retro Hugos

Worldcon 76 in San Jose and Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon have jointly announced they will present Retro Hugo Awards for the 1943 and 1944 years in addition to their regular Hugo Awards.

Worldcon committees have long had the option under WSFS rules of awarding Retrospective Hugo Awards for past Worldcon years where they had not been presented 25, 50, or 100 years prior to the contemporary convention. This summer, however, a rules change was ratified allowing Retro Hugos to be presented for the World War II years when the con was on hiatus, by a convention held some multiple of 25 years later.

That opened the way for Worldcon 76 in San Jose and Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon to give the 1943 and 1944 Retro Hugo Awards, as each convention will occur 75 years after the relevant date.

Worldcon 76 in San Jose will hold its Retro Hugo ceremony on the evening of August 16, 2018, and celebrate works from the eligibility year 1942.

Dublin 2019, An Irish Worldcon is planning a First Night extravaganza, combining Opening Ceremonies and the Retro Hugos for works published in 1943, celebrating the past, present and future of both the genre and Worldcon.

During those tumultuous years, there was no shortage of speculative fiction, including the introductory versions of works destined to become classics. Live and animated cinematic works of all lengths provided escape to people around the world.

See cover art and movie posters for some of those works in these videos: