Chester D. Cuthbert (1912-2009)

Randy Reichardt sends word that Chester D Cuthbert passed away in Winnipeg on Friday, March 20, 2009:

Chester was a member of First Fandom, and had two stories published by Hugo Gernsback in the February and July 1934 issues of Wonder Stories. Chester was good friends with Sam Moskowitz and Forry Ackerman, both of whom visited him at his home during the Worldcon in Winnipeg in 1994. He was an intergral part of the Canadian sf scene for decades.

My university, the University of Alberta, accepted his amazing collection on donation in the fall of 2007, and the donation received international news coverage at the time.

Update 03/24/2009: A detailed obituary about Cuthbert plus a photo is posted here.

4 thoughts on “Chester D. Cuthbert (1912-2009)

  1. I visited Chester, along with Diane Drutowski, Phil Paine, and Patrick Hayden, in our cross-Canadian trip in 1975 from Toronto onwards and down to Mipple-Stipple. He was a great old guy, and it was a thrill to go though his coillection, and reminisce with hime. and I’m so sorry all our old greats our going.

    It was wonderful to be able to chat at length with Art Widner, among others, at the Corflu a/v connection, while so many younger fans completely ignored and totally disregarded all the rest of fandom that was eagerly trying to chat with them. (What was up with that? We’re all there, and shouting at you, and some of you were great, and some of you were just completel jerks, as if we weren’t there at all.)

  2. I also visited Chester during the 1994 Worldcon. I remember that he had a huge collection of books in his attic, so much so that he would allow only one visitor at a time up there to look around to avoid a possible structural collapse. He was a warm and friendly person, and a great correspondent who you could count for a letter of comment to a fanzine.

  3. For the record, when we moved Chester’s collection to the U of Alberta in October 2007, it took three 54-foot tractor-trailers to haul ~2,150 boxes of books weighing ~47 tons. Amazing that that little house at 1104 Mulvey Avenue in Winnipeg was able to hold it all.

    Chester’s memorial service was yesterday in Winnipeg, and I attended and spoke briefly. A number of ex-DWF members were there, as was his entire family – five children, eight grandchildren, five great-grandchildren. It was a warm and memorable service, fitting for a man as great and respected as Chester.

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