Index

 

This is SKYRACK 37, dated 18th September 1961 in time to catch the first day’s issue of the new Europa stamps. This issue is edited by Elizabeth Humbey, 17 Belmont Road, Harrogate and is published by Ron Bennett, 13 West Cliffe Grove, Harrogate, Yorkshire, England. Price is 6d per copy. Six issues for 2/6d. 35 cents in USA (65 cents for 6 issues airmailed) from that good man Bob Pavlat, 6001- 43rd Ave., Hyattsville, Maryland. Cartoon by Arthur (Atom) Thomson

JOE PATRIZIO ENGAGED. Joe Patrizio, present Secretary of the British Science Fiction Association, is to be congratulated on his recent engagement to Miss Ann Temple, daughter of William F. Temple the well-known sf writer. Joe has, in addition to finding himself a fiancee, found himself a new flat and his address is now Flat 5, 11 Grosvenor Road, Watford,Herts.

The Auction Items listed in the supplementary sheet last issue have brought in some interesting bids. Deadline is 1st November and half the total on any lot will be donated to any fannish charity such as TAFF or the TAWF.
Lot l. Lee Hoffman’s EXCELSIOR 1-3 complete. 15/- has so far been bid.
Lot 2. Donaho’s giant HABAKKUK 1-6. The bid stands at £6 at the moment.
Lot 3. 7/6d has been bid on numbers 8 and 11 of Terry Carr’s INNUENDO.
Lot 4, Lot 5  No bids to date on OBLIQUE 2, 3, 4, 6, or PSYCHOTIC 19 and 20.
Lot 6. 5/6d has been bid on THE SELECTED WRITINGS OF RICK SNEARY.
No bids to date on lots 7 & 8 (FAPA SHADOW MAILINGS or SUN TRAILS Summer 4l)
13/6d has been bid on the Rotsler TATTOOED DRAGON series, per item (9 - 11). Various bids have been recieved on the FAPA mailings, 77(Nov 56)-96(Aug 61)

THE TENTH ANNIVERSAY WILLIS FUND has already passed its target of $l000, the sum which guarantees the passage to next year’s Chicago Convention of Walt & Madeleine Willis, just ten years aftcr Walt’s initial visit. The Willises will also need travel money and eating expenses to say the least and the Fund has not by any means been closed. Donations to this worthy cause may be sent to Larry &. Noreen Shaw, 16 Grant Pl., Staten Island 6, New York, or to Arthur Thomson, 17 Brockham House, Brockham Drive, London SW 2. Arthur, incidentally, won tbe Judges Choice Award at the recent SeaCon Art Show. Latest news on the 1962 ChiCon, the Chicago WorldCon is that the Guest of Honour has already been named - Theodore Sturgeon. Chairman Earl Kemp appears to have most of the con’s programme already lined up.

AXE recently announced the death of writer Clark Ashton Smith.

Reader’s letter
New York, Thursday 7th September 1961.

Dear Ron: You were fast with the Seacon news, but not first. AXE got here yesterday with even fuller coverage than you had. I must admit I was pleased. I’ve been a bit irritated in the past at your continual contention that SKYRACK is the world’s number one newszine, first with the news, etc. Surely it must have occurred to you that SKYRACK has yet to place in the top 20 fanzines on the FANAC Poll... and believe me, it’s never even come close. Surely you must have noticed that FANAC’s been nominated for three Hugos, and got one; SKYRACK has yet to be nominated.

What really irritated me though, was your contention on the back of the last DIRECTORY OF S.F. FANDOM that SKYRACk had been “First With Every Major News Item of 1960”. It so happened, that at the time the Directory came Donaho and I were busy culling FANAC, SKYRACK, CRY, etc. for news items for a history of the 1960 fanyear. By actual check, then, I can say that not only was SKYRACK not first with most of the major items, but it didn’t even mention most of them. You were first with Pittcon news (you’ll probably always be first with worldcon news - the P.O. is closed in this country on Labor Day), but as I recall it that was all. Oh yes - the announcement that Amis was to be Briticon GoH was another scoop for you. The rest of them FANAC got - the Trimbles’ marriage, the Rapps’ marriage and many more...

Re. who’s first on worldcon news this time: AXE arrived Wednesday in New York, and presumably all over the East Coast; SKYRACK got here today, Thursday. Since this is intended as a scoop, I assume you sent all copies this time airmail; AXE goes first class. Thus I figure. you’ll tie in the midwest and actually get the news to the west coast before AXE does... but of course the westcoast fans will know the news, since that’s where it happened. Anyhow, you sort of got there first with the news this time, but it was close. If AXE keeps up after the Willis campaign (which it probably will) then there’s your competition for timeliness; Breen is turning FANAC into more of a news-magazine of the Time variety than a newspaper.

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THE LONDON SCENE Ken & Pamela Bulmer are shortly moving to a new home near Maidstone, Kent. :::  Arthur Clarke’s story, A FALL OF MOONDUST is being serialised in London’s daily “Evening Standard". Gollancz publish the book today. ::: Ted Forsyth and. Arthur, Olive and Heather Thomson motored down to the south coast for the day. Ted and Arthur set up a stick in the sand and threw rocks at it. When they had finished they had shifted all the rocks from one side of the beach to the other and knocked down the stick once. ::: Copies of the Atom Anthology are still available from Ted Forsyth, 11 Ferndale Road, SW 4.

THE WILLIS PAPERS are out and are reported as being “pretty good”. May be obtained from Ted Johnstone, 1503 Rollin St., S. Pasadena, California @ $1.

JOHN BRUNNER is understood to be one of the many CND people who yesterday staged a Ban the Bomb sit down in Trafalgar Square. Although the rally was declared illegal by Home Secretary R.A. Butler, the demonstration went on. Chaos reigned in the Square and squatters were carted away constantly by the police in an attempt to get traffic moving. Well over 600 arrests were made. Not playing the game at all, what! And on Battle of Britain Day!!!

WEDDING BELLS FOR CHUCK. Charles R.(Chuch) Harris and Susan M. Bourne were married. at the All Saints Church, Clapham Park, London SW 2 on Saturday 9th September. At 4.l5pm, the Bride being ten minutes late. The reception was held at a nearby hall where the ninety guests ate, drank and were merry, dancing to a small band which played popular tunes. Chuch, Co-founder of HYPHEN; Founder Member of OMPA, pro-writer and letter writer par excellance carried the whole affair off with aplomb. A great many wedding presents included gifts from Walter and Madeleine Willis, and Arthur and Olive Thomson. The Bride wore a beautiful wedding dress in bronze satin with small coronet and white veil. The bridesmaids wore salmon satin dresses and small flowered headdresses, all the dresses being expertly made by the Bride. They were, to quote Olive Thomson, well made and looking beautiful. The Groom wore a grey suit and a great big smile. The happy couple will move, after their honeymoon, into their new home at Brentwood, near Epping Forest, London. (AT)

LES SPINGE 6 (July/August 1961; Ken Choslin, 18 New Farm Road, Stourbridge, Worcs.; 52pp). The latest issue of this “wild, abandoned” fanzine sports HYPHEN style covers in an attempt to lampoon the master that doesn’t quite come off, mainly because the humour is by no means up to HYPHEN standard. There is lots of good. cheer in the body of LES SPINGE, however, and the issue would not have been out of place in the Xmas season. The seven page editorial deals primarily with Packard’s HIDDEN PERSUADERS without realising that the advertising techniques covered in the survey are fundamental. John Berry contributes an excellent article showing how murders are solved on TV and in real life. John Baxter, Alan Dodd and Dave Hale are also contributors and to make up the issue there are nineteen pages of letters. Oh yes, there is also a candid illustration of a cookie crumbling experiment.

TAFF BAEDEKER (Don Ford., Box 19-T, RR2, Ward’s Corner Road, Loveland, Ohio, USA, or Eric Bntcliffe, 47 Alldis Street, Great Moor, Stockport, Cheshire; Published. at $1.25 by First Fandom). This TAFF report by Don Ford does not spring from Leipzig but it is an invaluable guide to the procedure a TAFF Delegate should adopt. The humour is a little stilted, a fact which will not fail to surprise those who have met Don, and it does contain some phrases, which whilst supposedly “mature” would be out of place in a family publication. Despite these minor criticisms, however, TAFF BAEDEKER should surely find a place in every fan’s permanent collection. The present TAFF campaign, incidentally, is rapidly drawing to its close and any fan who has not already voted for either of the two worthy candidates, Dick Eney and SKYRACK’s choice, Ron Ellik, should certainly do so before it is too late. Votes and donations to either Don or Eric. The campaign closes 30th September.

PETER WEST, who has asked if anyone has seen anything of his fan photo album which goes back to 1957 and includes colour shots taken in 1960, was recently in Kuwait and Aden. No, not in the forces, but there to film interviews for TV. He didn’t know at the time of the whereabouts of Don Geldart and George Locke and regrets the fact he says. 125 in the shade, reports Peter. George, meanwhile, reports that Don Geldart has now left Kuwait and is either in Aden or on his way back to England. George says that he hopes to be back in Kenya later this month. Let’s hope he’s right.  

ADVERTISE IN SKYRACK. 6d per line. No charge for name and address.

ELLA VISITS BaNfF : Ella Parker, London fandom’s leading light who is at present somewhere on the North American Continental landmass, continues to leave behind her a wake of sadness - sadness at having her leave the fans she has visited; last issue Rick Sneary wept on our shoulders and since then we have also heard from Len Moffatt and that Good Lady, Mrs. Dorothy Faulkner. Rory says that  “Ella is a dear, a darling and a living doll,” which goes to show that that old saying about prophets certainly bore some truth - when did we ever say anything nice about Ella over here? Since then we have also heard from Ella. She was thoroughly in her element at the SeaCon and says tht Wally Weber will never be the same man again. Last week was travelling East with Bill Evans, Martin Moore Jr., and Bob Pavlat who seems to be making well sure that she is not forgetting to drop SKYRACK the occasional line. Postcards from Kamloops, British Columbia, were received both here and in London and since then Ella has been managing to continue buying English cigarettes for the caravan (one car, we take it) has been travelling through the Canadian National Parks. Cameras have been clicking and in one day Ella reports having seen bears, moose, deer and elk. Now perhaps she’ll believe the fans who told her to take a colour camera! Her travels have taken her through Banff and Babb, to say nothing of Calgary where the RCMP Fort was visited. The tour and scenery is par excellence, says Ella, who might be in the middle of the fannish desert at the moment, but who obviously is having fun and who is looking forward to meeting up with Dean Grennell, who will probably be the first St. Bernard. she meets. Keep up the good work, gal.

JIM LINWOOD did indeed go along to meet Jim Norrie in Edinburgh and the following week he went down to London where he attended as big a meeting as has been seen at the Globe for too long a time. Amongst those present was Belfast’s Bob Shaw.

Eric Bentcliffe has had a request for his TAFF trip report, EPITAFF, from Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru, the National Library of Wales.  Perhaps they think it’s about fishing on the River Taff, quips Eric.

This weekend has seen the Scunthorpe Caravantion at the home of Phil Rogers. No full coverage available to date, though attendees included Archie Mercer and. Hudderfield.’s Girl of the Printed Name, Irene Boothroyd.