Monday, May 12, 2014
Thursday, May 8, 2014
LIFE devotes 10 pages to science fiction and fandom — 1951
Fen. STF. Deros. Not gibberish, but words and acronyms that mean something to science fiction fans of a couple of generations past.
When LIFE magazine detected the fad of SF and its fans (as our posting on Monday proclaimed, "Fandom is a way of life") they devoted 10 pages of their issue of May 21, 1951 to it. It is a very broad overview by Winthrop Sargeant, and although I haven't read any reviews of it within the science fiction fan community, probably infuriated them by lumping in fandom with such silliness as the Shaver Mystery (see the article for an explanation).
Copyright © 1951 LIFE
When LIFE magazine detected the fad of SF and its fans (as our posting on Monday proclaimed, "Fandom is a way of life") they devoted 10 pages of their issue of May 21, 1951 to it. It is a very broad overview by Winthrop Sargeant, and although I haven't read any reviews of it within the science fiction fan community, probably infuriated them by lumping in fandom with such silliness as the Shaver Mystery (see the article for an explanation).
Copyright © 1951 LIFE
Monday, May 5, 2014
Robert Bloch puts the "fiction" in tales of Science Fiction Fandom
Robert Bloch (1917-1994), probably best known as author of Psycho, was a prolific writer of crime, horror and science fiction, novels and short stories. He also wrote screenplays and is one of the more successful authors of genre works. He was also a member of science fiction fandom and the world of conventions and fanzines, its own culture, including its own jargon. “Fandom is a way of life!” was one of the oft-repeated phrases to be found in fanzines, and Bloch capitalized on it for this story in the October, 1956 Fantastic Universe magazine.
Another satiric story by Bloch, originally from a 1954 fanzine, is "I Was a Fake Fan For the F.B.I.!" on the fanac.org site.
Copyright © 1956 Robert Bloch
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