( L ) from LAGNIAPPE to LUNA & BEYOND

LAGNIAPPE

— Faned: Mike Bailey. A sercon perzine to be pubbed out of Vancouver circa 1970-1973? But it was merely planned and never actually published. No index in my possession lists it.

What is established is that a great amount of splendid material was acquired by Bailey for LIGNIAPPE, and when he decided never to publish it, he printed this material in his other, multi-titled perzine, which I arbitrarily refer to as TLG (based on THE LONG GOODBYE — just one of its titles).

As Fran Skene wrote in BCSFAzine #29 (Oct 1975): “Mike typed up some stencils but never quite got the thing published. Finally he gave up and printed and attached the by now 2-3 year old material in succeeding issues of his personal zine.”

In his perzine #13 (Jul 1974) titled SON OF MACHIAVELLI, Bailey wrote: “Ok, I give up. A big fanzine is just too much for me to produce. So, what I’m going to do…. is to bring out LAGNIAPPE in parts as supplements to my personalzine. These supplements won’t go to everyone who receives my personalzine. I’ll have to use my discretion.”

Probably the most important of these articles was ‘THE EVOLUTION OF VITAL LOVE’ by Philip K. Dick printed in #20 & #21 of Bailey’s perzine, which was a sequel to Dick’s ‘THE ANDROID AND THE HUMAN’ speech given at UBC during VCON 2 (Bailey had been instrumental in inviting Dick to VCON, and remained in touch for years afterward). Numerous locs from Dick are to be found in TLG as well.

Other good LAGNIAPPE material included book reviews by Ursula K. Le Guin, and two articles by William Gibson: namely a review of Stanislaw Lem’s ‘THE INVESTIGATION’ in #22, and an ‘unreview’ of ‘DHALGREN’ in #23.

Always wondered what LAGNIAPPE stood for or meant. Ran into Mike at VCON 29 (2004) and he informed me that it is an Italian word meaning “small gift or favour”.

[ See THE LONG GOODBYE ]

LAID

— Faned: Michael S. Hall. A (normally) single-sheet perzine/newszine pubbed out of Winnipeg, Manitoba, in the late 1970s & early 1980s by ‘BeFlatte Publications’.

“LAID is Mike’s occasional hoax newszinezine, intended to carry nothing but lies, as long as they’re ‘close’ to the truth.” – (GS)

As a hoaxzine filled with fannish injokes LAID was successful because Canadian fanzine publishing was flourishing at the time, providing Hall with both a wealth of subjects to spoof and a captive readership of faneds eager to be spoofed.

1977 – (#1 – Nov)

– (#2 – Dec) – Details an alleged Decadent Winnipeg Fandom expedition to Fargo, North Dakota to attend an SF convention. “It was being held at the ‘Sons of Norway Club’, a front for the local hard-core lard pornographers. The place had been done over for the con, the pictures of naked ladies posing with lard all tucked away in the back.” When they discovered it was a comics con they drew guns and killed everyone present (it is written) and then went off to get drunk (the last part I believe!).

1978 – (#3 – Jun) – Announces the return of ex-Decadent Winnipeg Fandom member Randy Reichardt who had been off in Edmonton for awhile. Michael S. Hall, having filled in for him, states “I guess it’s back to the minor leagues.” Also reports on the first annual DWF Merit awards and omits fanzine reviews on the grounds there weren’t any fanzines worth reviewing, except: “DNQ has possibilities, if only Taral learns to stretch the truth a bit.”

– (#4 – Jul) – Contains a spoof review of ‘The Man In A High Park Castle’, an alleged book allegedly written by Mike Glicksohn. “This is an autobiography, albeit a flawed one, of one fan’s unceasing struggle to have his name spelled correctly….At least Mike had foresight to engage a good artist in hopes that some people still judge a book by its cover…”

News includes “…the recent convention in Vancouver, V-Con 6, was saved from financial disaster by Winnipeg fan Michael Hall…” & “Stu Gilson, noted cartoonist & boy-wonder of Winnipeg fandom recently announced that he will not be drawing any more Scotsman cartoons…”

US fan John Thiel, faned of ‘PABLO LENNIS’ writes: “I wish you’d quit sending me this piece of trash. I’m sick and tired of fans who think they know everything.”

– (#5 – Jul) – While James Hall was away in Minneapolis, “Stu Gilson stayed in his apartment to experience a Scotsman environment from ‘the other side’.” States Stu: “I never knew Scotsmen wore underwear!” And “Robert Runte, Edmonton fan, is on a fact-finding mission to Mainland China. Chinese fandom is still in the hectograph stage, but with Robert’s help, they should progress to lime jello and lard in no time.”

– (#6 – Aug) – Decadent Winnipeg Fandom member James Hall threatens to “quit everything” (i.e. gafiate) but Michael Hall points out he had already threatened this 68 times previously…. A rumour is spread that Toronto fandom is planning to take over Moosejaw: “They plan a smoffing curfew, 6am every morning, and there will be a Selectric (typewriter) in every pot and two mimeos in every garage.”

Plus “Winnipeg fans Mike Hall & Randy Reichardt visited Edmonton last week to take part in the ‘Barbarians and Maidens’ ritual being held. ‘It was more decadent than anything I’ve ever seen!’ said Mike after being forced to party for nine hours straight.”

– (#7/8 – Sep) – A special double issue, two sheets! Editor Mike Hall is interviewed by James Hall. Mike comments: “LAID is easy to put out, and doesn’t take as much time as the comparable number of pages in SCHMAGG. And it’s fun.” This is followed by the announcement that Toronto Fandom is a hoax, that Toronto fans such as Taral or Patrick Hayden or Victoria Vayne are in reality pseudonyms for Anne Smith, “a kindly old school teacher.” The motive behind this hoax is not explained.

– (#9 – Dec) – In an open letter to fandom, Michael states: “I confess to my multiple identity problems… While it is true that a number of people have met or talked to a ‘Michael S. Hall’ and many people correspond with and send fanzines to a ‘Michael S. Hall’, the person with that name does not exist. The Michael S. Hall that people know by correspondence, etc., is me. I was represented in body by Jim, a personal friend of mine. I realize that I have carried things too far when the identity of Mike Hall usurps my own…. My move to Edmonton is immediate, consequently I feel I must clean up my affairs before I weave them into a web from which I cannot extricate myself… My apologies especially to the personal friends of mine whom I have been fooling for some time…”

1980/81? – (#10 – ? )

1981 – (#11 – May)

1984 – (#12 – Jun)“What shall I say about a zine that reveals me to be a hoax? At a con I attended? A hoax perpetuated by a personal friend of mine, forsooth? What should I say about a zine that babbles about Nationalist Canadian Fandom, Derek McCulloch, and Randy Reichardt? Maybe I should skip it.” – (GS)

The paragraph in question reads: “Garth Spencer, Victoria fan and publisher of THE SCOTT JOPLIN RIPOFF WEEKLY was revealed at V-Con 12 to be a hoax. A group of Victoria fans, led by E (no, my first name really isn’t Elron!) B Klassen and Carrie Butcher took turns producing all of Garth’s fannish output. “We thought that the inconsistencies were a dead giveaway” one of the ringleaders related to this reporter. “And besides, how could people take seriously letters that opened ‘Fellow Gentlebeing'” they said. “It’s just not humanly possible for one person to publish the amount he has in the last year, and the weekly schedule — it’s just not possible!””

Related material: “Randy Reichardt, publisher of the widely acclaimed new fanzine WINDING ROADS, has produced a new issue, but says that he isn’t going to send it to anyone, specifically Garth Spencer. ‘No one is good enough to be on my mailing list anymore… Spencer’s zines are full of nothing but sex, sex, sex, and I’m fed up with it. Why can’t anyone publish something good anymore, like Lard & Leather Magazine?'”

And this vaguely truthful announcement: “After 15 years work on his Canadian Fanzine Bibliography, and pressed with an acute cash shortage, Taral has entrusted Mike (take the money and run) Hall with its publication… he will undoubtedly be surprised to learn that Hall will be pubbing the entire work under the pseudonym ‘Garth Spencer’.”

[ See DWF MERIT AWARDS, DECADENT WINNIPEG FANDOM, SCHMAGG, & LARDZINE ]

LARDZINE

— Faned: Garth Danielson? Or Michael S. Hall joining in Garth’s advocacy of Larddom?

1977 – (#1 – June) – The BCSFA archive has a single sheet, written by Hall, purporting to be pages 69 & 70 of LARDZINE #1.

It refers to “The Lard Wars” starring G. Danielson as Lard Vader, and makes a series of announcements, e.g.: “In tests conducted by the International Lard Institute, Lard was shown to be far superior to K-Y Jelly, and Vaseline was shown to be far back in the ratings”, “Archaeologists have found traces of heavy lard users in ancient Pompeii”, & “Traveling balladeer Randy Reichardt sings songs to use lard by in his latest LP release ‘Lard Songs For All Occasions”.

Hall, Danielson & Reichardt were all members of ‘Decadent Winnipeg Fandom’, and this sheet was probably a continuation of the lard spoofery begun by Garth. A sort of ongoing DWF injoke as it were.

[ See BOOWATT ]

THE LAST WHOLE OSFIC LONDON SUNDAE THYMES COLOUR SUPPLEMENT

— Faneds: Jo-Anne McBride & Robert Wilson. An incarnation of a newsletter pubbed out of Toronto by OSFIC, the Ontario SF Club, circa 1977 (predated by THE TORONTO STELLAGRAM and followed by INPUT/OUTPUT).

1977 – (#1 – Sep)

[ See (in order of publication) OSFIC MAGAZINE, OSFIC SUPPLEMENT, OSFIComm, OSFIC QUARTERLY, NOR, OSFIC EVENTUALLY, SYNAPSE, NIT WIT, MIMEOGRAPHED LONDON SUNDAE THYMES, THE TORONTO STELLAGRAM, LAST WHOLE OSFiC LONDON SUNDAE THYMES, INPUT/OUTPUT, ISHUE, OSFIC NEWSLETTER FOR THIS MONTH, OSFIC MONTHLY, GOOGLE, OSFiC UNCONSTITUTIONAL NEWSLETTER, ANOTHER UNOFFICIAL OSFiC NEWSLETTER, UNNAMED OSFiC NEWSLETTER, DAZZELATIONS, A VERY SHORT OSFiC NEWSLETTER, CHRONIC, OSFiC ELECTION BULLETIN, GATEWAY, ALL AGOG, LUNA & BEYOND, LUNA AND…, DEAR OSFiC MEMBERS ]

LAST RESORT

— Faned: Steve George. Letter/per/reviewzine pubbed out of Winnipeg, Manitoba, in the 1990s.

1993 – (#1 – Jan) – Digest Size. Subtitled ‘A Zine of Comment’. All about the strange world of fanzines, and how the mailing lists are culled.

1993 – (#2 – Mar) – Essay on why people publish their zines, or don’t, plus zine reviews & locs. “I’ve thought about zine pubbing long & hard over the years… the question of why it attracts me… There is something exhilarating in transferring thoughts to paper, then to stencil or master, & then seeing those thoughts produced as a finished product to distribute to others. The feeling of accomplishment is astounding, and is like nothing I have ever experienced…. With books, the author only takes the process halfway to completion, then hands everything over to the publisher. It’s publishus interuptus, and as with its carnal counterpart it can be frustrating…”

– (#3 – May) – Zine reviews & locs, plus announcement of addition to the family. In the loc column Lloyd Penney makes a point: “The people who write locs sometimes get overlooked when it comes to fanzine fandom…but they still produce a good portion of a fanzine..”

– (#4 – Jul) – Again, zine reviews & locs.

1997 – (#? – Jan 1997)“I’ve been thinking for a while of reviving LAST RESORT. Maybe because I’ve been bugging Rodney Leighton for so long to revive his own reviewzine that I’ve made the fatal mistake of listening to my own advice.” Talks about selling two books to Zebra, only to see them shut down their horror line before they could be published. Plus the impact of being on the web & buying a new car.

1998 – (#7 – Jan/Feb) – Another baby on the way, & catching up on reading.

LEFTOVERZINE

— Faned: Karl Johanson. Pubbed “..sort of in Victoria, B.C., Canada, which is where it is collated from stuff I get from some very good people, which is where I get the stuff from, which we put together here in Victoria (which isn’t meant (sic) to degrade other cities, many of which are very nice, including the ones which don’t exist…)”

1983 – (#1 – Spring?)“Consisting of material left over from CALLISTO RISING, PHOENIX, TREKKADA, Imagine Con & FairIsle publicity, a Rubber chicken Tactical Training Form, The Potato Joe supplement, a urinalysis information sheet….do you get the idea?” – (GS)

– (#2 – Fall?)“…received LEFTOVERZINE #2, which Bernie Klassen calls ‘Canada’s third most pointless fanzine’ — an irregular collection of leftover pieces from local zines. Bernie says some issues were that thick, they had to be bound using a drill press. He’s right. They made only 20 copies, and had a stack of leftover sheets 1 or 2 feet high, which is why copies like mine have umpteen of the same pages from THE CENTRAL GANGLION, FTA/PHENIX, CALLISTO RISING, TREKKADA, and the forthcoming SILVER CORD thingummy.” – (GS)

LET’S SWAP

— Faned: Leslie A. Croutch. Bit of a conundrum this. The 1944 fanzine yearbook lists it as a “mimeographed irregular.” Issue #49 of LIGHT (Jan 1952) has an article listing books for trade or sale under the title ‘LET’S SWAP’ with the following statement: “This is the 123rd listing to appear — older than LIGHT!”

From this I conclude that ‘LET’S SWAP’ was an irregular insert in Croutch’s LIGHT and earlier zines like THE CROUTCH MARKET NEWS, and was possibly sometimes pubbed separately by itself. Given that CROUTCH MAGAZINE MART’s function was to offer books and magazines for sale or swap, perhaps the earliest CMMNs were actually titled ‘LET’S SWAP’? Since not even Croutch himself preserved copies of the first 85 issues of CMMN, the accurate history of LET’S SWAP is likely lost forever.

To read a contemporary adzine is to drool over items not yet in your collection. To read a 50 year old adzine increases the rate of drool exponentially. Sample from #123 of LET’S SWAP: “Mint condition pocketbook ‘Shadows Over Innsmouth And Other Stories’ by H.P. Lovecraft for 35¢ or swap!” Arrgh!

The Pavlat/Evans index lists the following:

1943 – (#1 – ?) (#2 – ?) (#3 – Sep) (#4 – Nov) (#5 – Dec)

1944 – (#6 – Jan) (#7 – Feb) (#8 – Mar) (#9 – May) (#10 – ?) (#11 – Dec)

1945 – (#12 – Mar) – This issue was titled SWAP SHOP.

[ See CROUTCH, CROUTCH NEWS, CROUTCH MAGAZINE MART NEWS, THE VOICE, ELECTRON, LIGHT ]

LIGHT

— Faned: Leslie A. Croutch. Canada’s third sf fanzine and probably the most influential and important Canadian zine of the 1940s. Began as an adzine and gradually evolved into a per/gen/apazine. In continuous production from 1937 to 1963. Various titles were as follows:

#1 (1937/38) to #92 (Dec 1940) = CROUTCH MAGAZINE MART NEWS.

#93 (Jan 1941) to #99 (Apr 1941) = CROUTCH NEWS.

#100 (Apr 1941) to #103 (Jun 1941) = ELECTRON.

#104 (Jun 1941) to #107 (Aug 1941) = CROUTCH NEWS.

#108 (Sept 1941) to #135 (Fall 1945) = LIGHT.

Then Croutch decided to restructure his numbering system based on the name change to LIGHT. Thus if #108 is considered to have been #1, then #136 must be:

#29 (Nov 1945) to #69 (1961) = LIGHT.

Note: There were further issues, but Croutch gafiated some time in 1963.

As to production methods: #1-99 were carbonzines, #100-107 were hectographed, and #108 on were mimeographed.

As for choosing the name LIGHT, Croutch wrote: “For the record, it was I who thought of the name LIGHT. It was short, snappy, lent itself easily to punning, of which fact many have taken advantage, was easy to remember, and was distinctive.”

Whereas CMMN distribution was around 5 copies per issue, and CN around 10, LIGHT averaged about 50 copies per issue and sometimes as high as 100. Writing in #118, Croutch stated: “Let’s see where LIGHT goes. 17 go to Canadians, 5 to English, and the rest (28 approx) to Americans.” This preponderance of American trades is typical of Canadian zines. That’s where most of the fans are.

“Let’s look at LIGHT’s contributors: 9 of them are Canadians, 5 are Americans & 2 are Englishmen.”

Croutch enjoyed a wealth of contributors over the years. Regulars included Americans Forrest J. Ackerman, John Russell Fern & Art Widner, and Canadians John Hollis Mason, Norman V. Lamb and Gordon L. Peck. The two fan artists most often used (apart from Croutch himself), were Bob Gibson (the better of the two) and John Cockroft (who did the only offset cover) with frequent contributions from Nils Helmer Frome (Canada’s second Fan Ed) and William Grant (most famous for his art in CANADIAN FANDOM).

Of Cockroft, Taral wrote: “Dark, and lavishly textured, his art tends to obscure itself in detail. Poor perspectives make it flat. Unartful compositions made it uninteresting.”

But of Bob Gibson: “He first appeared to my knowledge in ’44… He did most of Croutch’s covers for the next several years, only disappearing from sight, after a pause in ’48, in 1951. It was all on-stencil, not overly-bad, but difficult to describe, since stencil techniques tend to disguise differences in style. His ideas were usually good, and his skills adequate for them. A Cyclopean creature on the cover of LIGHT #33, an inside page in #34 illustrating what waits in the dark for you to strike a match, and a cover on #46 of a fan trapped in a maelstrom of fanzines not only shows Gibson at his best, but also what a wide range of topics he could successfully handle….Gibson also drew cartoon pages, fillos for the corners, and most logos that Croutch didn’t do himself.”

Croutch’s own contributions included art, of a sort. To quote Harry Warner Jr.: “Les kept getting into trouble with a few fans over his artistic productivity. His own sketches ran to chic sales as subject matter, usually with some kind of punchline involving sf or fandom. When he published the work of other artists, he had a habit of putting extremely ugly nudes on his front cover.”

Croutch’s editorials were titled ‘Light Flashes’, and he frequently printed his own fiction. He also tended to include articles reflecting his Radio & Record Player Repair business, with titles like “Speaker Data” or “Strictly for the Audiophile”, the latter offering this prescient advice: “At the present state of the recording art, storage of metal pressings seems most probable to give long life. Lacquer discs and magnetic tape are as yet uncertain in life, and dependant on storage conditions…”

In addition, numerous puns, jokes, and spoof ads were utilized as filler, many of a slightly naughty or off-colour nature. Samples: “A woman is a thing of beauty and a jaw forever.” Or: “Here’s to the ships of our navy / And the ladies of our land / May the first be well-rigged / And the latter well-manned.”

In a 1970 article in FOCAL POINT #11, Harry Warner Jr. wrote that LIGHT was “the best of all possible crudzines… as comfortable as a pair of old shoes…. I wish someone still produced something as scruffy and unassuming and genial as LIGHT.”

In the same article he noted: “Curiously, Les loved Christmas and tried to produce extra large issues of LIGHT decorated with Christmas seals and sketches of holly each December, despite his outspoken opposition to organized religion.”

The single biggest contribution of LIGHT to zinedom may be its influence on the evolution of the concept of THE USUAL. (JRC) & (TW) & (HWJ)

1941 – (#108 – Sept) – The first Croutch zine to be named LIGHT, and the first to be mimeographed.

– (#109 – Oct) – Has Croutch’s fiction: “A Child Is Born.”

(#110 – Nov) – Cover art, probably by Croutch himself, features a rather stiff girl in Grecian dress & sandals leaning on a sword, mimeographed in purple & pink. Plus articles by Gordon L. Peck, & Ted White, & a short story by (then fan) Ray Bradbury, called “A Tale of Mangledomvritch”.

(#111 – Dec)

1942 – (#112 – Jan) (#113 – Feb)

– (#114 – Mar) – “Mud Pack” by Croutch.

– (#115 – Apr) – Cover by Nils Helmer Frome, depicting four nude women, apparently high on a cliff, watching the fiery descent of a Flying Saucer-style spaceship down to the valley floor below. (Long before the 1948 sightings in Washington state which established the Flying Saucer as icon.)

In a loc, Donald A. Wollheim comments: “Your mimeo LIGHT is o.k.”

(#116 – May)

– (#117 – Jun) – “The Devil And The Postmaster”, a story by Croutch.

– (#118 – Jul) (#119 – Aug) (#120 – Sep)

– (#121 – Oct) – Included Croutch’s short story “The Horror In The Hut”. Also, according to Harry Warner Jr.: “…occasionally LIGHT had a cartoon that was amusing enough to neutralize the impression left by the nudes (on the covers), like one by Gordon Peck (a Vancouver B.C. fan) on the last page of the Oct 1942 issue: the explorer being roasted to death in darkest Africa by a native tribesman, who is using a giant test tube supported by an ingenious array of pipes & tubes to turn it over the flames, with the caption: ‘Best equipment, bwana.'”

– (#122 – Nov) – Features a wonderful cover by ‘Nanek’ (American artist Virginia Anderson). depicting two Flash Gordon-like spacecraft flying past a female space pilot who is wearing sheer tights, leather boots, plunging neck cleavage & flying helmet.

– (#123 – Dec) – Featured an article by Canadian fan Ted White about “The Birth of Ontario Fandom.” Also a three page biography on Canadian author A.E. van Vogt by Croutch himself, containing such tidbits as Vogt’s first sale “was to ‘True Story’ Magazine, an 8,000 word explanation of how he was a poor girl who had had to live in a park for a while, that brought in $160…” and the story that finally convinced Vogt that SF was a genre worth writing for was John Campbell’s ‘Who Goes There?’ (later made into the movie ‘The Thing’).

1943 – (#124 – Jan)

– (#125 – Feb) – Contained the short story “Twenty Ghoul Team” by Croutch, also his “Dream Ship”. The cover is described by John Robert Columbo as “perhaps the most graceful of all covers…” A simple line drawing by ‘Pluto’ depicting two “carefree nude dancers” (female) gamboling along a beach.

(#126 – Mar) (#127 – Apr) (#128 – May)

– (#129 – Winter) – “Recordemon” by Croutch. This was also his first FAPAzine.

1944 – (#130 – Spring) – This, his second FAPAzine, was his “sexy number” which nearly got him thrown out of FAPA because of an artwork depicting a nude woman with just “a hint of pubic hair”.

– (#131 – Summer) (#132 – Fall)

– (#133 – Winter) – Included Croutch’s short story “The Meteor”.

1945 – (#134 – Spring) – Contains “Pokergame: A Pete The Vampire Yarn” by Croutch, also his “Bejazers, Dorothy, The Flit!”

– (#135 – Fall) – Cover of a woman’s head within a globe enclosed in a 5-pointed star against an abstract backdrop of jagged lines, probably by Croutch. This was a special “All Girl” issue, featuring articles by Mary Byers, Jessie Walker, Barbara Bovard & ‘Nanek’.

NOTE: At this point Croutch started numbering from the first issue named LIGHT, which was #108. Thus, instead of #135, the next issue becomes #29.

(#29 – Nov)

1946 – (#30 – Jan) – “Sweet Sue” by Croutch.

– (#31 – Mar) – “It Came To Pass” by Croutch.

– (#32 – May) – “One Meet Ball” by Croutch.

(#33 – Sep) – “Herby’s Flying Pig” by Croutch.

1948 – (#34 – Jan)

– (#35 – Apr) – Cover by Faned/artist Don Hutchison depicting a nude female genie rising out of a lamp amongst a swirl of stars.

– (#36 – Aug) – The famous Torcon issue, with his review of Torcon 1 called “Torcon Memories” and reprints of the infamous “ZAP! ZAP!” Globe & Mail article on Torcon, and another from the Toronto Daily Star. These 3 articles were later reprinted in #33a (Feb 1957) of CANADIAN FANDOM with the addition of an article by Ned McKeown describing the Sunday of the con which Croutch did not attend.

Some quotes from TORCON MEMORIES: “I was less interested in the fan business or the speeches than in the personalities involved…. Ackerman turned up… After reading Laney’s memoirs, and hearing the myriads of stories out of the LASFS about what went on there, I had quite a conglomerated idea of what I would see… What I did meet surprised me very pleasantly. Ackerman… didn’t rant and rave or wave his arms forcefully as I had half suspected. Ackerman went up in my judgment tremendously…”

(#37 – Sept) (#38 – Nov)

1949 – (#39 – Jan) – Included the short story “Christmas Story”, by American David H. Keller, M.D., who’d been quite a prominent professional SF writer in the 1930s.

– (#40 – Apr) – Of particular note, this issue thru to #43 (Dec 1949) featured a serial article “Mimeo Ink In My Veins” in which Croutch discussed early Canadian zinedom and his own printing history. I’d dearly love to read this. (Was later reprinted in CANADIAN FANDOM #31, Nov 1956) J.R. Columbo describes it as “an insight into the excitement he experienced acting as a writer, editor, publisher & illustrator.” Also featured in this issue: “The Victorious Bride”, a story by Croutch.

– (#41 – Jul) – “Mouse In A Stocking” by Croutch, later reprinted in CANADIAN FANDOM #22, Sep 1954.

(#42 – Sep) (#43 – Dec)

1950 – (#44 – Feb) – “The Immigrant” by Croutch.

(#45 – Jul)

1951 – (#46 – Oct) (#47 – Nov) (#48 – Nov)

1952 – (#49 – Jan) – – Cover by Croutch depicting 4 disembodied heads floating (by virtue of their propeller beanies) up & down in front of the nylon-stocking legs of a woman whose upper half is unseen, smacking their lips as they stare wide-eyed, an angry devil’s visage above spurring them on.

“The Propositioner” by Croutch reflects the spirit of the cover. Done in a pseudo-hardcore detective fiction style about a man propositioned off the street by a pimp. Sample: “I expects this babe to start the long blather but she’s quiet as the proverbial grave. Maybe she’s dumb, I think, and am happy, as I don’t like my women yak yakking all the time.” When undressed, the woman turns out to be three-legged, and the man flees, convinced he was about to be entrapped by an alien. The character’s final comment: “I feel sorry for the girl.” Presumably he wouldn’t have if she had turned out to be an ordinary prostitute.

The SF element is very weak. The story reflects what Croutch seems to have regarded as his crusading zeal against prudery, but what more and more of his readers found to be sniggering prurience. Poor Croutch failed to keep pace with the maturing of fandom, and thus fell away from the mainstream of fannish evolution, but at least he always remained true to himself.

One page is devoted to LET’S SWAP. Offers pocketbooks like A. Merrit’s ‘Face In The Abyss for’ 50¢, and 1940’s SF magazines from 25¢ to 50¢ each! Sounds cheap now, but most new pocketbooks were in the 35¢ range at the time, so Croutch was actually charging collector’s prices.

Typical Croutch pun: “‘Well, bless my soul,’ said the ram , as he plunged over the cliff. ‘I didn’t see that ewe turn.'”

A crossword puzzle by Robert W. Gibson offers such clues as “Author who introduced tendrils, callidity, and toti-potency.” (Answer: Van Vogt.)

The longest article is ‘Light Flashes’ by Croutch, on the subject of record players. He reveals that cactus needles damage the grooves, and that taking out a steel needle and putting it back in is a bad idea, for one or two plays will have ground the end of the tip into a chisel shape and “you are sure to get it turned so the chisel tip becomes a chisel in fact and it will cut into the record groove and ruin the record.”

– (#50 – May)

– (#51 – Aug) – No cover art. A ‘serious’ article on blood by ‘S. Wilmer Midgeley’ is probably by Croutch, judging by such puns as: “White corpuscles are all named, and all possess the same name, namely, Luke O’Cyte (these Irish emigrated everywhere).”

‘Fantasy Vignettes #8’ is the 8th in a series of Book reviews by Norman V. Lamb, in this case a single-author anthology of horror stories titled ‘The House of Lost Identity’ by Donald Corley. It is a very poor review. Instead of discussing the strengths & weaknesses of each story, Lamb simply describes the plot, including the ending, of every story, thus ruining any chance of the reader actually enjoying the book.

In his “excuse for an editorial column” ‘Light Flashes’, Croutch complains about always being in hot water for what he prints, such that “I am a heel, a low crude character, or one of the devil’s minions in disguise!” He then attempts to offend more people.

On the subject of the Korean War: “…it is a made to order testing ground for both sides to try out their new weapons… We are told the Communists do not want peace. What proof do we have that OUR side want it any more?… After reading the theories of censorship & propaganda & conditioning in the SF magazines, one goes on to the idea that perhaps there is no war… This hypnotic conditioning might also be carried to the armed forces so THEY believe they are at war and so report when writing home…” Conspiracy theories nothing new it seems.

Croutch goes on to attack Christianity: “What assurances do we have that ANY of it is the gospel truth?” and SF writers: “These days the writer is so danged scared of predicting something that WON’T come to pass that he plays safe and contents himself by being sickeningly puerile!”

LIGHT being a FAPAzine at this stage, Croutch concludes with reactions to the previous FAPA mailing which included zines with titles like CHOOG, FANTASY JACKASS, A LA BABOOM, UNASKED OPINION, DUCKSPEAK and, of course, Harry Warner Jr’s HORIZONS.

(#52 – Oct)

1952/53? – (#53-56? – ? )

1954 – (#57 – Feb) – No cover art. The lead article is a reprint of an article which appeared in the Canadian Industrial Equipment News the previous November. Fortunately funnier than it sounds, for it’s an opinion column on nightclubs being the “monument to man’s knack for self-delusion”. There are instructions on converting your living room into a nightclub, such as: “Tie a hammer to the turntable of the record player” & “Into the fireplace throw a few large chunks of French tobacco & some old mops. Light fire & close damper.”

Croutch has three lengthy fake advertisements with the headings: “When did you last get a raise?” (a sort of proto-Viagra pun), “She’s lovely, she’s engaged, she uses FIG LEEF” which turns out to be “The implement of rapturous desire that the first Woman used to get the first Man“, and “GENETICS, the Science of the Bowels.” Typical Croutch humour.

In his article ‘Strictly For Audio-Philes’ Croutch discusses the likely lifespan of the relatively new invention, the magnetic tape. Everyone’s best guess is a maximum of 50 years. “We do know definitely that storage under hot, dry conditions may reduce the life to a few months…”

FAPA response & locs by Sam W. McCoy & Norman V. Lamb make up the remainder.

195? – (#58-6??)

1956 – (#64 – Dec) – “The Authentic Apologue, or The Maladroit Iconoclast Exposed” by Croutch.

1957 – (#65-6??)

1961 – (#68 – ? ) – “Jason Crull” by Croutch.

(#69 – ? )

1961/? – (#70-#? – ? )

[ See CROUTCH, CROUTCH NEWS, CROUTCH MAGAZINE MART NEWS, THE VOICE, ELECTRON, LET’S SWAP ] [ Also see THE USUAL, & ZAP! ZAP! ATOMIC RAY PASSE WITH FIENDS! ]

LLOYD! WHERE DO YOU WANT THE BEER?

— Faned: Allan D. Burrows. Pubbed out of Toronto, Ontario?

This zine is Allen’s report on the 1986 Worldcon in Atlanta, from beginning to end. It’s very much a trip report. Yvonne & I were organizing a Toronto fandom party (we called them ‘The Slightly Higher in Canada’ parties, and we asked other Canadian fans going down to bring what they could of beer. “Where do you want the beer?” is a question I heard for many years.”

“This zine, approximately 70 pages, is unique in that it was 3-hole punched and bound with a Duo Tang report cover. This zine covers the trip down, exploring the venue, filking, panel reports, the trip back, and reportage on who won the Hugos, masquerade, art show ribbons & more.”

1986 – (#1 – ? )

LOKI

— Faned: Michael V. MacKay. – Perzine pubbed out of Peterborough, Ontario. May possibly have been a sort of anti-Trekzine at times, given Michael’s opinion on Trekkies: “I don’t believe Trekkies have a right to go around believing that Gene Roddenberry’s universe is the be-all and end-all. They consider him a God, and the Star Trek universe heaven.” (from ISHUE #7)

1978 – (#1 – Sep) (#2 – Dec)

1979 – (#3 – May)

LOCK UP YOUR GOATS!

— Faned: Myles Bos. – Second update publication for the ‘Myles Boscon in 89’ spoof Worldcon bid.

[ See MYLES BOSCON IN 89 ]

LONG DISTANCE VOYEUR

— Faned: Paul Valcour. Self-described “perzine with a mix of personal story-telling, reviews, and critical commentary” pubbed out of Nepean, Ontario, in 1990.

Pubbed by the Bop-a-Bee Press, whose logo, a droll hipster bee playing a saxophone while wearing shades and a beret, graces the front cover, black line on blue background. The artist is Michael Skeet.

Valcour was the 1990 CUFF winner, and his first attempt to drive West to attend Conversion VII/Canvention 10 ended in a car wreck. He details the ensuing difficulties with wry humour. He also talks about the purpose of CUFF (Canadian Unity Fan Fund), its lack of rules other than precedent, and the debate on eligibility for CUFF he had with Robert Runte. An actual CUFF trip report was intended for the second issue of LDV, but it was never published. #1 turned out to be a one-shot. ‘A Layman’s Advice n Computers’, ‘To CD Or Not To CD’, and assorted short commentaries & reviews round out the issue. (RGC)

THE LONG GOODBYE

— Faned: Mike Bailey, one of the founders of the B.C. SF Association. This is a multi-titled perzine pubbed out of Vancouver, B.C. circa 1973 to 1976:

#1-11 comprise the first eleven issues of THE BCSFA NEWSLETTER.

#12 = APOLOGETICA, but also a BCSFA Newsletter.

#13 = SON OF MACHIAVELLI, now a perzine.

#14-16 = GHOSTS OF SUMMERS PAST.

#17 = WHO IS THAT IDIOT ON THE WEST COAST?

#18 = GONZO.

#19 = THE LONG HELLO.

#20-21 = THE LONG GOODBYE.

#22 = WEIRD TAILS.

#23-26 = NEW DIRECTIONS.

#27 = VARIEGATION.

There may have been further issues, as Mike stated in #26 he intended #40 to be his last.

#1 was a simple newsletter for BCSFA (the B.C. SF Association), a moribund club which had been revived in summer of 1973. It continued on to #12, when it subsequently divided “by a process of binary fission” into an official newsletter — which Mike continued to edit thru to #24 — and, an entirely separate publication, his perzine.

As the Club newsletter editor, Mike occasionally received criticism for including too much of himself and his interests in the first 12 issues. Once TLG split off from the newsletter, this was no longer relevant, though it is interesting to note that Mike continued to provide club news in TLG, albeit strictly from his own perspective.

TLG was fairly slim, seldom more than 6 sheets (Taral described it as “anemic looking”), but was usually packed with interesting stuff. The most notorious was an ongoing feud with Harlan Ellison. It began with mild criticism of Harlan by Jim Maloan in #8. Harlan responded with a blistering loc in #9. This was followed by a “Special Mean Supplement” in #11 featuring an open letter to Harlan from Maloan, and Harlan’s extremely interesting response, described as “a gold-embossed envelope with three pages of fannish fury”. #13 features a full portrait of Harlan by Raymond Wong titled “I Met Harlan Ellison And Lived.” #14 details a highly interesting (and somewhat dangerous) encounter between Harlan & Mike at Westercon 27. The feud is rather odd, considering that Mike had interviewed Harlan back in 1971 (possibly for LAGNIAPPE, his sercon perzine). #27 features an appreciation of Harlan by Allyn Cadogan.

Another controversial item was the correspondence between Joanna Russ and Philip K. Dick printed in #17 dealing with opposing views on feminism and abortion.

The best material in TLG had originally been gathered for Mike’s sercon perzine LAGNIAPPE, which, when he decided not to continue it, he distributed as supplements to TLG.

William Gibson contributed considerable amounts of fan art, most notably the covers for #22 & #25. Other good art was contributed by Tim Hammell, Derek Carter, George ‘Moondog’ Metzger, Jim McLeod, Jim Maloan, James Schull, & others.

TLG was one of the most important Canadian perzines of the 1970s. (RGC)

[ See LAGNIAPPE, & THE BCSFA NEWSLETTER ]

THE LONG HELLO

— Faned: Mike Bailey. #19 of his perzine.

[See THE LONG GOODBYE ]

LOVE MAKES THE WORLD GO AWRY

— Faned: Fran Skene. Very personal perzine out of Vancouver in the early 1980s. Also known as LMTWGA. Unusually large circulation for a perzine, about 500 copies. Contents divided between personal life, poetry & a loccol. (Details to be added.)

1979 – (#1 – Dec)

1980 – (#2 – Mar) (#3 – Jun) (#4 – Sep)

1981 – (#5 – Jun)

1983 – (#6 – Aug)“Gut-spilling personal zine, but very well done.” (BEB) Possibly further issues.

THE LULU REVIEW

— Faneds: Lari Davidson, Vaughn Fraser, & Dale Hammell. Layout by Barbara Przeklasa (also publisher, with Vaughn). Reviewzine pubbed out of Richmond, B.C., in the late 1970s by Pubbug Press Publications. Print run of 1,000.

Called THE LULU REVIEW as Richmond is on Lulu Island, named after a Miss Lulu Sweet, a prominent San Francisco actress who swept through the area in 1882.

THE LULU REVIEW was a superb review zine, well laid out, but primarily devoted to US comics, with only a few reviews of Cdn. fanzines such as BOOWATT & COPPER TOADSTOOL. Beginning with #5, all LULU REVIEWS were published as a column within FANTARAMA (with the single exception of #6).

1978 – (#1 – Jul? ) (#2 – Sep) (#3 – Dec)

1979 – (#4 – Feb) – Ed Beauregard & Ted Nelson added as reviewers.

– (#5 – Mar) – Jo-Anne McBride added as a reviewer. First issue published as column in FANTARAMA, (#9 – V3#3).

– (#6 – June) – Special edition, published separately from FANTARAMA.

– (#7 – Sep) – Contained within #10/11 V3#4/5 of FANTARAMA

[ See FANTARAMA ]

LUNA AND….

— Faned: Bee Stuckless. This is the penultimate incarnation of the OSFIC Newsletter, predated by LUNA AND BEYOND and followed by DEAR OSFiC MEMBERS, pubbed out of Toronto, Ontario, by the Ontario SF Club. At least 4 issues.

1983 – (#9 – Oct) – Titled LUNA AND… ICARUS.

– (#10 – Nov/Dec) – Titled LUNA AND … SOLSTICE. “This is a very neat, legible, but oddly laid-out newsletter…. include a bare amount of news… an article on Parenthesis (the disease that strikes down letterhacks (and faneds)), a review of STRANGE INVADERS, and letters.” (GS)

1984 – (#11 – Jan/Feb) – Titled LUNA AND … 42. “Taral shows us the terror of the haunted playground; Bob Hadji reviews Wellman’s LONELY VIGILS; ‘Felix’ pontificates on Parenthesis; Dick Weilgosh’s Best Books list appears; and everyone, it seems, writes letters.” (GS)

– (#12 – May/Jun) – Titled LUNA AND … CHAOS. “In this issue: movie reviews (STII & BLADERUNNER), book reviews (FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON & BUG JACK BARRON), letters & club doings.” – (GS)

According to Taral #12 was the last issue “and was indeed the end of a not-quite-proud publishing tradition of a club gone moribund. By my count (probably a few OSFIComms shy of accurate), it was the 184th OSFIC zine/newsletter.” However, the final publication was a letter which began “Dear OSFiC MEMBERS…” in which refunds were offered, the club being shut down.

[ See (in order of publication) OSFIC MAGAZINE, OSFIC SUPPLEMENT, OSFIComm, OSFIC QUARTERLY, NOR, OSFIC EVENTUALLY, SYNAPSE, NIT WIT, MIMEOGRAPHED LONDON SUNDAE THYMES, THE TORONTO STELLAGRAM, LAST WHOLE OSFiC LONDON SUNDAE THYMES, INPUT/OUTPUT, ISHUE, OSFIC NEWSLETTER FOR THIS MONTH, OSFIC MONTHLY, GOOGLE, OSFiC UNCONSTITUTIONAL NEWSLETTER, ANOTHER UNOFFICIAL OSFiC NEWSLETTER, UNNAMED OSFiC NEWSLETTER, DAZZELATIONS, A VERY SHORT OSFiC NEWSLETTER, CHRONIC, OSFiC ELECTION BULLETIN, GATEWAY, ALL AGOG, LUNA & BEYOND, LUNA AND…, DEAR OSFiC MEMBERS ]

LUNA & BEYOND

— Faned: Kathryn Grimby-Bethke. An incarnation of the OSFIC Newsletter, pubbed out of Toronto, Ontario, by the Ontario SF Club, predated by ALL AGOG and followed by LUNA AND….

Taral notes: “At this point the 1983 bibliography came to its end.  It was published in the OSFiC  newszine of the moment, named (in a fit of total surreality  that, in desperation, I can only describe as a sense of humour) Luna and Beyond for $8 a Year.  This was the last newsletter OSFiC would publish. Indeed, almost  the last anything.  Unlike Gateway, which had at least been tidy, serious, and well organized, Luna And Etc.  under both editors  was… well…  eccentric.  But there were 12 whole issues before the end, and for once a title was carried over to the next – and final – editor of all.”

1982 – (#1 – Sep) (#2 – Nov)

1983 – (#3 – Jan)

– (#4 – Feb) – “edited.. on pink paper with dozens of flying bunny rabbits, the significance of which escaped me. Minutes, an editorial, a club retrospective by Taral, a couple of book reviews, and Do-Ming Lum’s Treasurer’s report make up the rest of the issue.” (RR)

– (#5 – Apr)

– (#6 – June) … on a more reasonable yellow paper… in addition to the usual club stuff… has a great article on Dr. Edward Llewellyn-Thomas by Do-Ming Lum & Kathy Grimbly-Bethke, and another on ‘Near Lightspeed Propulsion Systems’ by Do-Ming. This is a pretty good issue of a club newsletter by anyone’s standards.” (RR)

– (#7 – Jul) (#8 – Aug/Sep)

[ See (in order of publication) OSFIC MAGAZINE, OSFIC SUPPLEMENT, OSFIComm, OSFIC QUARTERLY, NOR, OSFIC EVENTUALLY, SYNAPSE, NIT WIT, MIMEOGRAPHED LONDON SUNDAE THYMES, THE TORONTO STELLAGRAM, LAST WHOLE OSFiC LONDON SUNDAE THYMES, INPUT/OUTPUT, ISHUE, OSFIC NEWSLETTER FOR THIS MONTH, OSFIC MONTHLY, GOOGLE, OSFiC UNCONSTITUTIONAL NEWSLETTER, ANOTHER UNOFFICIAL OSFiC NEWSLETTER, UNNAMED OSFiC NEWSLETTER, DAZZELATIONS, A VERY SHORT OSFiC NEWSLETTER, CHRONIC, OSFiC ELECTION BULLETIN, GATEWAY, ALL AGOG, LUNA & BEYOND, LUNA AND…, DEAR OSFiC MEMBERS ]

 

 

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