DIY History | Transcribe | World War II Diaries and Letters | Burton Jay Smith and Willametta Turnepseed letters, 1942-1944?

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Burton Jay Smith and Willametta Turnepseed letters, 1942-1944?

1943-05-31 Page 2

plenty of weight in the group, and your words would mean more than anything I could say. 
The main thing I am mad at NAPA about is that like an ass I ballyhooed the group MOST STRONGLY in my letters to my gang, wholly on the strength of Rimel's files, and it is the beginning to blow back on me to the detriment of my standing in fandom (which is of course my main amateur interest). Had I waited to do my recruiting, it is only fair to say that I would have done none whatever --- as it is, I've lost one of my best subscribers and correspondents completely, and made others very angry with me. I was able to catch several of them before they had sent in their applications, so I told them to hold off until I could assure them NAPA would be suitable for them.(Yes, I'm a fifth columnist, and my great-aunt was a Trojan Horse!) But guys that are planning on writing short stories, and then get slapped in the mush with an insulting 400 word limit, are apt to feel wronged -- particularly after having seen CALIFORNIANS of 128 pages!
I perhaps have not made enough allowances for the war; I know fandom is taking a walloping, bur then there are still plenty of real mags, and MORE  STARTING UP RIGHT ALONG.  A group in Frisco is a weird-fantasy deal similar to ACKY, except it is five color mimeography with straight margins AND six or eight lithographed pics.  SAPPHO is all-poetry and sports a magnificent litho cover.  Then my NAPA recruit Rosco Wright is working on VISION, the Canadian Beak Taylor just brought out a first issue of 8-BALL, and in war-torn England Terry Overton brought out the superb COLOSSUS--a 36 page gem of stf.  All of this stuff broke loose in the past month!  So I am inclined to think the war is just an excuse on the par of lazy wights like FTL who don't like to turn the crank that many times!  At a time like this, the civilians should really go to town with their best work.
I wish you'd co-edit with me---if you think of someone in the next month, why not let me know?  How'd it be to read that portion of my letter at the convention and see if you get any takers?  If NAPA doesn't feel able to handle IMAGI-MUSIC, I'll run off the few copies needed for FAPA plus a few for some of my other suckers, and skip it.  I have time enough to make it into the 16 pager it was planned for if I have to turn out a mere 75 copies, but I don't have time or energy to run 350.
And while I realize I'm acting like a sore-head, I can't resist the mention of the fact that I'm in active publishing collaboration with FOUR different fans (exclusive of ACOLYTE).  Evans and I are doing the LOVECRAFT BIBLIOGRAPHY, Freehafer and I are doing a novellete by C. L. Moore, Wright and I are working on VISION, and Watson and I are contemplating briging out a joint press supplement to SAPPHO.
I realize of course that you will have no time to breathe properly if you become official editress, so don't take any of that personally.  Rimel's covers were printed on a WRINGER!  (You know, one of these hand-crank affairs photographers run their ferro-plates through?)  We devised a hay-wire clipping attachment which enabled the whole thing--linoleum, paper, ink--to ride through without smudging (except on every-other copy!)   Then I trimmed them to size on my trimming board, as they were made on much longer paper than the finished product.  AND DON'T GET ANY WILD IDEAS ABOUT TRYING THIS YOURSELF, as it is impractable.  We found later that a printer would have done the job for five bucks!
Yours, Fran

Saving...

plenty of weight in the group, and your words would mean more than anything I could say. The main thing I am mad at NAPA about is that like an ass I ballyhooed the group MOST STRONGLY in my letters to my gang, wholly on the strength of Rimel's files, and it is the beginning to blow back on me to the detriment of my standing in fandom (which is of course my main amateur interest). Had I waited to do my recruiting, it is only fair to say that I would have done none whatever --- as it is, I've lost one of my best subscribers and correspondents completely, and made others very angry with me. I was able to catch several of them before they had sent in their applications, so I told them to hold off until I could assure them NAPA would be suitable for them.(Yes, I'm a fifth columnist, and my great-aunt was a Trojan Horse!) But guys that are planning on writing short stories, and then get slapped in the mush with an insulting 400 word limit, are apt to feel wronged -- particularly after having seen CALIFORNIANS of 128 pages! I perhaps have not made enough allowances for the war; I know fandom is taking a walloping, bur then there are still plenty of real mags, and MORE STARTING UP RIGHT ALONG. A group in Frisco is a weird-fantasy deal similar to ACKY, except it is five color mimeography with straight margins AND six or eight lithographed pics. SAPPHO is all-poetry and sports a magnificent litho cover. Then my NAPA recruit Rosco Wright is working on VISION, the Canadian Beak Taylor just brought out a first issue of 8-BALL, and in war-torn England Terry Overton brought out the superb COLOSSUS--a 36 page gem of stf. All of this stuff broke loose in the past month! So I am inclined to think the war is just an excuse on the par of lazy wights like FTL who don't like to turn the crank that many times! At a time like this, the civilians should really go to town with their best work. I wish you'd co-edit with me---if you think of someone in the next month, why not let me know? How'd it be to read that portion of my letter at the convention and see if you get any takers? If NAPA doesn't feel able to handle IMAGI-MUSIC, I'll run off the few copies needed for FAPA plus a few for some of my other suckers, and skip it. I have time enough to make it into the 16 pager it was planned for if I have to turn out a mere 75 copies, but I don't have time or energy to run 350. And while I realize I'm acting like a sore-head, I can't resist the mention of the fact that I'm in active publishing collaboration with FOUR different fans (exclusive of ACOLYTE). Evans and I are doing the LOVECRAFT BIBLIOGRAPHY, Freehafer and I are doing a novellete by C. L. Moore, Wright and I are working on VISION, and Watson and I are contemplating briging out a joint press supplement to SAPPHO. I realize of course that you will have no time to breathe properly if you become official editress, so don't take any of that personally. Rimel's covers were printed on a WRINGER! (You know, one of these hand-crank affairs photographers run their ferro-plates through?) We devised a hay-wire clipping attachment which enabled the whole thing--linoleum, paper, ink--to ride through without smudging (except on every-other copy!) Then I trimmed them to size on my trimming board, as they were made on much longer paper than the finished product. AND DON'T GET ANY WILD IDEAS ABOUT TRYING THIS YOURSELF, as it is impractable. We found later that a printer would have done the job for five bucks! Yours, Fran