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Fanomena, March 1948

Page 20

of becoming ludicrous. Many of his stories which even he would classify as mediocre would really rate with his classics, were it not for the fact that an excellent plot was overburdened with melodrama, and starved for a few straight , logical sequences. The worst thing which can be laid at the doctor's door, therefore, is a flair for melodrama which, incidentally, is missing from his best stories. Touche, Doc.
A lesser point to take issue with is his optimistic viewpoint toward his fellow-humans. One editor once said of him: "He is a great believer in  mankind." In almost all of his stories, homo sapiens, although battered and buffeted about, triumphs gloriously in the end, sometimes at the expense of a logical conclusion. Pessimist though the author may be, very little of it penetrates to his fiction. This air of sunny optimism combined with a saccharine atmosphere of sweetness-and-light may prove irksome to the case-hardened science fiction and fantasy reader.
If I were asked to name the most outstanding thing about the stories of Col. Keller, I think that the thing which I would consider as his most valuable asset would be his unquestionable genius for creating original plots. Find any author whose total output comes near that of Keller's that has employed as few "stock" situations. Finding a plot in a Keller tale that could be called hackneyed is a hard job. He can take almost any everyday occurence and from it spin a marvelous web of unbelievable originality. Although no author's merit can be judged by the titles of his stories, still it cannot be denied that Keller can hang a name on a tale with a twist to it that makes one want to read it and find out more. Mark up one victorious thrust by Keller as a creator of unique situations.
It is not entirely fair to classify the stories of Keller as science fiction, for they are not all concerned with science, nor do any of them rely solely on pseudo-scientific hodge-podge to hold them together. Neither should they be considered as pure fantasy, for they are not completely "fantastic". The category in which they more nearly fit is "off-trail" fiction. One thing to remember is that David Keller is a writer first and a fantasy author afterwards. I truly believe that he could try his hand at almost any kind of fiction or writing with more than a moderate success. This is largely due to the intensive writing training which he has given himself during all these years.
David Keller is a gregarious person; he enjoys knowing and meeting people, especially those interested in fantasy or science fiction, and his wife is equally sociable. The Kellers are sincerely interested in fandom; they like nothing better than getting in a circle of fans and just conversing. Instead of adopting the casually tolerant or outright arrogant attitude of many professional authors toward fandom, Col. Keller wants to associate with them and be one of them. He has stated that he is willing to contribute to fanzines, and that he hopes that other authors will be similarly inclined. Can fandom afford to ignore this friendly attitude of cooperation? I think not.
David H. Keller has achieved a large measure of well-deserved fame in the past for services rnedered, but I doubt that his day is yet over. In view of the fact that many of his works will be seeing print again soon, some of it newmaterial, I predict that the colonel has not received his full share of fame. It still lies in the future. Dr. Keller has had many honors heaped upon him, has been highly praised, idolized and exalted by his admirers, but I can think of no greater tribute to David and Celia Keller than to say that they are, in the truest sense of the word, genuine fans.
Thus draws to an end this answer to a challenge which , if time and space permitted, could be prolonged indefinitely with perhaps interesting consequences. However, practicality forces me to cease, so how now, Doctor, do you yield?
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of becoming ludicrous. Many of his stories which even he would classify as mediocre would really rate with his classics, were it not for the fact that an excellent plot was overburdened with melodrama, and starved for a few straight , logical sequences. The worst thing which can be laid at the doctor's door, therefore, is a flair for melodrama which, incidentally, is missing from his best stories. Touche, Doc. A lesser point to take issue with is his optimistic viewpoint toward his fellow-humans. One editor once said of him: "He is a great believer in mankind." In almost all of his stories, homo sapiens, although battered and buffeted about, triumphs gloriously in the end, sometimes at the expense of a logical conclusion. Pessimist though the author may be, very little of it penetrates to his fiction. This air of sunny optimism combined with a saccharine atmosphere of sweetness-and-light may prove irksome to the case-hardened science fiction and fantasy reader. If I were asked to name the most outstanding thing about the stories of Col. Keller, I think that the thing which I would consider as his most valuable asset would be his unquestionable genius for creating original plots. Find any author whose total output comes near that of Keller's that has employed as few "stock" situations. Finding a plot in a Keller tale that could be called hackneyed is a hard job. He can take almost any everyday occurence and from it spin a marvelous web of unbelievable originality. Although no author's merit can be judged by the titles of his stories, still it cannot be denied that Keller can hang a name on a tale with a twist to it that makes one want to read it and find out more. Mark up one victorious thrust by Keller as a creator of unique situations. It is not entirely fair to classify the stories of Keller as science fiction, for they are not all concerned with science, nor do any of them rely solely on pseudo-scientific hodge-podge to hold them together. Neither should they be considered as pure fantasy, for they are not completely "fantastic". The category in which they more nearly fit is "off-trail" fiction. One thing to remember is that David Keller is a writer first and a fantasy author afterwards. I truly believe that he could try his hand at almost any kind of fiction or writing with more than a moderate success. This is largely due to the intensive writing training which he has given himself during all these years. David Keller is a gregarious person; he enjoys knowing and meeting people, especially those interested in fantasy or science fiction, and his wife is equally sociable. The Kellers are sincerely interested in fandom; they like nothing better than getting in a circle of fans and just conversing. Instead of adopting the casually tolerant or outright arrogant attitude of many professional authors toward fandom, Col. Keller wants to associate with them and be one of them. He has stated that he is willing to contribute to fanzines, and that he hopes that other authors will be similarly inclined. Can fandom afford to ignore this friendly attitude of cooperation? I think not. David H. Keller has achieved a large measure of well-deserved fame in the past for services rnedered, but I doubt that his day is yet over. In view of the fact that many of his works will be seeing print again soon, some of it newmaterial, I predict that the colonel has not received his full share of fame. It still lies in the future. Dr. Keller has had many honors heaped upon him, has been highly praised, idolized and exalted by his admirers, but I can think of no greater tribute to David and Celia Keller than to say that they are, in the truest sense of the word, genuine fans. Thus draws to an end this answer to a challenge which , if time and space permitted, could be prolonged indefinitely with perhaps interesting consequences. However, practicality forces me to cease, so how now, Doctor, do you yield? 20