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Damn Thing, v. 1, issue 5, May 1941

Page 11

THE DAMN THING                          PAGE ELEVEN
__________________________________________

exposing the true nature of all the fans I've met personally (commuted to me under the influence of all manner of stimulants) proving rather conclusivly that they are human, backwards, forewards, top to bottom and all around. I cannot produce this article because it is sheer dynamite and will never be published unless it becomes necessary to reduce some of the shining fronts of sf. to burned ashes. (When the time comes, send it to us. Ed.) The minds of all fans are obscessed, like everyone else's with sex, and about as clean, from that viewpoint, as the inside of a chimney. 

   Being thusly constructed, they prove their claim to the proud title of human being.

   I have reinvestigated the poems you condemn as trash and filth, keeping in mind the fact that they were published by our departed friend Earl Singleton who thought them artistic enough to publish in his splendid Nepenthe.

   It is perfectly obvious which lines you are referring to, the most obvious of the obvious being the first eight lines of epos. Taken out of their context they may sound like lines found on back fences (etc.) As a whole, however, they do fit perfectly into a poem which is a sensitive soul-searching by the poet himself. Never once do I detect absolute smut, of which I am sure Lowdnes is completely capable.

   "pastels for rosalind" is a frankly sexual work which clearly tells the story of a frustrated lover rejecting the advances of the daughters of joy, simultaneously subtly imploring his loved one to assuage his passion. It is simple, direct, and true to life and should be understood and appreciated by anyone intelligent enough to want to read the book the poem is published in. As a matter of fact, come to think of it, Nepenthe can in no way be considered science fictional, and therefore your whole argument raised against it on that score collapses.

   It is enough, of course, to brush aside your objections with the observation that Lowdnes can get away with stuff that you, Mr. Daugherty, cannot. Lowdnes, in his way is a poetic genius and recognised as such by the entire stf. field. You, Daugherty, are a superman (so I've heard) so you can't get away with anything.

   In conclusion, Herr Censor and Inheritor of the Mantle of Miske, I advise you to relax. The whole of fandom isn't going to pieces because Singlton published some good poetry. Fandom will stagger on, even though the fan mailings degenerate to actual filth.

   Finally, I think it would be a good idea if you ceased taking Singleton's name in vein. He was a fairly well-rounded individual, intellectually honest, and bursting with derison for the type of stuff you dish out. I am sure that if he hadn't gone the way of all honest but confused intellectuals, he would condemn your nonsense in terms hot enough to blow you from your pillar of purity to hell and back.

                                           Signed, Johny Michel

   This, Yerke, is what I would have written Daugherty, had I written Daugherty which I didn't. JBM.

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THE DAMN THING PAGE ELEVEN __________________________________________ exposing the true nature of all the fans I've met personally (commuted to me under the influence of all manner of stimulants) proving rather conclusivly that they are human, backwards, forewards, top to bottom and all around. I cannot produce this article because it is sheer dynamite and will never be published unless it becomes necessary to reduce some of the shining fronts of sf. to burned ashes. (When the time comes, send it to us. Ed.) The minds of all fans are obscessed, like everyone else's with sex, and about as clean, from that viewpoint, as the inside of a chimney. Being thusly constructed, they prove their claim to the proud title of human being. I have reinvestigated the poems you condemn as trash and filth, keeping in mind the fact that they were published by our departed friend Earl Singleton who thought them artistic enough to publish in his splendid Nepenthe. It is perfectly obvious which lines you are referring to, the most obvious of the obvious being the first eight lines of epos. Taken out of their context they may sound like lines found on back fences (etc.) As a whole, however, they do fit perfectly into a poem which is a sensitive soul-searching by the poet himself. Never once do I detect absolute smut, of which I am sure Lowdnes is completely capable. "pastels for rosalind" is a frankly sexual work which clearly tells the story of a frustrated lover rejecting the advances of the daughters of joy, simultaneously subtly imploring his loved one to assuage his passion. It is simple, direct, and true to life and should be understood and appreciated by anyone intelligent enough to want to read the book the poem is published in. As a matter of fact, come to think of it, Nepenthe can in no way be considered science fictional, and therefore your whole argument raised against it on that score collapses. It is enough, of course, to brush aside your objections with the observation that Lowdnes can get away with stuff that you, Mr. Daugherty, cannot. Lowdnes, in his way is a poetic genius and recognised as such by the entire stf. field. You, Daugherty, are a superman (so I've heard) so you can't get away with anything. In conclusion, Herr Censor and Inheritor of the Mantle of Miske, I advise you to relax. The whole of fandom isn't going to pieces because Singlton published some good poetry. Fandom will stagger on, even though the fan mailings degenerate to actual filth. Finally, I think it would be a good idea if you ceased taking Singleton's name in vein. He was a fairly well-rounded individual, intellectually honest, and bursting with derison for the type of stuff you dish out. I am sure that if he hadn't gone the way of all honest but confused intellectuals, he would condemn your nonsense in terms hot enough to blow you from your pillar of purity to hell and back. Signed, Johny Michel This, Yerke, is what I would have written Daugherty, had I written Daugherty which I didn't. JBM.