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New Fandom, v. 1, issue 6, 1939

Page 18

18  NEW FANDOM

Speech made by WILLY LEY at the dinner in honor of Frank R. Paul.

World's Science Fiction Convention, New York 1939.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I know—and you know too — that it is one of the favorite habits of after dinner speakers to start their speech saying that they really are not prepared to speak and that the call for a speech came as a surprise to them. After that they usually fish round in their pockets for the notes they made in advance. I am going to say exactly the same now, but I went you to believe me that in this case it is true. I really did not expect to speak, like Paul I am here to have dinner and, perhaps, listen to others that might care to say something, And you'll see that I shall not produce any notes. Firstly because I do not have any, not having anticipated a speech. And secondly because I never have any. Even if I go to lectures of mine that are scheduled for weeks in advance ( as they usually are) I do not possess any notes, not written ones at any event. They are hidden in my brain — somewhere — and I couldn't very well claim to have forgotten to bring it along.

     Naturally I do not have a theme for this speech, I only have the excellent excuse that you asked me to speak. Please do not expect me to talk about rockets. I positively refuse to do so. I think that I have talked sufficiently about rockets already and I am not going to say much more about that theme unless I can report new experimental advances.   Or got paid for the talk.

     Saying that I do not have a theme is not quite correct, there are two themes struggling to be talked about. One of them might be termed "in defense of science fiction articles", the other might be called "experiences with science fiction". Or: what do people think and say when they read a science fiction magazine .Well, the first group of readers are, of course, the fans. But what they think and say you know best yourself. It would be senseless and unwise — to try to tell a whole collection of fans what t̲h̲e̲y̲ think. What [sic] wish to discuss a bit are the reactions of those people that read science fiction only occasionally or even for the first time.

     There are two groups of them, both well known to me.  The first group is what I mentally call "the neighbors", meaning people that belong to all walks of life, all unaware of such a thing as science fiction and that walk in one day for a neighborly visit and see "queer* magazines lying around. People that sooner or later get curious and ask what these magazines contain, that borrow a copy and return it after a while with thanks and expressions that are not always very intelligent. We'll talk about those people later. The second group are what I call "the Proffessionals" [sic],  scientists that also come across science fiction accidently [sic]. I have to admit that I was the cause of these accidents" if and when it could be managed. Once, for example I had a lively discussion with an entomologist in the course of which the probable influence of volcanic activities on the climate of the Earth was mentioned. The entomologist confessed to me that he would like to know more about that theory but naturally did not have the

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18 NEW FANDOM Speech made by WILLY LEY at the dinner in honor of Frank R. Paul. World's Science Fiction Convention, New York 1939. Ladies and Gentlemen: I know—and you know too — that it is one of the favorite habits of after dinner speakers to start their speech saying that they really are not prepared to speak and that the call for a speech came as a surprise to them. After that they usually fish round in their pockets for the notes they made in advance. I am going to say exactly the same now, but I went you to believe me that in this case it is true. I really did not expect to speak, like Paul I am here to have dinner and, perhaps, listen to others that might care to say something, And you'll see that I shall not produce any notes. Firstly because I do not have any, not having anticipated a speech. And secondly because I never have any. Even if I go to lectures of mine that are scheduled for weeks in advance ( as they usually are) I do not possess any notes, not written ones at any event. They are hidden in my brain — somewhere — and I couldn't very well claim to have forgotten to bring it along. Naturally I do not have a theme for this speech, I only have the excellent excuse that you asked me to speak. Please do not expect me to talk about rockets. I positively refuse to do so. I think that I have talked sufficiently about rockets already and I am not going to say much more about that theme unless I can report new experimental advances. Or got paid for the talk. Saying that I do not have a theme is not quite correct, there are two themes struggling to be talked about. One of them might be termed "in defense of science fiction articles", the other might be called "experiences with science fiction". Or: what do people think and say when they read a science fiction magazine .Well, the first group of readers are, of course, the fans. But what they think and say you know best yourself. It would be senseless and unwise — to try to tell a whole collection of fans what t̲h̲e̲y̲ think. What [sic] wish to discuss a bit are the reactions of those people that read science fiction only occasionally or even for the first time. There are two groups of them, both well known to me. The first group is what I mentally call "the neighbors", meaning people that belong to all walks of life, all unaware of such a thing as science fiction and that walk in one day for a neighborly visit and see "queer* magazines lying around. People that sooner or later get curious and ask what these magazines contain, that borrow a copy and return it after a while with thanks and expressions that are not always very intelligent. We'll talk about those people later. The second group are what I call "the Proffessionals" [sic], scientists that also come across science fiction accidently [sic]. I have to admit that I was the cause of these accidents" if and when it could be managed. Once, for example I had a lively discussion with an entomologist in the course of which the probable influence of volcanic activities on the climate of the Earth was mentioned. The entomologist confessed to me that he would like to know more about that theory but naturally did not have the