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Fantasy Fiction Field, v. 2, issue 17, whole no. 40, Denvention Issue
Page 7
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Fantasy Fiction Field Illustrated News Weekly (Denvention Issue) 7th page Planet Stories' editor MALCOLM REISS Back in 1939 a new stf mag suddenly appeared on the newsstands: Planet Stories. Its editor was Malcolm Reiss. That first issue wasn't so hot; fans thought so and the editor admitted it; he stated frankly in his answer to a letter in a later issue: the stories have not been as good as we would have liked them to be. And that, in a world sums up Reiss' policy -- he's out to give the public a first class stf mag and is ready at all times to listen to constructive criticism and admit the mags current faults. He has a sense of humor, a very important element in any editor's make up; he's about 5' 8", we should say, dark haired, bushy-eyebrowed, and good looking. And he's learning more about stf and what fans want, daily. Planet is not the best but it's on the credit side of the fan ledger. A. Merritt You ask me to define fantasy. That is quite a job, I fear. Nor have I yet found any all-encompassing formula to satisfy me of what it is -- although I am quite sure of what it is not. Some say that it is the art of making the unreal seem real, but I think this a highly vulnerable definition. If I succeed in making the unreal real to the reader, does not then the unreal cease to be the unreal; become reality? And what is -- unreal? I think that true fantasy must have two basic elements. One is the spirit that makes poetry. The second is the rhythm of true mathematics. By true mathematics I do not mean the spirit of the abacus, or of the counting-house, but the linked sequences, the clarity, the inevitabileness of those higher mathematics which can crystalize the idea, for example, of relativity. No one can tell why to one a primrose by the river's brim a yellow primrose is to him (I probably misquote) or (continued on page 8) LOUIS R. CHAUVENET Our fanzine review-man is much too modest. We really don't see how we are going to get a full column from the material he sent us. Says Chauvenet: "I am 21 yrs old and with a reasonable anabolism-katabolism ratio may well survive that much longer as a functional biological organism. "My life is dedicated to the proposition that life is an evanescent phenomenon to be enjoyed while it lasts nor over-much regretted when it passes. "For further details see #3 Fanfare." And burn us if theres very much we can add to that except that Russell's done a bit of poetry which struck us as exemplary (it appeared in the second issue of Nepenthe), is a most interesting correspondent, and that we really regret his Detours folded up. At this moment, dear reader, we are not sure as to whether or not we can get a picture of Mr Reiss in, in time. If not, we beg your indulgence. [photo of a man wearing glasses and smoking a pipe, with inscription To Julius Unger Sincerely A. Merritt]
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Fantasy Fiction Field Illustrated News Weekly (Denvention Issue) 7th page Planet Stories' editor MALCOLM REISS Back in 1939 a new stf mag suddenly appeared on the newsstands: Planet Stories. Its editor was Malcolm Reiss. That first issue wasn't so hot; fans thought so and the editor admitted it; he stated frankly in his answer to a letter in a later issue: the stories have not been as good as we would have liked them to be. And that, in a world sums up Reiss' policy -- he's out to give the public a first class stf mag and is ready at all times to listen to constructive criticism and admit the mags current faults. He has a sense of humor, a very important element in any editor's make up; he's about 5' 8", we should say, dark haired, bushy-eyebrowed, and good looking. And he's learning more about stf and what fans want, daily. Planet is not the best but it's on the credit side of the fan ledger. A. Merritt You ask me to define fantasy. That is quite a job, I fear. Nor have I yet found any all-encompassing formula to satisfy me of what it is -- although I am quite sure of what it is not. Some say that it is the art of making the unreal seem real, but I think this a highly vulnerable definition. If I succeed in making the unreal real to the reader, does not then the unreal cease to be the unreal; become reality? And what is -- unreal? I think that true fantasy must have two basic elements. One is the spirit that makes poetry. The second is the rhythm of true mathematics. By true mathematics I do not mean the spirit of the abacus, or of the counting-house, but the linked sequences, the clarity, the inevitabileness of those higher mathematics which can crystalize the idea, for example, of relativity. No one can tell why to one a primrose by the river's brim a yellow primrose is to him (I probably misquote) or (continued on page 8) LOUIS R. CHAUVENET Our fanzine review-man is much too modest. We really don't see how we are going to get a full column from the material he sent us. Says Chauvenet: "I am 21 yrs old and with a reasonable anabolism-katabolism ratio may well survive that much longer as a functional biological organism. "My life is dedicated to the proposition that life is an evanescent phenomenon to be enjoyed while it lasts nor over-much regretted when it passes. "For further details see #3 Fanfare." And burn us if theres very much we can add to that except that Russell's done a bit of poetry which struck us as exemplary (it appeared in the second issue of Nepenthe), is a most interesting correspondent, and that we really regret his Detours folded up. At this moment, dear reader, we are not sure as to whether or not we can get a picture of Mr Reiss in, in time. If not, we beg your indulgence. [photo of a man wearing glasses and smoking a pipe, with inscription To Julius Unger Sincerely A. Merritt]
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