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Wavelength, v. 1, issue 3, Fall 1941
31858063099622_013
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13 I could do but count 'em up. After that I organized the "Stranger Club", and took over editing "Fanfare", and wrote articles and things, so I guess "Today I am a fan." Now for the why of it. It appears that fans are not normal. Joseph Gilbert has said that there are normal and abnormal fans. With Lynn Bridges, I cannot see how any fan can be considered "normal". They are there, they exist, their mental attitude is observable, and it is undeniably "different". My dictionary defines normal: according to the rule; regular. My own interpretation of the "rule" is the rule of our present-day civilization. "Normal" people are in accordance with that, believe it or not, civilization. Science fjctionists are not. I don't mean to imply that they go around breaking all the laws they can, or that they would even like to. But they would, indeed, like to see some drastic changes made. Along with Phil Schumann, and perhaps several others who have not expressed themselves on the subject, I hold the viewpoint that "fans are born, not made." In other words, it's impossible, for me at least, to write an article on "How I became a fan" since I maintain that always I was a fan, I think that, barring very unusual circumstances, such as dying young or being born in Germany, I could not help becoming a fan. I think that stfans (this term shall be corrupted in this article to mean both stf and fantast followers, and primarily the "active"' fan ) are a "mental type" rather than a more coincidental social group, When I have completed my psychoiogical research, i will be in a position to speak more authoritatively on the differences between fans and other people. I feel that I will then be able to offer more concrete proof that my contentions are correct. In an article to be printed in the first "Poll Cat", the organ that will carry the psychological research along with my regular polls, Joe Fortier and Richard Kuhn ask "Are Fans Slans?" That is a daring supposition, and I for one can't answer it now. Perhaps the research will be able to, though. But the main point of this article is that a fan does not "become a fan". He is one from his beginnings. He is independent of his environment. Anybody wanna argue? SCIENCE FICTION BRIEFS Dear Henry ( ? ), Thanks much for the complimentary copy of "Wavelength". I enjoyed it very much. An enclosing a dime for the next issue. Hurry it up. As a fanzine, "Wavelength" left a lot to be desired from almost every standpoint. Neatness, mimeographing, etc. I like the use of the different colors of paper thruout. . .also-the way the readers' column is conducted. But don't you think the name, "Jupiter Rendezvous", is a little too similar to "Rendezvous", in IFA Review? Trere seen to be several inconsistencies thruout. . .prime example being the dateline on the cover, ie —Summer, 1941. One would take from that that the magazine is a quarterly proposition. Inside ( Birth of a Fan ) we find: "Next Month: Forrie J. & Morojo" I am prompted to wonder... By the way. . a mistake made in common by Chauvenet and our friend Claudius. . . Fmz is plural for the word fm. Therefore the sentence, "A high grade fmz." should read, "A high grade fm." These things bother
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13 I could do but count 'em up. After that I organized the "Stranger Club", and took over editing "Fanfare", and wrote articles and things, so I guess "Today I am a fan." Now for the why of it. It appears that fans are not normal. Joseph Gilbert has said that there are normal and abnormal fans. With Lynn Bridges, I cannot see how any fan can be considered "normal". They are there, they exist, their mental attitude is observable, and it is undeniably "different". My dictionary defines normal: according to the rule; regular. My own interpretation of the "rule" is the rule of our present-day civilization. "Normal" people are in accordance with that, believe it or not, civilization. Science fjctionists are not. I don't mean to imply that they go around breaking all the laws they can, or that they would even like to. But they would, indeed, like to see some drastic changes made. Along with Phil Schumann, and perhaps several others who have not expressed themselves on the subject, I hold the viewpoint that "fans are born, not made." In other words, it's impossible, for me at least, to write an article on "How I became a fan" since I maintain that always I was a fan, I think that, barring very unusual circumstances, such as dying young or being born in Germany, I could not help becoming a fan. I think that stfans (this term shall be corrupted in this article to mean both stf and fantast followers, and primarily the "active"' fan ) are a "mental type" rather than a more coincidental social group, When I have completed my psychoiogical research, i will be in a position to speak more authoritatively on the differences between fans and other people. I feel that I will then be able to offer more concrete proof that my contentions are correct. In an article to be printed in the first "Poll Cat", the organ that will carry the psychological research along with my regular polls, Joe Fortier and Richard Kuhn ask "Are Fans Slans?" That is a daring supposition, and I for one can't answer it now. Perhaps the research will be able to, though. But the main point of this article is that a fan does not "become a fan". He is one from his beginnings. He is independent of his environment. Anybody wanna argue? SCIENCE FICTION BRIEFS Dear Henry ( ? ), Thanks much for the complimentary copy of "Wavelength". I enjoyed it very much. An enclosing a dime for the next issue. Hurry it up. As a fanzine, "Wavelength" left a lot to be desired from almost every standpoint. Neatness, mimeographing, etc. I like the use of the different colors of paper thruout. . .also-the way the readers' column is conducted. But don't you think the name, "Jupiter Rendezvous", is a little too similar to "Rendezvous", in IFA Review? Trere seen to be several inconsistencies thruout. . .prime example being the dateline on the cover, ie —Summer, 1941. One would take from that that the magazine is a quarterly proposition. Inside ( Birth of a Fan ) we find: "Next Month: Forrie J. & Morojo" I am prompted to wonder... By the way. . a mistake made in common by Chauvenet and our friend Claudius. . . Fmz is plural for the word fm. Therefore the sentence, "A high grade fmz." should read, "A high grade fm." These things bother
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