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Voice of the Imagination (VOM), v. 1, issue 2, April 1939

VOX MAJ  5

Don meant the Federal Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kans. I'll be see you! 

Some post-mortem on my prize mess are now in order.  First, it's obvious that After 1938--what? Woulda been more accurate. The new era is already upon us. And some of
the predictions haven't yet come true and some apparently won't come true.   But the core of the prophecy, the barbarian invasion of fandom, is on with a vengeance. ~~

Events in the world at large are probably, in some way, responsible for the flood of
new stf mags, and, as Wollheim said, fandom is affected.   The doings out yonder in the professional field first drew the attention of some, notably Fanny, from inter-fan activities.   However, I believe that Wollheim places too much emphasis upon
change, and expects more, faster, than will actually be the case.  While a great many things may change in considerable decrees, there are even more elements that
remain constant or evolve slowly, and the change-quotient is the important thing. Great changes don't usually take place instantaneously.   W's Christmas article. And
So~Forward,  is the most mistaken piece he has ever written. From what he is
pleased to call the idyllic age to the feudal age the change was not explosive nor
complete, and occurred at different times in different places.   From feudal to capitalism likewise extended over many years.   It is the tendency of youth, of course,
to oversimplify things, but I would think Wollheim would be able to take a few lessons from history.   People have been predicting the end of the world since pre-historic times, and Karl Marx time and again that the Revolution had come to Germany.   Close to a century later, the only Marxist state, Russia, stands to put the
lie to all Karl's calculations, by which Russia should have been among the last to
go, and England, the United States, and Germany among the first. So Michel expects the crisis within the next ten years.   They always have. E1mer Dueper-Perdue seems your prize correspondent, or maybe I had him confused with Baker. Even JABristol has me beat, with two letters to my one.   I trust, however, that the
length of this one will put him to shame,"

The Famous Futurian of 71 Carroll St. Springdale, Ct. -Robert W. Lowndes - wrote sometime BC (Before Capitulation--ie: before adoption of a more simplified spelling): "Many thanks for the initial issue of Voice of the Imagination, now in hand, and trust this will not be the final issue. It's worth two issues of Le Vombiteur whenever it appears, you know, so get it out often enough and
Levy is yours for the taking. Upon the subject of Juffus and the term 'michelism', the matter is somewhat involved, but here's the lowdown. In an article for the 'Science Fiction Collector' I wrote answering Juffus' 'Fairly Complete Case Against Michelism' -with my 'Better Case Against Michelism' pointing out with utmost frankness the real weaknesses and mistakes of the michelists to that date. Speer's article did not require direct answering inasmuchi as it was based almost entirely upon arbitrary misconceptions and devoted itself to superficialities, evading any direct critique of actual issues, which, as I replied, could well stand criticism. At the close of the article I stated that, due to the myriad misconceptions surrounding the term 'michelism' itself, I intended to abandon that word and use some other adjective to describe the same thing, a thing, which I believe many fans would find themselves in agreement with, were it not for the connotations with Michel, who, as all know, is an ardent Communist.  (So am I, for that matter, but since the thing isn't called Lowndenism — thank godforbid — it isn't awfully important, this
fret.) Speer is correct when he says that the term does lead to misunderstanding; he
neglects to mention, of course that he, himself, bears a considerable share of responsibility for the fact that the term is misunderstood. However, as things have
turned out, I have found that the term cannot be abandoned now. We have gone too far with it; there it has clung, it has become deeprooted, and all in all, whether I like it or not, we progressive and intellectual fans are stuck with michelism and we'll have to make the most of it... Upon Speer's word-argument, it's quite un-

Saving...

VOX MAJ 5 Don meant the Federal Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kans. I'll be see you! Some post-mortem on my prize mess are now in order. First, it's obvious that After 1938--what? Woulda been more accurate. The new era is already upon us. And some of the predictions haven't yet come true and some apparently won't come true. But the core of the prophecy, the barbarian invasion of fandom, is on with a vengeance. ~~ Events in the world at large are probably, in some way, responsible for the flood of new stf mags, and, as Wollheim said, fandom is affected. The doings out yonder in the professional field first drew the attention of some, notably Fanny, from inter-fan activities. However, I believe that Wollheim places too much emphasis upon change, and expects more, faster, than will actually be the case. While a great many things may change in considerable decrees, there are even more elements that remain constant or evolve slowly, and the change-quotient is the important thing. Great changes don't usually take place instantaneously. W's Christmas article. And So~Forward, is the most mistaken piece he has ever written. From what he is pleased to call the idyllic age to the feudal age the change was not explosive nor complete, and occurred at different times in different places. From feudal to capitalism likewise extended over many years. It is the tendency of youth, of course, to oversimplify things, but I would think Wollheim would be able to take a few lessons from history. People have been predicting the end of the world since pre-historic times, and Karl Marx time and again that the Revolution had come to Germany. Close to a century later, the only Marxist state, Russia, stands to put the lie to all Karl's calculations, by which Russia should have been among the last to go, and England, the United States, and Germany among the first. So Michel expects the crisis within the next ten years. They always have. E1mer Dueper-Perdue seems your prize correspondent, or maybe I had him confused with Baker. Even JABristol has me beat, with two letters to my one. I trust, however, that the length of this one will put him to shame," The Famous Futurian of 71 Carroll St. Springdale, Ct. -Robert W. Lowndes - wrote sometime BC (Before Capitulation--ie: before adoption of a more simplified spelling): "Many thanks for the initial issue of Voice of the Imagination, now in hand, and trust this will not be the final issue. It's worth two issues of Le Vombiteur whenever it appears, you know, so get it out often enough and Levy is yours for the taking. Upon the subject of Juffus and the term 'michelism', the matter is somewhat involved, but here's the lowdown. In an article for the 'Science Fiction Collector' I wrote answering Juffus' 'Fairly Complete Case Against Michelism' -with my 'Better Case Against Michelism' pointing out with utmost frankness the real weaknesses and mistakes of the michelists to that date. Speer's article did not require direct answering inasmuchi as it was based almost entirely upon arbitrary misconceptions and devoted itself to superficialities, evading any direct critique of actual issues, which, as I replied, could well stand criticism. At the close of the article I stated that, due to the myriad misconceptions surrounding the term 'michelism' itself, I intended to abandon that word and use some other adjective to describe the same thing, a thing, which I believe many fans would find themselves in agreement with, were it not for the connotations with Michel, who, as all know, is an ardent Communist. (So am I, for that matter, but since the thing isn't called Lowndenism — thank godforbid — it isn't awfully important, this fret.) Speer is correct when he says that the term does lead to misunderstanding; he neglects to mention, of course that he, himself, bears a considerable share of responsibility for the fact that the term is misunderstood. However, as things have turned out, I have found that the term cannot be abandoned now. We have gone too far with it; there it has clung, it has become deeprooted, and all in all, whether I like it or not, we progressive and intellectual fans are stuck with michelism and we'll have to make the most of it... Upon Speer's word-argument, it's quite un-