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Fantasite, v. 2, issue 5, whole 11, May-June 1943
Page 38
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38 ... THE FANTASITE PAUL FREEHAFER Never was a fan letter written under more unusual circumstances. Ordinarily you can sit back at a safe distance, sass the editor, and give his magazine what-the-hell, all with the utmost impunity. But I'm stuck here with Editor Bronson sitting opposite me very grimly, a dangerous-looking gun in his hand, saying: "Freehafer, I need another page to fill out The Fantasite right away, and you'e going to oblige--or else!" So if I say only nice things about The Fantasite, you'll know why. Really though, writing to The Fantasite is a pleasant duty and one I ought to indulge in more often. The comings and goings of fans are still of utmost interest to me, so naturally my favorite items in the last issue are "Via StfNash" and "Flans a la Convention". Probably sugh goings-on must seem very silly to the ordinary "sane" citizen, but for the fan, whether or not he could be present-ah! Generally I'm a pretty quiet and retiring sort of person, but I remember with a great deal of joy Reinsberg, dressed like Buck Rogers (or Buck's younger brother), making a resounding soap-box oration in front of the Hotel Chicagoan--or five fans stretched out on a rug on the sidewalk in front of the Denvention's official home--or the Pollcat doing a masterful Russian dance on a Chicago street corner. Don't fans have fun? The more such articles the better, and if any of youse guys disagree, I'll put on my glasses more firmly, stand up, and defiantly say it again.... What is going to be done about the "MFS Members" department? Admittedly there must be a limit to the number of Minneapolis fans. Perhaps now that the LASFS has practically absorbed the MFS, or vice versa, the department could be expanded in a westerly direction. That would make the life of the department practically unlimited: with so many fans in the army, and the army moving them back and forth across the country continually, almost every fan has been, is, or will be a member of the LASFS....I will pass over "The Captains and the Kings Depart" very quietly. Bruce usually turns out some very good material, and possibly this means something too--but I'm damned if I know what!... Tucker, as usual, turns out some excellent reviews, though I can't quite share his enthusiasm for Thayer. As far as I'm concerned Thayer is the one thing horribly wrong with the Fortean Society. Fort was a brilliant man with an excellent sense of humour and a cutting style that could dig into sore spots of man's "knowledge" that long needed lancing. But I am digressing... I'm sorry, Phil--it's been so long since I've done any writing to fanmags that I've quite lost the knack. So I'll rave on regardless of former issues of The Fantasite or any other artificial form of restraint. Warning to those poor deluded readers who have managed to wade thus far: Stop! Anything might happen from here on. The management is not responsible for accidents--don't stand up while going around the corners! ((That last remark is gruesomely suggestive of Paul's masochistic predilection for that most efficient of suicide mechanisms, the roller-coaster. EDS.)) Perhaps I might join the rest of you fans by the Wailing Wall and shed a few tears over the sad fate of science fiction in war time. Astounding and Unknown are the only bright spots in a world of woe--ghu help us all if anything happens to them! Authentic information says Super Science and Astonishing have folded, FFM is certainly staggering badly (I hope it isn' a sign of a fatal would), and Doc's magazine looks pretty shaky. As for the rest, I don't particularly care. Weird under the present regime might just as well pass out of the picture (s'all right, Bradbury, I like your stories anyway), and if anything I'd be quite cheered up if something horrible happened to Palmer's twins. But I'm a pessimist--I look forward with nausea to the day when the only "science fiction" on the stands will be two-inch-thick copies of Amazing and Fantastic Adventures.... But enough of such gruesome thoughts. Have any of you read the new novel by Vardis Fisher yet? It's another of the stories about primitive man, but a bit on the realistic side. Reviewers have taken a great deal of delight in pointing out the resemblance between prehistoric man as shown by Fisher and the unfortunately-not-prehistoric Hitler and his gang. But don't let that get you--it isn't just propaganda, but is a story that is somewhat unsettling to the stomach but well worth reading... And there you are, Phil--a horrible way to finish an issue of a good mag like The Fantasite, but you asked for it!
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38 ... THE FANTASITE PAUL FREEHAFER Never was a fan letter written under more unusual circumstances. Ordinarily you can sit back at a safe distance, sass the editor, and give his magazine what-the-hell, all with the utmost impunity. But I'm stuck here with Editor Bronson sitting opposite me very grimly, a dangerous-looking gun in his hand, saying: "Freehafer, I need another page to fill out The Fantasite right away, and you'e going to oblige--or else!" So if I say only nice things about The Fantasite, you'll know why. Really though, writing to The Fantasite is a pleasant duty and one I ought to indulge in more often. The comings and goings of fans are still of utmost interest to me, so naturally my favorite items in the last issue are "Via StfNash" and "Flans a la Convention". Probably sugh goings-on must seem very silly to the ordinary "sane" citizen, but for the fan, whether or not he could be present-ah! Generally I'm a pretty quiet and retiring sort of person, but I remember with a great deal of joy Reinsberg, dressed like Buck Rogers (or Buck's younger brother), making a resounding soap-box oration in front of the Hotel Chicagoan--or five fans stretched out on a rug on the sidewalk in front of the Denvention's official home--or the Pollcat doing a masterful Russian dance on a Chicago street corner. Don't fans have fun? The more such articles the better, and if any of youse guys disagree, I'll put on my glasses more firmly, stand up, and defiantly say it again.... What is going to be done about the "MFS Members" department? Admittedly there must be a limit to the number of Minneapolis fans. Perhaps now that the LASFS has practically absorbed the MFS, or vice versa, the department could be expanded in a westerly direction. That would make the life of the department practically unlimited: with so many fans in the army, and the army moving them back and forth across the country continually, almost every fan has been, is, or will be a member of the LASFS....I will pass over "The Captains and the Kings Depart" very quietly. Bruce usually turns out some very good material, and possibly this means something too--but I'm damned if I know what!... Tucker, as usual, turns out some excellent reviews, though I can't quite share his enthusiasm for Thayer. As far as I'm concerned Thayer is the one thing horribly wrong with the Fortean Society. Fort was a brilliant man with an excellent sense of humour and a cutting style that could dig into sore spots of man's "knowledge" that long needed lancing. But I am digressing... I'm sorry, Phil--it's been so long since I've done any writing to fanmags that I've quite lost the knack. So I'll rave on regardless of former issues of The Fantasite or any other artificial form of restraint. Warning to those poor deluded readers who have managed to wade thus far: Stop! Anything might happen from here on. The management is not responsible for accidents--don't stand up while going around the corners! ((That last remark is gruesomely suggestive of Paul's masochistic predilection for that most efficient of suicide mechanisms, the roller-coaster. EDS.)) Perhaps I might join the rest of you fans by the Wailing Wall and shed a few tears over the sad fate of science fiction in war time. Astounding and Unknown are the only bright spots in a world of woe--ghu help us all if anything happens to them! Authentic information says Super Science and Astonishing have folded, FFM is certainly staggering badly (I hope it isn' a sign of a fatal would), and Doc's magazine looks pretty shaky. As for the rest, I don't particularly care. Weird under the present regime might just as well pass out of the picture (s'all right, Bradbury, I like your stories anyway), and if anything I'd be quite cheered up if something horrible happened to Palmer's twins. But I'm a pessimist--I look forward with nausea to the day when the only "science fiction" on the stands will be two-inch-thick copies of Amazing and Fantastic Adventures.... But enough of such gruesome thoughts. Have any of you read the new novel by Vardis Fisher yet? It's another of the stories about primitive man, but a bit on the realistic side. Reviewers have taken a great deal of delight in pointing out the resemblance between prehistoric man as shown by Fisher and the unfortunately-not-prehistoric Hitler and his gang. But don't let that get you--it isn't just propaganda, but is a story that is somewhat unsettling to the stomach but well worth reading... And there you are, Phil--a horrible way to finish an issue of a good mag like The Fantasite, but you asked for it!
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