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Voice of the Imagination, whole no. 36, October 1944

Page 6

6     VOICE OF THE
paper. I plan to spend a couple of hours a week during the coming winter getting my fanzine collection sorted and filed in decent order, an envelope tothe publication, and VOM is the only thing that will not fit into the envelopes suitable for 8 1-2 x 11 fanzines, out of the tremendous stack of U. S. publications. (By the Lord Harry, is it possible Warner lacks fmz from his files? Fantasy Digest, Space Tales, Who's Who of Fandom, Shangri-L'Affaires, Superfluous Stories & Yhos are some American titles I think of at random that have been publisht "king-size", not to mention overseas 'zines.) True, Degler uses that paper, but his can be folded; I might even be able tothink of a more suitable means of getting them out of the way, if I had tried hard enough. (Ofcorse, most all the other eccentric size mags 'cept Vom have folded, so that saves U some trouble.) #

CPL Dick Wilson veemails: This is being written from an island I can't name, but which is somewhere west of the date line and south of the equator. It is hot, humid and primitive but I am happy because Vom is here to keep me company. (This is persiflage and you know it--but I am anxious to see succeeding issues as they roll off the mimeo and I hastened to rush you my new address as soon as I knew it. Do your part.)
Here's a bone for your forum to gnaw on: In view of the more or less generous post war educational opportunies which will be offered to veterans-to-be, should a soldier long out of high school take advantage of them and go to college, possibly at night while working at a job held open for him by his employer? Should he (assuming he has talent in that direction) live on his war savings plus mustering-out pay plus other benefits, if any, and free-lance, full time? Or should he go back to his job and free-lance nights and weekends? Some GIs even talk almost seriously about becoming bums after the war because they claim the army goldbrick bug is too deep within them. Some writers continue to write during their war service: Hargrove, Saroyan, St. George, Cannon--and some go crazy in public relations offices (Ackerman is the only one I can think of now--or are you an SS man?--and I don't mean Schutzstaffel). Sgt Ack-Ack is a member of Special Services.)
Now I'll brush the various entymological specimens from the page and send it on to you. #
Later letter from WILSON--labeld NEW GUINEA: Still have but one old copy of your magazine to brighten my existence, but one of these days I hope to see popping up all the back copies I've missed.
The list of official okays says I can tell you I've landed in enemy territory. I'm also allowed to give my personal reaction to air raids. My opinion is that they are a pain in the neck--literally. After a certain amount of time in a foxhole you get weary and try to find a comfortable resting place for your steel-helmeted head. There is none. Your neck gets stiff and all the pretty ack-ack in the world wouldn't make it feel less so. #
CPL Milty remarks: Dear VOMists: A very excellent VOM arrived yesterday, and since I'm stuck on Cpl. of the Guard today I'm going to give myself the unique experience of completely catching up on my letter writing.
Plans for Slans brings to my mind the advice of a physical training instructor at this school (U. of California Agricultural College) Besides being words champion punching bag puncher, he is a man with rather high ideals of human conduct. But on the subject of raising kids--he's raised three himself--he says this: Suppose your kids come running back from school saying the other kids are picking on them. (A not unusual affair in big cities where there is much juvenile gangdom.) The problem----what are you going to do about it?
Coach Shaw's solution was to teach his kids boxing. The other kids stopped picking on them. Shocking to the pacifistic fandom? I think it makes sense. I think it might not be a bad idea to teach our kids boxing and related arts alongside the music and literature that they'll be getting. For, together with intelligence, culture, and freedom of mind, we want them to have physical confidence and the ability to face a world which often cares little about culture and freedom of mind.
James W. Thomas asks whether there are no dreamers left in fandom. Sure there are. Mostly we're too busy (learning about disemboweling or about radio or becoming dit-happy with a pair of earphones) to do much dreaming, but when we do dream, this is what it is:
Willy Ley publishes a book on rockets, Time magazine reports that Hermann Oberth invented the German rocket bomb. The next week Time runs another story about coming work on rockets, with a photo of Willy Ley. Jet propulsion is here-- rockets are becoming the thing. Research on rockets will be a professional job after the war, not an amateur hobby. Me, I think I'm an engineer. I know some stuff about control mechanisms. After the war I come back and I say to General Electric or whoever it will be: I want to work in your rocket laboratory. Maybe they'll kick me out the gate. Maybe they won't. But that's my dream. #
Our boy BRISTOL comments on our 34th issue. Incidently, censor's stamp on this veemailetter bears the signature, JOHN B SPEER: Gibson's cover tells nothing more than immediately meets the eye, and what meets the eye is pure corn.
Bob Bloch's article shows him as more than a funnyman in fanzines. From hazy recollections, tho, I think that Heinlein's recommendations for reading, in Discovery of the Future (25c via Vom), covered a larger field and covered it more strategically.

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6 VOICE OF THE paper. I plan to spend a couple of hours a week during the coming winter getting my fanzine collection sorted and filed in decent order, an envelope tothe publication, and VOM is the only thing that will not fit into the envelopes suitable for 8 1-2 x 11 fanzines, out of the tremendous stack of U. S. publications. (By the Lord Harry, is it possible Warner lacks fmz from his files? Fantasy Digest, Space Tales, Who's Who of Fandom, Shangri-L'Affaires, Superfluous Stories & Yhos are some American titles I think of at random that have been publisht "king-size", not to mention overseas 'zines.) True, Degler uses that paper, but his can be folded; I might even be able tothink of a more suitable means of getting them out of the way, if I had tried hard enough. (Ofcorse, most all the other eccentric size mags 'cept Vom have folded, so that saves U some trouble.) # CPL Dick Wilson veemails: This is being written from an island I can't name, but which is somewhere west of the date line and south of the equator. It is hot, humid and primitive but I am happy because Vom is here to keep me company. (This is persiflage and you know it--but I am anxious to see succeeding issues as they roll off the mimeo and I hastened to rush you my new address as soon as I knew it. Do your part.) Here's a bone for your forum to gnaw on: In view of the more or less generous post war educational opportunies which will be offered to veterans-to-be, should a soldier long out of high school take advantage of them and go to college, possibly at night while working at a job held open for him by his employer? Should he (assuming he has talent in that direction) live on his war savings plus mustering-out pay plus other benefits, if any, and free-lance, full time? Or should he go back to his job and free-lance nights and weekends? Some GIs even talk almost seriously about becoming bums after the war because they claim the army goldbrick bug is too deep within them. Some writers continue to write during their war service: Hargrove, Saroyan, St. George, Cannon--and some go crazy in public relations offices (Ackerman is the only one I can think of now--or are you an SS man?--and I don't mean Schutzstaffel). Sgt Ack-Ack is a member of Special Services.) Now I'll brush the various entymological specimens from the page and send it on to you. # Later letter from WILSON--labeld NEW GUINEA: Still have but one old copy of your magazine to brighten my existence, but one of these days I hope to see popping up all the back copies I've missed. The list of official okays says I can tell you I've landed in enemy territory. I'm also allowed to give my personal reaction to air raids. My opinion is that they are a pain in the neck--literally. After a certain amount of time in a foxhole you get weary and try to find a comfortable resting place for your steel-helmeted head. There is none. Your neck gets stiff and all the pretty ack-ack in the world wouldn't make it feel less so. # CPL Milty remarks: Dear VOMists: A very excellent VOM arrived yesterday, and since I'm stuck on Cpl. of the Guard today I'm going to give myself the unique experience of completely catching up on my letter writing. Plans for Slans brings to my mind the advice of a physical training instructor at this school (U. of California Agricultural College) Besides being words champion punching bag puncher, he is a man with rather high ideals of human conduct. But on the subject of raising kids--he's raised three himself--he says this: Suppose your kids come running back from school saying the other kids are picking on them. (A not unusual affair in big cities where there is much juvenile gangdom.) The problem----what are you going to do about it? Coach Shaw's solution was to teach his kids boxing. The other kids stopped picking on them. Shocking to the pacifistic fandom? I think it makes sense. I think it might not be a bad idea to teach our kids boxing and related arts alongside the music and literature that they'll be getting. For, together with intelligence, culture, and freedom of mind, we want them to have physical confidence and the ability to face a world which often cares little about culture and freedom of mind. James W. Thomas asks whether there are no dreamers left in fandom. Sure there are. Mostly we're too busy (learning about disemboweling or about radio or becoming dit-happy with a pair of earphones) to do much dreaming, but when we do dream, this is what it is: Willy Ley publishes a book on rockets, Time magazine reports that Hermann Oberth invented the German rocket bomb. The next week Time runs another story about coming work on rockets, with a photo of Willy Ley. Jet propulsion is here-- rockets are becoming the thing. Research on rockets will be a professional job after the war, not an amateur hobby. Me, I think I'm an engineer. I know some stuff about control mechanisms. After the war I come back and I say to General Electric or whoever it will be: I want to work in your rocket laboratory. Maybe they'll kick me out the gate. Maybe they won't. But that's my dream. # Our boy BRISTOL comments on our 34th issue. Incidently, censor's stamp on this veemailetter bears the signature, JOHN B SPEER: Gibson's cover tells nothing more than immediately meets the eye, and what meets the eye is pure corn. Bob Bloch's article shows him as more than a funnyman in fanzines. From hazy recollections, tho, I think that Heinlein's recommendations for reading, in Discovery of the Future (25c via Vom), covered a larger field and covered it more strategically.