Transcribe
Translate
Science Fiction Savant, issue 5, Summer 1946
Page 3
More information
digital collection
archival collection guide
transcription tips
originally, you see - not a bad title, tho, at that. Except that I might have said "thots" myself. . . . Pedaling a bike 500 miles is bound to produce some results, outside of an expected strengthening of the leg muscles. My recent little jaunt to Atlantic City produced one which may not be entirely worthless, even tho it is still but a mere idea. There is, you see, an evil abroad in fandom; on, a very great evil, I assure you. My first thots on how to combat it followed quickly. Are you drooling in anticipation? Okay, have it your own way, but I'm going to tell you about it anyway. This evil is, admittedly, one that cannot be done away with. I'm referring to fans who for one reason or another drop out of fandom temporarily. It happened to me: I wouldn't think for a split second of dropping out completely, but other matters closer to home kept pushing my attention to fandom aside all summer. Leprechaun slumbered peacefully by the wayside, my correspondents sent urgent postals asking -- politely, of course -- what the hell was holding up my replies, I could find no time to read the few mags that I picked up in passing. I hated the condition, especially when I considered the thots -- some of them must have been very fancy -- that must have been passing thru the minds of my supposedly forgotten friends. But every time that the tiniest ray of sunshine would start to peep over the horizon, another dark cloud would rush in to smear it completely. I couldn't get a thing done before something else would come up that "had" to be taken care of. Now I'm back, in a big way. I never really left, of course, but fandom -- a very small part of it, perhaps -- must have been wondering what had happened to me. Now I find that the same thing happened to friend Raym during the summer. And he too is quite evidently appalled at the thot of explaining his silence to everyone. And I continue to beat around the bush, when the idea is that I have a semi-solution to the problem. It calls for some enterprising and not-too-busy fan to handle it. This fan would issue a bulletin, at such intervals as it was needed, to as many fans as possible. The bulletin would deal only with news of these "lost" fans. Of course, it would have to have a large circulation to do any good. And any time a fan found himself too busy to keep in general contact with everyone, he would have to make it his responsibility to write the editor of the bulletin and tell in as much detail as possible just what was keeping him behind the eight-ball. The news would then go out to all fandom, everyone would understand the position of the poor harrassed chap, he could come back in at any time without feeling the need of explaining to everyone separately and in detail, no-one would get mad, and in some cases the forgotten fan's friends might be able to help him a good deal keeping in touch with things or even in getting back into activity sooner. Naturally, it would take complete co-operation on the part of all concerned. But the fan would certainly be pretty bad off who couldn't find the time to write one letter explaining what was going on. It should work. -------------- ((...return, not into life, but into magic...))
Saving...
prev
next
originally, you see - not a bad title, tho, at that. Except that I might have said "thots" myself. . . . Pedaling a bike 500 miles is bound to produce some results, outside of an expected strengthening of the leg muscles. My recent little jaunt to Atlantic City produced one which may not be entirely worthless, even tho it is still but a mere idea. There is, you see, an evil abroad in fandom; on, a very great evil, I assure you. My first thots on how to combat it followed quickly. Are you drooling in anticipation? Okay, have it your own way, but I'm going to tell you about it anyway. This evil is, admittedly, one that cannot be done away with. I'm referring to fans who for one reason or another drop out of fandom temporarily. It happened to me: I wouldn't think for a split second of dropping out completely, but other matters closer to home kept pushing my attention to fandom aside all summer. Leprechaun slumbered peacefully by the wayside, my correspondents sent urgent postals asking -- politely, of course -- what the hell was holding up my replies, I could find no time to read the few mags that I picked up in passing. I hated the condition, especially when I considered the thots -- some of them must have been very fancy -- that must have been passing thru the minds of my supposedly forgotten friends. But every time that the tiniest ray of sunshine would start to peep over the horizon, another dark cloud would rush in to smear it completely. I couldn't get a thing done before something else would come up that "had" to be taken care of. Now I'm back, in a big way. I never really left, of course, but fandom -- a very small part of it, perhaps -- must have been wondering what had happened to me. Now I find that the same thing happened to friend Raym during the summer. And he too is quite evidently appalled at the thot of explaining his silence to everyone. And I continue to beat around the bush, when the idea is that I have a semi-solution to the problem. It calls for some enterprising and not-too-busy fan to handle it. This fan would issue a bulletin, at such intervals as it was needed, to as many fans as possible. The bulletin would deal only with news of these "lost" fans. Of course, it would have to have a large circulation to do any good. And any time a fan found himself too busy to keep in general contact with everyone, he would have to make it his responsibility to write the editor of the bulletin and tell in as much detail as possible just what was keeping him behind the eight-ball. The news would then go out to all fandom, everyone would understand the position of the poor harrassed chap, he could come back in at any time without feeling the need of explaining to everyone separately and in detail, no-one would get mad, and in some cases the forgotten fan's friends might be able to help him a good deal keeping in touch with things or even in getting back into activity sooner. Naturally, it would take complete co-operation on the part of all concerned. But the fan would certainly be pretty bad off who couldn't find the time to write one letter explaining what was going on. It should work. -------------- ((...return, not into life, but into magic...))
Hevelin Fanzines
sidebar
