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Science Fiction Echo, issue 1, June 1942
Page 3
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THE STF ECHO 3 AND AFTER READING--- Now that fandom has grown up, it is time for all fans to stop and take stock of the situation. Where do we go from here? What further achievements can we seek? First of all we can look behind us to determine if we have neglected anything. We will find that we have done just that. It has been unavoidable--fandom in the past has been more or less a struggle for supremacy; a campaign by each individual to cut a niche for himself in the minds of other fans so that he might become famous. Fan organizations have been attempted; they have failed. Without the unity of a successful federation of fans, it was well-near impossible to pick up the loose threads of opportunity that were left dangling in our wake. Now is the time to regain some of those lost connections--and wile doing so find the equilibrium that we have long sought. A breach of sorts has been unconsciously established between ourselves and the pro stf publications. True, it will not spell our doom, and most assuredly we can do nothing about it and still survive decadence. In my humble opinion, the least any lover of stfiction can do to show his interest in the pros is to write to them, commenting intelligently on each issue of each book that he receives. Oh, we know that you have listened to others blowing on this subject--in the last issue of FUTURE Lowndes offers quite a spiel about the matter. Of course, most of you know that this is the policy of NOVA--closer cooperation between fan and pro. Ashley, and we believe Evans, are champions of the idea. But there is no need to go into the extreme about it--really, if more fans would discontinue opposition to it it would appear to be a considerably more moderate plan than is generally believed. In saying that we should strive to regain some voice with the professional magazines we don't mean strive to wrest some kind of "control" over them by our united effort---good Ghodde, no! We can never tell the pros what to do. The fact of the matter is that we have no appeal to them whatsoever as a whole. But we can write to them as individuals--consistently, with good constructive criticism--and thus gain more prestige for our entire group. Perhaps the most interesting article on this subject that we have ever read was "Critique" by Clifford D Simak in the same issue of FANTASITE as Jacobi's previously mentioned effort. He offers the statement that the fans have failed themselves by neglecting to contribute in a constructive manner to the field in which they are most interested---science-fiction. Naturally, we agree with him whole-heartedly. Of course, his statement that "The fans are in a position, if they wish to take advantage of it, to make science fiction what they want it to be," may seem a little strong, but it is essentially correct. It would only be necessary for the editors to receive our sincere and regular criticism to obtain stf of the improved calibre. Of course, it would take time to get results, but that would seem to be the most obvious way to show an editor that we are sincere. (END)
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THE STF ECHO 3 AND AFTER READING--- Now that fandom has grown up, it is time for all fans to stop and take stock of the situation. Where do we go from here? What further achievements can we seek? First of all we can look behind us to determine if we have neglected anything. We will find that we have done just that. It has been unavoidable--fandom in the past has been more or less a struggle for supremacy; a campaign by each individual to cut a niche for himself in the minds of other fans so that he might become famous. Fan organizations have been attempted; they have failed. Without the unity of a successful federation of fans, it was well-near impossible to pick up the loose threads of opportunity that were left dangling in our wake. Now is the time to regain some of those lost connections--and wile doing so find the equilibrium that we have long sought. A breach of sorts has been unconsciously established between ourselves and the pro stf publications. True, it will not spell our doom, and most assuredly we can do nothing about it and still survive decadence. In my humble opinion, the least any lover of stfiction can do to show his interest in the pros is to write to them, commenting intelligently on each issue of each book that he receives. Oh, we know that you have listened to others blowing on this subject--in the last issue of FUTURE Lowndes offers quite a spiel about the matter. Of course, most of you know that this is the policy of NOVA--closer cooperation between fan and pro. Ashley, and we believe Evans, are champions of the idea. But there is no need to go into the extreme about it--really, if more fans would discontinue opposition to it it would appear to be a considerably more moderate plan than is generally believed. In saying that we should strive to regain some voice with the professional magazines we don't mean strive to wrest some kind of "control" over them by our united effort---good Ghodde, no! We can never tell the pros what to do. The fact of the matter is that we have no appeal to them whatsoever as a whole. But we can write to them as individuals--consistently, with good constructive criticism--and thus gain more prestige for our entire group. Perhaps the most interesting article on this subject that we have ever read was "Critique" by Clifford D Simak in the same issue of FANTASITE as Jacobi's previously mentioned effort. He offers the statement that the fans have failed themselves by neglecting to contribute in a constructive manner to the field in which they are most interested---science-fiction. Naturally, we agree with him whole-heartedly. Of course, his statement that "The fans are in a position, if they wish to take advantage of it, to make science fiction what they want it to be," may seem a little strong, but it is essentially correct. It would only be necessary for the editors to receive our sincere and regular criticism to obtain stf of the improved calibre. Of course, it would take time to get results, but that would seem to be the most obvious way to show an editor that we are sincere. (END)
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