originally published in VECTOR 37, January 1966,
edited by Roger Peyton for the British Science Fiction Association.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION - Jim Groves

First off we have a correction to a previous answer from Jeremy Barry of Los Angeles; "FANTASY TIMES is not dead - only the name was changed. It is now SCIENCE FICTION TIMES and is a monthly newszine, The cost is $1.80. per year or 15cents per single issue. Address is James V Taurasi Sr. 119-46 27th Avenue, College Point, New York 113549 USA. Over 400 issues have been published”

Next is a query from Charles Legg of Stevenage; “Can you tell me how many prozines are on sale in Britain at the present time and which ones they are? Secondly, I was browsing through an American fanzine recently and found that a play called THE WORLD OF RAY BRADBURY has been staged in America. It consists of three playlets - “The Pedestrian”, "The Veldt” and “To the Chicago Abyss”. Could you tell me whether the play or the film that is supposed to be being made of it has been or will be staged anywhere in Britain”

The prozines available in this country include all of those being produced - whether they appear in your area or not, however, depends on your local newsagents. They include NEW WORLDS, SCIENCE FANTASY, ANALOG, FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION, AMAZING, FANTASTIC, GALAXY, IF, WORLDS OF TOMORROW, MAGAZINE OF HORROR, and GAMMA. As for the Bradbury playlets as far as I know they are not being staged in this country.

Next, from Peter Jennings of Watford “I wish to trace a story about which I have practically no information. I know it is about a multi-generation spaceship and little else; I therefore consider the best way to find it is to read a number of these such stories, Could you please list some for me? Also; some time ago on TV there was a series called OUT OF THIS WORLD. Could you tell me the SF stories which appeared in this series.”

There are three novels of the multi-generation starship that I can recall, They are ORPHANS OF THE SKY by Robert A. Heinlein (originally two stories - “Universe” and "Commonsense”), NON-STOP by BrianW. Aldiss, and SPACE BORN by E,C. Tubb. There are also quite a few short stories on this theme; three I particularly remember are "Target Generation” by Clifford D. Simak (SCIENCE FICTION PLUS Aug. 53 under the title "Spacebred Generations”), “Centaurus II” by A.E. van Vogt (ASTOUNDING Jun. ‘47) and “Giant Killer” by A. Bertram Chandler (ASTOUNDING Oct. ‘45). But there are many others.

Stories that appeared in OUT OF THIS WORLD series were: “Impostor” by Philip K. Dick, “The Yellow Pill” by Rog Phillips, “Little Lost Robot” by Isaac Asimov, “Cold Equations” by Tom Godwin, “The Ape of London” by Denis Butler, “Immortality For Some” by J.T. McIntosh, “Botany Bay” by Terry Nation, “Medicine Show” by Robert Moore Williams, "Divided We Fall” by Raymond F. Jones, “Pictures Don’t Lie” by Katherine MacLean, "Target Generation” by Clifford D. Simak, and “Kindergarten” - also by Simak. There may have been others but these are the only ones I remember: I have a feeling that there was an Arthur Sellings story, but what it was I’m afraid I don’t know.

Lastly, from Brian Stableford of Denton, Lancs., comes a couple of corrections together with queries. “One Cordwainer Smith story no-one has yet mentioned is “The Fife of Bodidharma” in FANTASTIC Jun. ‘59. Another point from your column - the Sherwood stories “Scarlet Dawn” and “Scarlet Denial” were published by Ace Books (F285) as THE MILLION YEAR PLAN under Sherwood’s real name (Kenneth Bulmer). Now, queries; (1) was Kelvin Kent a pseudonym for Henry Kuttner or Arthur K. Barnes? (2) Could you please do something to clarify the use of the ‘Ivar Jorgenson’ pseudonym? A note in SF ADVENTURES No. 5 (BRE) says that he was born in Norway. The story in question, however, (“This World Must Die”) was later published by Ace Books as THE PLANET KILLERS by Robert Silverberg !? I have also read in various places that Jorgenson was a house name at one time and is now being used by an ex-editor, (3) Are the following pseudonyms - Thomas Burnett Swann, C.E. Fritch, Fox B. Holden, Zelia Bishop, Tom Purdom: if so, whose? (4) Did de Camp & Pratt ever write a fourth book in the series concerning Harold Shea? (5) How many ‘Jirel of Joiry’ stories did C.L. Moore write? Did the one bringing Jirel and Northwest Smith together, mentioned in de Camp’s SWORDS AND SORCERY, ever materialise?”

‘Kelvin Kent’ was a pseudonym used by both Kuttner and Barnes, either singly or in collaboration depending on the story under consideration. According to my information ‘Ivar Jorgenson’ is a pseudonym used by Paul W. Fairman who did quite a bit of editing for Ziff-Davis. As for the Silverberg title, I can only suggest that for that particular story the 'Jorgenson’ name was used as a house name. Pseudonyms - I have no information on Swann or Fritch but the others, Holden, Bishop and Purdom are definitely real persons. There were only three Shea stories THE INCOMPLETE ENCHANTER, CASTLE OF IRON and WALL OF SERPENTS. Jirel of Joiry stories - there are three in SHAMBLEAU (plus four Northwest Smith stories) and two in NORTHWEST OF EARTH (plus five Northwest Smith). For the record, there are two other Northwest Smith stories - “Song in a Minor Key” (FANTASTIC UNIVERSE Jan. ‘57) and “Nymph of Darkness” (WEIRD TALES Dec.’39). The story that brings these two together is “Quest of the Starstone” (WEIRD TALES Nov. ‘37). There is also supposed to be a Northwest Smith story that appeared in an amateur magazine, but I’ve not been able to locate this.

By the time you read this column I will have emigrated to the States. This will mean a temporary break in the column, but if you have any queries, please send them to the Editor, Rog. Peyton, who will attempt to provide the answers.