Index

This is SKYRACK No 16, dated 5th April 1960 and published by Ron Bennett, 7 Southway, Arthurs Avenue, Harrogate, Yorkshire, England. 6d per copy, six issues for 2/6d. 35cents for 6 issues in the USA (65cents for 6 issues by air), subscriptions to Bob Pavlat, 6001 43rd Avenue, Hyattsville, Maryland. News of interest to sf fandom gratefully received. Cartoon by Arthur Thomson. Contributors: Ron Ellik, Bill Donaho, Joy Clarke, Bruce Pelz, & George Locke.

SKYRACK POLL RESULTS INSIDE.

BJO TRIMBLE AND SPRING FEVER Ron Ellik and Terry Carr put out a special single sheet edition of FANAC to announce the news and their airmnailed copy arrived the same post as a nice long letter from Bill Donaho who also gave details. A million or so bachelors in fandom will gnash their teeth to learn that Los Angeles fans Betty Jo Wells and  John G. Trimble are engaged to be married. I’m not too sure that I should congratulate Bjo on picking such a lousy brag player, but I certainly do congratulate John on his fine taste. Like wow, and all that jazz.

AND that isn’t all. Fannish newszines are sitting on the news of another fannish engagement, shortly to be announced officially. Watch this space and similar expressions.

DAVE RIKE (750 60th St, Oakland 9, Calif., USA) is reviving the Fanzine Material Pool. *** There is no truth in the rumour that I will be next BSFA Secretary. I’m not even a member.*** Wanted National Geographics with articles and photos on transport, The New Mayflower, California and Florida. *** THE FANNISH II, FANAC 53, is a tremendous piece of work, with Trina Castillo PLAYB0Y Playgirl type covers. This may be obtained from Ron Ellik (1909 Francisco Street, Berkeley 9, Calif. USA) or through Archie Mercer. (434/4 Newark Rd., North Hykeham, Lincoln). *** Lynn Hickman’s 10th Anniversary issue of JD-ARGASSY is due next month with all its 70 pages. British subs to me at 3/6d a time. *** TAFF DELEGATE, Don Ford is due April 9th to be met by Ted Carnell. Special party for Don to meet younger fans duo for pre-con Wednesday.

THE SKYRACK POLL

As it appears to have become traditional for news magazines in the fannish world to celebrate their birthdays with popularity polls, SKYRACK poll forms were recently circulated round fandom. Many thanks to the fanzine editors who helped to circulate these forms and to the 35 fans who completed them. The following good people, nay Good People, voted: Jill Adams, Donald W. Anderson, Ron Bennett, Sid Birchby, Eric Bentcliffe, Alan Burns, Miriam Carr, Terry Carr, Jim Caughran, Joy Clarke, Belle Dietz, Frank Dietz, Alan Dodd, Don Durward, Ron Ellik, Ted Forsyth, Les Gerber, Jim Groves, Terry Jeeves, Bob Lichtman, Ethel Lindsay, Jim Linwood, George Locke, Ed Meskys, Mike Moorcock, Ella Parker, Bruce Pelz, Boyd Raeburn, Bob Richardson, Alan Rispin, Sandy Sanderson, Dick Schultz, Norman Shorrock, Peter Singleton and George Wells.

Several fans made sensible and pertinent comments on the poll and there were some witty replies like Jim Linwood’s vote for The Melody Maker as best British prozine. On the other hand there was the odd childish attempt like listing Nelson’s as the best column. Sorry, bwah, you just haven’t got it.

THE BEST BRITISH FAN PUBLICATIONS 0F 1959.

1. APORRHETA (255 points) Sandy Sanderson, 236 Queens Road, New Cross, London SE 14, 1/6 or 20cents.

2. HYPHEN (211) Walt Willis, 170 Upper Newtownards Rd, Belfast 4, N. Ire1and. 1/- or 15cents

3. ORION (178) Ella A. Parker, 151 Canterbury Road, West Kilburn, London NW 6. 1/- or 15cents

4. TRIODE (163) Eric Bentcliffe, 47 Alldis St., Great Moor, Stockport, Cheshire & Terry Jeeves, 58 Sharrard Gr., Sheffield 12, Yorkshire. 1/6 or 20cents

5. THE SKYRACK NEWSLETTER (158)

6. SMOKE (148) George Locke, 85 Chelsea Gardens, Chelsea Bridge Rd. London SW 1. 1/- or 15cents

7. PL0Y(139)

8. RETRIBUTION (123) John Berry, 31 Campbell Park Avenue, Belmont, Belfast, N. Ire1and.

9. FEMIZINE (58) Ethel Lindsay, Courage House, 6 Langley Avenue, Surbiton, Surrey. 1/- or 15cents.

10.CAMBER (54) Alan Dodd, 77 Stanstead Rd., Hoddesdon, Herts.1/-

11. VECTOR (33), 12. EUSTACE (30), 13. FAN DIRECTORY (25), 14 = WALDO and BIRMINGHAM CONVENTION PROGRAMME (16), 16. NORTHLIGHT (15), 17. MORPH (14), 18. SCOTTISHE (12), 19. ERG (9), 20 ARCHIVE, APATHY and ROT (9).

Congratulations to Sandy Sanderson on a year of consistent quality in Ape and to leading OMPAzine publisher, John Roles.

BEST INDIVIDUAL ITEM OF 1959

25 different items were listed.

1. THE GOON GOES WEST by John Berry in CRY OF THE NAMELESS (16pts)

2. THE 1959 DIRECTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION FANDOM (7)

3. CURSERY RHYMES FOR BLOWN UPS by Sid Birchby in APORRHETA (6)

4.= ATOM’S A TO Z by Arthur Thomson in APORRHETA (5)
COLONIAL EXCURSION by Ron Bennett in --- you kidding? (5)

BEST COLUMN

1. INCHMERY FAN DIARY by Sandy Sanderson in APORRHETA (23 points)

2. THE OLD MILL STREAM by Penelope Fandergast in APORRHETA (15)

3. THE HARP THAT ONCE OR TWICE by Walt Willis in OOPSLA (11)

4. GRUNCH by Vince Clarke in HYPHEN (6)

5. THE LI’L PITCHER by Joy Clarke in APORRHETA (4)

BEST ARTIST

1. Arthur Thomson (51 and a half points)

2. Jim Cawthorn (27 and a half points)

BEST PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE

1. NEW WORLDS (36 points)

2. SCIENCE FANTASY (24 points)

3. NEBULA (18 points)

BEST FANZINE COVER

1. APORRHETA 13 (8 points).

BEST REPORT

THE GOON GOES WEST (11 points).

BEST BRITISH FAN WRITER OF 1959.

1. John Berry (110 points)

2. Walt Willis (58)

3. Vince Clarke (37)

4. George Locke (33)

5. Ron Bennett (29)

6. Mal Ashworth (24)

7. Sandy Sanderson (21)

8. Sid Birchby (15)

9. “Penelope Fandergaste” (14)

10. Archie Mercer (12)

@&@&@&@&

C0NGRATULATIONS appear to be in order 1eft right and centre, so... Congratulations, Pamela and Ken Bulmer. The first Bulmer offspring, Deborah Louise, weighing 7lbs, made her appearance at 12.30pm on March 7th, dead on the date previous1y predicted by Pamela in OMPA. Ken writes,”Mother and daughter are thriving and father is recovering from a state of near-exhaustion.” # Congratulations to Sheffield’s number one fan, Terry Jeeves on his recent engagement (March 18th) to fellow school teacher, Miss Valerie Williams. The honeymoon will probably be on Ibiza in the sunny Mediterranean, after an August wedding. Are you bringing the poor girl to the convention, Terry?

CACTUS 4 (Sture Sedolin, Box 403, Vallingby 4, Sweden. 2Opp. 7/ for 10 issues to Alan Dodd, 77 Stanstead Road, Hoddesdon, Herts). After years of producing fanzines in Swedish, with concession sections for fans in the English speaking world, Swedish fans have begun to infiltrate through the language barrier and follow the lead of the Jansens and the Linards in producing a wholly English magazine. CACTUS is now on a monthly schedule and is printed in red on buff paper. So far it has shown no signs of becoming as popular as ALPHA or MEUH in their heydays, but the standard is improving rapidly, with a nice tone of editorial informality. In this latest issue, Mike Deckinger writes on New Jersey fandom, Alan Dodd writes on Linard’s visit to London, Les Gerber reviews fanzines, and there are the usual odd bits and pieces like illustrations and a letter column. Worth trying.

HYPHEN 24 (March 1960. Walt Willis, 170 Upper Newtownards Rd, Belfast 4, N.Ireland. 24pp. l/ or l5cents) came along, exactly as predicted. Following another of those marvellously detailed Atom covers which must be sheer hell to duplicate - I like the throwout touch of the “GPO” under the title - Walt kicks off the magazine in mellow mood, asking whether HYPHEN really is going to the dogs, and answering that it’s all part of a master plan. Eric Frank Russell contributes a wonderful piece on criticism, some months after YANDRO, too! Southern Irish fans McAulay and Hautz write on Southern Irish fandom, Mal Ashworth writes on Twist Endings. Bob Shaw’s The Glass Bushel is present and Vince Clarke’s Grunch is absent. Letters and Atomcartoons, to say nothing of the bacovcr quotes make up the issue. I rather like the idea of making a film of British fandom., with Hollywood actors taking the leading rolls. Whilst I’m not too sure that Olivier really looks like me - I’d have thought Peter Lorre more suitable - there was a Canadian in. LIBEL who looked remarkably like Mal.

APORRHETA 16 (March-April 1960. Sandy Sanderson, Inchmery, 236 Queens Road, New X, London SE 14. 50pp. l/6 or 20cents etc) couldn’t be far behind and is indeed once again the best of the month’s offerings. Sandy uses his new microelite typeface in different parts of the magazine which produces a fine balance of layout. Following the expected Atomcover, Harry Warner leads the contributors with an expanded version of a wonderful piece which originally appeared in his FAPAzine, HORIZONS. Atom’s illustrations are brilliant here. Vince Clarke invites entries in another superlative APIDIASCOPE competition. Penelope Fandergaste writes on fannish gambling, rambles on odd topics and finishes with another book review. Joy Clarke writes on iaportant inventions. ATOM completes his A to Z series. (And now?) Ken Potter writes up his experiences of vacuum cleaner salesmanship in London. There are odd reprints of Dean Grennellisms, and naturally there is Inchmery Fan Diary. All great stuff.

RETRIBUTION 15 (John. Berry, 31 Campbell Pk Avenue, Belmont, Belfast 4, N Ireland.24pp.) Another great Atomcover, a long GDA story by John, a short piece by Les Gerber, cartoons by Dick Schultz and a sheaf of comments on the Poul Anderson speech from the Detention make up the greater part of this issue. Probably the issue is most noteworthy however for some straight talking from John on the present TAFF campaign, in which John puts forward some honest opinions on the worth of the three candidates. One of those days, I’ll have to put forward views on what makes an ideal TAFF candidate; I’ll probably be run out of fandom! One other point..... John, when calling someone presumptuous, try to remember that that person. was dealing with a writer whose admitted grammatical and typographical errors are legend in fandom.

ROT 4 (Mal Ashworth, 14 Westgate, Eccleshill, Bradford 2, Yorks.3o pp) arrived during the week, beating me to the news of the Yorkshire FAPAcon and Terry’s engagement. Lacking interior art almost completely, this magazine is chockful of examples of the famous Ashworth humour, and I have to confess, is extremely hard to review in any sort of detail, except to say, perhaps, that this is a commentary on life as seen through the Ashworth eyes. Some of the quotes are HYPHEN-worthy. Outside contributors include Birchby, Warner, Potter and Rotsler. There is another Atomcovcr. One point.... Mal, don’t knock 1890 Paris so - were you ever there?. Actually, I suppose we can now expect a series of films with titles like I WAS A PLASTIC GORILLA IN MURKY MISTY FOGBOUND l890 PARIS. Recommended.

A DOZEN FANS have now voted in the TAFF Pittcon Push. This is hardly enough you British fans, and I’ll have a sheaf of voting forms with me at the Convention the week after next or is it next week? We must have more cash if the British delegate is to travel to the World Convention in Pittsburgh this September. *** Meanwhile, there will be a TAFF Auction at the convention and postal bids are invited on five Brian Lewis Nova original cover paintings (NEW WORLDS 7l, 74, 79, 82 and SFA 11) and a pile of original manuscripts donated by Inchmery fandom (Asimov, The Jokester, Infinity Dec 56; Let’s Get Together, Infinity Feb 57; Clarke, Publicity Campaign and The Other Side of the Sky; Pohl & Kornbluth The Engineer; Hamilton, The Starcombers; Leiber, Friends & Enemies and three shorts by Asimov, Garrett amd Ellison from Infinity June l957). Peter Francis Skoberdis and Bruce Pelz have put the bids on the covers up to a pound a-piece, and they're cheap at the price, believe me.

AMERICAN TAFF ADMINSTRATOR, BOB MADLE has moved. His new address is 4500 Aspen Hill Road, Rockville, Maryland, USA.

I still have a few copies left of THE DIRECTORY OF 1959 SF FANDOM. 1/9d or 25cents per copy from myself or Bob Pavlat. Free on request to members of OMPA.

FOR SALE (Cash and orders to Bennett or Pavlat) All US Editions. 2/- or 30cents each. Post paid, and yes, I'll certainly bring them to the con if you want to view them there: ASF, April 50, Sept 50, Oct 5l, Nov 5l, Jan 52, Feb 52, Mar 52, May 52, Jul 52, Oct 52, Dcc 52, Jan53, Feb 53, Mar 53, Apr 53, Jul 53 Sep 53, Oct 53, Sep 54; AMAZING Aug 53, Dec 53, Mar 54. FUTURE 28, GALAXY Jan 51, May 52, Sep 52, Feb 55, Aug 55, Oct 55, Sep 56, Oct 56; IF WORLDS OF SF Jul 53, Apr 56. OTHER WORLDS 52, SFA Dec 56. SUPER SCIENCE Dec 56. SAINT Mystery Mag (Story by Asimov) June56.

FIRST YORKSHIRE FAPACON was held in Harrogate on Sunday, 19th March when Mal and Sheila Ashworth visited Southway. We were thinking of making it a national FAPAcon but Morse, Smith and Wansborough could not be contacted in time. Mal and Sheila picked their way over piles of paper on the floor, mentioned plans for ROT, examined my FAPA mailing, discussed TAFF, the convention and goodness knows what else, had the residents rolling with laughter and rushed off to catch the last bus back to Bradford after a quick lemonade at the local inn.

THIS LOOKS LIKE BEING the last notice you’re to receive about the Easter convention. Time:Good Friday 15th April to Easter Monday 18th. Bed & Breakfast 30/3d, doubles 58/-., some 4-bedded. rooms @ 22/6c.All bookings made through Ella Parker (Address elsewhere this issue).Con fees to Archie Mercer 434/4 Newark Rd, North Hykehan, Lincoln @ 7/6 for BSFA members (5/- to juniors), 10/ - to non-BSFA members and 7/6 to juniors. # Questions are invited for the "Heat Is On” panel and should be sent to me before the con. # Advert rates for Conprogramme are 10/- per page, 5/- per half page, 3/- per quarter-page.

TOLKIEN ENTHUSIASTS in the States have come round to forming a FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, writes Bruce Pelz, who says that interested parties should contact Ted Johnstone, 1503 Rollin Street, South Pasadena, California. Ken Cheslin has the option on forming the Brown Council. # EDINBURGH’S Ted Forsyth is now in London and can be contacted via Ella Parker, with whom he is staying for the time being. Thanks for phoning, you two. # THE SCIENCE FICTION CLUB OF LONDON is now meeting at Ella’s, as West Kilburn is more centrally located than Inchmery at New Cross where previous meetings have been held. The Club hopes to have its special Combozine on sale at the Convention @ l/ per. Recently the Club held its first film show when films of the Solacon and the London Worldcon were seen by great interest by old and new fans alike.(So there, Joy Clarke If you think I’m going to use your wording when you write “New fans present found those of great interest, while older members spent their time happily identifying US fen and odd characters like Ron Bennett,” you’re mistaken.) # Heartfelt sympathies go out to George Locke who is hoping to put out SMOKE 3 in the very near future. Poor George looks like missing the convention. He reports for Military Service 7th April, at Crookham, Hants.