This is SKYRACK 27, dated 27th December 1960 and edited by Ron Bennett, 7 Southway, Arthurs Avenue, Harrogate, Yorkshire , England. 6d per copy, 2/6d for 6 issues. USA subscriptions are 35cents for 6 issues (65cents airmail) to be sent to Bob Pavlat, 6001 43rd Avenue, Hyattsville, Maryland. Cartoon by MikEvans.
A HAPPY 1961 TO ALL FANS EVERYWHERE!
SCIENCE FICTION CLUB of LONDON held its Xmas party Sunday 18th., at the home of Ella and Fred Parker. Bruce Burn brought along a gift laden Xmas tree. George Locke got a whacking great chisel labelled ‘staple remover’, Brian Burgess went to sleep after imbibing large orange juice. Bill Temple was given instruction on how to use an electric Gestetner and the evening was rounded off by a lift home on Bruce’s scooter. Food and drink were plentiful and turkey was the main dish of the evening. Present were Ted Tubb, Pam & Ken Bulmer, Sid Bounds, Bill Temple, Bruce Burn, Ted Forsyth, Joe Patrizio, Jim Groves, George Locke, Ethel Lindsay, Ken & Irene Potter, Brian Burgess, Don Geldart. ...(EAP)
CHANGE OF ADDRESS Michael Evans, 76 Romney Dr., N.Harrow, Mdx.
EX-LEADING LIGHTS OF BRITISH FANDOM, Joy & Sandy Sanderson say tht they’re withdrawing from active fandom for 6-8 months because of mundane commitments. They are soon to move into their own apartment and Sandy is starting a 4-nights a week school course. Ape material which would date is being returned to authors. Resumption of publication intended for later in year. ...(HPS)
BRIAN JORDAN (86 Piccadilly Rd, Burnley, Lancs) wishes to contact a member of SFBC who doesn’t wish to use the chance of taking the Dec bonus Lord of the Rings. *** BSFA NEWSLETTER 5 is out, a neat job from Jim Groves. *** Thanks, Betty Kujawa, for Cinerama card from Pompano Beach, Florida. *** South African Ellis Fasser due in this country shortly.
TAFF The1961/62 Transatlantic Fan Fund is getting nice and ready to collect money to bring over an American fan to the 1962 British Convention. Whilst nominations closed at the end of last month, voting forms will not be ready until early in the new year. As far as is known here there are only two candidates, Dick Eney and Ron Ellik (SKYRACK and Harrogate fandom supports Ellik), which will probably mean that there will be one place only to fill in on the voting form, We’ll see next month, no doubt. Meanwhile, 1960 TAFF delegate to the PittCon, Eric Bentcliffe, is pressing on with publishing his trip report, EPITAFF. Pre-publication orders from Eric at 47 Alldis St., Great Moor, Stockport, Cheshire @ 7/-. or $1. Another report in preparation is my own COLONIAL EXCURSION. All text is now on stencil and several sheets have been run off. Art work will be by Arthur Thomson and there should be, if plans work out, two colour Gestetner duplicating and photos scattered around the place. Indeed had Kodak not taken over 6 weeks in turning colour slides into b&w negatives, the report would now be ready. Pre-publication price remains @ 5/- or 75cents (US orders to Bob Pavlat).
THE 1961 LXICON will take place over Easter weekend at the New County Hotel, Southgate Street, Gloucester. This is the West Country’s first convention and the Cheltenham fans hope that you’ll attend. I’ve already sent my booking....how about you out there, hmm? Bob Parkinson ( 52 Mead Rd, Cheltenham, Glos.) announces that the last date for copy for the programme booklet adverts is 31st January, so if you’re intending to advertise your wares or/and greetings, get cracking on those adverts NOW! Advertising rates are as follows: Full page (10” x 8”) 10/-, Full page cut on own stencil 7/6d, Full page, photostencilled 25/-, Half page 5/-, Half page photostencilled l5/-, Quarter page booster ads 2/6d. Keith Freeman asks that when filling in your application form you might indicate whether you’re willing to share a room. Costs will be the same, but more fans will be able to put up in the New County (Three other hotels have been provisionally booked to take the overflow of fans expected). Keith, who has recently been promoted to the rank of sergeant adds sorrowfully that he regrets there are no female films stars available. And just to round things off, Eric Jones sends a reminder that whilst Keith’s address for convention items is 44 Barbridge Rd., Hesters Way, Cheltenham, Glos (and applications for rooms must be sent to Keith there), other mail for Keith should be sent to him at his RAF posting. Note that Keith’s promotion means that his address is ncw 4l87447 Sgt. Freeman K., Sgts Mess, RAF Upavon, Pewsey, Wilts.
ERIC JONES also slipped in a couple of items to keep us up with the comings and goings of the St. Fantony home group. “This winter will be a warmer one for Cheltenham members,” Eric writes,”who have until recently been forced to wear overcoats and blankets.” A kindly G.I. sold a Sears Roebuck Oil Burning Heater before he returned home to the States. Heat now supplied to the tune of 250,000 B.T.U (American rating) (Thinks: A.T.U.?). The CSFC recently had a second outing to Stratford’s Shakespeare Memorial Theatre to see “The Taming of the Shrew.”.
ELDRITCH DREAMQUEST 1 (Nov 60 ; Peter Mansfield, 14 Whiteford Rd., Slough, Bucks.; 1/- ; 5/- or $1 for 5) I’m somewhat in doubt as to why Peter is charging Stateside fen a buck for 5 issues. This is DREAMQUEST with a new title and a new policy. Jim Cawthorn has a cover here and Roy Morgans and Mike Thompson contribute some good straight artwork. Doc Weir writes on Tolkein, Peter writes on Dunsany and Mike Moorcock contributes a short story. If you’re interested in Dunsany, Tolkein or the Conan branch of fantasy, this British AMRA is obviously for you.
LES SPINGE 4 (Ken Cheslin, 18 New Farm Rd., Stourbridge, Worcs; 1/;40pp). In this latest offering from the Stourbridge group’s one man show, Doc Weir sets a Jeeves story in Harrogate and Kettering, Rory Faulkner writes on the Mt. Wilson Observatory, Dick Schultz rambles on about Timoshenko, Jhim Linwood reviews fanzines and various readers write letters. This is not vintage Cheslin, who is virtually absent from the issue but the overall atmosphere of wild. abandon is refreshing.
ORION 26 (Ella A Parker, 151 Canterbury Rd., West Kilburn, London NW 6; 1/; 81pp) is the best of the British bunch to roll along this month, with its excellent balance of fine reporting and worthwhile reading. Layout and duplicating are of the usual high standard, much credit for which is obviously due to Arthur Thomson who produced the headings and the cover for the letter supplement (ORION is getting so bulky these days that Ella wears out her staplers and so issues the letters as a special supplement). The magazine cover is by Joe Patrizio, a very worthy first time effort. The zine kicks off with a lengthy Parker editorial, the best piece of writing yet seen from Ella, and one which is faithfull in word and spirit to the wild and wonderful fannish summer I experienced in London this year. Here are 12 pages of meaty material no fan should be without. Thrown in as bonus material are an article on ants by Jim Groves, a short piece on children by Rory Faulkner, the so far best and most analytical of Ken Bulmer’s TAFF Tales, pages of fnz reviews by Arthur Thomson (who combines sense with a light touch), yet another highly readable Sergeant saga from John Berry, the first part of Andy Young’s European Pumble account, a piece on creative writing by Harry Warner, instruction on how to draw curly monsters from Atom, a lovely peice of reporting by Fred Hunter (O's man on the spot) and a column by Sid Birchby. There are millions of letters and needless to say, praise for the zine is virtually boundless. Highest recommendation.
Whilst recommending fanzines, there have been two worthwhile zines in from the States during the past month, namely DAFOE (John Koning, Pardee Hall, Box 555, Case Institute of Technology, 10904 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland 6, Ohio, USA) which is worth getting hold of for its humorous pokes at life as we knew it (before reading DAFOE). DAFOE, incidentally, stands for The Decline and Fall of Everything. And HABAKKUK (Bill Donaho, 1441 8th St., Berkeley 10, California, USA) which runs out at 50cents a copy and is well worth the expense reaching to 115 pages, the thickest fanzine for years. HABAKKUK also knocks life, but is a little more serious in tone than DAFOE. 115 pages! Gee!
I am still chasing photos taken during my 1958 TAFF trip to the USA. Some of these would fit nicely into the COLONIAL EXCURSION report. I’ve twice written to one west coast fan who took photos at the SolaCon, but haven’t had a word from him. Anyone else got pictures of Matheson and Donaho at the SolaCon in particular?
I (and one or two other fans) loved that piece about SKYRACK in a recent issue of Terry and Miri Carr’s FANAC. Terry writes, "Bennett claims his zine is better than FANAC, but admits that he doesn’t opinionate on the news he prints.”. Well, I’ll break a long standing habit this time and try to explain that there is no “but” about it. That refusal to opinionate, Terry, (he says, flicking the ash from his his cigar) is precisely why SKY is better than FANAC. You dig?
I AIM AT THE STARS, with Curt Jurgens playing von Braun, hasn’t gone down too well. One paper’s review ran, ”The wartime purveyor of mass death becomes leader of America’s peacetime space programme - to an accompaniment of a few tut-tuts and forgiving cheers. Romance and palm court music complete the atmosphere of phoniness.” Pity old Errol Flynn wasn’t still with us when it was made.
NORMAN SHORROCK spent a week a month ago with Ella and Fred Parker while down in London on business. Each evening, Norman and Ella went off visiting fans or seeing Cinerama or the like, and every evening the Ferndale Road boys paid a surprise visit. It was the Friday before they eventually got to see Norman. Incidentally, there are two tangential items leading from this. Bruce Burn has now moved in with Ted Forsyth and Joe Patrizio at 11 Ferndale Rd., London SW 4. And it’s noted with pleasure that Norman is now no longer the only fan who gives away stamps with his wares; the Nov. FAPA mailing sent its British members a copy each of the 1957 46th Parliamentary Conference stamp.