This is SKYRACK 39, dated 3rd November, 1961 and published by Ron Bennett, 13 West Cliffe Grove, Harrogate, Yorkshire, England. 6d per copy, 2/6d for 6 issues. 35cents for 6 issues in USA (six issues sent airmail for 65cents) where subsciptions should be sent.to Bob Pavlat 6001-43rd. Avenue, Hyattsville, Md. Cartoon by Arthur Thomson. News of interest to sf fandom always welcomed.
THE AUCTION. Bidding has now closed on most items. Item 1: File of Lee Hoffman’s EXCELSIOR. $3 has now been bid by Walter Breen, but I’m still waiting to see whether John Foyster will counter this. Item 2. Six issues of HABAKKUK go for £6 to Peter Singleton. Item 3. INNUENDO 8 & 11 go to John Foyster for.7/6d. Item 4. Four issues of Cliff Gould’s OBLIQUE go to Vic Ryan for $3. Item 5, Nos 19 & 20 of Richard Geis’ PSYCHOTIC, no bids have so far been received on this item and accordingly the bidding is carried over if anyone wants to start. Item 6 THE SELECTED WRITINGS OF RICK SNEARY. Dick Schultz and John Foyster are currently fighting this one out. Item 7. The FAPA Shadow Mailings go for $5 to Forry Ackerman. Item 8: SUN TRAILS goes to Dick Schultz for 75cents. Items 9-11, the three ROTSLER TATTOOED DRAGON booklets are being fought for in a four cornered fight, with Walter Breen’s 15/- per magazine topping the list at the moment. Item 12: No bids have yet been received on the first issue of Bradbury’s FUTURIA FANTASIA. On the FAPA mailings, it should be noted that two of the twenty consecutive mailings are incomplete lacking one item in one instance and two in the other. They still manage to present a wide variety of talented reading matter. These are being fought for in a three cornered fight at the moment. And now! Three new items....Item 13: The original TATTOOED DRAGON by William Rotsler. Item l4: The 100 page anthology of the writings of Charles Burbee, THE INCOMPLEAT BURBEE, and Item 15, Dean Grennell’s GRUE 29, 56 pages, Tucker, Boggs, Ballard, Greinell, Berry, Shaw etc. Plus the low down on the Dodd Hoax. Bidding closes 1st Jan 62. Half cash to Bennett, half to the buyers favourite fannish charity.
THE 62 EASTERCON. Letters of snide criticism are not welcome on this subject. Yours truly has not been wholly idle and negotiations are now pending with an excellent North Western hotel. There is no point in mentioning further details now, but it is hoped to release the news by the end of the month. Watch SKYRACK and the BSFA NEWSLETTER. - rmb
Small ads section
Baird Duplicator for sale. £15. Includes 32
stencils, carbons and gummed strips, o.n.o. plus
transport charges. Instruction book included.
Gray, 14 Bennington Street, Cheltenham, Glos.
Colonial Excursion. Bennett’s TAFF Report. 7/ or
$1. Bennett or Pavlat.
Nebula S.F. 2/- each. Nos. 1-7, 9-12, 14-18 &
others. Skyrack box 1.
Small ads. 6d per line.No charge name or address.
Boxes postage extra only.
THE LAST LAP or ELLA IN NEW YORK. What has gone before: Ella Parker, leading London fan and editor of Orion is visiting the States. She has met West Coast fans and has attended their SeaCon, she rode back east with Bob Pavlat and met Redd Boggs, Charles de Vet, and Dean Grennell before being deposited on Betty & Gene Kujawa. She then moved on to meet Don & Margaret Ford and Harry Warner in Hagerstown. Now read on! Ella stayed 3 days in Hagerstown, thoroughly disrupting Harry’s working schedule while she was there. She then moved on to Washington D.C. where she renewed acquaintances with Eney and Pavlat, both of whom showed her around the nation’s capital. She has experienced motels and hotels and the DC-NY train run, during which time she sat in the club car in order to smoke. Life in New York is hectic, she says and bears out my opinion that the subway is grimy. She has stayed with the Sandersons and the Shaws and has met all the leading lights on the Manhattan scene, Ted White, Terry Carr, Les Gerber, Dan Adkins, Avram Davidson, George Raybin et al. She has been up the State Building at night and has ridden on the ferries and is evidently becoming quite a shutter-bug. She should by now have moved north to Potsdam to stay awhile with Dave Kyle and his matzoball kid wife, Ruth. Ella was due to sail home Oct 26th but has been persuaded to stay on until 10th November. She expects to arrive in Liverpool around 15th, thereby missing the Liverpool Groups 10th Anniversary party on 11th. Well, you can’t have everything!
KEN CHESLIN was invaded on 1st October by Chris Miller, Darroll Pardoe and Bearded Dave Hale. Lots of talk and record playing. ::: On Sat 16th September (Skyrack gets round to everything, eventually), the Scunthorpe Caravention took place. Archie Mercer, Phil Rogers and Irene Boothroyd went over to Scunthorpe from their Doncaster meeting point. Food was had and then the con switched to Huddersfield and the Boothroyd household. Lots of talk and record playing here, too, with the Boothroyd daughters providing early morning coffee and Irene demonstrating bop. Archie and Phil washed up wearing frilly aprons, I’m told. And Phil says they must do it all again sometime. - (CM:PR).
TAFF. Unless there are some last minute moves unknown as this is being written, the candidates for the ChiCon trip will line up in a straight fight between Ethel Lindsay and Eddie Jones. Voting forms will be circulated shortly and it is interesting to note that Ron Ellik, TAFF Delegate-elect, is taking over immediately from Don Ford on the American side of the Fund. Don, incidentally, has been kind enough to let me have a complete breakdown of the American side of the recently completed campaign, unfortunately too lengthy a list of names to be printed in Skyrack. Ron Ellik will get $462 to cover NY-UK flight expenses and the balance leaves TAFF in an xtremely healthy looking state. Wonderful!
NORTHLIGHT 13 (Alan-Burns, Goldspink House, Goldspink Lane,.Newcastle-upon-Tyne 2; 18pp) Once gain Alan appears to have run into duplicating difficulties and this issue is as unreadable as PLOY 2. To balance this, however, is the welcome informal and more friendly tone than we’ve hitherto seen in N. There’s a nice travelogue by the editor and a piece by Alan Dodd who has apparently run out of horror films to review, turning instead to horror comics. In an extremely short piece on Gerfandom, Klaus Eylman promises to come to the EasterCon, next year and to stay sober during this, his 2nd visit to England. We’ll see....
VECTOR 13 (The Official Organ of the BSFA, edited by James A. Groves, 29 •Lathom Road, East Ham, London E6) It is noteworthy, but nothing more, that two of the leading members of the zinescene family produce thirteenth issues within days or one another. This 13th Vector is another excellent example of how to produce an o-o which caters for all tastes and yet does not lack quality in any item because of that balance. Apart from the usual well compiled official reports there is a reprint (sic) of Geoff Doherty’s LXIcon address, “An Alien in the Academy.” Bert Lewis writes a story and there is the first Vctor Art Folio, an idea which deserves support. Brian Aldiss and John Phillifent contribute probing book reviews. An early ORION piece by Archie Mercer is a good choice for the. fanzine reprint department. Letters from happy and contented readers make up the issue.
WHO’S WHO IN SF FANDOM (Lloyd Douglas Broyles, Rt 6, Box 453?, Waco, Texas, - USA; 50cents) It had to happen! Fandom’s Blue Book has appeared at last. This neatly produced booklet must find its way into every fannish household, containing as it does addresses and comprehensive backgrounds to hundreds of todays fans. As one who has produced mere address directories, I can appreciate the vast amount of work that has been put into producing this item. There are of course valid criticisms that can be made: modesty is evidently fault in fans - fans like Moskowitz on whom one could fill a volume are merely mentioned; other well-known fans like Ella Parker and George Locke are omitted completely; there are minor ambiguities: which fire did Doctor Bell bring from England, for example. Notwithstanding these quibbles, it must be repeated and emphasised that this volume is a must. It is highly recommended and is probably the sercon publication of the year.
CHANGES OF ADDRESS SECTION:
Sgt Keith Freeman, c/o Sgts Mess, RAF Dishforth,
Nr. Thirsk, Yorkshire.
Ron Ellik,706 San Lorenzo, Santa Monica,Calif.
Bjo
& John Trimble, Jack Harness & Ernie
Wheatley, Mathom House, 222 South Gramercy Place,
Los Angeles 4, Calif.
Daphne & Ron Buckmaster, c/o •Sgts Mess, 27
Command Workshop, REME, Boreham Barracks,
Warminster, Wilts.
Chris Miller, 9 Christ Church, Oxford (until Xmas)
Darrell Pardoe, Downing College, Cambridge.
ERNEST STERNE, contributor to New Futurian and Regent Street subscriber to Skyrack, switches to his role of philatelic authority on 20th December when he addresses the Harrogate Philatelic Society on “The Holy Land.” ::: Hoyle serial “A For Andromeda” currently on BBC TV is generally agreed to be “bitty” and second rate. ::: Congratulations Val and Terry Jeeves on the 8th October birth of a 7lbs dughter, Sandra Mary, and thank you for the neat introductory “Just to let you know” card.
JOE PATRIZIO, BSFA Secretary, marries Ann Temple, daughter of well-known SF writer William F. Temple at Congregational Church, Wembley, Sat 25th. :::: Final TAFF vote count was Ellik 131, Eney 73, reports Don Ford::: Atlas of The Universe by Br. Ernst & Tj. E. De Vries has been published in translation by Nelson @ 42/-. This is hardly an atlas, but more of an astronomical encyclopedia. Definitely recommended. ::: AXE 14 reports that Nirenberg’s QUE PASADO and VAHANA have. folded. :::: Burkhard BluM says that PLEHBOI (Mario Kwiat, Munster/Westfalen, Box 4002 K) should be published at the end of October .:::: As will be seen from the CoA dept, Chris Miller is back at college, Darroll Pardoe has started his term at University and Daphne and Ron Buckmaster have left Kirkcudbright for Wansboroughshire. Keith Freeman moved twice since last issue and his latest address at RAF Dishforth, within reach of Harrogate, is listed. It should be good until at least February. :::: Ron Bennett meets Bennett. After spending a pleasant evening at the Leeds Grand Theatre for the Thespians production of “Kiss Me Kate,” Skyrack’s editor was a backstage guest where he met Ron Bennett, who played Bill Calhoun. And ha to you, Norman Shorrock. :::: The Liverpool Group celebrates its tenth anniversary within the next few days and if there ever was reason (as distinct from excuse) for a party, this is it, a two for the price of one shindig, which sounds a. must.
BRIAN ALDISS AT ALLDIS STREET. Eric Bentcliffe reports a welcome visit from Brian and Margaret Aldiss on Sunday 2nd Oct. They had with them a car called The Hooded Terror and mentioned that “Hothouse” has sold in hard covers on both sides of the Pond. Brian says that he is working on a sequel called “Greenhouse, a Novel of the Beet Generation,” though he admits, Ian McAulay, that the final title may be "Doghouse.” . (EB)
LATE LINES Archie Mercer, British rep for FANAC sorrowfully announces that 76/77 seem to have been lost in transit, though 78 & a Conrider should be with subscribers by the time they read this. :::: Ted Forsyth quotes a London Evening News report that “The Hobbit” has been published by Puffin at 3/6d. Ken Slater reports a sellout of the Aldiss-edited “Penguin SF” and says that a reprint is due.