Old TOD:Since I was mainly errant and truant and also truant and errant all week-end, I thought I might still address an old topic or two:
Science Fiction: I was what you a call "fan" [plural "fen"], back in the 60s and 70s, to the point of subscribing to
Locus and
Fantasy & Science Fiction. In those days, things, I gather, were different.
The term "sci-fi" was anathema to all true fen. The correct term was SF. Which could also stand for Speculative Fiction. Fandom was centered almost entirely around
written science fiction. Many fen had a disdain for the film and television versions--at least until
2001 and
Star Trek came along. Science fiction conventions ("cons") were run by amateurs, not corporations. They were not advertised on local television.
Nobody ran fandom, except for the rumored SMOF--Secret Masters of Fandom. When notables disappeared from public gatherings, they were presumed to be off smoffing.
Pre-Internet, the main method of communication among fen was the Fanzine, of which almost everyone published one. Forry Ackerman's house must be at least 3/4 stuffed to the ceiling with fanzines.
And I attended Cons hither and yon, and Worldcons in Berkeley and St. Louis.
So, if I am to list my favorite science fiction novels and stories, they will all date from that time.
Asimov,
The Foundation Series;
I Robot [Dr. A must have rolled around in his grave when the abominable Will Smith movie was released];
The End of Eternity;
The Stars, Like Dust. Asimov once told me my fly was open on a ship off the African coast the day before a total solar eclipse. So much for name-dropping.
Everything by William Tenn, everything by D. G. Compton--a British writer who produced a flurry of novels all at once and then disappeared; James Tiptree, Jr.--who after wild speculation about his real name revealed himself to be a woman; Harlan Ellison (of course); Poul Andersen; Phillip José Farmer.
Most all of Samuel ("Chip") Delaney. I once slept in a sleeping bag on the floor of his apartment. I got the crabs. Name-dropping always seems to come out like that with me.
And then I must mention William F. Orr, because I did myself publish two short stories in hard-bound anthologies, probably available at your public library. "The Mouth Is for Eating" appeared in volume 13 of Damon Knight's Orbit series and "Euclid Alone" in volume 16. The latter was also reprinted in Rudy Rucker's anthology
The Mathenauts. You can also find
a pirated version here.
