Index

 the

SKYRACK

newsletter

This is SKYRACK number 92, dated 9th September 1966 and published by Ron Bennett, 52 Fairways Drive, Forest Lane, Harrogate, Yorkshire, England. Six issues for 3/6d or 50c ($1 airmail). Stateside subscriptions may be sent to U.S. representative, Buck Coulson, Route 3, Hartford City, Indiana 47348. News of interest to sf fandom welcomed. Contributors to this issue are Thomas Schluck, William F. Temple, Jim Groves and Harry Nadler.

TRICON

Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund Delegate Thomas Schluck, cables from Cleveland:

The Twenty-fourth World Science Fiction Convention was held over the Labor Day Weekend, 2nd/5th September, in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Sheraton-Cleveland Hotel. The “TriCon” opened unofficially on the Thursday evening with a reception "Warm-up” party and highlights of the programme were the excellent banquet, the highly quotable speech by Guest of Honour, L. Sprague de Camp, the author of Lest Darkness Fall, Rogue Queen, etc., and the pre-release special showing of the film Fantastic Voyage.

Special Big Heart and First Fandom Awards were made posthumously to David H. Keller, whose death at the age of eighty-six occurred in Pennsylvania on 13th July,

At a St Fantony ceremony Grey Mouser Fritz Leiber and Miss Art Show Bjo Trimble were inducted into the Ancient and Noble Order,

Hugo Awards were made as follows:
Best Novel: A tie between Roger Zelazny's And Call Me Conrad and Frank Herbert's Dune.
Best Short Fiction: Harlan Ellison's Repent Harlequin, Said the Ticktockman.
Best Professional Magazine: If Worlds of Science Fiction.
Best Professional Artist: Frank Frazetta.
Best Amateur Magazine: Erb-Dom.
Best All-Time Series: Isaac Asimov's Foundation series.

New York won the right to stage the 1967 Worldcon. The parties were wonderful, the Art Show and the huckster displays were big, the hotel was an exceptionally good one and the attendance was in the region of 850, though alas, H.G.Wells was absent this year.

(Copyright The Skyrack Newsletter, 1966.All Rights Reserved)

1965 Worldcon Chairman, Ella Parker, celebrated the 1st anniversary of the LonCon by paying a visit to Harrogate ::: The Delta Group's new prozine, Alien Worlds, is out, costing 2/6d and fulfilling all promises, particularly on the art side ::: As Amazing and Fantastic, now both entirely reprint magazines, are not paying authors for reprints, Damon Knight is asking members of the Science Fiction Writers of America to submit no manuscripts to these magazines until this policy is changed ::: The death is announced, on 6th August, of Dr. Paul Linebarger, known as sf writer Cordwainer Smith, at the age of 53 ::: George Locke is back in London following his recent U.S. tour ::: Daphne Sewell has also recently visited the States ::: Mervyn Barrett is back in England ::: Grania Davidson is visiting London ::: Ron Hubbard's Scientology cult has been the subject of a recent Daily Mail investigation and the Minister of Health has been asked to look into the affair ::: Jimmy Groves emigrates on 8th October ::: And when Kipchoge Keino ran his 3 mins 34.4 second mile on Saturday 20th August the first to congratulate him was cameraman Peter West.

BATHCON 66, yet! The first Science Fiction & Fantasy Film Convention will be held later this month in Bath. Organised by the Horror Film Club of Great Britain the convention will be held at the Royal Oak Hotel, Pultney Road, Bath over the 23rd/25th September weekend. The con's registration fee is one guinea (15/6d to H.F.C.of G.B. members). Although accommodation is not available at the Royal Oak a list of hotels and full details of the weekend's get-together can be obtained from the Club's President and the Convention's Chairman, Gary R. Parfitt, 10 Dartmouth Avenue, Oldfield Park, Bath, Somerset,

The Convention's Guest of Honour will be Ian Scoones the special effects technician of television's Thunderbirds series who hopes to bring along models used in the TV production. Films to be shown include Destination Moon, One Million B.C., The Lost World, Son of Kong and amateur films from Centurion Film Productions, the Delta Group and from Glenn Sherrard, an American film fan who has made a feature length version of The Horror of Dracula.

Hammer Films are offering a prize of a visit to their Bray Studios for a competition and a Fancy Dress Ball will be held on the convention's Saturday evening. In addition to the large number of films to be shown, discussions, auctions and lectures will fill what looks like being a very full programme.

Whilst it is not yet known how well sf fandom will be represented at the convention there will certainly be a northern delegation present. Delta, from Salford, are travelling in force and there are hopes too that John Ramsey Campbell, Liverpool's Lovecraft, will also be present. - (HN)

DELTA'S FIFTH ANNUAL HALLOWE'EN PARTY is scheduled for Saturday 28th October and anyone interested in attending is asked to contact the Group at 369a Oxford Road, Manchester 13, in person on Wednesday or Friday evenings, or by post. Only a limited number will, unfortunately, be able to squeeze in because of the contraction of club room space due to the sets of the Group's latest film, Doctor Doom. John Ramsey Campbell, it is whispered, will be sacrificed. Again.

THE VIENNA CONVENTION was held over the first weekend in August, some 120 eager attendees gathering in the Austrian capital. Following introductions by Axel Melhardt who had organised a first rate programme, Viennese scientist, Dr. Kuhn, spoke on developments in Russian sf. The Saturday saw fans gathering in the afternoon for a panel-discussion about SF in Germany which featured fans, authors, agents and translators. This was followed by a slide lecture by Gerhard Richter about a special Viennese school of art which is still active, combining as it does elements of fantasy and surrealism, the Viennese School of Fantastic Realism. The evening turned out to be the convention's highlight with a beat dance and a costume ball A St. Fantony Ceremony was held, for the first time partly in German, Walter Ernsting being inducted into the Order. The Sunday's programme was mainly devoted to business affairs, not the least important of which was concerned with German fandom's bid for the 1970 World Convention. Whilst Frankfurt looked to be the proposed centre should the Gerfan bid succeed, the meeting came out in support of Heidelberg, a. decision which cannot help but strengthen the bid. Altogether an excellent weekend with attendees including Tom Schluck, Polaroid Norman Weedall, Archie & Beryl Mercer, Eddie Jones, Peter Mabey, John Owen, Gerry Webb, Franz Ettl, Waldemar Kunming and Heinrich Arenz.

BOB TUCKER'S Neo-Fan's Guide is being revised - by Mr. Tucker himself - and is to be printed by Buck Coulson very shortly. Indeed, it may even be ready by the time you read this. This is not only a guide to fandom for the newcomer but a pretty pointed, and enjoyable, commentary on fandom. 25cents or 2/- from Buck or from Alan Dodd, 77 Stanstead Road, Hoddesdon, Herts.

THE ZINESCENE

VECTOR 40 (undated: edited for the BSFA by Publications Officer Steve Oakey, Rectory Lane, Somersham, Hunts) Thirty-two half-flscp pages with the mixture as before, reviews, commentary and news. Germany is well represented this time, with a highly commendable survey of Ballard's writings viewed against a wider backcloth of contemporary sf by Waldemar Kumming (who incidentally writes with a most commendable and enviable command of English, blending very successfully a serious subject with a light and readable tone and choosing exactly the right word every time) and with an appraisal of the current Gerfandom scene by The Man of the Moment, Tom Schluck. Rog Peyton chips in with the information spot vacated by Jimmy Groves, Ken Slater chunters and Chris Priest and Gray Hall review prozines. "Commendable" may be an overworked word in this paragraph, but in this case too it's the right one. Highly recommended.

LES SPINGE 15 (Darroll Pardoe, 38 Perrins Lane, Stourbridge, Worcs; August 1966) A slim LS returns to haunt us, the editorship having been taken over from Dave Hale who built up the zine to undreamed of heights, and all that! This issue seems to have been made up of material left over from Dave's regime but it is all worthy of publication and certainly Darroll has a good stepping stone from which to jump, as it were (man, I'm no Waldemar Kumming). There are five pages of outrageous John Berry puns, a Pete Weston column, two pages of Ken Cheslin and one of Geoff Winterman. It's not quite the LS of old - not quite so wild and woolly - but the flavour is definitely there in patches.

HAVERINGS 23 (Ethel Lindsay, Courage House, 6 Langley Avenue, Surbiton, Surrey; 6 for 2/6 or 35c; July 1966) Only 6 pages of reviews this time, but again an invaluable survey of the zinescene for those who want to delve further, to dip into the rivulets and tributaries of fandom or to take the plunge wholeheartedly.

STATESIDE FANZINES recently received:

ZINGARO 7 (Mark Irwin, l747 Elmwood Dr., Highland Park, Illinois 60035) Neil Ruzic's The Case for Going to the Moon. Fnz & book reviews. Letters.

PASTELL June 66 (Bjo Trimble, 12002 Lorna St., Garden Grove, Calif 92641) The Art Show Magazine, for all budding and established artists. News and opinion of the Worldcon artshows, survey, advice and opinion on fan and pro artwork, layout, mimeo colourwork, etc etc. Highly recommended.

G2 (Joe & Robbie Gibson, 5380 Sobrante Ave., E1 Sobrante, Calif 94803). A whole pile of those are on hand, an excellent example of a highly personal fanzine with material for the editor rather than for the reader (though in most cases, happily, the same thing). Try it - it's an experience.

QUIP 3 (Arnie Katz and Len Bailes) 98 Patton Blvd, New Hyde Park, NY 11043) National nostalgia week. The fanzine for the established faan. And a darn good one.

YANDRO 160 (Buck & Juanita Coulson, address on Skyrack colophon) Still going strong with the usual qualitative and readable material on every aspect of sf & fandom.

WIZARD 2 (Alma Hill, 463 Park Drive, Boston, Mass 02215) Advice and commentary for the budding prowriter, published for the NFFF and interested parties.

AUSLANDER 3 (Fred Hollander, 1032 Kagawa St., Pacific Palisades, Calif 91109). Promising but not yet quite into its stride. Definitely one to watch.

NIEKAS 16 (Felice Rolfe, 1360 Emerson, Palo Alto, Calif 94301) 100 pages of superlative material and layout. Were I in fandom a dozen years - and I have been - I could not begin to match this. 2/6d definitely well spent, from Gray Hall, 57 Church St, Tewkesbury, Glos. What are you waiting for?

NYARLATHOTEP 3 (Ben Solon, 3933 N.Janssen, Chicago, Illinois 60613) Good stuff, including two golden pages by Hollywood hideaway Bob Bloch.

CHANGES OF ADDRESS:
Dick Eney, USAID Viet Nam AD/F0, c/o American Embassy-Saigon, APO San Francisco, Calif 96243, USA.
Art Hayes, Box 757, Timmins, Ontario, Canada.
David Redd, Prideaux House, Church Crescent, South Hackney, London E 9 (temp).
Bruce Robbins, 436 S.Stone Ave., La Grane, Illinois 60525, USA.
George H. Scithers, c/o Amra, Box 9120, Chicago, Illinois 60690, USA.

LETTER DEPT:

Dear Ron, The dreaded red cross has appeared on my Skyrack, so here's the protection money. And what's this? 3/6d? And from force of Habit, I’ve bought a 2/6d postal order. Haven't you heard of the Incomes and Prices freeze? You'll have to take the balance in stamps. Pretty, aren't they? We printed them in Wembley for the World Cup....There was quite a party, almost a small convention, at Mike Moorcock’s flat on 15th July. Surprised you didn't mention it. Was that because your rival, Charles Greville, had already given it a write-up in the Daily Mall...? ((No, it was Yorkshire's own Saint's Day))... Among those present were Judy Merril, who is-over here to compile an anthology of British sf for U.S. readers, Arthur C. Clarke, who is still working  on the Kubrick Cinerama film, Brian Aldiss, William Burroughs (he brought his lunch with him - naked, of course), Arthur and Gladys Sellings (they'd just sold their house and most of their possessions and were flying off to Spain to live the simple life in the sun in a northern village), J.G.Ballard, George MacBeth the poet and BBC producer, Jim McConnell of Ann Arbor, Keith Roberts and myself.  - William F.Temple, Wembley, Middlesex.

((Which brings it all back, doesn't it, the old joy of genzine letter columns, a sentiment echoed by
Alan Dodd ))--

What ever happened to Bill Harry do you suppose? Or Mal Ashworth? Or Con Turner? Or George Gibson? Or Paul Enever? Or Don Allen? Or Jack the Ripper? Or am I getting old? Was it better in those days? Or was it just us?

((You should read Quip.))

AUSTRALIAN SF REVIEW is being published by John Bangsund, 19 Gladstone Avenue, Northcote N 16, Melbourne. Whilst this publication is Australia-based, it can by no means be said to concentrate on Australian sf, embracing the entire field in a definitely slick and professional manner, a really outstanding production.