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Acolyte, v. 2, issue 4, whole no. 8, Fall 1944
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"intimate" column of the big daily has for all its folksy-ness an appeal to the outsider, who isn't in on the gags. While FPA--in some Chicago daily, I forget which--devoted much space to quipping back and forth with pet contributors, he kept things so under control that the million or so who did not contribute or wage controversy with him or with other contributors nevertheless found the show attractive. One does not want an amateur mag to "sound professional", granted. On the other hand, and up to a marked degree, the more professional the copy, the better does an amateur mag serve its mission. Amateurs of photography--to cite just one instance--in many cases have a technical skill and craftsmanship and artistic taste which few professionals can surpass; amateur implies "work for the love of it", it does not imply "bungling, immature, childish, inept, crude, unskilled". All these defects usually do taint amateur work, and so universally that they have been taken as the essence of being an amateur: whereas actually the essence is, the amateur doesn't do the work for money or as a business. The ideal amateur, I say, is one so skilled and with such mastery of his art or craft that he could, if he so desired, earn substantial sums, or even impressive sums---yet, having other means of livelihood, he pursues his art or craft for the love of it. Whatever amateur falls short of such performance still has something to be achieved; which you of course known. The maturity and usefulness of much of the copy which you, and a few other amateurs, have been publishing indicates that you certainly are aware of this point: though a great many seem not to be. HPL can in the above sense be considered almost a true amateur. He had skill and technique, yet he stated to me, many a time, that while he did indeed receive cash for pieces of his writing, he abhorred the idea of having to make a living as a writer, and would prefer to earn his living as, for instance, an elevator operator. He added that his business was criticism, revisory collaboration; and I have every reason to accept his statement of attitude as entirely sincere, so that though he did have fiction commercially published, his spirit was truly amateur, in the original sense of the word. ---- ---ooOoo--- ---- We bring our "Fantasy Forum" to an abrupt halt; in order that we may use the last stencil space left in this issue to support a new bibliographical project. Unbeknownst to us, one of out colleagues--Louis C. Smith, 475-A Eagle Ave., Alameda, California--has been working along very similar lines to those mentioned in our editorial on page 2 of this issue. In the current issue of Lethe (10¢ from the above address) he has run an "Open Letter" of considerable length in which he reviews previous attempts at fantasy bibliography, including the most recent--Boucher's letter anent "The Great Bib" in a recent Shangri L'Affaires. This latter project called for a group effort which was to be collated and coordinated by some individual volunteer. Smith has volunteered for this position and offers to perform the following functions: (quotation is condensed) 1. For the time it requires to get the project under way, Smith will issue a 4 to 8 page leaflet detailing progress. 2. He offers his address as communications center until a bibliographer can be selected. He wants all who wish to participate in this research to write him--telling what they have to offer of what phase of fantasy, stf, etc. they have already made a listing, or are willing and able to undertake. Also he wants to hear any and all ideas and suggestions. The first leaflet will contain these letters. 3. As a small beginning towards the Great Bib, he plans to present a table of contents and crosslisting of Unknown, (stealin' our stuff! --ftl/sdr) which will go out as a supplement with the next issue of Tellus as a separate supplement. He is also doing a table of contents listing of WT. The Acolyte staff will do all in our power to help this "Bib", and suggest that our readers do likewise. A truly worthy undertaking. -- 29 -- FTL
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"intimate" column of the big daily has for all its folksy-ness an appeal to the outsider, who isn't in on the gags. While FPA--in some Chicago daily, I forget which--devoted much space to quipping back and forth with pet contributors, he kept things so under control that the million or so who did not contribute or wage controversy with him or with other contributors nevertheless found the show attractive. One does not want an amateur mag to "sound professional", granted. On the other hand, and up to a marked degree, the more professional the copy, the better does an amateur mag serve its mission. Amateurs of photography--to cite just one instance--in many cases have a technical skill and craftsmanship and artistic taste which few professionals can surpass; amateur implies "work for the love of it", it does not imply "bungling, immature, childish, inept, crude, unskilled". All these defects usually do taint amateur work, and so universally that they have been taken as the essence of being an amateur: whereas actually the essence is, the amateur doesn't do the work for money or as a business. The ideal amateur, I say, is one so skilled and with such mastery of his art or craft that he could, if he so desired, earn substantial sums, or even impressive sums---yet, having other means of livelihood, he pursues his art or craft for the love of it. Whatever amateur falls short of such performance still has something to be achieved; which you of course known. The maturity and usefulness of much of the copy which you, and a few other amateurs, have been publishing indicates that you certainly are aware of this point: though a great many seem not to be. HPL can in the above sense be considered almost a true amateur. He had skill and technique, yet he stated to me, many a time, that while he did indeed receive cash for pieces of his writing, he abhorred the idea of having to make a living as a writer, and would prefer to earn his living as, for instance, an elevator operator. He added that his business was criticism, revisory collaboration; and I have every reason to accept his statement of attitude as entirely sincere, so that though he did have fiction commercially published, his spirit was truly amateur, in the original sense of the word. ---- ---ooOoo--- ---- We bring our "Fantasy Forum" to an abrupt halt; in order that we may use the last stencil space left in this issue to support a new bibliographical project. Unbeknownst to us, one of out colleagues--Louis C. Smith, 475-A Eagle Ave., Alameda, California--has been working along very similar lines to those mentioned in our editorial on page 2 of this issue. In the current issue of Lethe (10¢ from the above address) he has run an "Open Letter" of considerable length in which he reviews previous attempts at fantasy bibliography, including the most recent--Boucher's letter anent "The Great Bib" in a recent Shangri L'Affaires. This latter project called for a group effort which was to be collated and coordinated by some individual volunteer. Smith has volunteered for this position and offers to perform the following functions: (quotation is condensed) 1. For the time it requires to get the project under way, Smith will issue a 4 to 8 page leaflet detailing progress. 2. He offers his address as communications center until a bibliographer can be selected. He wants all who wish to participate in this research to write him--telling what they have to offer of what phase of fantasy, stf, etc. they have already made a listing, or are willing and able to undertake. Also he wants to hear any and all ideas and suggestions. The first leaflet will contain these letters. 3. As a small beginning towards the Great Bib, he plans to present a table of contents and crosslisting of Unknown, (stealin' our stuff! --ftl/sdr) which will go out as a supplement with the next issue of Tellus as a separate supplement. He is also doing a table of contents listing of WT. The Acolyte staff will do all in our power to help this "Bib", and suggest that our readers do likewise. A truly worthy undertaking. -- 29 -- FTL
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