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Voice of the Imagination (VOM), v. 1, issue 1, whole no. 1, January 1939

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less reason than at any time previous for doing so. (Speaking for ourselves--Mo-rojo & J--since it woud b erroneous to assume we represent the opinion of the entire NASFL, "Dr Acula", for instance, & his confrere "Freyor", being definitely anti-Mi'tchel-ists"...and we shoud say that if fandom at random is interpreting--or stubbornnesss--is no excuse, for the movement's leaders have repeatedly & precisely defined the principles of stf's outstanding ism. & from the Science Fiction Debater #3 we quote: "...a certain science fiction fan, in a certain fan mag, upbraided Michelism for be-ing in favor of a world state, as this unpatriotic desire made Michelism synonymous with Communism. Aside from the obvious ridiculousness of the statement, since there are dozens of other philosophies desiring a world state having nothing to do with Communism,..." As for much-calumnied COMMUNISM, we shall let Mirta Forste speak for a moment: "Being a registerd Socialist, shortly before the recent California elec-tion I revd a call from a young man who was running for State Assembly...on the... Communisticket. I was invited to attend a wkly class on the Elements of Communism, which I did for awhile. I wish to say that I was very favorably imprest with the in-dividuals & ideas I encounterd there. But I became aware that if I became too deeply involved it woud b my duty to devote a great deal of time to the Party. This I woud not do at the expense of Stf (first of all) & Esperante 2dly. At about this time in Speer's Ramblings #1, I read this statement: '...My only fear is that we will lose a large number of fans thru their being drawn off into the impotent activi-ties of the Communist Party.' Impotent, no; but I decided there r many ways to help humanity (& hence our own lot in life), & that of thse STF is the most important--& good sociological stf extremely so--& from there U can go into socialism, communism, technocracy, esperante, peace movements, education, rocketry, or what enlitened thing U will as a sub-subject..." As for Speer's statements re Michel & Lowndes we require references, & also expect to receive denials from "Doc" & Jno.) ~~ That cover of the previous ish certainly seems to have drawn comments: "Cut," says I, and Brad-bury says it stared at him over the campfire, Madge says it was Misko's real person-ality, Kuslan says ghughu, and he may be right at that. ~~ May a revived Madge be the shining star of the Third Fandom." 

DONALD A WOLLHEIM, 801 W End Av, NYC: "To Madge's Ghost: Reading the Madge Prize Mss. with considerable interest causes much thought. THey are all quite good, all should get some sort of prize if that were pos-sible. But I think that the best was Jack Speer's 'After 1939--What?' ~~ Naturally I disagree with much of what he says. We michelists have decided points of view on the future of fandom, but we are a minority group, and since Jack gave a reasonably logical analysis on what would happen if stf if Michelism could be discounted which would be acceptable to most fans, I think it of merit. But I cannot refrain from com-menting on several factors he overlooks. ~~ Everything ultimately depends upon the state of the world itself. That goes for science-fiction fandom. Thus there are two factors which Speer did not take in:- ~~ 1. Economic trends. The state of the na-tion economically (itself dependent on the state of the world) determines the state of the publishers on whom all pro stf depends. If depression or war-panic should deepen in the next years, the financial state of the publishers will act adversly to stf. Less money, less stf, and poorer quality. Likewise fans will not afford fan mags or letters as previous. If the trend is the reverse, the effect is reverse. ~~ 2. Psychological trends resulting from the economic. A professor speaking at the A.A. for the Ad. of Sc. in Canada a few months ago state that the growth of fantasy such as Buck Rogers and stf stories was due to the depression and confused state of the world. More people seek to escape through fantasy-reading. Hence boom to stf. (Proof was given by gullability of public in HGWellsscare last Sunday to believe in Martian invasion!) (Note: Foregoing is Daw's--including "HGWellscare"!) Naturally if de-pression and panics clear up, stf reading declines, mag prosperity or not. If it continues desire for stf grows but counterbalanced by fall of in pocket money. Inevitable contradictions of Capitalism (see Das Kapital). ~~ Since Speer did not dare to pro-phecy the future of the world his ideas of the future of stf suffer from Schreyeritis

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6 less reason than at any time previous for doing so. (Speaking for ourselves--Mo-rojo & J--since it woud b erroneous to assume we represent the opinion of the entire NASFL, "Dr Acula", for instance, & his confrere "Freyor", being definitely anti-Mi'tchel-ists"...and we shoud say that if fandom at random is interpreting--or stubbornnesss--is no excuse, for the movement's leaders have repeatedly & precisely defined the principles of stf's outstanding ism. & from the Science Fiction Debater #3 we quote: "...a certain science fiction fan, in a certain fan mag, upbraided Michelism for be-ing in favor of a world state, as this unpatriotic desire made Michelism synonymous with Communism. Aside from the obvious ridiculousness of the statement, since there are dozens of other philosophies desiring a world state having nothing to do with Communism,..." As for much-calumnied COMMUNISM, we shall let Mirta Forste speak for a moment: "Being a registerd Socialist, shortly before the recent California elec-tion I revd a call from a young man who was running for State Assembly...on the... Communisticket. I was invited to attend a wkly class on the Elements of Communism, which I did for awhile. I wish to say that I was very favorably imprest with the in-dividuals & ideas I encounterd there. But I became aware that if I became too deeply involved it woud b my duty to devote a great deal of time to the Party. This I woud not do at the expense of Stf (first of all) & Esperante 2dly. At about this time in Speer's Ramblings #1, I read this statement: '...My only fear is that we will lose a large number of fans thru their being drawn off into the impotent activi-ties of the Communist Party.' Impotent, no; but I decided there r many ways to help humanity (& hence our own lot in life), & that of thse STF is the most important--& good sociological stf extremely so--& from there U can go into socialism, communism, technocracy, esperante, peace movements, education, rocketry, or what enlitened thing U will as a sub-subject..." As for Speer's statements re Michel & Lowndes we require references, & also expect to receive denials from "Doc" & Jno.) ~~ That cover of the previous ish certainly seems to have drawn comments: "Cut," says I, and Brad-bury says it stared at him over the campfire, Madge says it was Misko's real person-ality, Kuslan says ghughu, and he may be right at that. ~~ May a revived Madge be the shining star of the Third Fandom." DONALD A WOLLHEIM, 801 W End Av, NYC: "To Madge's Ghost: Reading the Madge Prize Mss. with considerable interest causes much thought. THey are all quite good, all should get some sort of prize if that were pos-sible. But I think that the best was Jack Speer's 'After 1939--What?' ~~ Naturally I disagree with much of what he says. We michelists have decided points of view on the future of fandom, but we are a minority group, and since Jack gave a reasonably logical analysis on what would happen if stf if Michelism could be discounted which would be acceptable to most fans, I think it of merit. But I cannot refrain from com-menting on several factors he overlooks. ~~ Everything ultimately depends upon the state of the world itself. That goes for science-fiction fandom. Thus there are two factors which Speer did not take in:- ~~ 1. Economic trends. The state of the na-tion economically (itself dependent on the state of the world) determines the state of the publishers on whom all pro stf depends. If depression or war-panic should deepen in the next years, the financial state of the publishers will act adversly to stf. Less money, less stf, and poorer quality. Likewise fans will not afford fan mags or letters as previous. If the trend is the reverse, the effect is reverse. ~~ 2. Psychological trends resulting from the economic. A professor speaking at the A.A. for the Ad. of Sc. in Canada a few months ago state that the growth of fantasy such as Buck Rogers and stf stories was due to the depression and confused state of the world. More people seek to escape through fantasy-reading. Hence boom to stf. (Proof was given by gullability of public in HGWellsscare last Sunday to believe in Martian invasion!) (Note: Foregoing is Daw's--including "HGWellscare"!) Naturally if de-pression and panics clear up, stf reading declines, mag prosperity or not. If it continues desire for stf grows but counterbalanced by fall of in pocket money. Inevitable contradictions of Capitalism (see Das Kapital). ~~ Since Speer did not dare to pro-phecy the future of the world his ideas of the future of stf suffer from Schreyeritis