DIY History | Transcribe | Hevelin Fanzines | Le Zombie, v. 4, issue 7, whole no. 42, September 1941

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Le Zombie, v. 4, issue 7, whole no. 42, September 1941

Page 7

OUR WAILING WALL DEPT:

Often on sleepless nights while we were hovering on that foggy border-line between near-sleep and near-awake, we would contemplate old age. What would we be like, if and when we became a grandmaw? One night it occurred to us we would never be a grandmaw, we would be a grandpaw. And hard on the heels of that earthquaking thought came the relalization that we were already a grandpaw -- to some sections of fandom!

We mean the small fry, outer-circle chaps who will become the name-fans of tomorrow. Unknown chaps who have been overlooked, gypped, cheated or otherwise tramped on by fandom -- and who write to us for redress! That is an actual fact, Very, very often we get a letter from some one we never heard of before, asking us to right wrongs (real or fanciful) that he has suffered from fandom! If that doesn't make a grandpappy of us, what does?

Mostly these wrongs are fanzines that never arrived. There is a great preponderance of these cases. It's not that I am an angel, it is just that I send an issue of LeZ almost immediately when receiving a request for the same, or reply with a postal to the effect the guy will have to wait until the next issue is published. According to the letter that is then usually forthcoming from this newcomer, very few other editors are as thoughtful or courteous.

The case usually unwinds like this: The chap has been reading promos for quite some time, is familiar with most of the standard names in fandom because of the letter sections. Of a sudden they decide to grasp life firmly by the horns. They lay out a dollar (an immense sum to one totally new to fanzines) and subscribe to about ten fanzines, five and ten centers. Now any intelligent and case-hardened fan can predict what will happen to that dollar. Usually, the lists the newcomer chooses from isn't 100% reliable; and the fan-law of averages is at work too. Of the ten fanzines (let us say), 2 of them will have been discontinued, 2 more will be staggering or extremely unreliable to as publication dates; 4 will be bi-monthlies or quarterlies; and the remaining two will be weeklies or monthlies.

The newcomer will most likely receive a weekly and a monthly almost at once, 2 bi-monthlies will follow within 2 weeks. 4 fanzines out of 10. Perhaps one other editor will drop him a line explaining why he can't send an issue right away. The other five editors ignore him entirely. Not that they are brutal about it, they assume the guy will have the patience to wait for the next issue alongside the rest of his subscribers ... not realising that the chap is new and can't understand this. Of the 2 fanzines that folded up, perhaps one will return the money the same week, or he may wait until next year to do it. The other probably will never return it for a multitude of reasons. Maybe he moved and never received it.

So the chap stews. If he happens to receive LeZ pronto, he writes me and bewails loudly. Quite often he never subscribed to LeZ at all, but writes me anyway, asking me to get his money back for him from those other editors! Yes, that is brass, I'll admit. Those who I have helped by explaining, or post carding the editors in question, have become firm friends. Those whom I told I could do nothing for promptly consigned me to that well-known corner in hell. But meanwhile, one and all, they turn to Grandpappy Tucker when fandom kicks them in the pants!

- B.T.

Saving...

OUR WAILING WALL DEPT: Often on sleepless nights while we were hovering on that foggy border-line between near-sleep and near-awake, we would contemplate old age. What would we be like, if and when we became a grandmaw? One night it occurred to us we would never be a grandmaw, we would be a grandpaw. And hard on the heels of that earthquaking thought came the relalization that we were already a grandpaw -- to some sections of fandom! We mean the small fry, outer-circle chaps who will become the name-fans of tomorrow. Unknown chaps who have been overlooked, gypped, cheated or otherwise tramped on by fandom -- and who write to us for redress! That is an actual fact, Very, very often we get a letter from some one we never heard of before, asking us to right wrongs (real or fanciful) that he has suffered from fandom! If that doesn't make a grandpappy of us, what does? Mostly these wrongs are fanzines that never arrived. There is a great preponderance of these cases. It's not that I am an angel, it is just that I send an issue of LeZ almost immediately when receiving a request for the same, or reply with a postal to the effect the guy will have to wait until the next issue is published. According to the letter that is then usually forthcoming from this newcomer, very few other editors are as thoughtful or courteous. The case usually unwinds like this: The chap has been reading promos for quite some time, is familiar with most of the standard names in fandom because of the letter sections. Of a sudden they decide to grasp life firmly by the horns. They lay out a dollar (an immense sum to one totally new to fanzines) and subscribe to about ten fanzines, five and ten centers. Now any intelligent and case-hardened fan can predict what will happen to that dollar. Usually, the lists the newcomer chooses from isn't 100% reliable; and the fan-law of averages is at work too. Of the ten fanzines (let us say), 2 of them will have been discontinued, 2 more will be staggering or extremely unreliable to as publication dates; 4 will be bi-monthlies or quarterlies; and the remaining two will be weeklies or monthlies. The newcomer will most likely receive a weekly and a monthly almost at once, 2 bi-monthlies will follow within 2 weeks. 4 fanzines out of 10. Perhaps one other editor will drop him a line explaining why he can't send an issue right away. The other five editors ignore him entirely. Not that they are brutal about it, they assume the guy will have the patience to wait for the next issue alongside the rest of his subscribers ... not realising that the chap is new and can't understand this. Of the 2 fanzines that folded up, perhaps one will return the money the same week, or he may wait until next year to do it. The other probably will never return it for a multitude of reasons. Maybe he moved and never received it. So the chap stews. If he happens to receive LeZ pronto, he writes me and bewails loudly. Quite often he never subscribed to LeZ at all, but writes me anyway, asking me to get his money back for him from those other editors! Yes, that is brass, I'll admit. Those who I have helped by explaining, or post carding the editors in question, have become firm friends. Those whom I told I could do nothing for promptly consigned me to that well-known corner in hell. But meanwhile, one and all, they turn to Grandpappy Tucker when fandom kicks them in the pants! - B.T.