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Leprechaun, v. 1, issue 1, March 1942

Page 12

12
LEPRECHAUN

THE UNUSUAL FAN
by
STEVEN RANDALL

     There was a fan.
     His name was unimportant. Call him Mortimer Fann. He was a very unusual fan.
     In his entire career he wrote but one letter to a magazine,
That was a brief note congratulating the editor of his favorite mag on the publication of an especially fine story. He was not surprised when his letter was printed. That was because he never saw it in print. He never so much as glanced at readers' sections.
     He never joined a fan club. There were several reasons for that. To tell the truth, he had never heard of any fan clubs. If he had heard of one, he probably would have thought that it was just a gang of silly kids. And he wouldn't have liked belonging to a club where there was any   argument or discussion about the stories he read. He never did like arguments.
     He didn't know who the number one fan was. He didn't care. The idea of fans having numbers would have struck him as very foolish. If he had heard of the idea, that is.
     He never published a fan mag. He never read a fan mag. In fact, he never heard of a fan mag. He couldn't have thought of a single reason for the existence of such a magazine.
     On the other hand, there never was another fan who got as much enjoyment out of his hobby as Mortimer did. There was nothing he loved as much as reading his favorite type of fiction. He bought every magazine in the field religiously. He read and derived great measure from the stories by the authors he liked. If there was an author he didn't care much for, he simply didn't read his stories. He
didn't feel that he was getting gypped, or that a magazine   shouldn't print stories by the authors he disliked. For that matter, "disliked" is rather a strong word for Mortimer's feeling for those authors.
    He regarded the illustrations   only as illustrations. If they
were good, that was nice; if they weren't so good, what difference did it make anyway?   Mortimer didn't even know one artist from another.
     When he had finished reading his magazines, he put them away in the attic. Occasionally, he liked to get them out and look back over
the old issues, perhaps rereading a few especially memorable stories. If the attic became crowded, he threw some of the magazines away. He could have had a collection to be envied, if he had ever thought of acquiring a real collection. He never did, though. He was just as happy.
     Yes, he probably enjoyed his hobby more than any ten Science Fiction fans put together.
     He was a Western Fiction fan.
(the end)

     The thanks for the above piece goes to Steve Randall, of Albany, N. Y. It is his first appearance in any fanzine. We didn't think he would really come through, but if you like this, we'll try to get some more from him. Steve has been reading STF a long time, but like Mortimer Fann, he's never bought a fanzine. He just borrows some. (Nyaa,
Steve, you didn't think we meant it when we said we'd put that in, did
you?)
      As we type this stencil, most of the mimeoing is done, and it's pretty bad in some places. Sorry, but we ARE improving, already...LS

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12 LEPRECHAUN THE UNUSUAL FAN by STEVEN RANDALL There was a fan. His name was unimportant. Call him Mortimer Fann. He was a very unusual fan. In his entire career he wrote but one letter to a magazine, That was a brief note congratulating the editor of his favorite mag on the publication of an especially fine story. He was not surprised when his letter was printed. That was because he never saw it in print. He never so much as glanced at readers' sections. He never joined a fan club. There were several reasons for that. To tell the truth, he had never heard of any fan clubs. If he had heard of one, he probably would have thought that it was just a gang of silly kids. And he wouldn't have liked belonging to a club where there was any argument or discussion about the stories he read. He never did like arguments. He didn't know who the number one fan was. He didn't care. The idea of fans having numbers would have struck him as very foolish. If he had heard of the idea, that is. He never published a fan mag. He never read a fan mag. In fact, he never heard of a fan mag. He couldn't have thought of a single reason for the existence of such a magazine. On the other hand, there never was another fan who got as much enjoyment out of his hobby as Mortimer did. There was nothing he loved as much as reading his favorite type of fiction. He bought every magazine in the field religiously. He read and derived great measure from the stories by the authors he liked. If there was an author he didn't care much for, he simply didn't read his stories. He didn't feel that he was getting gypped, or that a magazine shouldn't print stories by the authors he disliked. For that matter, "disliked" is rather a strong word for Mortimer's feeling for those authors. He regarded the illustrations only as illustrations. If they were good, that was nice; if they weren't so good, what difference did it make anyway? Mortimer didn't even know one artist from another. When he had finished reading his magazines, he put them away in the attic. Occasionally, he liked to get them out and look back over the old issues, perhaps rereading a few especially memorable stories. If the attic became crowded, he threw some of the magazines away. He could have had a collection to be envied, if he had ever thought of acquiring a real collection. He never did, though. He was just as happy. Yes, he probably enjoyed his hobby more than any ten Science Fiction fans put together. He was a Western Fiction fan. (the end) The thanks for the above piece goes to Steve Randall, of Albany, N. Y. It is his first appearance in any fanzine. We didn't think he would really come through, but if you like this, we'll try to get some more from him. Steve has been reading STF a long time, but like Mortimer Fann, he's never bought a fanzine. He just borrows some. (Nyaa, Steve, you didn't think we meant it when we said we'd put that in, did you?) As we type this stencil, most of the mimeoing is done, and it's pretty bad in some places. Sorry, but we ARE improving, already...LS