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Spaceways, v. 3, issue 5, whole no. 21, June 1941
21
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SPACEWAYS 21 THE READERS ALWAYS WRITE with death. Control Room was chatty, up-to-date and interesting as usual-though the most noteworthy thing about it was that appeal you made for mags for British fans. Some of them sure are dying with thirst for unobtainable magazines, but the points is that it's another angle on "warring fandom" that somebody should do something about. I hear that Ackerman has been sending consignments over. I can't say what the recipients think of such gestures, but to my mind it means plenty! It means somebody's got a heart. ' ' Sorry to see the end of Sullivan who did his stuff with a sort of naive humor that appealed to me. The stories and the poems were okay, but The Professor offered a particle of truth dissolved in much bile. Monroe's bit was peppy and amusing, while Brazier's statistics were interesting. Stardust flopped for once-seems like Miske has been overcome with the notion that it's artistic to be temperamental. ' ' I always turn to the readers' pages first. Dale Tarr did a good one this time, but I'd like him to define what he means by "pros". Over here, a professional is one who earns his full living at the job. Apart from editors, I doubt whether there's a handful os scribblers who can do more than starve on stf. Some fans seem to think anyone's a "pro" who has had a story in print. (God, I wish I could live on one yarn!) There's a job for statistician Brazier - what proportion of stf material is contributed by full-time professionals, and what by creative fans. If Mr. Tarr defines a "pro" as somebody who's been in print, then heaven help him, for - on his own showing - his first successful sale should automatically bar him from the fan mags. D. B. Thompson, 2302 You St., Lincoln, Nebraska, greets: Spaceways has been pretty thoroughly perused, much of it read twice, and official approval is herewith tendered. Aincha glad? ' ' The covers are very neat, this time. Personally, I think some simple letter form, such as that used on the current Spaceways, should always be used for mimeoed mag titles. The masthead of the current number is much neater than that of Vol. 3, no. 3. ' ' The issue as a whole doesn't seem to measure quite up to the proceding one, as far as contents are concerned, however. That is, probably, due to the absence of anything to take the place of Tucker's effort. Top item, this time, I think, is damon knight's "The End of Pennywhistle", which irresistably suggests that it is a take-off on a take-off, if you get what I mean. If you don't, you haven't lost anything. "Beacon Light", Burke's poem, Widner's article, and Wollheim's frank discussion are all meritorious, in one way or another. And of course, "From the Control Room". ' ' I am not at all sure that an outstanding fan is necessarily qualified for the position of editor of a promag. Typically, I think he will tend to take a rather narrow view of his job, and will produce a magazine acceptable to the sophisticated fan, but not to the general public. Of course, when the public to which he hopes to appeal consists almost entirely of readers of two or three well-established magazines, he can proceed with considerable confidence. Personally, I don't think Stirring Science Stories even so much as aims at the gap which it is supposed to fill; Cosmic, on the other hand, seems to be on the way. However, I am prejudiced; I don't, at all, like the sort of story which Wolheim calls "adult fantasy", and, especially, I don't like illogical, fantasy endings to science fiction stories. I do like such stories as "Phoenix Planet", and perhaps that is a smple of the sort of thing we may expect to see more of in the future. At the same time, the gap which Wollheim mentions is certainly present, although I think Comet comes closer to filling it right now than either of Wolheim's mags. All of which leaves me with my mouth open and my foot in it; for here I am, after saying that a fan is not qualified to run a promag, just because he is a fan, telling DAW how to run his! To make matters more confusing, I am aware that Stirring and Cosmic are already, apparently, quite successful. Also, I know a young reader, who cares little for nay mags except Astounding, Unknown, and Weird Tales, and who is not a "veteran fan", who has added Stirring to his list of "must" magazines because he thoroughly enjoys the fantasy in Stirring. ' ' "Dark Interlude" is rather beautifully done. But, duru it, I don't like ghost stories, even beautiful ones-except "Three
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SPACEWAYS 21 THE READERS ALWAYS WRITE with death. Control Room was chatty, up-to-date and interesting as usual-though the most noteworthy thing about it was that appeal you made for mags for British fans. Some of them sure are dying with thirst for unobtainable magazines, but the points is that it's another angle on "warring fandom" that somebody should do something about. I hear that Ackerman has been sending consignments over. I can't say what the recipients think of such gestures, but to my mind it means plenty! It means somebody's got a heart. ' ' Sorry to see the end of Sullivan who did his stuff with a sort of naive humor that appealed to me. The stories and the poems were okay, but The Professor offered a particle of truth dissolved in much bile. Monroe's bit was peppy and amusing, while Brazier's statistics were interesting. Stardust flopped for once-seems like Miske has been overcome with the notion that it's artistic to be temperamental. ' ' I always turn to the readers' pages first. Dale Tarr did a good one this time, but I'd like him to define what he means by "pros". Over here, a professional is one who earns his full living at the job. Apart from editors, I doubt whether there's a handful os scribblers who can do more than starve on stf. Some fans seem to think anyone's a "pro" who has had a story in print. (God, I wish I could live on one yarn!) There's a job for statistician Brazier - what proportion of stf material is contributed by full-time professionals, and what by creative fans. If Mr. Tarr defines a "pro" as somebody who's been in print, then heaven help him, for - on his own showing - his first successful sale should automatically bar him from the fan mags. D. B. Thompson, 2302 You St., Lincoln, Nebraska, greets: Spaceways has been pretty thoroughly perused, much of it read twice, and official approval is herewith tendered. Aincha glad? ' ' The covers are very neat, this time. Personally, I think some simple letter form, such as that used on the current Spaceways, should always be used for mimeoed mag titles. The masthead of the current number is much neater than that of Vol. 3, no. 3. ' ' The issue as a whole doesn't seem to measure quite up to the proceding one, as far as contents are concerned, however. That is, probably, due to the absence of anything to take the place of Tucker's effort. Top item, this time, I think, is damon knight's "The End of Pennywhistle", which irresistably suggests that it is a take-off on a take-off, if you get what I mean. If you don't, you haven't lost anything. "Beacon Light", Burke's poem, Widner's article, and Wollheim's frank discussion are all meritorious, in one way or another. And of course, "From the Control Room". ' ' I am not at all sure that an outstanding fan is necessarily qualified for the position of editor of a promag. Typically, I think he will tend to take a rather narrow view of his job, and will produce a magazine acceptable to the sophisticated fan, but not to the general public. Of course, when the public to which he hopes to appeal consists almost entirely of readers of two or three well-established magazines, he can proceed with considerable confidence. Personally, I don't think Stirring Science Stories even so much as aims at the gap which it is supposed to fill; Cosmic, on the other hand, seems to be on the way. However, I am prejudiced; I don't, at all, like the sort of story which Wolheim calls "adult fantasy", and, especially, I don't like illogical, fantasy endings to science fiction stories. I do like such stories as "Phoenix Planet", and perhaps that is a smple of the sort of thing we may expect to see more of in the future. At the same time, the gap which Wollheim mentions is certainly present, although I think Comet comes closer to filling it right now than either of Wolheim's mags. All of which leaves me with my mouth open and my foot in it; for here I am, after saying that a fan is not qualified to run a promag, just because he is a fan, telling DAW how to run his! To make matters more confusing, I am aware that Stirring and Cosmic are already, apparently, quite successful. Also, I know a young reader, who cares little for nay mags except Astounding, Unknown, and Weird Tales, and who is not a "veteran fan", who has added Stirring to his list of "must" magazines because he thoroughly enjoys the fantasy in Stirring. ' ' "Dark Interlude" is rather beautifully done. But, duru it, I don't like ghost stories, even beautiful ones-except "Three
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