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Memoirs of a Superfluous Fan, 1944
In Explanation
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In Explanation -- It has been my intention for some time now to record in as much and interesting detail as possible the long, long time during which I was an active member of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (LASFS) and its predecessor, the Los Angeles Chapter 4, of the Science Fiction League (LASFL). My recent action in resigning this Society, and along with it all my active offices, is no way the sole reason for the writing of these memoirs. For whatever good or bad science fiction fandom may eventually serve, it ought to have a comprehensive record of its oldest and largest component. I was a member of the LASFS and LASFS for very nearly seven years. In it I met many of my best friends, and through it I passed many interesting hours and discovered many interesting things. The LASFL was beyond a doubt the greatest and most active scientifiction oganisation of all time...it had the most members, some of the now well-known in their respective fields; the most publications, and very often the most fun. I saw the twin-clubs at their best and their words: as a haven for wayward characters, as an inspiration for incipient authors and artists, as a storehouse of inestimable value to the serious scientifiction and fantasy hobbiest, and as a gathering pace for good-fellows in general. But I have also seen the LASFL, and especially as the LASFS, as a rotting ground for fine minds, a harbinger of psychopaths and morbid misfits, a circle of futility and frustration, a trap full of bickering and petty jealously for those within it. These two contradictions have existed side by side for virtually as long as the society. When i was very young and had first joined I used to wonder: in what manner would I finally leave this group of strange people? who would turn out to be my best friends? who would be the first of us to die? how long before something took me away from the entire environment? I spent seven years in intimate association with the group, and all my questions were answered. Now the seven years are a closed book, full of many fond and many disappointing memories. Withal I feel a great vacancy in "fan" history will exist unless someone records the long years in which the LASFL and LASFS were at one and the same time the greatest ad best, and yet often the smallest and worst, of all scientifiction fan groups. What follows are my own personal memories. I do not pretend that they are unbiased or presented with hair-line accuracy; but I do hope they will prove to be interesting to the more serious followers of this avocational field. Since this is going to be a rather lengthy project, it is impractical to bind them under one cover. For this purpose it is my intention of dividing these memoirs
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In Explanation -- It has been my intention for some time now to record in as much and interesting detail as possible the long, long time during which I was an active member of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (LASFS) and its predecessor, the Los Angeles Chapter 4, of the Science Fiction League (LASFL). My recent action in resigning this Society, and along with it all my active offices, is no way the sole reason for the writing of these memoirs. For whatever good or bad science fiction fandom may eventually serve, it ought to have a comprehensive record of its oldest and largest component. I was a member of the LASFS and LASFS for very nearly seven years. In it I met many of my best friends, and through it I passed many interesting hours and discovered many interesting things. The LASFL was beyond a doubt the greatest and most active scientifiction oganisation of all time...it had the most members, some of the now well-known in their respective fields; the most publications, and very often the most fun. I saw the twin-clubs at their best and their words: as a haven for wayward characters, as an inspiration for incipient authors and artists, as a storehouse of inestimable value to the serious scientifiction and fantasy hobbiest, and as a gathering pace for good-fellows in general. But I have also seen the LASFL, and especially as the LASFS, as a rotting ground for fine minds, a harbinger of psychopaths and morbid misfits, a circle of futility and frustration, a trap full of bickering and petty jealously for those within it. These two contradictions have existed side by side for virtually as long as the society. When i was very young and had first joined I used to wonder: in what manner would I finally leave this group of strange people? who would turn out to be my best friends? who would be the first of us to die? how long before something took me away from the entire environment? I spent seven years in intimate association with the group, and all my questions were answered. Now the seven years are a closed book, full of many fond and many disappointing memories. Withal I feel a great vacancy in "fan" history will exist unless someone records the long years in which the LASFL and LASFS were at one and the same time the greatest ad best, and yet often the smallest and worst, of all scientifiction fan groups. What follows are my own personal memories. I do not pretend that they are unbiased or presented with hair-line accuracy; but I do hope they will prove to be interesting to the more serious followers of this avocational field. Since this is going to be a rather lengthy project, it is impractical to bind them under one cover. For this purpose it is my intention of dividing these memoirs
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