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Imagination, v. 1, issue 12, whole no. 12, September 1938
Page 6
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6 ticed is that all the fantasy editors are deeply & sincerely interested in science &/or weird fiction. The unique policy of [underlined] Amazing seems to have had excellent results & an entirely new group of readers found: Those who are, so to say, pulp mag fans rather than sf. Logical result of this is such a group will become more & more interested in science fiction [underlined] per se & inevitably a larger reading public automaticly [sic] will create more & maybe better stf magazines. Another promising factor is that topnotchers in other fields, such as FAKummer Jr & L. Ron Hubbard, are turning to science fiction, at the requests of Weisinger & Campbell. Since a writer who specializes in & turns out nothing but fantasy is very apt to get in a rut, the advantage of an influx of new & good authors is easily seen. It may not be long before we run across yarns good as the [underlined] old Amazing tale "The Green Splotches" by Pulitzer prizewinner TSStribling... Springing litely [sic] into Rap's stratosteroid I soon found myself in NYC. After testing the atmosfere [sic] (a mixture of carbon dioxide, hydrogen & an unfamiliar element which I name [underlined] steehnk) I donned by spacesuit & stept out upon alien soil, planting the banner of the SFLeag in a convenient manhole. "Now" I said to myself with a grim titening [sic] of my lips "for some exploration!" Editorial offices in New York are strange. Each office owns a subterranean vault, subdivided into cells in which writers are chaind [sic] hand & foot. When an adventure story is desired the editors deal out a ration of raw beef. When a scientale, the writers are given comprest-vitamin [sic] tabs. There was a small storm of excitement going on in New York when I arrived, as a guy by the name of Otto Binder had managed to escape & was hiding in the Holland Tunnel, refusing to come out & snapping at people who came too close. He was finally lassooed & dragged, screaming & protesting, to Radio City, where he is now on exhibit. Despite this ghastly tragedy, Otto, a slim, sandy-haird [sic] fellow, is extremely interested in science fiction, as, indeed, are most the sf writers I met. More inclined to consider the technical side of it are Willy Ley, a large,, muscular, studious-looking chap; & L. Sprague de Camp, who is somewhat smaller, wiry & possest [sic] of a bristling dark moustache & an astonishing memory for little-known scientific experiments & incidents. Curiously alike at first glance are de Camp, Frank Belknap Long Jr, Clark Ashton Smith & E. Hoffman Price, tho each is worlds apart from the others in temperament & personality. Massively-constructed is Many Wade Wellman, an expert with foils & something of an authority on occultism. Virgil Finlay, a large, bland & energetic guy, has had considerable experience in the ring. John (Butch) Campbell is round-faced & blond, with a deceptive apearance [sic] of seriousness. Mort (Grand Slam) Weisinger comes nr [i.e. near] Wellman in size but lacks a moustache. Mort can reject a story more jovially than any other editor of my acquantance. 'S'matter-fact, sf mags seem unlike other pulps in that the eds are genuinely interested in their work. Nor--as a rule--do those editors demand the writer limit himself to a stereotypt [sic] formula, tho occasionaly authors will do this thru preference, the cads. A bronze statue of Forrest J Ackerman was to be unveild in Times Sq the day I departed. I did not wait, as NY & Cal would not be in perihelion again for 3 yrs. Laden with specimens of ore, preciousstones & an old sock of Wollheim's (which will be exhibited under glass in the offices of the LASFL), I headed home.
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6 ticed is that all the fantasy editors are deeply & sincerely interested in science &/or weird fiction. The unique policy of [underlined] Amazing seems to have had excellent results & an entirely new group of readers found: Those who are, so to say, pulp mag fans rather than sf. Logical result of this is such a group will become more & more interested in science fiction [underlined] per se & inevitably a larger reading public automaticly [sic] will create more & maybe better stf magazines. Another promising factor is that topnotchers in other fields, such as FAKummer Jr & L. Ron Hubbard, are turning to science fiction, at the requests of Weisinger & Campbell. Since a writer who specializes in & turns out nothing but fantasy is very apt to get in a rut, the advantage of an influx of new & good authors is easily seen. It may not be long before we run across yarns good as the [underlined] old Amazing tale "The Green Splotches" by Pulitzer prizewinner TSStribling... Springing litely [sic] into Rap's stratosteroid I soon found myself in NYC. After testing the atmosfere [sic] (a mixture of carbon dioxide, hydrogen & an unfamiliar element which I name [underlined] steehnk) I donned by spacesuit & stept out upon alien soil, planting the banner of the SFLeag in a convenient manhole. "Now" I said to myself with a grim titening [sic] of my lips "for some exploration!" Editorial offices in New York are strange. Each office owns a subterranean vault, subdivided into cells in which writers are chaind [sic] hand & foot. When an adventure story is desired the editors deal out a ration of raw beef. When a scientale, the writers are given comprest-vitamin [sic] tabs. There was a small storm of excitement going on in New York when I arrived, as a guy by the name of Otto Binder had managed to escape & was hiding in the Holland Tunnel, refusing to come out & snapping at people who came too close. He was finally lassooed & dragged, screaming & protesting, to Radio City, where he is now on exhibit. Despite this ghastly tragedy, Otto, a slim, sandy-haird [sic] fellow, is extremely interested in science fiction, as, indeed, are most the sf writers I met. More inclined to consider the technical side of it are Willy Ley, a large,, muscular, studious-looking chap; & L. Sprague de Camp, who is somewhat smaller, wiry & possest [sic] of a bristling dark moustache & an astonishing memory for little-known scientific experiments & incidents. Curiously alike at first glance are de Camp, Frank Belknap Long Jr, Clark Ashton Smith & E. Hoffman Price, tho each is worlds apart from the others in temperament & personality. Massively-constructed is Many Wade Wellman, an expert with foils & something of an authority on occultism. Virgil Finlay, a large, bland & energetic guy, has had considerable experience in the ring. John (Butch) Campbell is round-faced & blond, with a deceptive apearance [sic] of seriousness. Mort (Grand Slam) Weisinger comes nr [i.e. near] Wellman in size but lacks a moustache. Mort can reject a story more jovially than any other editor of my acquantance. 'S'matter-fact, sf mags seem unlike other pulps in that the eds are genuinely interested in their work. Nor--as a rule--do those editors demand the writer limit himself to a stereotypt [sic] formula, tho occasionaly authors will do this thru preference, the cads. A bronze statue of Forrest J Ackerman was to be unveild in Times Sq the day I departed. I did not wait, as NY & Cal would not be in perihelion again for 3 yrs. Laden with specimens of ore, preciousstones & an old sock of Wollheim's (which will be exhibited under glass in the offices of the LASFL), I headed home.
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