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Scientifictionist, v. 1, issue 1, September 1945
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Volume One The SCIENTIFICTIONIST Number One --------------- SOME THOUGHTS ON IMAGINISM by Sgt. Lynn Bridges The formation of an active, local fan group is always a welcome event -- and to me it becomes especially so when that group is in Detroit. About a year ago, I remarked in a fanzine that after the war Detroit would be one of the centers of fandom, believing that it would become so thru the efforts of some of us who are now in the armed forces. It now seems certain that Detroit will be a thriving fan center much earlier than I expected. I had the pleasure of meeting George McManus, Henry Elsner Jr., and Kent Bone last year, and am certain that with such fans as these Detroit fandom will go far. I'm gratidied that I have been made an absentee member of the Hyperboreans, and hope to be a regular member in that not far-distant future. Just what is there about scientifiction fans which makes them organize clubs, correspond with other fans, and in general carry on the usual activities which come under the heading of fandom? (Incidentally, I prefer the term, "imaginist" to "fan" and being more accurate, more original, and without the unpleasant attributes usually connected with "fans", no matter what type.) Imaginists are held together thru bonds of interest in anything and everything having to do with the progress of man or the universe. For this, we are often condemned as imaginative dreamers, unaffected by reality. But are we not, instead, the supreme realists -- knowing as does no other group, that we live in a constantly changing world? Most men live only in the past, and the future is something unknown, and therefore terrifying. Some men look forward a few weeks or years into the future and these men are called the successful businessmen of the world. A few men have the ability to think of the future in terms of a generation or generations, and these men become statesmen. We see the future, not in terms of days, years or generations -- but in terms of centuries and melleniums, and we are called impractical dreamers. On a clear night the ignorant and superstitious look at the stars and see in them objects of awe and fear. To the average well-informed man, the stars are objects so distantly remote that there is no need to so much as think about them. To the artist and poet the stars are objects of beauty, sparkling jewels against a velvet backdrop. To the scientist, the stars are but bodies catalogued by telescope and spectroscope. To the imaginist, stars are a challenge to be reached and explored by man in the future, as man has reached and explored distant parts of this earth, and other outposts of science. Who, in this case is the realist! A vivid and far-reaching imagination is something of which to be proud, not something to hide or to use only furtively for fear of ridicule. It is because of the dreamer, the imaginist, that mankind progresses. --------------- THE SCIENTIFICTIONIST is edited by Henry Elsner Jr., at 13618 Cedar Grove, Detroit 5, Michigan. Assistant editor: Walter Coslet. Staff: Sgt. Lynn Bridges, John Stadter Jr. Subscription rates: 10¢ per copy, 3/25¢ Published whenever material warrants. All contributions in the form of constructive articles about science or scientifiction welcome. NO SAMPLE COPIES OR FANZINE EXCHANGES. (empty check box) Your subscription expires with this issue. May we have your renewal!! --(page 1)--
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Volume One The SCIENTIFICTIONIST Number One --------------- SOME THOUGHTS ON IMAGINISM by Sgt. Lynn Bridges The formation of an active, local fan group is always a welcome event -- and to me it becomes especially so when that group is in Detroit. About a year ago, I remarked in a fanzine that after the war Detroit would be one of the centers of fandom, believing that it would become so thru the efforts of some of us who are now in the armed forces. It now seems certain that Detroit will be a thriving fan center much earlier than I expected. I had the pleasure of meeting George McManus, Henry Elsner Jr., and Kent Bone last year, and am certain that with such fans as these Detroit fandom will go far. I'm gratidied that I have been made an absentee member of the Hyperboreans, and hope to be a regular member in that not far-distant future. Just what is there about scientifiction fans which makes them organize clubs, correspond with other fans, and in general carry on the usual activities which come under the heading of fandom? (Incidentally, I prefer the term, "imaginist" to "fan" and being more accurate, more original, and without the unpleasant attributes usually connected with "fans", no matter what type.) Imaginists are held together thru bonds of interest in anything and everything having to do with the progress of man or the universe. For this, we are often condemned as imaginative dreamers, unaffected by reality. But are we not, instead, the supreme realists -- knowing as does no other group, that we live in a constantly changing world? Most men live only in the past, and the future is something unknown, and therefore terrifying. Some men look forward a few weeks or years into the future and these men are called the successful businessmen of the world. A few men have the ability to think of the future in terms of a generation or generations, and these men become statesmen. We see the future, not in terms of days, years or generations -- but in terms of centuries and melleniums, and we are called impractical dreamers. On a clear night the ignorant and superstitious look at the stars and see in them objects of awe and fear. To the average well-informed man, the stars are objects so distantly remote that there is no need to so much as think about them. To the artist and poet the stars are objects of beauty, sparkling jewels against a velvet backdrop. To the scientist, the stars are but bodies catalogued by telescope and spectroscope. To the imaginist, stars are a challenge to be reached and explored by man in the future, as man has reached and explored distant parts of this earth, and other outposts of science. Who, in this case is the realist! A vivid and far-reaching imagination is something of which to be proud, not something to hide or to use only furtively for fear of ridicule. It is because of the dreamer, the imaginist, that mankind progresses. --------------- THE SCIENTIFICTIONIST is edited by Henry Elsner Jr., at 13618 Cedar Grove, Detroit 5, Michigan. Assistant editor: Walter Coslet. Staff: Sgt. Lynn Bridges, John Stadter Jr. Subscription rates: 10¢ per copy, 3/25¢ Published whenever material warrants. All contributions in the form of constructive articles about science or scientifiction welcome. NO SAMPLE COPIES OR FANZINE EXCHANGES. (empty check box) Your subscription expires with this issue. May we have your renewal!! --(page 1)--
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