The Zine Dump

GHLIII Press Publication #1023

December, 2007

The overwhelming fannish event since the last Zine Dump – indeed, the overwhelming fannish event of all 2007 – was the death and funeral of my great friend Hank Reinhardt, Hearts player, swordsman, anachronist and Southern fandom’s #1 guy. Though Hank was never much of a fanzine fan – getting him to do his SFPAzines was, to coin a cliché, like pulling teeth from a statue – I’ve never known a greater exemplar of the fannish lifestyle. He embodied humor, eccentricity, audacity, friendliness, and tolerance. This portrait – by Alan Hutchinson – is from The Reinhardt Roast, published by yhos in SFPA in 1976. I hope to have the complete zine on the Challenger website RSN; check it out and see why everyone who knew Hank absolutely loved the guy. Of course this TZD is dedicated to his memory.


Also on our website RSN – Challenger #27, 97 pages in paper form, bedecked with a jolly Ken Mitcheroney cover (colored by *blush* me) and blest as are all issues with terrific contributions from terrific people. No politics this time! Next issue: March! LOCs and contributions? Oh please, yes!


Now, to the zines. Remember, The Zine Dump wants to see every SF-oriented fanzine published in English!

Joe & Lisa Major, Louisville KY / jtmajor-@iglou.com / $2@ / To begin with, an announcement … Joe will be hosting another Fan Editors’ Lunch or Dinner at the Denver worldcon. Who in the Mile-High area knows of a good place for fanzine nuts to chow down? Okay – back to Alexiad, a zine rich with great book reviews of tomes of almost every subject known to man. Major is one of the sharpest wits, and his reviews cut cleanly to the kernel of the works he reads. The piece on Camelot and the Cultural Revolution, dealing with the effects on liberalism of the JFK assassination, is particularly compelling – perhaps because I just scanned a website dealing with the murder. Joe also touches on film – his review of 300 is a riot – before Lisa expounds on horseflesh and Johnny Carruthers takes on various types of candy. All is grist for fandom’s mill. The issue closes with con reports – none attended by us, alas – and a potent lettercol, spiced with Joe’s frequent responses and informed by the grand span of knowledge and experience enjoyed by SFers. It makes my day to see discussion of the Hardy Boys by a guy who’s actually studied his Stratemeyer. Highlight of the following issue is Lisa’s piece on the USS Utah, destroyed but not defeated in the attack on Pearl Harbor. It’s vivid stuff, reprinting many survivor stories – as ever when I read first-hand accounts of such horrors, I wonder how I would have behaved had I been there. Not this well, I’m sure. Best among Joe’s many reviews is that of a book concerning the Duke lacrosse team rape case; like the recent Jena 6 matter, that scandal was painted with racial hysteria but actually fomented by prosecutorial greed: if either DA had conducted his case rationally there would have been no brouhaha. Johnny Carruthers’ piece on the “Best All-Time Series” Hugo is entertaining, as is his review of The Man from Krypton, a book of essays on Superman. The WAHF paragraph following the lettercol lists the welcome name of Lloyd Daub; it’s been far too long, Lloyd.

Dave Langford, Reading, Berkshire, U.K. / U.S. Agent: Janice Murray, P.O. Box 75684, Seattle WA 98125-0684 / SAE or google it. / Web news.ansible.co.uk / Dave’s celebrated newszine is a monthly mirror up to the science fiction field, with amusing professional news and gossip, too many death notices, “Thog’s Master Class” (English as it were writ by people on drugs who should know better). The December issue notes Harlan Ellison’s threatened lawsuit against Paramount for using characters and sites he created in “City on the Edge of Forever” in a new project. Good question: does a writer surrender rights to such business when he sells a script?

Dan Hollifield / www.aphelion-webzine.com

Steven Silver / http://www.sfsite.com/~silverag/argentus.html. / on eFanzines / Steve brings out one Argentus a year, usually with a wonderful "mock section" wherein his contributors run wild with their imaginations; this issue lacks that, but I'm jealous of the goodies it does proffer. There's an outstanding b&w design cover by Deb Kosiba, whose work is new to me. Three contributors name their top ten (or five) out-of-print SF books. (Lord of Light? Stand on Zanzibar? Bridge of Birds? Why aren't these masterworks on the shelves?) Fred Lerner of Lofgeornost tells tales from the Portuguese, a change of pace for most fanzines, and Michael Thomas provides a nifty piece about Dr. Who. (Long live Jon Pertwee!) Mike Resnick tells the tale of his friendship with Satanist Anton Levey; Levey sounds like a guy who found a dandy scam and milked it for everything he could get. Most interesting item in this serious, intellectually stimulating fanzine is a quasi-panel discussion of utopian SF Silver "cobbled" together from comments by several erudite Sfers. And that's the distinction of Argentus: it tries to touch and stimulate the intelligence of its readers.

John Purcell, College Station TX / j_purcell54@yahoo.com / $2, trade or on eFanzines.com / That's a Frank Wu on the cover? A dragon on stage at a rock concert seems a little silly for him … Anyway, this latest Askance is my kinda fanzine, with goofy personal natter (i.e., John talks about his dogs), a silly article by James Bacon on becoming a zombie (my clients recommend two shots atop a xanbar), and a very cool piece by Lee Anne Lavell on how she became a fan. Arnie Katz promotes "Core Fandom" as the true inheritor of the fandom of Ackerman and Jack Darrow. Personally, I think The Core was a waste of Hilary Swank. Editor Purcell stands in for Lloyd Penney and reviews a few fanzines – including one or two I don't get, an intolerable situation – and Linda Bushyager wonders "What if?", a question I often ask myself, particularly when I encounter a real lawyer at court and all I have in my briefcase is umpteen fanzines to review. The lettercol is thoughtful, most interesting when the Chorus turns its attention to the study of fanzining as an art form unto itself. I must single out J.A. Kaufman's kind words about Challenger's website, which is entirely to the credit of Patrice Green; all I do is send her files. Issue #6 features a wonderful cover by Kyle Hinton and the results of John's poll on fannish pet peeves. But most interesting to me is Andy Trembley's piece attacking Core Fandom, Arnie Katz' label for fanzine fans; he sees it as exclusivist. Claire Brialey, in a long subsequent piece, struggles with the question. Bill Fischer's satire, "Tart Reform", is simply choice writing, as his "Figby" is simply choice cartooning. So why is this "my kinda fanzine"? Because it's fun, it's personal, it's enthusiastic and it's positive.

Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer, Croydon, Surrey, U.K. / fishlifter@googlemail.com / Superb contributors grace this issue of one of the U.K.'s top publications: Steve Stiles (the funny cover), Dave Langford (an article about A.P. Herbert's "misleading cases," which sound fascinating to this public defender), James Bacon (reviewing comics, a natural topic for this Alan Moore fanatic), Steve Green (a Harry Potter dream – for Harry!), Margaret Austin (her Japanese journey). The editors, fine fan writers both, are on hand of course, Claire with a compelling article on how one's sexuality affects one's status/activity in fandom and Mark on many matters, including worldcon GoHs and the Hugos (provoking a fond memory of NOSFAn 9, which won me a mention in Analog). A page on the Rotsler Award for fanartrists names the 2007 winner, the great Terry Jeeves, overdue for such recognition. The letter column is rich with great writers and hearty responses to previous issues – the truest indication of a great and successful fanzine.

Barry R. Hunter, Rome GA / www.baryon-online.com / free online, $5@ printed / More book reviews here than one can shake a stick at, and believe me, I can shake a stick. In this task he is aided by the amazing Harriet Klausner, who devours books the way I eat Tic-Tacs, but understands and appreciates each and all. Her plot synopses are usually skillful and entertaining in themselves. Most are current releases, ranging from Robert Parker novels to sexy vampire stories, but what's this Slan she talks about?

Richard Freeman, Fairborn OH / $3@ US, $4@ outside / What's new in the wonderful world of video smut? BNI won't tell you – except for tidbits and gossip to be picked up from the letter column, news isn't a major part of the zine's appeal. Instead it provides features, some quite thoughtful, interviews with performers, some quite revealing (I wish they'd get around to Victoria Paris), cynical reviews (I believe the editor provides the same for Adam Film World), some sharp comedy. In these issues, M. Christian writes about writing porn, John Mozzer describes his early years in the business (apparently competing with Quaaludes for actresses' attention), Richard Pacheco – a terrific writer – interviews Ona Z, Jeff Jarvie paeans Kylie Ireland (he wishes!), Netta Gilboa recaps her career as a sex toy saleswoman ("women would sit on items that they really wanted"; wasn't that the point?). You come away from BNI with a sense of the porn industry as a place where people with very heavy questions find very light answers – but if you forego being judgmental you'll find yourself entertained and informed.

Garth Spencer, Box 15335, VMPO, Vancouver BC Canada V6B 5B1 / garthspencer@shaw.ca / Four issues of Garth's monthly publication for the British Columbia group. The latest issue opens with the editor's apology for having less and less energy to "pub his ish"; the issue before starts with a familiar plaint about the expense of postage; he anticipates the day RSN when BCSFAzine goes entirely on-line. (He's not kidding; a copy of Challenger costs $2+ to mail within the United States and nine effing dollars to send to the U.K.!) Herein a report on this year's Aurora Awards, the hoax Elrons, "Fandom's longest running spoof awards," con reports, CUFF natter. Nice cover art, two by Taral, Fan Guest at the next Canadian worldcon.

David Levine & Kate Yule, Portland OR / kate@bentopress.com, david@bentopress.com / David wins a trip to Phuket, Thailand, and provides the template for this spiffy palm-sized fanzine: Amazing Race. First stop for our contestants, Singapore, which reads like paradise, especially its zoo. Then Phuket, not pronounced like it looks, which reads even more like paradise, especially that breakfast buffet. The editors ride an elephant and do all kinds of wonderful things and win the race; if we had been involved we would have probably dropped out and said "Phuket! I'll stay there!" Crazed fan fiction follows, then charming LOCs, and finally the news that David is about to retire. Is this a novel to supplement his "'Tk'tk'tk" we see pending?

Fred Argoff, Penthouse L, Brooklyn NY / $10 in cash per 4 quarterly issues / Amongst the usual delights of Fred's paean to America's favorite borough – city history, photos of intriguing architecture and a self-parodying lexicon – Fred adds Brooklynized versions of various fantastic tales: The Wizard of Oz as set on Flatbush Avenue, Pinocchio in Bensonhurst, "The Ant & the Grasshopper", "Jack & the Beanstalk", "Stone Soup". In Brooklyn they think Mother is only half of Ms. Goose's title. Favorite photos this time: the UFO graffiti, the abandoned Cook mansion (someone ought to spend a coupla million and turn that cool old edifice into a B&B), an actual yellow semi-submarine, and a still from the near-nadir of Bela Lugosi's career: BL Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla, one of the worst movies of all time. Great issue of one of the best non-SF zines; did Brooklyn's first tornado in 118 years faze the editor? Fuhgeddaboudit!

Andy Hooper, Randy Byers, carl juarez, Seattle WA / fanmailaph@aol.com / $3.50@ / Editors requests three copies of any zine sent in trade / Chunga is a perfectly produced, impeccably written, splendidly illustrated paean to its editors' collective insanity, a Hugo nominee in the past bound to be such again. Fronted by an outstanding illo by Marc Schirmeister (why hasn't this bwah made the Hugo ballot?), this issue concentrates on movie criticism. It features thoughtful dissertations on the '05 remake of James Whale's Call of Cthulhu, Woody Guthrie's appearance in the Three Mesquiteers masterpiece, The Afrika Kowboys, Kubrick's epic version of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and more. (A clue for the clueless: don't bother with IMDB.) Among the critics, Stu Shiffman, Bob Webber, Byers and Hooper. Wil Tenino's piece on SF porn, dealing with real if regrettable movies (I've actually seen Sex World), seems almost tame by comparison. Exceptional lettercol yclept "Ye Iron Pigge".

John Boardman, Brooklyn NY / Apa-Q / The Dagon template goes like so: cover is a collage of comic strips, often political; inside cover is a flyer for a mystical ripoff (crystals, Bermuda triangle, this time dream interpretation through art, which – frankly – sounds OK to me); the Colin Ferguson Award to a warmonger in the genre (Dave Grossman this time); a page of amusing – and often compelling – rants on topics various & sundry (the Terror Watch List, those who insist Pluto is still a planet, etc.); two pages of "PATRIOTISM IS", listing various offenses to human decency that true patriotism definitely is not, such as the tasering of John Kerry's noisy student questioner and the torture of John Walker Lindh; Apa-Q financial notes; fannish natter (as "A Mess of Pottage"). John's account of the October First Saturday club meeting includes several names I know, including former LASFAPAn Marc Glasser and – if I have the right lady – Elyse Rosenstein, whom I met at a New Year's Eve party some years back and who boasted the second most beautiful mane of red hair I've ever seen. Suh-EYE! The woman sporting the most beautiful crimson pate I've ever seen recently sent me a photo from our 40^th year high school reunion: she's gone completely white. Blasphemy!

John Hertz, L.A. CA / available for $5 donation to the fan funds / To one familiar with John's relatively brief comments in Vanamonde (infra), D&J is a revelation – longer pieces, written for various genzines, the lamented Twink and Emerald City, Argentus, Mimosa, Trap Door, and so forth. Prepared for John's Fan GoH stint at the 2005 Westercon, it is splendid stuff. Hertz writes with verve and style. My favorite pieces here deal with Bruce Pelz, the 2001 worldcon masquerade, and Eleanor Cameron's Mushroom Planet books (I read the second volume first. What did I know?). Funny, incisive, rich with love of the genre and its people … t'were up to me, Hertz would stay on the Fan Writer Hugo shortlist until fandom woke up and gave him the thing!

Ivan Geisler & Sherry Johnson, Arvado CO / Editor@DASFA/com / The monthly Denver clubzine is very colorful on-line with some purty pictures spread amongst the meeting and party schedules and news. Fred Cleaver's reviews, a constant feature of DASFAx, are as sharp as ever (that Emshwiller bio sounds irresistible). The editor, in his column, talks up current celestial glories – and there have been a few, Mars' close approach, Comet Holmes, a February lunar eclipse – a good view dependent, always, upon good weather. Apparently they have a problem with clouds a mile in the sky.

Milt Stevens, c/o LASFS, 11513 Burbank Blvd., N. Hollywood CA 91601 / www.lasfs.org / PDF versions available at http://barrydgold.home.comcast.net/deprof.html / LASFS has been undergoing a spate of elections and self-appraisal. At a December meeting Milt was among those elected to the Board of Directors and the club decided to adopt a 10-year plan designed to maximize its positive impact on science fiction. That's a long way from the chocolate-covered manhole cover!

Chris Garcia, Garcia@computerhistory.org / On eFanzines / The youthful TAFF winner for 2008 is incredibly prolific; by the time you read this, TDT will be deep into the 160s. #157, its cover bedecked with pictures of the French smart car, starts with The editor's reactions to the new listings on the National Film Registry, many from the thirties. I'm embarrassed at how few I've seen. Cheryl Morgan contributes a crazy fanfic; Frank Wu offers some sharp predictions on China's future. Good stuff, but it's Chris' responses in the lettercol that really lift the energy and spirit of the zine. A recent issue featured a Ditmar cover, one of the great Aussie's first appearances on this side of the Pond.

Steve & Sue Francis, sjf138@aol.com, sfsue@aol.com / Campaign letter by candidates for the Down Under Fan Fund, accompanied by a ballot. Steve & Sue, winners of the Rebel Award and former chairs of Louisville's Rivercon, are running against Murray Moore for the delegacy, and as all three are superb contenders and friends, I'm not going public with my vote.

Earl Kemp, earlkemp@citlink.net / eFanzines.com / Subtitled the 2007 Annual, eI35 opens with a cool Steve Stiles cover mixing Disney with Lovecraft, and closes with a Stiles portfolio; I'm with Earl, Steve is decades overdue for a Hugo. Strongest item in this wonderful electronic zine – and one of the best read this whole season – is Michael Moorcock's memoir, "A Child's Christmas in the Blitz", with photos selected by Jim Linwood. It is superbly written (of course) and extraordinarily moving. Of course one is reminded of the great film Hope & Glory. Mike Ashley writes – also very well – about his discovery of fandom in "Hooked". Not enough about Earl himself here, but what's here is fine.

Mike Glyer, Monrovia CA / Mikeglyer@cs.com / Another superb issue of the standard in SF newszines, a multiple Hugo winner that has grown better with the years. News, of course, is primary – e.g., Fans Escape San Diego Fires, Chris Garcia wins Nobel Prize, Doris Lessing wins TAFF (do I have that right?) – Terry Jeeves' Rotsler Award is hailed, with the first photo of the great Jeeves I've ever seen. The obits mention Reinhardt, and my world is rocked once more. In mentioning the 2007 Hugo, Mike jumps into the mini-controversy over Nippon's Ultraman design; he likes the thing. (Me too.) His delight in the success of his wife's book on Lewis and Tolkien makes the page dance. Then con reports take over – John Hertz on Westercon, Mike himself on MythCon in Berkeley, Tuckercon by Keith Stokes, Ditto/ArtCon by Hope Leibowitz, NovaCon by Keith Bacon (who is everywhere these days). More excellent photos abound. Most interesting item in "The Fanivore", Mike's lettercol, deals with the efforts to stop the ridiculous annual joke in the Best Fan Writer category; was nominating a second professional, John Scalzi, the right way to stop Langford?

Brant Kresovich, P.O. Box 404, Getzville NY 14068-0404 / kresovich@hotmail.com / $2, LOC, or trade /

Tim Lane, c/o FOSFA, P.O. Box 37281, Louisville KY 40233-7281 / $4 / Tim's strengths are obvious: a deep intelligence and curiosity, and in person, he is a friendly and often funny companion. Alas, his writings in Fosfax often betray his weaknesses: he's a projector and a name-caller. He uses every hateful device at his command to smear the good faith of those he feels oppose his point of view. So unfortunate. I never tire of reading his reviews, which often border on brilliance. His review of a book on the disputed authorship of Shakespeare's plays is the best analysis of the issue I've heard since Greg Benford's. His notice of The Secret Trial of Robert E, Lee makes me drool for the book. I can even stand to be challenged by Lane's political arguments. For instance, his excellent article on the very real difference between "intelligent design" and creationism reminds us not to mock the need of ID believers for faith in a benevolent God. But such is Timmy's loathing of that amorphous enemy known as "liberals" that his invective about them is – at least -- over the top. I imagine he's only joking when he refers to Benedict Arnold as a "premature liberal" (I'm sure his mother carried him full term), but sometimes he crosses a very serious line. For instance, in discussing the election of Louisiana's new governor, Bobby Jindal, a Republican of Indian descent, he states "liberal Democrats had no hesitation using racial and religious bigotry against Jindal, such bigotry being acceptable to liberals in a good cause." What is he talking about? I was in Louisiana during Jindal's campaign, and while I admit to not trusting the man, and to a belief that he'll slight the desperate city of New Orleans, I never saw or heard or smelled the slightest slur against Jindal for racial reasons, and the only reference to his vaunted Christianity I heard was his own. Where does Tim get his information? Most personally, there's his response to a former issue of TZD, where he accuses me – without a trace of jokery – of simply hating conservatives. That's a slander I do not have to abide. Lane and I share a friendship with conservative Joe Major. I number many conservatives in my family – I mentioned my uncle in The Antipodal Route – and a bunch among my bro's in Southern fandom. You can read at the head of this issue about one such man, right-wing all the way, whom I loved and admired as much as any fan I have ever known. I'd hate to forgo what I've said about wanting to see every fanzine published in English and tell Timmy to save himself postage, but really, enough is too much.

Michelle Zellich, Fenton MO/ mzellich@csc.com OR michelle@zellich.com / $10/year / Thick, jolly, colorful zine of cartoons, reprints, birthdays, news, photos, reviews, anything else the wonderful editor can get her hands on to share with her fellow members of the St. Louis SF Society. I didn't know Algis Budrys shared a birthday with Elvis! There's an insightful (if infuriating) interview with Ridley Scott about the ultimate edition of Blade Runner (by imagining Deckard as a replicant, he shows he missed the whole point of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?); there's a rich section of science stuff (sunshine explained!); there's a review by Tim Bolgeo of the NASFiC Michelle and husband Rich put on last summer (note: I needed years to learn myself that "erstwhile" means "former"); there are reviews by Michelle (she likes the 7^th Harry Potter, as did we). The December number announces the Zs' New Year's Eve party, prints recipes, gives more science news (new lakes found on Titan!), media notes, and prints several eulogies for Hank Reinhardt, greatly appreciated by his rebel friends. A helluva spirit courses throughout this zine, the effort and the image of one of fandom's flowers. Love it.

NESFA, P.O. Box 809, Framingham MA 01701-0809 / info@nesfa.org / http://www.nesfa.org / Preparations for Boskone 45 are the lead stories in these two issues of the great Boston club's clubzine. The coordination of their efforts is astonishing – has there ever been a more together SF group? (But … what are they going to do with 8,000 Boskone 45 flyers?) (Note to Tony Lewis: please put me on the mailing list for your Nippon report.) Considering Terry One wonders if the Discworld convention advertised for Sept. 2009 will still feature Terry Pratchett, given his recent, sad medical announcement. A gripe: NESFA's on-line list of 2008 Hugo recommendations is effectively empty. What gives?

Bill Wright, 4 / St. Kilda, Vict. Australia / An epic publication from one of the great fans downunder, bedecked with a striking color cover from Ditmar, Australia's premiere fan artist. The text opens with an editorial praising three Americans who Bill believes could save both our country and his: Alan Greenspan, Hillary Clinton and Al Gore. (Well, maybe, but one correction: our next presidential election is in 2008, not 2009.) One can imagine Bill exulting over the last Aussie balloting, which pitched a W stooge out on his ear. After a page of really terrible Clerihews (the antithesis of John Hertz' haiku), Ditmar explains the prejudice against Friday the 13^th, and "Stefan" takes over with, among other goodies, a rundown of the "'arry Pothead" series. (He fails to mention that 'arry Pothead and the Goblet of Grog won the 'ugo.) A piece on the Brownlow Medal, apparently given to the year's outstanding "footy" star, carries a photo of a player with his date; one look at her and who needs a medal? Mailing comments on various ANZAPA mailings follow, and the entire entertaining and eclectic package is capped with "the worst poem in the world" and a page hailing Sputnik on its 50^th.

Janeen. Schouten@nrm.qld.gov.au / Janeen e-clues her correspondents/subscribers in on media and other news. Dead Zone canceled – I Am Legend bursting through the roof (I found it pretty good) – film versions of Thor and Rendezvous with Rama pending – Star Trek XI – effects of the Writers' Guild strike on forthcoming shows – and so on. If Janeen misses anything in her frequent e-mails, t'ain't much.

Henry Welch, Grafton WI / mailto:welch@msoe.edu / $1.50 @ / Another amazing Schirmeister cover atop this issue; peacenik girls did indeed look that nice. Henry reveals that he's almost done with law school and has begun interviewing for legal jobs. (Internet law! Unknown when I went to school 20 years ago!) His trip for that purpose to Minneapolis included a fortuitous convention stop. Chris Garcia on two loves he kept secret during high school, a girl named Lee and an oeuvre named Philip Jose Farmer (I'm shocked; no high schooler should be allowed in the same house as A Feast Unknown). Sue Welch describes walking the magnificent Mackinac Bridge (we are invited to join her there on 9-1-08). Jim Sullivan suggests enlisting senior citizens to guard our Mexican border, not seriously, and Gene Stewart hits on the "wired and fried" synaptic revolution. A short installment of Terry Jeeves' war memoirs, possibly the last, describes his dismobment [sic], reminiscent of The Best Years of Our Lives. #127 comes in fronted by a beautiful color Alan White illo, its effect muted by the green paper Knarl prints on. His job search in Silicon Valley promises much more green paper. Alex Slate proffers a stream-of-consciousness ponder on the value of money and the levels of charity, Tom Sadler talks about a famous ancestor, Sullivan gasses us with a piece on "obesity riots," and Terry Jeeves' "Carry On" series carries on post-WWII. The usual chatty, comfy lettercol finishes matters; Eeb Frohvet's "tranquilityite" sounds like a devastating argument to the wackmoid Moon conspiracies. Good zine, TKK; Knarl packs in variety with consistently readable results.

Jerry Kaufman & Suzanne Tompkins, P.O. Box 25075, Seattle WA 98165 / littlebrooklocs@aol.com / also on eFanzines / Great Stiles artwork fore and aft and, in collaboration with Rotsler, in-between – his supporters are keeping Steve in the fore as Hugo ballot time rolls around. The editors of Littlebrook call their zine a "journal of Popular Culture", a label they seek to deserve through a content of varied subject matter: Sherlock Holmes, westerns, movies … even an original play. It's physics that interests Jerry in his opening editorial, as he muses upon the spooky appeal of time travel stories – they bring the "biggest shivers of awe and wonder." Reading of an experiment in the "Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox," involving time travel between sub-atomic particles, he's moved to contribute financially to the research. Stu Shiffman's has both art and text contributions to this issue: the text is a piece on why silent cowboy star William S. Hart should have played Sherlock Holmes, as suggested by a wild Howard Waldrop story. Hart does look the part in mufti. Jim Young's piece on The Prestige and The Illusionist could begin a series on movie magicians: Vincent Price's Mad Magician was a superior horror film and of course, Houdini made a number of silent movies. William Breiding provides an appreciation of Johnny Paycheck, the "real hillbilly patron saint of juke joint honky-tonk" – it would have been at home in my last Challenger! After a short story from John Berry, Andy Hooper gives us "Avramania", a fannish play (beautifully illustrated by Shiffman) built on the works of Avram Davidson. I well remember that dour, brilliant, extremely funny gentleman. Ms. Tompkins, in her "Suziecol", laments the (very familiar) problems brought on by a recent blizzard, a human and personal capper to this very civilized, competent and adult publication.

Fred Lerner, White River Junction VT / fred.lerner@dartmouth.edu / FAPA and trade / Called to Copenhagen to lecture to library students, Fred also gave the Danes a well-received talk on science fiction. That's what happens to brilliant academics like Fred; I get to go to Plain Dealing, Louisiana to talk to weenie wigglers. Erudite and entertaining responses to Fred's earlier issues fill the rest of this one.

Mark Strickert, Pico Rivers CA / busnrail@yahoo.com / $2 or t.u. / Spanning the period from August through the beginning of November, Mark's natterzine begins with the noble sport of baseball – Sox not mentioned – before returning to his vocation in and out of mass transit. His fanzine reviews, "Zines and Heard", mentions TZD – many thanks – and a long-ago review of Challenger that I don't think I ever saw! The horrible SoCal firestorms, he reports, had no effect on Mark and Mark's people besides fouling up the air. The 83^rd issue accompanied Mark's Christmas card, and sums up 2007 month by month. I loved the lines from "Deck Us All with Boston Charlie" that conclude the issue.

MidSouth Science and Fiction Conventions, Inc., P.O. Box 11446, Memphis TN 38111 / www.midsouthcon.org / Four-page flyer for a major regional with a guest list including Eric Flint, Bob Eggleton, Ben Bova and – a special delight – Len Wein, creator of Swamp Thing and Wolverine and a righteous soul. La belle and I attended a MSC some years back and must say, the con is heavy on the gaming, but chairman Greg Bridges has been a trufan since the early '70s and remains so today. Whatever happened to Memphen?

Evelyn C. Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net / http://www. geocities. com/evelynleeper / Subscribe at mtvoid-subscribe@yahoogroups / This is an October issue; surely there have been others since. I hope the Leepers catch me up on their e-zine, since Mark's comments here on reviving dead languages and the most non-SF lawyer movie Michael Clayton are excellent. I never heard of the Conan Doyle book they review.

Randy Robbins, P.O. Box 17131, Anaheim CA 92817-7131 / "$2, or a few stamps, or a nice letter" /

Mike Kennedy, c/o North Alabama SF Association, P.O. Box 4857, Huntsville AL 35815-4857 / nasfa.shuttle@con-stellation.org / $1.50@, $10/year / The Shuttle sports the most comprehensive genre awards news being published. Where else would we find out about the Spike TV Scream Awards – the Endeavour Award, based in the distant Pacific Northwest – or that an asteroid has been named for George Takei? Herein find a nifty article from Mike Resnick about the many incarnations of Batman (Robin: a mistake in 1940, a mistake now), a report with (tiny) photos on OutSideCon/DSC (great food, and that's all I'll say about it), chapters of PieEyed Dragon's ongoing fantasy novel, eulogies for Reinhardt and 'Nooga fan Sandy McDade, and a bewildered reference to Buster Douglas which earned a friendly rebuke from yours truly, printed in the December issue. I'll never forget watching Buster beat the fool out of Mike Tyson!

Reese, skywise@bellsouth.net / This e-zine is a grand service for subscribers, but it needs a name. Link after link – more links than a suit of armor. Make the proper click and you'll learn about Robert Goulet (who died on the same day, and at the same age – 73 – as Hank Reinhardt), the new X-Files movie, Allen Steele's next installment in the Coyote series, the forthcoming novel in the Ringworld saga, an animated Gahan Wilson cartoon, why SFers should gloat over Doris Lessing's Nobel Prize (one for Arthur C. Clarke would be better), black holes, galactic formation, Neanderthals, hobbits, robots … and club cookbooks for sale!

Dale Speirs, Box 6830, Calgary, Alberta, T2P 2E7 Canada / $3 @ or. / Dale eschews SF and fantasy to take on no less a topic than The Origin of Life, raging from a discussion of panspermia – the idea that life did not begin on Earth but was imported here from another realm – to autocatalytic molecules (right- and left-handed), the triose–ammonia reaction and, no kidding, common clay. (No wonder Mike Huckabee is a creationist.) I had no idea Speirs was so well-informed; such accessible, entertaining, and enlightening science is invaluable. In 64.1A (I'll never make sense of Dale's numbering) he shifts his attention to the literary, with an excellent essay on humorist Stephen Leacock, creator of the phrase "riding off madly in all directions" and author of books on Arctic exploration and "Social Credit Theory," an atypically dismal topic for this Benchley-esque figure.

David Burton, Lawrence IN / catchpenny@mw.net / PDF only, from e.Fanzines.com /

Shelby Vick, www.planetarystories.com / "The Return of Space Opera", reads the logo on the great color cover by Ross Chamberlain. Follows the best fiction published in fanzines (Jerry Page's "The Assassin" is one of several stories by the Rebel/Phoenix/Rubble winner; Taral Wayne also contributes). Lee Gold's "dialog" with Ben Stein deals with Christmas' impact on Jews. A winner is chosen in an ongoing contest to recreate a classic pulp cover. Shelvy has been at this a long time and this is spiffy skiffy stuff. Be sure to check out previous issues, too: nothing else out there like it.

Steve Davies, Reading, Berks U.K.; Alison Scott, London U.K.; Mike Scott, Chester U.K. / locs@plokta.com / http://www.plokta.com

Tom Sadler, Owenton, KY / thomasdsad@copper.net / I thought Tom had changed his title, but he disliked the switch, so the same old logo sits atop the cover of this new issue. Much has changed, though, as shown by the photos and drawings sharing that cover space: pictures of monuments and buildings from Tom's new home in the great state of Kentucky. Editorially apologizing for an "ass-kissing" positive review of a Gene Wolfe novel (he has nothing to apologize for) and bombing the boring film version of The Last Mimsy. After a good article on historical fiction by Bob Sabella, Tom returns with a horrifying tale of his moving troubles – that is, his problems changing addresses – and a piece on the difference between the real world and the real science fiction world for which he yearns. The lettercol is brief but, thanks to contributors like Joe Major and the ever-more-rare E.B. Frohvet, provocative. A final note on the successful conclusion of the Sadler moving saga completes matters. I owe Tom an article or at least a LOC; I'll get right to it.

Tim Bolgeo, tbolgeo@att.net / Tim's family recently suffered the loss of his mother-in-law. His weekly e-zine soldiers on, with awful jokes, awful-ler politics, interesting science, inexhaustible enthusiasm. Tim's most recent issue prints Christmas poems by and about G.I.s, discuss Harry Potter and Hobbit movie news, talks nuclear engineering, challenges us with the "right foot test" (try to keep your foot circling clockwise while making a "6" with your right hand), talks Janie Lynn Spears and tries to argue against global warming. Right wing politics and bad jokes also slide in, but the dominant image from the latest issue is Santa.

Rich Coad, Santa Rosa CA / Attractive new entry apparently meant to counter a dearth of sercon fanzines, although I'd argue that there's some fine sercon material out there (like Chris Garcia, I name Some Fantastic). After a clever Dan Steffan cover, Rich exults over Doris Lessing's Nobel Prize as a victory for the SF genre; I'd prefer an award to Sir Arthur, but who am I to argue with the King of Sweden? Cormac McCarthy's The Road, a Pulitzer winner, is praised, as are the works of Jay Lake, while the inexpressibly wimpy Last Mimsy, on the other hand, is justly condemned. Randy Byers begins matters writing about "EoSF", the stuff before Amazing, and Edison's Conquest of Mars, which desperately needs to be reprinted. Bruce Townley follows with a witty article on H. P. Lovecraft and Robert Lichtman writes on HPL's non-fiction. One wonders if these worthies ever saw HPL, Meade Frierson's epic homage. (Where did that Classics Illustrated cover come from?) Returning to the wizard of Menlo Park, Bill Burns contributes a terrific squib on Edison's electric pen, surely one of his most obscure inventions, but which led to the development of the mimeograph and thousands of lives wasted in publishing fanzines. The issue concludes with a nice tribute to Cele Goldsmith, the first in a series devoted to SF's great editors. Nice debut!

Matthew Appleton, Alexandria VA / www.somefantastic.us / primarily via PDF, free, but $2@ for printed copies

Randy Cleary, Madison AL / rbcleary@bellsouth.net / www.southernfandom.com / SFC membership $15 annually / As shown by the editor's gruesome cover, this issue of the SFC newszine is laden with sorrow; memorials to Hank Reinhardt by me and Jerry Page and mentions of the deaths of Sandy McDade and the former Lou Moore are its focus. Also here, Tom Feller's zine and convention listings (where did all those Southern cons come from?), and a lettercol featuring Chorus stalwarts Penney and Birkhead as well as rare, welcome notes from Tim Marion and Joy Smith. Salutes to Randy as he nears the finish of his stewardship of the SFC; I had the job once and know how challenging it is, and he done good.

Sandi Marie McLaughlin, OSFS, Ottawa ON Canada / osfs@ncf.ca / memberships or trade / This issue of Ottawa's colorful clubzine, which is distributed by e-mail, is dominated by preparation for OSFS' Annual General Meeting and excellent science columns by Charles Mohapel and Ken Tapping.

Sue Jones, Flat 5, 32-33 Castle Street, Shrewsbury SY1 2BQ U.K. / sue.tortoise@ btinternet.com / www.tortoiseloft.com / editorial whim / Illness kept Sue from producing another Tortoise in 2007, but I must note her hand-made Christmas card, adorned with a personally-taken photo of a local cathedral in a snowfall. She did three versions, silver, gold, copper – ours was gold. Simply exquisite. Get well soon, Sue.

John Hertz, L.A. CA / Trade / One of the annual delights anticipated by long-time readers of John's Apa-L zine is seeing Brad Foster's new logo each January. Only now do we out-of-towners get to gaze upon that for 2007, and like all the rest, it's dandy. The content, as always, is witty and wise, mostly comments to previous Apa-L disties but also commentary on fandom and life. For extended examples of John's Hugo-nominated fan writing, see Dancing and Joking, supra.

Arnie Katz, Las Vegas NV / crossfire4@cox.net / On eFanzines / Third annish! Arnie has been engaged in a righteous campaign to draw Southern fans to Corflu Silver, the fanziners' convention his krewe is putting on next April. Here sits one rebel buck who needs no encouragement. If Rosy's teaching schedule and money, that eternal bugaboo, cooperate, we're there, dude. But I fear those are massive "if"s. Anyway, after hailing Chris Garcia's TAFF victory, Arnie explains "Nydahl's Disease" and how electronic publishing has effectively immunized him against this dread financial malady, and ponders his Last Words (my suggestion: "I leave all of my money and possessions to Guy H. Lillian III"). Shelby Vick's richly imagined prizefight between Paper and Electronic Fanzines shows that Shelby can still wield a wicked keyboard. Steve Stiles ponders Luv, Joe Fillinger shares some wonderful photos from 1952's MidWestCon (Perdita Lily was cute!), Southern newcomer Warren Buff writes about neckties (!), John Purcell recalls golden days in Minneapolis, Vegas artist Ross Chamberlain explains a famous costume, and the lettercol is extensive and fascinating – keying, at least here & there, on the boundaries of Southern fandom. Spread o'er all, beautiful, colorful art. And there will be more of the same quality next week.

Robert Sabella, bsabella@optonline.net / at eFanzines / Incorporating Bob's "Out of the Depths", personal natter, "Passing Scene", a diary of the period since his last issue, "Wondrous Stories", his sercon review section, and "Halcyon Days", his lettercol. Before Bob went entirely on-line, he used to publish four separate zines! A teacher, Bob's insight into his profession is valuable (someday I must meet Fei Fei!), and I'm grateful to him for recalling the writing of Poul Anderson. I miss that guy and I miss regular doses of his work. Robert Davis adds to Bob's erudite and thoughtful perspective with a piece on an unknown seminal SF editor, Bob Davis. Nice to see Brent Kresovich in the lettercol; I miss his zine. Finally, after convincing us of his wit and brainpower, Bob blows it all with some of the most righteously stupid blonde jokes I've ever read. "It said concentrate!"

Cathy Palmer-Lister, MonSFFA, P.O. Box 1186, Montreal, Quebec H2X 4A7 Canada / www.monsffa.com / cathypl@sympatico.ca /

Lindig Hall Harris, Asheville NC / Lindig17@gmail. com. NEW / lindigs books@charter.net / $3@ / Since Lindig's taking to the road in an RV, the address above is next to obsolete, and like many another faned, Lindig is abandoning paper and shifting her zine to the net. Contact her by e-mail. Her reports on the career of my beloved friend Chelsea Quinn Yarbro will apparently continue apace. Herein Lindig exults over the 20^th Saint-Germain vampire novel, and Quinn herself exults over her GoHship at Denver's MileHiCon. Lots of links to Yarbro reviews and press mentions, of which there can never be too many.

And there are even more on eFanzines (like Prolapse and WCSFAzine) I just couldn't get to! Who says our hobby is passé?

Christmas Day saw another terrible loss to my fannish community: Joey Grillot, friend and New Orleans neighbor, rest in peace, great buddy.

Everyone is urged to download and quickly utilize DUFF ballots. The ballots are easily available (one site is www.fanac.org/DUFF2008.pdf) and thanks to Jean Weber, PayPal is available.

A reworked version of my 2003 DUFF report, The Antipodal Route, remains available from this address. I'm cutting the price to $5. Every penny goes to DUFF!

This Zine Dump appearing near the change of the calendar, one duty alone remains: to wish each of you a smart, kind, strong, happy and prideful 2008.