TAFFluvia 7


TAFFLUVIA 7 August 1986 fwa:chfc/babel-17

Snappier than The Sewanee Review, more nakedly commercial than Locus, harder-hitting than the SFRA Newsletter, it's yet another issue of the most frequent fannish newszine in the United States, from North American Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund administrators PATRICK & TERESA NIELSEN HAYDEN at 75 Fairview #2D, New York NY 10040 (212) 942-6832. European TAFF administrator: GREG PICKERSGILL, 7A Lawrence Road, South Ealing, London W5 4XJ. As ever, TAFFLUVIA may be had for stamps, donations to TAFF, or other reasonable and sufficient demonstrations of continued interest in the Fund. Again, we intone the sacred protocols (ConFederation committee please note spelling of previous word): When voting, buying fanzines, or for any other reason giving money to TAFF, please make checks or money orders payable to the Nielsen Haydens, not to "TAFF," and make them payable in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. financial institution. Otherwise, send cash; it's easier to negotiate. Rilly Spiff Cartoon: Harry Bell; this issue's format in tribute to a famous fanzine of the long-forgotten past. (Name it and win a completely useless prize!) Late-breaking news: MacArthur Foundation grant won by


MARCHING THROUGH GEORGIA

Greg Pickersgill, the 1986 TAFF delegate, will arrive with Linda Pickersgill in New York on Saturday, 23 August 1986. They'll tour the city and visit local fans until the following Wednesday, when they and the Nielsen Haydens will board an early-morning flight for Atlanta and the Worldcon. After ConFederation Greg and Linda will proceed to the Bay Area, where they'll visit for a week or so; from there, Linda will return to the UK while Greg goes on to Seattle. After this, Greg's itinerary becomes indeterminate, though fans in Minneapolis, Madison, and other metropoli have expressed interest in hosting him. A sojourn in the Washington, DC area seems likely, as does a return engagement in New York. "Lemme, y'know, scope the scene, like," was his policy statement when last interviewed. "Suss it out. No hurry. Argh woggle zuzzum. Can't stop now." We at North American TAFF HQ believe in indulging our new TAFF delegates through these difficult periods of transition. To make suggestions, or offer tips on the provenance of zuzzums, write us, or talk to Greg at Worldcon.

Regarding that convention, TAFF-related events will of course include an interview with Mr. Pickersgill (Ted White, interviewer; Sunday at 1 pm), followed by the customary TAFF! DUFF auction on Sunday at 3; a few hours later, at 7 pm when just everyone is struggling into their Masquerade duds, Greg himself will conduct a special auction of rare old British fanzines to benefit the European TAFF fund -- always an especially hard-up institution, since the apparent discretionary income of your average British fan is roughly enough to support a frugal armadillo. So attend, with billfolds open and judgement on hold; but don't neglect the main fan-fund auction, it being the traditional Worldcon venue for the obtaining of treasures for pennies, and worthless junk for sums undreamt-of.

Of related interest at ConFederation will be a panel on Thursday at 5 pm, "The Difference: Secret Protocols of British Fandom," featuring Linda Pickersgill, Lucy Huntzinger, and SF godfather-figure Malcolm Edwards. PNH will be moderating and thus won't be talking much, but M. Edweeds has promised to sneer at all concerned in an adequately picturesque fashion. Be there, or miss it.

Finally, it's worth noting that ConFederation's Fan Guest of Honor, Terry Carr, won TAFF in 1965, and that while Toastmaster Bob Shaw lost the 1969 race, this nonetheless resulted in his being brought over in 1971 on the first of several special Shaw Funds. Ah, but our historical roots do run wide and deep, don't they just. Wide and deep.

THE COMING RACE

Nominations will soon be open for the 1986-87 TAFF election, which will send a North American fan to Brighton, England for Conspiracy '87, the 45th World Science Fiction Convention, 27 August through 1 September 1987. Aside from the ineffable privilege of joining what appears to be becoming an extensive peerage, Conspiracy's list of Honored Guests, the lucky inheritor of the TAFF mantle will further be extensively feted across the length and breadth of several pleasant British neighborhoods, plied with such hospitality as their hosts deem sufficient to render them at least amusing, and mailed home charged with the duty of steering TAFF through yet another two years of adventurous existence. This means administering the North American end of the following two elections while sacrificing most of the rest of your fanac- energy raising money to finance all of this hoopla. Applicants still interested in this time-tested method of self-inflicted fafiation ("Results Guaranteed, or You Give Us The Money Back") may now wish to contemplate the following set of deadlines:

Nominations open: September 15, 1986
Nominations close: October 31, 1986
Ballots available: November 7, 1986
Voting closes: March 14, 1987

To appear on the ballot, potential candidates must ensure that signed nominations from five separate people -- two from Europe and three from North America -- reach the North American administrators by October 31, 1986. In addition, candidates must provide a platform of 100 words or less, for reproduction on the ballot form; $5 as an earnest of serious intent; and a signed statement indicating that if elected, they will serve ... minimally, this "service" means getting to Conspiracy '87, and making sure the next two elections happen, all barring Acts of God. NB for the indecisive: In TAFF's customary practice, "Acts of God" are not generally considered to include your suddenly saying "I changed my mind" or "Sorry, I've decided to buy a house instead", etc. Nor will the administrators look with indulgent fondness on wacky outbursts of irrepressible fannishness such as, say, pulling out in mid-race. TAFF is stern. Serious biz. You dig.

Other important NB: DO NOT SEND NOMINATIONS OR OTHER PAPERWORK TO GREG PICKERSGILL OR ROB HANSEN. Rob, now retired from TAFF for a life of draftsmanship and lotus-eating, will contrive to lose any and all such mail, while Greg doesn't expect to return to the UK until after the nominating period ends. Send it all, including nominations from Europeans, to P & T Nielsen Hayden, and do it by 31 October 1986. No extensions. This is not a "postmark" deadline. Et cetera. Ballots will be distributed with the next TAFFLUVIA, to be published in early November; they will likely be available as well through the usual other channels.

HOUSEKEEPING

Following the TAFF election just past, ballots were received late from Len Bailes, John Bartelt, David Bratman, Greg Benford, Covert J. Beach, Erik Biever, Jane Hawkins, Ross Pavlac, Bruce Pelz, Kate Schaefer, and Taral, thus proving our theory that the local post office delivers the month's mail in reverse alphabetical order. Deadline for the receipt of votes was, you 11 recall, May 15th; the earliest postmark on these tardy ballots was May 8th, the latest May 14th. You'll also recall that it was a close race, but be assured that even had they all come in on time, the result would have remained the same.

Meanwhile, on the European side all the ballots reached Rob Hansen in time, thus providing silent commentary on the relative merits of our postal systems. (And on the other hand, try making a call from a public phone in London sometime. Hmf.) For the record, the following Europeans voted in the last TAFF race: Arnold Aiken, Graham Andrews, Paul Annis, Hazel Ashworth, Mal Ashworth, Chris Atkinson, Chris Bailey, Harry Bell, Tony Berry, Denis Bridoux, Robert Brown, Avedon Carol, Vin[c] Clarke, Richard Cooper, Arthur Cruttenden, John Dallman, Mike Dickinson, Alan Dorey, Rochelle Dorey, Lilian Edwards, Malcolm Edwards, Holger Eliasson, Helen Eling, Stan Eling, Dave Ellis, Mike Ford, Jorgen Forsberg, Susan Francis, Keith Freeman, Abi Frost, Paul "Gamma" Gamble, Ron Gemell, Roelof Goudrisan, Rob Gregg, Jackie Gresham, David Griffin, Michael Hamilton, Kaj Harju, Alun Harries, Chuck Harris, Joy Hibbert, Malcolm Hodkin, Dave Hodson, Dave Holmes, Anders Holstrom, Gordon Hundley, Tim Ilingworth, Rob Jackson, Linda James, Phil James, John Jarrold, Kate Jeary, Roz Kaveney, Debbi Kerr, Paul Kincaid, Christina Lake, Ken Lake, Jan Lake, Dave Langford, Hazel Langford, Ethel Lindsay, Pete Lyon, Krsto A. Mazuranic, Lynne Ann Morse, Caroline Mullan, Joseph Nicholas, Anne Page, Rog Peyton, Bernie Peek, Linda Pickersgill, Simon Polley, Maureen Porter, David Pringle, Nigel E. Richardson, Tony Rickerby, Jimmy Robertson, Roger Robinson, Andrew Rose, Dave Rowley, Mike Scantlebury, Bob Shaw, D. M. Sherwood, Cas Skelton, Paul Skelton, Diana Smith, Key Smith, Kate Solomon, Ylva Spangberg, Helen Starkey, John Steward, Alex Stewart, Chris Suslowicz, Peter-Fred Thompson, Arthur "ATom" Thomson, Martin Tudor, Paul Vincent, Ashley Watkins, Pam Wells, D. West, Peter Weston, Owen Whiteoak, Madeleine Willis, Walt Willis, and Dave Wood. The difference between TAFF in North America and TAFF in Europe is that, in North America, all the candidates vote, presumably for themselves; whereas in Europe, without any fuss and without there being a Rule, or any sort of prior arrangement, none of them do.

THE MAIL AUCTION

Cycle #3: Bidders routed! Kim Huett cleans up! Flow of priceless old fanzines to Australia "must be staunched," officials plead! Tra la. The items themselves are in caps; the bidders are listed along with the amounts they bid, with the winning bidder's name and amount they bid underlined. When a tie transpired for the highest bid, the winner was decreed to be the person who first submitted that bid. Thus:

SCAB #4: Richard Brandt $2, Anne Poore $5, Kim Huett $7. VIBRATOR ff2: Richard Brandt $2. VISITOR'S PASS: Richard Brandt $3. START BREAKING UP: Robert Lichtman $6, Kim Huett $7, Len Bailes $7. TAPPEN #5: Cathy Doyle $5, Richard Brandt $7, Len Bailes $8, Anne Poore $10, Kim Huett $14. NOVACON 15 PROGRAMME PACKAGE, Richard Brandt $5. THE IMPROBABLE IRISH (Ace edition): Cathy Doyle $7, Richard Brandt $10, Anne Poore $10, Robert Lichtman $10, Dave Langford $20. NEBULA SCIENCE FICTION #11: Richard Brandt $5. NEBULA SCIENCE FICTION #32: Richard Brandt $5. MINUTES OF THE FIRST ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF WAPPPOTED: Patrick Nielsen Hayden $5. QUANDRY #8: Kim Huett $20. QUANDRY #10: Kim Huett $20. QUANDRY #11: Kim Huett $20. QUANDRY #13 (100 pp.): Kim Huett $35. QUANDRY #14: Kim Huett $20. BOONFARK #s 1-8 (the complete set): Anne Poore $30. Which, once again, results in all the fanzines put up for auction having sold -- some at real bargain prices, yow. Thank you all very much.

All the items listed above have been shipped to the winners, who owe TAFF the following sums as a result: PNH $5, Len Bailes $7, Dave Langford $20, Richard Brandt $20, Anne Poore $30, Kim Huett $136.

Cycle #4 of the great ongoing mail auction, then, is hereby inaugurated. And it's a short list this time; among other things, we're currently trying to accumulate interesting material for the Worldcon auction (see page 1). But there are two goodies we want to offer here. As ever, the progress of bidding will be reported in our next issue, and we'll wrap it up in the issue after that. By our calculations, that ought to leave us with just enough time to end our administration with a one-step Cycle #5 -- hold your breaths. Meanwhile, though, the two items in question:

AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW was the critical fanzine of the 1960s in SF; as an unsolicited conversational testimonial from Chip Delany has it, the people who published it simply had no idea how central their fanzine had become to the entire SF community. All that editor John Bangsund seemed to be trying for was an entertaining, lively fanzine which intelligently discussed science fiction; in the process, though, through such rare faculties as taste, writing ability, editorial judgement, and a sense of fun, he managed to produce one of the few magazines about SF ever to transcend the limitations of both fannishness and academicism.

Contributors to these issues include James Blish, George Turner, John Foyster, Michael Moorcock, Bob Toomey, John Baxter, Sam Moskowitz, Lee Harding, Franz Rottensteiner, Bruce Gillespie, Ursula K. Le Gum, Brian Aldiss, and of course Thomas Love Peacock. For sale in this bundle are issues 4, 16, 17, 19, and 20, all donated by Kim Huett and ranging from October 1966 through June 1969. No minimum bid need be set, since the Nielsen Haydens immediately bid $25 for the lot. We can, however, be outbid (due more to our usual lack of funds than to insufficient desire), so feel free to try.

The other item up for auction is one of only four extant paperbound copies of THE COMPLETE TWLL-DDU, issues 1 through 20, 1976 through 1983, signed, numbered (#3), and with an Introduction and Useful Notes by author and editor Dave Langford, 1980 TAFF winner and the most deserving Fanwriter Hugo winner since Sam Johnson beat out FANTASY TIMES in 1773. Thrill to "Waiting for Klingon" by Gene Rodenbeckett! Palpitate to the lurid "Spring Bank Holiday Party" report! Quiver to metafictional exegeses of exploding automobiles, Oxonian undergraduate trauma, and all the familiar tropes of that vast shared-world milieu known to its authors as "British fandom"! We read it cover-to-cover, nonstop, and we'd already read most of it before. Nor we will probably get the chance again; Robert Lichtman has already bid $20, and Velma Bowen topped him at $27. 231 pages, tightly bound, and as essential as WARHOON 28 but a damn sight rarer. Go for it.

Our next issue will be published in the first half of November. Keep those bids rolling in.

US

Insert standard sob story here. No project proceeds as planned; TAFF reports stagnate, promised articles fail to appear, overdue fanzines grow swollen with the massed bulk of aging contributions. All is broken on the great wheel that is narcolepsy, New York, and careers in book publishing. Bad scene all around.

Our mimeo broke. Wail.

We'd hoped to have the long-awaited IZZARD #9 out for the Worldcon; one of our spurs was the potential embarrassment of seeing Terry Carr's story therein "reprinted" in the NESFA Press Terry Carr volume, "reprinted" before its theoretical first publication in our fanzine. But both machinery and human tissue fail, sometimes -- most of the time, it seems. Curiously, though, the very act of surrendering to fate appears to have energized us; at the rate we're now finishing the fanzine, while it won't be out by ConFederation, it looks as if it will be out shortly after; and meanwhile the discharge of other backed-up fannish obligations proceeds at an unusually brisk rate. Still, it's clear our fannish machismo isn't what it once was; ultimately, fanac is a function of underemployment, and whatever our other problems it seems clear that our destiny in New York isn't to be underemployed. We wrote, and Warner Books published, a booklet on Eudora Welty's One Writer's Beginnings -- oh holy grail of Real Pro Publication. And meanwhile we continue to edit further volumes for Chelsea House. Other projects loom. We don't want to gafiate -- and certainly some commitments, like eventually publishing a proper TAFF report, are non-negotiable -- but, once the current underbrush is hacked away, it's clear a reassessment is overdue. Be kind. We'll keep you posted.