TAFF TALK 6: an official Transatlantic Fan Fund bulletin from Dave Langford, 22 Northumberland Aye, Reading, Berks. RG2 7PW, UK. This rides with ANSIBLE 14 and is dated December 3, 1980. Distributed to all ANSIBLE subscribers in the UK and all voters in the 1980-81 TAFF race who cast their ballots via the European Administrator, otherwise known to the police as Dave Lang ford. The cartoon, depicting the process of identifying suitable TAFF candidates, is by Pete Lyon.
Let me fill the space to the bottom of the cartoon by reminding you that although the TAFF campaign for this year is over, random donations are very welcome at any time.
The final figures for the 1980-81 TAFF race are as follows --
Gary Farber: 43 votes Stu Shiffman: 79 votes 'Hold Over Funds': 2 votes After a telephonic conference with American Administrator Terry Hughes (during the course of which Terry had to shout a lot), I and he agreed these figures and thus declare Stu Shiffman to be TAFF delegate to Yorcon next Easter. Congratulations, Stu -- and good luck to you too, Gary. Here's a breakdown of the voting figures -- though I don't have the detailed analysis of North American voting.
Votes American Eurovotes: 1st 2nd 3rd blank GARY FARBER 38 7 28 4 6 STU SHIFFMAN 41 38 6 1 - 'Hold Over Funds' 2 - 7 28 10 I will not insult the intelligence of numberphiles by mentioning that 45 valid ballots were cast in Europe and 79 in America, the total of 124 being exactly the number cast in the previous race earlier this year. Gosh wow. One ballot arrived too late to be counted, over here: obviously this would have made no difference.
Stu now takes over the appalling responsibility of being NA Administrator for TAFF: his address is 19 Broadway Terrace #10, New York, NY 10040, USA. Write it down.
And a round of applause to hard-working outgoing administrator Terry Hughes, who can at last devote his time to the uncollated heaps of the 'latest' Mota which (sources inform me) have been lying round his apartment since about Nay. Thanks to Terry and North American supporters of TAFF (especially the suave fundraisers Joyce Scrivner and Jan Howard Finder), there's something like $1000 in the kitty over there for Stu's trip; the £600 or so I have here warrants a vote of thanks to an awfully huge number of people. Firstly, there are those who cast TAFF votes through me and sent donations (most contributions being gratifyingly more than the minimum voting fee of 50p) --
Michael Ashley
Chris Atkinson
Jim Barker
Chris Barlow
Harry Bell
Eric Bentcliffe
Allen Boyd-Newton
Geoff Cox
Alan Dorey
Paul Dormer
Malcolm Edwarde
Graham England
Colin Fine
Rune Forsgren
Keith Freeman
Mike Glyer
Roelof Goudriaan
Steven J Green
Eve Harvey
John Harvey
Steev Higgins
Martin Hoare
Coral Jackson
Rob Jackson
Graham James
Phil James
Naveed Khan
Paul Kincaid
Pete Lyon
Peter Mabey
Ian Maule
Janice Maule
Chris Morgan
Pauline Morgan
Joseph Nicholas
Darroll Pardoe
Andy Porter
David Pringle
Rochelle Reynolds
Peter Roberts
Bob Shaw
Norman Shorrock
Peter Singleton
Brian Smith
Kevin Smith
Roger Waddington
Peter Weston
And now, with cosmic impartiality, to draw lots and select the winner of the TAFF Eurovoters' Raffle (pulls token from box of old Bingo numbers, counts down list with lips moving and tongue protruding): Bloody hell. Amid cries of 'Fix, fix! I declare Alan Dorey the raffle winner, and he can take his choice of the two new hardcover books mentioned last time around. Don't forget to vote in the coming TAFF race -- nominations open at Easter and will close around midsummer, and this time the object is to send a European fan to the Chicago worldcon in 1932.
Must try to mention and humbly thank as many as possible of the TAFF benefactors who've donated via me -- even though a good many are anonymous or untraceable, like the buyers of incredible rubbish at con auctions. Thanks, then, to Rog Peyton for his astonishing auctioning abilities; to the Birmingham SF Group and Novacon for their large and welcome donation; to David Row, Michael Parry, Harry Andruschak, William Rotsler, Marie Bartlett, Jim Barker, Arnold Akien and Peter Weston for donations of saleable goodies; to Chris Morgan for helping sell Taff-Ddu and Jim Barker again for doing half the work on it; and thanks in respect of miscellaneous purchases and donations to this doubtless incomplete list from my notebook: Arnold Akien, Peter Roberts, Kaj Harju, Gwen Funnell, Jon Waite, Denis Scheck, Andy Richards, J. Allison, Paul Hurtley, M.W. Southworth, R.T. Bean, Pieria 28 members, Andrew Stephenson, John Dallman, P. Holdsworth, Dave Talbot, Rog Palmer, Geoff Boswell, Marcus Rowland, Roger Sjölander, Martin Tudor, Liese Philips, Neil J Mackie. And the Novacon auction brought in just over £115 -- gosh wow!
Prospective European TAFF candidates should start seeking fame and nominators on both sides of the Atlantic as soon as they can. Everybody else -- well, if you think X should stand, tell him/her and offer to be a nominator. Goodies for sale in aid of TAFF are as last time (photos and badges all gone, though): more soon.
Dave Langford