This is the penultimate European TAFF newsletter produced by current European administrator Porn Wells, of 24A Beech Road, Bowes Park, London, N11 2DA. Plans to sell up and move are continuing, but it looks like this address will hold good until the voting deadline ... just! After that, the European end of TAFF will be someone else's responsibility (yippee!) and my final newsletter will announce who that lucky winner is and the address to whom all correspondence, complaints and congratulations should be sent. My answering machine and I can still be reached on 081 889 0401. This issue dated April 1993, produced for Helicon: the Eastercon/Eurocon.
Ballots are trickling in now after an early rush, and the race is shaping up to be very exciting. One issue that has arisen is what to do with votes from people who live in countries with non-convertible currencies. This subject will need to be discussed in full by my successor, but for the current race donations from Western European fans can be arranged to cover any otherwise eligible ballots. I am pleased that fans from countries outside Britain are taking an active interest in this race, and hope that the problems of language and currency can be addressed over time to encourage more eligible fans to vote for and otherwise support TAFF in the future.
I was considering listing the names of people whose ballots I have received so far, but have decided to wait until the race is over and list all voters then in the traditional manner. If anyone would like to check whether they have voted yet or not, please do feel free to contact me. I'd also like to ask people not to wait until the last minute to send me their votes. The deadline will be strictly observed, and ballots which arrive late will NOT be counted, regardless of the date of posting. You have been warned.
So as not to encumber my successor with their continued administration, I have decided not to start any further Mail Auctions. Response in the current auctions is very gratifying, so I hope my successor decides to start a similar scheme. In the mean time, Rounds 2 and 3 are detailed over the page, along with the deadline for last minute bids on Round 3. Since some of the bids in this round are very high, payment in two instalments may be made if required.
But firstly, some acknowledgements. My thanks to Novacon auction helpers Roelof Goudriaan, Lynne Ann Morse, Tony Berry, Roger Robinson Brian Ameringen and Mike Siddall; also to all donors of material including Maureen Speller, paul Kincaid, Moira Shearman, and others too numerous to mention, and all bidders: the Novacon auction raised a total of £115.19. My thanks also to Martin Tudor for the sum of £48.50 raised from selling 'Pam Wells for TAFF' badges.
The second completed round of auction items raised a total of £42, with DNQ 34 going to Mark Nelson for £5, the set of Simon Ounsley fanzines to Elda Wheeler for £25, and BOONFARKs 4 and 7 to Cedric Knight for £6 each. The unsold BOONFARKs and GAMBITs will be going to Kim Huett for their reserve prices (£5 each).
The balance in the TAFF coffers currently stands at £1,769.91, and I'm hoping to be able to hand over in excess of £2,000 to my successor, as this is the amount I received from my predecessors. Will I manage it? Watch this space!
For those of you who are wondering if I'll write a trip report, the answer is yes ... all in good time. I always declared my main priorities to be raising the profile of TAFF in Britain and Europe, and devoting time to the fund's administration. But as my successor will doubtless discover, people seem more interested in what you aren't doing than in what you have accomplished. Perhaps this is just me feeling sorry for myself towards the end of my tenure; I have received compliments about my work as administrator (you know who you are, and thank you), and I am pleased with the general increase in interest in TAFF over the last year or so. Long may this trend continue.
Auction Items: Second Round
1. FANTHOLOGY 1981, edited and published by Patrick Nielsen Hayden, first printing: Summer 1982. Cover by Richard Bergeron, Interior art and lettering by Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Bhob Stewart, Ted White, and Sylvia Dees White. Articles by Alais Adverse, Chris Atkinson, Ted White, Avedon Carol, Eric Mayer, Kevin Smith, John Bangsund, Chris Priest, Dave Langford and Greg Benford, from Venom, Tappen, Pong, Harlot, Groggy, Dot, Warhoon, Energumen and Boonfark. Together with an introduction by Patrick Nielsen Hayden, a superlative collection of fanwriting. Minimum bid: £5. BIDS RECEIVED Mark Nelson £5.
2. NAPALM IN THE MORNING: issues 1, 2 and 3 of this personalzine by Joseph Nicholas, published in 1980 and 1981. Buy these and see whether Joseph really did write all that KTF stuff everybody still accuses him of. (Oh damn, he'll give me hell for using a preposition to end that last sentence with!) To be sold as a set. Minimum bid: £3. BIDS RECEIVED Mark Nelson £3, Robert Lichtman £5, Mark Nelson £6.
3. TALES FROM THE SLAG HEAP, edited by Abigail Frost and Helen Starkey, 1984. A great piece of time-binding, not to mention gossip, and That Cover -- which is a decidedly dodgy version of the Fannish Relationships Diagram which swept through British party fandom in 1984. Ah, such memories! Minimum bid: £1. BIDS RECEIVED Mark Nelson £1, Robert Lichtman £2.50, Cedric Knight £2.50.
4. MOOD 70, an anthology of British fanwriting produced for the 1979 Worldcon (Seacon 79), edited by Kevin Smith. Proving that only men could write decent stuff in the 70s, it contains articles by Graham Charnock, Malcolm Edwards, Rob Holdstock, Leroy Kettle, Dave Langford, Peter Nicholls and Greg Pickersgill. Pretty much a tribute to Rat Fandom. A4, very neatly produced, litho printed and slip-bound. Minimum bid: £3. BIDS RECEIVED Mark Nelson £3, Cedric Knight £4, Robert Lichtman £5.
5. Four issues of TWENTYTHIRD by Jimmy Robertson, and if I could work out the issue numbers I'd tell you what they are. Oh, OK then, issues 5, 6, 8 and 9. Jimmy Robertson's unique style makes these well worth getting if you haven't got them already. To be sold as a set. Minimum bid: £3. BIDS RECEIVED Mark Nelson £3, Robert Lichtman £4.50, Mark Nelson £5.
6. NABU, issues 8, 9, 10 and 11, edited by Ian Maule (remember him?). Classic seventies genzine, duplicated on coloured quarto paper, cover art by Jim Barker, Stu Shiffman et al, minimal internal art. Issue 11 contaIns an insert of the Gannet Fandom Family Tree. Issues to be sold separately. Minimum bid: £1.50 each. BIDS RECEIVED Mark Nelson £1.50 each.
Auction Items: Third Round
1. FANCYCLOPEDIA II edited and published by Dick Eney, first edition, copy number 216 of 450. Published in 1959. Some 200 pages of definitions of fannish words, with around 30 illustratIons. Clearly a collector's item. Minimum bid: £15. BIDS RECEIVED Mark Nelson £25, Chris Suslowicz £25, Mark Nelson £30, Chris Suslowicz £45.
2. The first 19 issues of LES SPINGE, edited by Ken Cheslin, Dave Hale and Darroll Pardoe. 1959-1967. Many fan articles; on-stencil artwork, including much by ATom. A slice of history! To be sold as a set. Minimum bid: £12. BIDS RECEIVED Chuck Connor £15, David Rowe £20, Chris Suslowicz £30, Chuck Connor £35, Rog Peyton £38, Chris Suslowicz £50.
3. The masters of FUCK THE TORIES. Five sets of masters from which the issues 4 to 8 were produced. Articles and artwork pasted up and ready for copying. Edited by Joseph Nicholas and Judith Hanna. Each issue to be sold individually. Minimum bid: £2 each.
4. SIMULACRUM 8, edited by Victoria Vayne, December 1978. The Doomsday Issue. Expertly duplicated Canadian genzine, with articles by Victoria Vayne, Tarot, Don D'Ammassa, Ben Indick and Al Sirois among others, and artwork by Stu Shiffman, Harry Bell, Taral, Bill Rotsler, Jim Barker, Alexis Gilliland, Andy Porter et al. Some excellent use of coloured duplicator inks. Minimum bid: £4. BIDS RECEIVED Mark Nelson £4.
5. THE PATCHIN REVIEW no. 5, Oct-Dec 1982. The inside guide to science fiction edited by Charles Platt. Features Brian Aldiss, Piers Anthony, Philip K. Dick, Jody Scott and Donald A. Wollheim. AS, duplicated. Includes artwork and photographs. Minimum bid: £4. BIDS RECEIVED Matthias Hofmann £5.
6. BAYCON Program Book -- the programme book of the 26th World Science Fiction Convention held in the Berkeley-Oakland area of California in 1968. Guest of Honour Philip Jose Farmer, Fan GoH Walter J. Daugherty, Toastmaster Robert Silverberg, Hugo awards presided over by Harlan Ellison. 120pp, A5. Minimum bid: £5. BIDS RECEIVED Robert Lichtman £6, Matthias Hofmann £8.
7. Bibliography of Fritz Leiber, 1934-1979, compIled by Chris Morgan. First edition of 1000 copies, published August 1979. 36pp, A5. Includes centre-spread photos of book Jackets. Minimum bid: £3. BIDS RECEIVED Dave Mooring £15.
The third round is the final round, and the highest bids quoted above are the winning bids IF THEY ARE NOT BEATEN BY 1st MAY 1993. If I receive a higher bid for any of these items, I shall contact the person listed here to see if they wish to increase their bid. All items will be dispatched to the highest bidder soon after 1st May. Payment should be made in pounds sterling, made payable to Pam Wells. If you would prefer to pay in US dollars, please contact me and i'll let you know the amount to send to Jeanne Bowman.
Direct Sale Items
In the limited space remaining, I'll summarise the items listed previously which are still available:
THE LINDSAY REPORT: £3, BY BRITISH: £2.50, MEXICON 2 -- The Fanzine: £2, JON SINGER FAN CLUB: £1, INNUENDO 12: £4, KAUFMAN COAST TO COAST: £4, THE TRANSATLANTIC HEARING AID: £2, PLATEN STORIES: £2.
Contact me if you would like further details of any of these items, or if you would prefer to pay in US dollars.