REVOLUTION. Be showed me what may be the very first tale of the world destroyed by the
splitting of the atom, TBE CRACK OF DOOM, by Robert Cromie, pubished in 1895. Mike
then surprised me with a complete file of my own "ancient" fanzine, FANTASCIENCE DIGEST.
published during the years 1937-l94l. One of them even contained an article by J.
Michael Rosenblum! Also displayed was Mike's photo album which includes photos of many
of the earliest British fans and photos taken at the Leeds convention. (Sam Moskowitz
- take notice in case you ever revise or rewrite THE IMMOATAL ST0RM.)

     Mike has thousands of S-F books and magazines. He has not attempted to keep up
with everything published during the past few years, but up to about 1950, he has a
fabulous collection of books, magazines and fanzinea. Ron Bennett informed me that he
has spent many enjoyable hours browsing through Mike's collection.

     Through the years Mike has been active, to some extent, in fanzine publishing. He
first issued THE FUTURIAN, a neatly printed journal, prior to the war. During the war
the name was changed to FUTURIAN WAR DIGEST, and Mike, along with Forrest J Ackerman,
deserved credit for holding together the far-flung segments of British fandom from 1939
until 1946, I had always enjoyed reading those of Mike's magazines that I received
(although during the war I sort of lost track). Thus, when a copy of THE NEW FUTURIAN
wss dropped into my mailbox one morning several years ago, I was agreeably surprised.
Those of you who haven't seen Mike's contemporary publication are missing a good,
readable, mature magazine. It is slanted more toward the reader-collector type of fan,
featuring as it does book reviews (old and new), discussions of trends in the genre (I
know some people hate the use of the term "genre", but - gee! - ain't it like real
intellectual to use it;), movie reviews, and Walt Gillings' own version of THE IMMORTAL
STORM called "The Clamorous Dreamers". I haven't seen an issue of Mike's magazine
lately but, as he explained to me, THE NEW FUTURIAN has to wait for time and inclfnation.

     The two little Rosenblums were down with Asiatic Flu Tuesday morning, as was,
apparently, half the populatiou oP Leeds, Mike aad Hetty had planned to take Ron and
me out Tuesday to dinner, but the sudden turn of events with the children meant finis
for this. So, Tuesday afternoon, Mike and I drove out to visit several spots of hist-
orical significance, We spent a while at the Kirkstall Abbey and at the Temple Newsam
House. The Abbey remains just as it was some aeven or eight hundred years ago, and is
replete with historical treasures of the Leeds area. The Temple Newsam House contains,
primarily, the art treasure of the area. The afternoon was enjoyably spent with Mi.ke
acting as my guide.

     When we returned to 7 Grosvenor Place we found Ron Bennett waiting for us. Ron
teaches school in Leeds, although he lives in Harrogate, some twenty miles away. During
my visit with Mike, Ron was also staying evenings and nights so we could have a constant
and continuous Fan gathering, By staying at Mike's, Ron was able to spend all of his
time with us, except for the hours he was teaching school.

     Ron mentioned how serious the Asiatic Flu epidemic had become, About three-quarter:
of his class hadn't attended that day and, it would appear, things were getting worse
instead of better. We kidded somewhat ebout me taking Asiatic Flu back to the United
States. Ah! Little did we realize - but that is another story and another chapter.

     That evening we indulged in another of Betty's wonderful meatleas dinners, This
was followed by tasting some of Mtke's liqueurs and after-dinner drinka, In addition
to science fiction, Mike collects bottles of various types of liqueurs, such as Apricot
Hrandy, Forbidden Frutt, and that sort of drink.

     That evening, with the rain still fslling and the winds blowing and billions of
Asiatic Flu germs driFting about Leeds, Mike, Ron and I aat about the living room, sip-
ping our liqueurs and calmly discussing science fiction and its relationship to the
world in general.