M - The Letter mu in the Greek alphabet; and according to Ripley, the Greek alphabet slitely distorted becomes a Mayan song which describes the sinking of the land of Mu. Interesting?
Madge - (Villette) - The first pet name for a fanzine on record, for Imagination!.
magazines - Pros and fanzines are under P and F.
mailing - Capitalized when referring to a particular one, as the September Mailing or the Fifteenth Mailing. The First Mailing of the FAPA was in the fall of 1937, so that ordinals divisible by 4 indicate a June mailing. The deadlines are the first Saturday in September, December, March, and June; when possible the envelopes are sent out on these dates, but if they are delayed for some other reason, post-deadlines stuff is included. Post-mailings are officially considered as part of the Mailing whose deadline they come after.
Sometimes small publications have been sent out as bonuses or as conveniences to the authors, with regular subscription fanzines. In the APAs, publications are sent to the person designated as mailing manager (in the FAPA, the official editor), who at regular intervals sends a copy of each with the official organ in a large envelope or bundle to each member, postage paid by the treasury. In any case, the publications themselves are produced at the expense of the individual publishers for the fun of it and for exchanges. In the FAPA it is required that the publications represent to a substantial extent the work of a member, that sufficient copies be supplied to cover the entire membership, and that they be duplicated by some means giving "identical" copies, tho we have at times afflicted with some utterly illegible copies.
manifesto - A signed paper setting forth to whom it may concern the opinions of the signatories on some matter, and designed to influence public opinion. It differs from a petition in that it is not addressed to a particular official, and primarily expresses an opinion rather than urging an action. There have been two in fandom: Manifesto on Freedom of Science, a Leftist document distributed in the FAPA by the CPASF (before the "substantial extent" requirement mentioned in the preceding article); and the Washington Manifesto of the second Washington Confabulation, urging the Dixicon on the Denvention, since the '42 convention was suppose to be back in the East.
manuscript bureau - The mundane APAs usually have a manuscript bureau to supply to the printers material sent in by writers, and it was assumed that FAPA needed one. Early in 1938 Moskowitz, who had become the most prolific fan writer and was frequently called upon for material, announced a service whereby he would receive mss from fan writers and supply to publishers on request as much material as they mite need. It was suggested that this bureau be hooked up to the FAPA, which at that time wasn't getting as much stuff from the mailings as it needed. This idea was dropped after the vice-president's decision. When New fandom was establish, the Manuscript Bureau became one of its most active parts, and supplied quite a lot of material to new and struggling fanzines, especially those in the Cosmic group. With the coming of the Third Fandom, the Bureau ceased to be heard of. Individ fanzines have little need for such service.
Marxism - The set of sociological theories worked out by Karl Marx, which forms the basis of the Communist Party's program and the proposals of the Michelists.
Marxism believes that the course of history is determined by economic forces; that such conditions create a dominant class and an opposing class; that clash between these two leads to the emergence of a new society and a new dominant class, after which the process is repeated. It is held that the present world is governed by the unproductive capitalists, but as technology develops, the exploited classes will come to feel a unity against their exploiters, and will rise against them in revolution. The Marxists desire that their revolution, when it comes, be led by men who know what to do next: to set up a dictatorship for the proletariat which will establish a temporary socialistic society until people have become reeducated and fit for pure communism.
masthead - The formal heading, on the cover, contents page, &/or first page, which gives the name of the magazine in large distinctive letters, volume and number, date, and similar information.
Mecon - The Maine Stf convention. In the summer of 1943, Art Widner and LRChauvenet (who was visiting Boston) biked up to Obsequious Manor, Rockland, ME, to visit Norm Stanley. The only official action of the Con was to vote adoption of "fen" as the plural for "fan".
The Mecon II was Cosmic Degler's visit to Rockland.
metaphysical poetry - Called metaphysical only because, like metaphysics, it was hard to understand. John Donne in the 17th Century originated the type; it is in vogue nowadays, and Futurians have written much stuff of this sort. Its peculiar characteristic is that it compares things, as in figures of speech, that have only one characteristic in common, or perhaps none as far as you can see. It teases the intellect, however, with the feeling that it does mean something if you can just figure it out. An illustration being worth a thousand words, here's a bit by Kornbluth: "Behold here an extinguished thing Less high than it is wide; It is a ladder's lowest rung With grass on either side."
MFS - The Minneapolis Fantasy Society. It seems to have been existent and producing silly stories back in 1938, but came into action in fandom only around 1943. They plugged for the convention after the Pacificon, and later for a centrally located gathering instead of the postponed Pacificon, but before the war had gone far, began losing members to the armed forces and to Shangri-LA. As is usual, however, members retained the MFS tag in addition to any new local they joined. Members included Bronson, Saari, Dollens, Gergen, Russell, and Brackney. They are altogether lovely, but slitely wacky.
MFS Publications - The publication house name for rags produced by the MFS morons, naturally.
Michelism -
At the Third Eastern Science-Fiction Convention in Philadelphia in October 1937, Wollheim read a speech written by Michel. The speech denounced the "Gernsback delusion" that science-fiction's purpose is to make scientists out of its readers. Instead, it has made idealists and dreamers of them, because it is the best form of escape literature yet invented. But we cannot escape from the world; science-fiction already stinks because is has failed to face the realities being fot out in Madrid and Shanghai, and in the battles between reaction and progressive forces at home and abroad. "THEREFORE: Be it moved that this, the Third Eastern Science Fiction Convention, shall place itself on record as opposing all forces leading to barbarism, the advancement of pseudo-sciences and militaristic ideologies, and shall further resolve that science fiction should by nature stand for all forces working for a more unified world, a more Utopian existence, the application of science to human happiness, and a saner outlook on life." Lengthy debate followed, more on the speech than on the resolution, and the motion was finally defeated, several attendees not voting, by a vote of 8 to 2, the 8 being "the visitors here today wearing the red delegate badges of the NYFA".
To further the movement, which they soon named "Michelism", its advocates formed the CPASF, which armed itself with slogans like "Save Humanity with Science & Sanity" and "Life the Embargo on Loyalist Spain", distributed Leftist pamflets at the Newark Convention and thru the FAPA, and published an issue or two of the Science Fiction Advance, which included articles on all angles of the issues, by writers ranging from Josef Stalin to Jack Speer.
Altho opposition was slow in taking form, the Michelists gained little support outside their New York group, except in England, where their general ideas were received hospitably by the First Fandom. The only important American allies were Milton Rothman and Forrest Ackerman, and they were socialists. Opposition came from personal enemies such as Moskowitz, moderating liberals like Speer and Rothman, and the rank and file who didn't believe in mixing politics and stf.
The Quandrumvirs resigned after a year in a feeling of temporary defeat, but Doc Lowndes, and to a lessor extent the others, kept plugging at the line and modifying and adapting the program to changing conditions. At the Futurian Conference, it was voted to abandon the use of the name "Michelism". Not long afterwards, with the Communazi rapprochment and the outbreak of war, three of the Quadrumvirs, Lowndes, Wollheim, and Michel, announced that they had changed from internationalism to Technocracy. As they grow into the late twenties, the boys lost the proselyting urge, while new fans, under such banners as the Intellectual Brotherhood of Pro-Scientists, carried on what mite be called Michelism in Lowndes' sense. With the Exclusion Act, and eventually the war against the Axis, fan feelings toward the beard-and-bomb boys moderated somewhat, but Michelism was considered a thing of the past. After the Michelist speech, sociological discussions came into fandom to stay, but it is impossible to assign respective weights to Michelism and other broader forces. The Michelists probably antagonized more people than they converted.
Everybody has tried his hand at defining Michelism. Moskowitz's is probably the shortest: "It is simply Communism." Lowndes said it was a state of mind, which begins in discontent at which science-fiction now is, and proceeds thru the question, What is our purpose?, to the answer that we should not reject our dreams, but try to make them realities. Wollheim in late 1937 said: "MICHELISM is the belief that science-fiction fans should actively work for the realization of the scientific socialist world-state as the only genuine justification for their activities and existence. # MICHELISM believes that science-fiction is a force; a force acting through the medium of speculative and prophetic fiction upon the minds of idealist youth; that logical science-fiction inevitably points to the necessity for socialism, the advance of science, and the world-state; and that these aims, created by science-fictional idealizing, can best be reach through adherence to the program of the Communist International. # MICHELISM is the theory of science-fiction Action." But in mid-1938: "As months passed and they got deeper into their studies, they let down their iron outlook, realizing that theirs was the most advanced and extreme view and that most of the fans could hardly be expected to have gone to such a stage. They understood that fans who were trying to realize science-fiction through many channels and diverse methods in the general sociological field were on the correct road and should be aided and encouraged. Those who were socialists and those who were only mild Esperantists were both on the right track."
Whatever may have been the ontological essence of Michelism, in practice it was tied very close to Marxism and the Third International's party line. After Speer had answered in the right way all the tests that the Futurian Ambassadors put to him to determine whether he was a Michelist, Wollheim decided he was excluded because, for whatever reason, he supported the Fascist powers, who were anti-Science.
The Michelist - Nickname of John B Michel.
Michel-Wollheim - Publishing house set up after Shepherd and Wollheim split. Tho used down thru 1938, the name was gradually abandoned.
Michiconference - Annual conferences of the Michigan Federation, attended by members of he Mid-West Fantasy Fan Federation and others.
Mickey - Pet name for Cosmic Tales after the Kuslans got it.
Midgicon - "Midget Chicon", a gathering of Tucker, Ashley, Liebscher, and other fen of the area at Chicago in the spring of '43; they prowled the bookshops, and at a hotel-room gathering, the idea of a Slan Center was first presented.
Midvention - The Midlands Science-Fiction Convention of 1943.
Midwest Fan Society - A minor organization of which ????? were the principal members. It enraged the NWFFFers by announcing that it would hold a "Chicon", in 1942.
Mid-West Fantasy Fan Federation - An organization of mid-eastern states formed at the Michiconfernece of 1941, which set up the Illinois Fantasy fan Federation (replacing the IFF), the Michigan ditto, Indiana ditto, and Ohio ditto. In 1942 the MFS and Schmarje's organization also joined. The state organizations have practically no activities to carry out, and except for half a dozen in large cities, consist of "locals" of one or two people. The MWFFF itself has little function aside from holding the Michiconferences. But this regional setup inspired the ill-started Battle Creek plan for the setup of the NFFF.
Mijimags - (Michel-Wollheim) - Publications usually 1/4 regular page size.
The Mikado of Long Island City - (Speer) - Nickname of Will Sykora, by analogy with il Duce of Flushing Flats.
Milwaukee Fictioneers - A group of professional authors in Milwaukee, probably not limited to stf writers. Many wrote for Amazing Stories after Ray Palmer took over editorship.
mimeographer's hands - Monochrome hektoer's hands, but not so serious, since it only lasts a few months.
mimeoing - Stencil duplication. The stencil is typed with typeribbon disengaged, cut with a stylus (smoothpointed piece of metal in a handle) and a rough celluloid sheet under the stencil, or with a shading screen. An ineffable blessing is obliterine. The number of copies from mimeoing is limited only by the durability of the stencils, somewhere in the thousands; naturally fans don't run off nearly that many. Stencils can be saved and filed after use by blotting between newspapers, and rerun if necessary. Multicolor mimeoing requires different colored inks, a different pad for each, and a different stencil cut for each color. Each copy sheet is run thru the mimeo as many times as there are color to go on it, care being taken to get them all in the same position with regard to the paper.
modern mythology - Campbell's name for the type of pure fantasy in Unknown, presumably recognizing the modern-and-supernatural elements whose two combinations are the background foremost of the stories.
Moonrakers - Generally, the bad boys of the LASFS: Shroyer, Mooney, Hodgkins, Kuttner, and Barners; Yerke may be considered as belonging to the same group. The Moonrakers are most famous for the super-sofisticated Sweetness and Light, in which they published such pieces as the following:
[drawing missing]
This is Diego Picasso Montenegro.
He illustrates Fan Magazines
And Privy Walls
The Artistic Impulse
Cannot be suppressed
Neither can Fan Magazines
Or Fans
All is Illusion.
Moonstruck Press - Dikty, Shroyer, Formanek, and Korshak's publishing house. Their chief project was a bibliografy of all fantasy books. Shroyer's huge collection was to provide much of the material, and requests were inserted in the Saturday Review of Literature and in the New York Times Book Review Section for readers to send in data for the biblio.
Mopay - Pet name for Matters of Opinion, FAPAzine of Speer's.
Morojo - (Ackerman) - Pronounced Moroyo. Nickname by which Myrtle R Douglas is usually known.
movies - There have been fantastic movies from the very beginning of motion pictures, but unfortunately most of these have been of a type weird, or more often simple horror (really ludicrous in effect). Stfnal ones such as Just Imagine have usually been burlesques or anti-scientific. Things to Come is the outstanding serious work; fans also like such fantasies as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Lost Horizon. Ackerman was the original movie authority of scientifandom; later Wilson went in for watching the flicks in a big way, and his Empress associate, Marconette, published a magazine devoted solely to reviews; Mario Racic and other among the Queensies have had movie columns. Such organization as Sykora's Scientifilmakes have attempted to make amateur stf movies with little success; several fan movie have been shot at fan gatherings.
ms - Abbreviation for manuscript; in the sft world it usually means typescript, since few mss are hand-written.
MSA - The Maine Scientifiction Association, formed at a meeting of fans in 1939 at the state fair, and including notable Jim Avery, Jerry Meader, and Norm Stanely. It was the van of the "era of state organizations, but got into trouble when its original organ published an article in which untrue allegations were made about Street & Smith being near the reefs.
music - For some undiscovered reason, nearly all fans are great collectors of records and listeners to all types of music; many are accomplished musicians. At the drop of a hat, fans will go off into a discussion of likes and dislikes among composers, pieces, and types, and frequently spend the better part of an evening listening to the visitee's collection of records. There have been many articles published about fantasy in music, which usually means the fantastic opera and other story behind the music, tho some claim that certain music is fantastic in itself. The recording of the music from Things to Come are the most well-known fantasy platters.
mutant - A type of story or feature opening up an entire new field of stf stories &c. The idea of such a designation is closely related to the thought-variants and WS's New Policy; as it happens, it was little used except for some temponautical tales and innovations in illustrations. Campbell's later usage of the term is with reference to favorable mutations, freaks, which when enuf occur in one individual may be considered to constitute a new type, the superman, which is capable of perpetuation.
Data entry by Peter Barker