E The letter which occurs most often in English -- but for no good reason,
since it's often silent or obscure. As an initial it's relatively
infrequent; the E space on the Swisher checklist was blank till Dick Wilson
intentionally launched a fanzine beginning with E, Escape.
EASTERCON (DAG) or All-Fools' Con (Latter name from the date). A
small but select conclave held at Fond du Lac, Wisc, on Easter
Sunday 1 April 1956. Attending were Dean and Jean Grennell (their home), Redd
Boggs, Curt Janke, and Dick Eney. It coincided with the date of the British
convacation at Torquay that year, and the name "Eastercon" was in honor of the
Westercon. A one-shot was produced and the Nuclear Fizz established in
Wisconsin.
EAVESDROPPINGS (Willis) began with HYPHEN #4, October 1953. They are a sort
of bacover-quote, a lot of "-actual incredible things fans have
said to one another."-
EDITOR The jerk who founds a fanzine, names it, decides what kind of material
it shall carry, selects and puts together material for an issue, and/
or publishes it; and his successors. There are also positions called art
editor, assistant editor, contributing editor, etc, which may mean much
assistance in the dirty work or none at all.
Much blood has been shed over the question whether an editor should be
allowed to make any changes in the mss of his writers before publishing them.
many competent writers resent it as unnecessary interference with their
communication to the readership; it is defended as taking the place of the
drafting and rewriting that the authors ought to do and don't.
EDITORIAL STUFF We distinguish this from articles in a fanzine which happen
to be written by the editor. Editorials, contents page,
mastheads, expiration notices, forecasts for the next issue, pleas for
material, ads, fillers, interlineations, and bracketed comments in letters and
other departments are usually tho not always by the editor.
JACOB EDWARDS A mythical neofan. Originally a pename under which Ted White
reviewed stf pbs for his fanzine ZIP. In the fall of 1954 TEW
and Bob M Stewart decided to create a real hoax, and Edwards began to publish
his own fanzine, MINI, and feuded with White. The hoax was very successful,
since the Jacob Edwards personality was far more evident and White was a
nonentity at the time -- so much so that most sided with Edwards in his
imaginary battle, and White dropped the hoax after one issue of MINI had been
published. Since then it has been an open secret and Jacob Edwards has been
used by various fen as a serconfanfiction character, usually as a good-natured
neofan.
EGO Byname of Arthur C Clarke, You guess why. It has been depicted
as a separate being, a sort of astral projection, which embodies Clarke's
dizzier characteristics in extreme form.
EGOBOO That which boosts the ego. The force that impels fans in their
tireless activity. In fandom, egoboo is usually gained by seeing
one's name in print, preferably in someone else's publication. Spoken egoboo,
tho transitory, is pleasant. Most common sources are favorable comment on
one's fanac, but include indirect things like success of projects, volcanic
reaction from the target of one of your needles, and unsatiric parody. If the
egoboo of fame is unobtainable, notoriety is better than no egoboo at all.
Fandom may be defined as an infinitely complex system for the production of
pure egoboo. Indeed, the universe itself was created for egoboo (Psalms
145:10) if we are to believe the stories.
EGOBOO POLL The annual poll in FAPA which determines the best work of the
year in several categories. The old Laureate Poll gave actual
awards but when this was discontinued in the Little Interregnum relative
standings in the annual VP's poll were still published. This came to be
called the Egoboo Poll because that was the only reward for winners.
EGOISM A noticeable characteristic of the typical fan is the high esteem he
has for himself. No true fan but will freely admit he's uncommonly
intelligent, tho the antics of some who claimed genius have rather put us off
pretensions to superhuman IQs. There is much foundation for this estimate of
fan intelligence, but in youths aged around twenty it frequently takes a
Byronic turn.
ELDER GODS Background races in the Shaver and Lovecraft Mythos. In the
latter they were responsible for exiling the Great Old Ones to
Earth but rarely appeared themselves. In the [ptui!] former they were an
immortal race, some of whom originally inhabited Earth. When Sol began to
give off Dis they built the Caves to escape its effects, but, finding these
inadequate, migrated, leaving behind their dis-soaked machinery and a few
hopeless cases of dis-infection, the Abandondero. They supposedly still exist
out in space.
ELDERS A quasi-Insurgent group of Washington fans; Bob Pavlat, Chick Derry,
and Bob Briggs. They opposed Washingtonian efforts to get the 1950
con on the ground that all the cons since 1946 had been in the East and the
rotation idea, not to mention fairness, demanded one in the West. The group
lasted for several years, picking up Lee Jacobs, Frank Kerkhof, and others,
but gradually died thru lack of anything to fight against.
EMBLEMS Many fan organizations have adopted emblems. The earliest one, for
stf in general, was Gernsback's "Scientifiction" coat-of-arms,
arrived at after a prize contest. By permission the ISA modified and used
this. According to Dan McPhail the only generally accepted symbol for SF is
the rocket -- the SFL button, for instance, which is Paul's drawing of the
Geryon from Otto Willi Gail's The Shot Into Infinity. The emblems of
FAPA and the WSFS are typical of this in that they symbolize SF rather than
fan activities; on the other hand, the Hyphen lighthouse is symbolic of fandom
(to which H is a guiding Light) and that of the Morgan Botts foundation also
expresses fan interests.
Emblems have been reproduced on mastheads, letterheads, and similar
places, and some have been made into flags or lapel buttons. The editors of
Nova (II) offered to work up coats of arms for local groups, guaranteed
heraldically correct. (Heraldry is trickier than you probably think; unless
you are practiced in it, better stay away from the shield-shape for
your emblem.) A few publishing houses, like ASP, have also had
emblems; that shown for Cosmic also served for Taurasi Publications, United,
and Taurasi-Thompson Publications.
ENCHANTED DUPLICATOR The very bible of Serious Constructive Insurgentism.
Walt Willis and Bob Shaw wrote this fannish epic of
Jophan's journey from the Land of Mundane to Trufandom, where he found the
Enchanted Duplicator with which to publish the Perfect Fanzine. Such
locations as the Glades of Gafia, Hekto Swamp, Mountains of Inertia, ktp,
entered fan legendry from this work.
EO Emergency Officer, a post in SAPS. This group has only one functional
officer, the Official Editor; the Emergency Officer's duty is to act as a
replacement in case the OE is drafted, bombed, or disenchanted.
EPHLESS EL Elmer Perdue, from the missingness of the F key on his typer when
he entered fandom.
EPIC To be called an epic a composition should fulfill all but one or two of
the following conditions: it is in verse; is narrative; employs a
formal style; idealizes characters and actions; concerns events of great
importance, involving great conflict and strife; and relates the adventures of
a slightly supernatural hero, who embodies the highest ideals of a people.
The great "natural" epics probably known to the reader are the Iliad, the
Odyssey, Beowulf, the Poem of the Cid, Nibelungenlied, Song of Roland,
Volsunga Saga, etc. Literary epics (those with a single known author, who may
draw on previous sources) include the Aeneid, Paradise Lost, the Columbiad,
perhaps Hiawatha and the Idylls of the King, and of course the Enchanted
Duplicator. There are also mock epics such as the Rape of the Lock, Hudibras,
ktp. EE Smith's Skylark and Lensman Series are often called "epics" with
dubious authority.
EPICENTER (E%TRE) (Vin¢ Clarke) A slanshack at 84 Drayton Park, London,
occupied by Ken Bulmer and Vince Clarke before they married
(no, not each other, you goof!) and set up elsewhere. The name means roughly
"the place around which things happen".
EPIPHENOMENA ('Pataphysique:Linard) are just full of ding an sich. A
sort of materialized blankthot -- an object presented out of the
context which would make it a really meaningful part of the universe. Jean
Linard began the fad of sending such things around in letters, like quote-
cards.
EROTICISM Writing or drawing which emphasizes sexuality. Futurians,
Moonrakers, Insurgents and others have at times published works
which would probably be barred from the mails if they were inspected, but
often in these productions they are laughing at sex at the same time they
exploit it, for literary, artistic, or humorous purposes. Lowndes defends the
practice as necessary to offset the goody-goody element which is from time to
time strong in fandom.
ESCAPISM The seeking of satisfaction in literature or other fields unrelated
to the great pressing problems of the day. It has frequently been
said that fantasy is escape literature; Wollheim has remarked that the
peculiar advantage in escapism that it has over other literature is that the
reader need not imagine himself as someone other than he is, but only as being
himself in a future world, where more power is available to everyone. While
the Wollheimists did not necessarily condemn escapism as a measure of relief,
they demanded that fans turn about and take an interest and a part in social
problems also. Rothman's ironically titled "Science Fiction is Escape
Literature" points out how many SF stories have dealt with social problems,
and provided new angles for thinking upon them.
ESFA Eastern SF Association of New York City and New Jersey; Sam Moskowitz'
group. It was first organized as the Null-A men in December 1945 ("Just
missed being named the Odd Johns", records Kennedy) with such members as SaM,
Alpaugh, and Joe Kennedy. 28 April 1946, after this group had put on the
FPWESFC, the club was reorganized as the ESFA, incorporating new blood turned
up at the con.
ESP Extra-sensory perception; the ability to perceive objects not within
range of the ordinary senses. It's usually described as a sort of X-ray
vision, like Superman's. Some use it as synonymous with Psi, which is wrong.
ESPERANTO An artificial language invented for international auxiliary use.
The roots for its words come from European languages, the root
being chosen in each case which appears in the greatest number of languages.
The spelling is nearly phonetic, and the grammar highly simplified. This
language has a few thousand advocates scattered over the world, among whom
were Ackerman and Morojo. They made some converts among fans.
ET (DeCamp) An extraterrestrial; a native of another world. Any resemblance
to DTs is probably not wholly coincidental.
ETAOIN SHRDLU First two rows of letters on a linotype keyboard, used in many
connections -- e g to designate a small printing press owned by
Wollheim and Michel, at one time.
ETRO Extra-Terrestrial Research Organization. A group interested in the
flying saucers, operating on the assumption that the discs are
interplanetary. Jim Schrieber was the leading light of the group (floreabat
1952). It claimed 70 members (March '52) in the US, Canada, England, and
France. A sort of fanzine, called ETRON, was the OO.
EX-CHAIRMAN OF THE LIVERPOOL SCIENCE FICTION SOCIETY An honor next to
deification, granted to
chieftains of godlike and incredible virtue. It is said that King Richard I
considered this rank the highest that it was in his power to bestow. It is
denoted by the initials ECLSFS following name and other titles.
EXCERPTING Taking the pages containing a particular story out of a magazine
(either all-stf, or an adventure mag like the old Argosy which
prints an occasional fantasy), and binding them separately. Few fen are so
barbarous as to tear up all-fantasy proz like this unless they have an extra
copy to go into file complete. Famous serials or series may be specially
bound together, a professional bookbinder sometimes being employed.
EXCHANGES Subzine publishers ordinarily announce that they are willing to
trade on an even basis (all my issues for all your issues) with
other regularly-appearing fanzines. And many will send each monthly or
bimonthly issue faithfully, when the other editor only turns out one or two
little ratty issues a year. Complications occur when one fan publishes more
than one good-sized periodical, or when more than one share equally in the
work of putting out a fanzine and each wants a copy of exchanged pubs for his
collection. The solution to much of the exchange problem is FAPA.
EXCLUSION ACT The Triumvirs, in planning for the NYCon I, considered
excluding their feud-opponents the Futurians from the gathering
to avoid such conflict as had marred the Newark Convention. No decision was
reached, but when the conventioneers began arriving Taurasi stopped Wollheim
Lowndes Kornbluth and Gillespie and told them they couldn't enter the hall.
(It appears that some pushing and shoving was done about this time, but no
blood drawn.) Moskowitz came out and they talked and argued for about fifteen
minutes, SaM telling Wollheim that they would admit the four if the Futurians
promised "not to do anything to harm the progress of the convention."
Wollheim refused to accept conditional admittance but in another passage of
the conversation said they could be ejected if they didn't behave. Moskowitz
sent for the superintendent of the building, but couldn't get in touch with
him. Finally he went looking for Sykora to consult with him, but on the way
found a stack of Michelistic sheets and pamphlets (which Pohl and others had
run off the night before for distribution at the con) where Pohl and Michel
had cached them behind a radiator. In the end, all six -- Wollheim Lowndes
Kornbluth Gillespie Pohl and Michel -- were refused admittance. Police had
been called but were not put into service by the Triumvirs.
Many attendees, including Morojo of LA, Hart of Texas, and Mrs Swisher of
Massachusetts, urged the convention committee to admit the six, and other
members of the FSNY including Kyle Wilson Rubinson and leslie perri were not
barred. In the afternoon, Kyle gained the floor on a pretext and held it to
make a motion that the excluded fans be admitted. But Sykora as chairman
talked a while and changed the subject. (There was no fan discussion period,
and no motions were recognized, during the convention.) On the third day of
the con, while most attendees were watching a fan baseball game on Flushing
Flats, the Futurians and their sympathizers met at a Futurian Conference to
discuss the Exclusion Act, but this was not a part of the convention.
Because of its dramatic quality, as well as the issues involved, the X
Act came to dominate talk about the convention as time passed. The Triumvirs
tried to do as they had done in rising to power -- ignore the existence of fan
feuds -- but finally, at the PhilCo in the fall, Moskowitz published their
side of the matter (theretofore unrepresented and uninquired about) adding charges
that the Futurians' refusal to make the promise asked showed that they wanted
to be excluded, in order to better their strategic position in the feud if
they weren't able to upset the convention itself. Resentment over the thing
decreased somewhat thereafter but the Triumvirs were never forgiven.
The Second or Little Exclusion Act, so called, was a piffling affair at
the NYCon II when the con committee briefly refused to allow any attendees who
had not paid for the banquet ($7) to listen to the dinner speakers from the
balcony overlooking the hall. But this was resented rather as fuggheadedness
than malice.
EXTRAPOLATION (DeCamp) Prediction from present knowledge and trends, or
speculation based thereon, as distinguished from mere guessing;
but always keeping the imagination consistent with the knowledge that one
started from. This, of course, is just what we have in science-fiction.
There are few really impressive examples; Verne is very weak (about like a
modern predicting a landing on the moon shortly). [You people who are reading
this at Tycho Station, kindly remember that we write in mid-1959.] The bomb
story that got ASF raided was on a par with this; there'd been free
speculation in prozines (and even comic books) about the explosive virtues of
U235. Perhaps the Future Histories of Heinlein and Poul Anderson
may be considered examples of extrapolation.
EYETRACKS When you read a new book you get eyetracks all over it. Then it
isn't mint any more. Nearsighted James White is the only fan who
leaves a nosetrack between his eyetracks. It's said by John Trimble that the
reason so many fans wear glasses is to keep from getting eyetracks on their
precious volumes.
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