TAFF - pg 17


solid ice cubes after Don had gone. Unwanted ice cubes. Ted Tubb came
around and we ha; quite a gab fest. Don commiserated with us over the
LC fiasco; we said it was the way of the world. All true pioneers aren't
wanted. Don was full of his dry anecdotes and the time whistled by. He
had to be up in Ted Carnell's office at 9-15 the following day. So I
managed to wake up, force a cup of tea on the unwilling recipient of 
same, and leg off with the cases to the bus. We just made it to the st-
ation for a nice train and Don went off. I'd given him an extra quar-
ter of an hour to get lost in; but, ornerarily, he didn't get lost and
was pawing on the doorstep before the place was awake. Still, he wasn't
late for his appointment; which was the gain thing. At the con Don made
a big friendly impact. One character said that he was darned if he was
going to be polite to him - but after a minute of the Ford personality
they were hitting on all cylinders together. Don's like that. I managed
a tenuous dream, tho'. I'd cracked a corny joke in Cleveland with Dale
Tarr, Dale Smith and Don. Now I found a you fellow at the con - never
did find out his name. and matched him with Don. Wait for it- the young-
ster topped Don Ford by Three inches! My convention was made. Missed
most of on's very well received coloured photo show through the new
daughter; and missed the shots of Pamela and self. Still - Don will be
back, I hope. We'll see them than. As a taffman Don was right up to
form and his visit has, I hope, Ironed out a few misconceptions. I hope
he made a lot of new friends and I hope he enjoyed the trap. He darned
well deserved it! And he lived up to the high standards expected - viva
Don Ford for Taff.

                                         Ken Bulmer.

   Ken had me sign the wall in his den and I inspected some of the fan-
nish decorations in this combination study/writing room...water pistols
hanging on the wall, etc. I was afraid to inquire whether they were
loaded or not.

   Supper was ready & Ted Tubb came over while we were just finishing up.
He's tall, 6' 4" at least, looks to be between 35 - 40 and has a friendly
manner and appearance. There are crinkles around the corners of his eyes
that make you think of laughter & I soon found that Ted & I think alike
in many respects...don't take things too seriously, fandom is got a way
of life but certainly most pleasurable, It's fun to get "authority"
rattled once in awhile, etc.

   After reading about Ted in the fanzines for so many years I'd often
wondered if he d measure up to his reputation in person. He does. I
can't begin to recall all the wide range of topics we discussed that
night. We ran the gamut. One thing that did keep cropping up was how
the London fans were somewhat divided into roughly three camps, or per-
haps 3 interests would be a better phrasing of it. A lot of the old
timers hardly ever came to the Globe anymore and it seemed like it was
hard to breathe life into the old embers. I said one fan I'd like to
meet was Charlie Duncombe. Charlie, along with Vincent Clarke and on
other fan I'm too lazy to look up now, were the ones I'd mailed the hard
cover books to following the grant for such project voted upon at the
Cinvention in 1949.