THE WESTERN SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION

— The first Sf club to be organized in Calgary, Alberta. Founded 1952. I know only two things about it. First, it refused to affiliate with the Canadian Science Fiction Association, the national organization. Second, as if setting itself up in competition with the CSFA, it accepted members from anywhere in Western Canada. How successful it was, or how long it lasted, I have no idea. (JBR) (Info wanted!)

Jack Bowie-Reed in his THE CANADIAN SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION: A HISTORY, a propaganda piece strenuously advocating all Canadian fandom affiliate with CSFA, seems rather choked about WSFA’s very existence, but attempts to put his best light on the matter. His entry on WSFA in its entirety reads:

“Early 1952…saw the formation of a club in Calgary, and of clubs and fanzines in Toronto and Windsor. None of these latter organizations have affiliated with the CSFA as yet…The existence of one club, the Western Science Fiction Association in Calgary, which so far has refused to affiliate with the CSFA, should serve as a prod to CSFA and keep it from falling back into complacency. Nothing helps better than competition and the WSFA’s policy of taking members from anywhere in Western Canada should stimulate the CSFA’s activities not only in the West but also in the East concurrently. Although affiliation has been sought by the CSFA, it perhaps might be better in the long run if the WSFA never affiliated, or at least remained independent for some time to come.”

Contemporary Calgary fans listed in the 1952 CANADIAN FAN DIRECTORY may possibly have been members of the WSFA. They include: Saul Berman, W. Robert Gibson, Fred Haldow, Fred Hobolow, Donald C. MacKechnie, Thelma Nadler, Edith A. Taylor, & Martin Thompson.