MACABRE
— Faneds: Jack Doherty & Don Hutchison (members of The Derelicts, aka Toronto SF Society). A perzine published out of Toronto in the late 1940s, folded after the second issue.
Taral Wayne wrote: “Two issues of another Toronto zine, MACABRE, introduced two promising young artists in 1948. The editors, Joe Doherty and Don Hutchison, were their own illustrators, and varied in quality from bad to surprisingly good cartoonists. Although they were clearly unprofessional, Hutchison at least had talent, and the two issues they produced before disappearing from fandom gave them little time for development.” (TW) & (JRC)
1948 – (#1 – March) – The cover of Taral’s TORONTO THE GHOOD reproduces a number of classic Toronto fanzines, including the first issue of MACABRE. It is drawn by Don Hutchison and depicts a balding, flat-nosed, snaggle-toothed ogre of a mad scientist staring fixedly through turret-lensed glasses at a clutch of tiny frightened octapoid critters held firmly in his clenched fist. MACABRE indeed!
Leslie A. Croutch contributed one of his “HODGEPODGE” articles, complaining creatively about unions: “We could go on forever but what’s the use? Even when you go to heaven you’ll likely have to pay dues to an angel’s union”, as well as offering odd bits of advice such as how to add 3-in-1 oil to typewriter ribbons to prolong their use.
I do not know what other articles were included in this issue. At least one copy is known to exist in the hands of a Canadian collector.
1948 – (#2 – Jun) – 34 pp. The cover, drawn by Doherty, depicts an elf-like figure, complete with pointy ears & pointy boots, holding a panel which obscures his body. He is looking down at the panel disapprovingly, and no wonder. It depicts a muscular executioner, naked but for strapped boots, a belted loincloth and a rough hood, standing feet apart, his hands grasping an enormous axe. On the chopping block a headless corpse is splayed, one arm dangling, blood still flowing from the severed neck and dripping over the edge of the block. In the sand at its base a curiously flattened head stares sightlessly skyward. In the background stands a long line of dispirited fellows, dressed in modern shirts and pants, but barefoot and their clothes ripped & torn, awaiting their turn. Even more MACABRE than the first cover!
Croutch contributed another “HODGEPODGE” in which he referred to the famous vision of Ezekiel: “…I rather think that what Ezekiel saw was not so much a vision, though he thought it was, but an actual occurrence. But it was so strange and so out of his ken, that he thought it was a true vision.”
Another article was “ANIMALS OR GODS?” by David H. Keller M.D. It possibly discussed human nature and the future of same. Keller was a very prominent American SF writer in the 1920s & 1930s, with stories like “The Human Termites” (SCIENCE WONDER STORIES 1929) & “The Revolt of the Pedestrians” (AMAZING STORIES 1928). After serving in WWII, he retired & took up writing again, not only professionally, but for fanzines as well. Writing in THE FANSCIENT in 1950, he stated: “Many years ago I promised to help any fanzine editor who sent me an S.O.S..” There can be no other explanation for his inclusion in this very obscure Canadian fanzine. Pure generosity on his part. Most of his fanwriting went to US fanzines, but some went to Toronto’s CANADIAN FANDOM and Leslie Croutch’s LIGHT.
“This issue has several above average illustrations by the editors. The tone of the zine tends toward dark humour.” (TW)
At least two copies are known to exist: one in a Canadian collection, the other recently acquired by an Australian collector.
In the infamous “ZAP ZAP” article By George Bain in the July 5th, 1948 edition of the Globe & Mail, there is a reference to (probably) the 2nd issue:
“The fen are kept in touch with one another and the writers of their favourite type of literature mostly by fanzines. One of the latest of these is a jolly little number called simply, MACABRE. It is advertised: ‘Want to feel disgusted, scream in horror, beat your head, kill your mother-in-law? Then read MACABRE.’”
1948 – (#3 – ?) – Apparently there was a third issue for in ENERGUMEN #2, Don Hutchison wrote: “I was a grade eleven high school student at the time – a member of fandom’s ignominious “beanie brigade” – the homework I didn’t do being replaced by frenetic fanac such as stories, articles and artwork for a number of fanzines, personal correspondence and letters to the prozine letter columns. MACABRE, the fanzine I produced with Jack Doherty, was one of the victims of the post Torcon slump that decimated Canadian fandom. In its three issues it contained material by Forry Ackerman, David H. Keller and quite a number of well-known fans of the day, and was twice listed in STARTLING STORIES list of “Top Ten” fan publications.”
A MAN AND HIS MIMEO
— Faned: Colin Hinz. Pubbed out of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. His “attempt to explain himself.”
1986 – (#1 – Fall? )
MAPLECADE
— Faned: Sansoucy Kathenor Walker. A clubzine (?) pubbed out of Greely, Ontario, for various Maplecons. More or less a special Maplecon edition of her genzine CASCADE, which came out beginning Dec 1981.
Writing in his Vanapazine DOPPELGANGERS #3, Neil Kaden commented on #1: “Frankly quite disappointing. The flavour is that of a Trek zine. A page & 1/2 editorial by the editor was the only personal flavour, & half of it ‘requirements for submissions’. Contributor Elizabeth Holden did show promise in her writing — wanna break into faanish genzines, Liz?”
Wrote S.K. Walker in Aug 1984: “MAPLECADE is now paying for stories at a rate of about half a cent per word ($5 per magazine page of about 900 words)…. The magazine uses stories & poetry & assigned art & articles; it does not use news, reviews, or letters. I’d like to have more SF to balance the overabundance of fantasy I receive…”
And in Oct 1984 Walker wrote: “Since I operate on a shoestring, I can’t afford… to advertise. I used to trade ads with other zines; but carrying ads makes the magazine subject to sales tax in Ontario, and I can do without that hassle…. I find in practice it’s difficult to use non-local artists… With our postal system, last minute assignments can’t be counted on… secondly, it amazes me how many artists are inaccurate in illustrating a story…if the scene must be re-done, more time is lost….”
1981 – (#1 – Sep/Oct)
1982 – (#2 – Nov)
1983 – (#3 – Jun)
1984 – (#4 – Jul) – “With this issue MAPLECADE & CASCADE are amalgamated into one annual, paying small-press publication. Contents this issue include stories, articles, poetry & art, mostly by Ottawans; includes a story by Charles Saunders & an article by Larry Niven.” – (GS)
1985 – (#5 – Jul) – “…features Ben Bova (GoH at the last Maplecon) and K.P. Czech.” – SCAVENGER’S NEWSLETTER (Jul 1985)
1986 – (#6 – Jul) – Final issue. “…lineup is almost entirely Canadian authors & artists, including the first author I’ve been able to get from the West: Janet P. Reedman of Victoria.” -(SKW)
[ See CASCADE ]
THE MAPLE LEAF RAG
–– Faned: Garth Spencer. The most prominent Canadian newzine of the 1980s. Garth won the first Fan CASPER (Now called AURORA) award for this. Pubbed out of Victoria. Typical issue had news, conreports, coverage of Cdn SF clubs, Cdn con listings, Cdn fanzine reviews & the latest controversy re: the CSFFA awards, and often professional & small-press writers market news. Garth kept to a six week schedule remarkably well. Robert Runte tongue-in-cheek referred to his NEW CANADIAN FANDOM as “the annual genzine supplement to Canada’s national newszine MAPLE LEAF RAG”. (Details to be added)
“This week I went mad and invented another fanzine: THE MAPLE LEAF RAG…” – (GS)
1983 – (#1 – Nov) – The cover, by Jeffrey Taylor, depicts Prime Minister Trudeau, dressed in a ‘Capt. Canada’ style outfit, wife Maggie in a typical brass bra get-up standing behind him, a frog in a beret & a beaver in coveralls cowering behind his legs, as he stands defiantly facing a clutch of reaching tentacles, while a sad-looking long-haired, mustached observer gazes down like a sentient sun in the sky. The latter represents…the artist? The average voter? Some Anti-Trudeau politician? I have no idea. Nifty cover tho.
In his editorial Garth argues that, while NEW CANADIAN FANDOM covers Canadian fandom in depth, “there is a need for a regular, more frequent zine…” (covering) “..a broad range of clubs, zines, cons and events as they happen…” He goes on to say: “Part of the reason for a National Canadian zine of any kind is to let you know there are other clubs out there… there are serious issues and even juicy fanfeuds going on in the Great White North. If FILE 770 can cover this sort of thing in the states on a fairly frequent basis, why not someone in Canada?”
Garth also contributes an essay about the then current controversy over the Canadian SF & Fantasy Awards (now called Auroras). The eligibility rules had recently been changed to exclude all but actual citizens. This left writers resident in Canada but not yet citizens out of the running (as per example: Spider Robinson). This in turn beggared the question, what is a Canadian? Garth commented: “I am one of those sick-and-sorry Canadians who feels that Canada isn’t a country yet. We won’t be for a century or two. In publishing and ‘culture’ especially, the U.S. is an overbearing presence — which isn’t their fault, it just happens that Canada as a whole is, so far, too spineless to create a presence and identity of its own… Runte may believe there is a Canadian culture and a Canadian style of SF in the making; I’m afraid I don’t see it yet.”
It should be added that this kind of introspective withering is in itself a superb example of what makes Canadians distinctive & unique. It’s a national trait to worry over whether or not we actually exist. Even Lenin thought it impossible. Perhaps we are simply an incredibly successful hoax?
A lengthy listing of Canadian Clubs and zines rounds out the issue which was distributed free “to any Canadian zines, clubs, fans & concoms known to me.” Subsequent issues would be available for ‘The Usual’ or for 50¢ each.
– (#2 – Dec)
1984 – (#3 – Jan) (#4 – Mar) (#5 – Apr) (#6 – May) (#7 – Jul) (#8 – Aug) (#9 – Oct) (#10 – Dec)
1985 – (#11 – Jan) (#12 – Feb) (#13 – Mar) (#14 – May) (#15 – Jun)
– (#16 – Jul) – “Garth’s newszine covers primarily Canadian fannish news. A noble effort, but the coverage is a bit spotty, and the tone gives the impression that we Canadian fans take ourselves very seriously, at least those who correspond with Garth. The zine fills a niche. Check it out.” (SG)
– (#17 – Aug 1985) (#18 – Oct) (#19 – Nov)
1986 – (#20 – Jan) (#21 – Feb) (#22 – Mar) (#23 – May) (#24/25 – Jul/Oct) (#26 – ? )
1987 (#27 – ? ) (#28 – Mar) (#29 – May) (#30 – Jun)
MARAPA
– The Maritime Amateur Press Association. “…publishes a joint newsletter/fanzine/illustrated communiqué to keep their members across the Maritime provinces in touch on what’s happening in the local fandom.” – Anne Marie Feetham (Dec 1984) (Detail to be added)
MEDIA FIVE
— Faned: Bill Paul. Pubbed out of London, Ontario, in the early 1980s, “by yours truly & fifty diehard fans”. Lasted 8 issues. “Perhaps the only offset-tabloid fanzine ever produced in Canada.”
MEGAVORE
–– Faned: J. Grant Thiessen. Fanzine devoted to serious collectors of SF literature, with much original research on Canadian SF. MEGAVORE was actually issues 10 to 13 of THE SCIENCE FICTION COLLECTOR, to which the name reverted with issue #14.
[ See THE SCIENCE FICTION COLLECTOR ]
MEPHISTO
— Faned: Alan Child. At least one issue pubbed out of Vancouver, B.C., during the fall of 1942. According to Harry Warner Jr. it “emphasized weird fiction.” At least copy is extant in an American collection.
MIDNIGHT WINE
— Faned: ? Pubbed out of Hamiota, Manitoba. “A new quarterly magazine, is looking for SF, fantasy, horror & experimental stories. Pays in copies.”
1986 – (#1 – Jun) – “This is a fair first issue. Not astoundingly great, but a fair first start.”
“I could nitpick and say the reproduction is not the greatest photocopying I’ve ever seen, or the stories are average, or the zine is crying for good illustrators; but the point here is: the stories work as stories, the pages are legible, and the whole is laid out to be readable. I’ve seen much worse, and if the editor can start at this level, I expect his later efforts to be very interesting.”
“MIDNIGHT WINE’s interest is in horror & dark fantasy. My interest is mostly in the ad I saw here: ‘One of the stories in this issue is by an American. Can you spot this story?’ and goes on to question the Kanadianischer-uber-allies that occasionally overcomes our literati.” – (GS)
MIEL
— Faned: Jean-Francois Touchette. On-line fanzine based in Boucherville, Quebec, circa 1985.
“MIEL, ‘Le Magazine Interactif Electronique’, seems to be the first French-Canadian electronic fanzine. SOLARIS indicates that you need a telephone, a modem, a microcomputer and a fairly specfic program to access MIEL (“aux specifications suivantes: 300 bauds, 8 bits/car., sans parite, 1 stop bit. Un ecran a lignes de 80 caracteres est preferable mais non essential.”) MIEL allows one to read an article and append comments, a la an electronic billboard.” – (GS)
In MAPLE LEAF RAG #19 (Nov 1985): ” Jean Francois Touchette writes to say that MIEL… didn’t get off the ground, and he had moved to France by the time his former address… appeared in SOLARIS. However, he gives a name and address for a current Quebec electronic fanzine…” which MLR editor Garth does not list!
MIMEOGRAPHED LONDON SUNDAE THYMES
— Faned: Jo-Anne McBride. An incarnation of a newsletter pubbed out of Toronto by OSFIC, the Ontario SF Club, circa 1976/1977 (predated by NITWIT and followed by THE TORONTO STELLAGRAM).
Note: CS = Colour Supplement.
Taral writes: “The club feuding refused to die down during Mike’s [ Mike Harper, Faned of NITWIT ] tenure as secretary, and, when he decided not to run for another term, he was followed by Jo-Anne McBride. She began well, but the newsletter in her hands declined quickly into short and sporadic appearances, a pattern that would reappear, and only mirrored gradual decline in the club itself.”
1976 – (#1 – Oct) (#1CS – Nov) (#2 – Dec) then OSFiC Special One-Shot (#1 – Dec)
1977 – (#2CS – Feb) (#3CS – Mar) (#4CS – Apr)
[ See (in order of publication) OSFIC MAGAZINE, OSFIC SUPPLEMENT, OSFIComm, OSFIC QUARTERLY, NOR, OSFIC EVENTUALLY, SYNAPSE, NIT WIT, MIMEOGRAPHED LONDON SUNDAE THYMES, THE TORONTO STELLAGRAM, LAST WHOLE OSFiC LONDON SUNDAE THYMES, INPUT/OUTPUT, ISHUE, OSFIC NEWSLETTER FOR THIS MONTH, OSFIC MONTHLY, GOOGLE, OSFiC UNCONSTITUTIONAL NEWSLETTER, ANOTHER UNOFFICIAL OSFiC NEWSLETTER, UNNAMED OSFiC NEWSLETTER, DAZZELATIONS, A VERY SHORT OSFiC NEWSLETTER, CHRONIC, OSFiC ELECTION BULLETIN, GATEWAY, ALL AGOG, LUNA & BEYOND, LUNA AND…, DEAR OSFiC MEMBERS ]
MIMI
— Faned: Georgina “Dutch” Ellis (Clarke). Per/genzine pubbed out of Calgary in the mid-1950s. Listed in CANFAN #22 as a member of CAFP (Canadian Amateur Fan Publishers). Did her own on-stencil artwork. Article contribution by Harry Calnek of Nova Scotia.
Harry Warner Jr., on the 1950s, wrote: “In Calgary, the most notable fan was Georgina Clarke, famous far and wide for her fanzines.”
“Norm and Gina Clarke have a fanzine that Gina published in the early fifties that contains an article proposing for Canadian fandom much the same type of political organization that Claude Degler pressed for world fandom. It involved every Canadian fan carrying a card of identification that would allow him to crash at the homes of other fans and suggested a very tight regional organization and bureaucratic setup along the lines of the Cosmic Circle.” Will Straw, from correspondence to Murray Moore, May 6, 1973. This article may have been in MIMI, or in her WENDIGO which she began publishing in 1955. (LP)
1954 – (#1 – Mar) (#2 – Jun) (#3 – ? )
[ See DUTCHESS OF CANADIAN FANDOM, WENDIGO, FIRST CANADIAN FANED (FEMALE), DESCANT, CANADIAN CAPERS, QUEEBSHOTS, & FIE ]
MIRIAD
— Faneds: Hania Wojtowicz, Kevin Davies & William F. Marks. Glossy yet smudgy-looking semi-pro mediazine (5,000 circulation) devoted to SF films. Circa 1980 out of Toronto, Ontario.
“MIRIAD was a super-slick publication that rather bizarrely combined printing full-colour painted covers, slick, coated stock interiors, with type set on a dot-matrix printer… MIRIAD died a slow & painful death and was more r less reincarnated as Vortex Comics…” – Mark Shainblum.
1980 – (#1 – Jul) (#2 – Sep)
1981 – (#3 – Mar) (#4 – Jun) (#5 – Sep)
– (#6 – Dec) – “Offset. Full colour cover. Available for $2. Has 52 pages. A somewhat media-oriented semi-prozine. There is the second part of a profile of artist Dave Sim, an interview with Phyllis Eisenstein, an article on computers by Ro Lutz-Nagy and fiction by Steve Stirling. A nice looking professionally produced magazine that should appeal to the casual reader.” (BEB)
1982 – (#7 – Mar)
LE MITHRANDIR
— Faned: Daniel Coulombe. A clubzine devoted to the works of Tolkien pubbed out of Lebel-sur-Quevillon, Quebec, circa 1987.
MLR
— Faned: Michael Skeet. An authorized attempt to carry on the Canada-wide newszine tradition of Garth Spencer’s MAPLE LEAF RAG. Pubbed out of Toronto. (Details to be added)
MOHDZEE
— Faned: Fred Hurter Jr. An adzine put out by the Montreal SF Society in 1948 to announce their upcoming publication of CENSORED #5.
1948 – (#1 – Nov) – A small 8-page digest-sized zine distributed free in an effort to convince people to subscribe to CENSORED at 15¢ per issue or 3 for 40¢. The cover is a solid block of nonsense random typing in which can be discerned several sentences such as: “Ghod what a lot of stuff to write just to get this damn cover filled”, “If that cheapskate Moe Diner had gone to the trouble of buying me a proper stencil cutter I wouldn’t have to sit here pounding the keys like mad” and “Nuts to Les Croutch the libertine and the same goes for Basil Rattray who doesn’t think that rockets will work.”
Self-described as “An Insignificant Fanzine” which is nevertheless “a CAFP Publication”, its purpose “is purely commercial, and it will serve, we hope, to cause the more gullible fans to part with some of their filthy lucre for a subscription to CENSORED which is resuming publication shortly….CENSORED will be backed by the MSFS to the greater glory of which the rest of this issue is wasted.” (Fred Hurter)
There follows an account, written by Moe Diner, of the origin of the MSFS in November 1946, the lack of money which prevented them from publishing, and their delight when Fred Hurter, former publisher of “the defunct CENSORED” joined their club, which finally inspired them to shell out money for a clubzine if he would do the work in reviving CENSORED. As Moe puts it: “With fan activity mushrooming, what with the revival of the Toronto group, the establishment of the ambitious Hamilton group, the organization of the CSFA and the revival of the CAFP as an affiliate of it.. to say nothing of the Torcon… it is only fitting that Montreal should take its place in CANADIAN FANDOM (plug for Beak” (Taylor, faned of same) “with its own fanzine or zines.”
And speaking of Torcon (the 1948 World Convention in Toronto), Fred Hurter contributes a poem titled “TOPCON”:
“In Montreal lives
Camillien Houde
A firm enemy of
Toronto the Good.”
“Since this is so
we can’t understand
How our Mayor Houde
Actually could
Let Toronto the Good
Gain the upperhand.”
“For what else is it
But that;
When the Stf. Convention
Is held at
Toronto the Good
And not in the town
Of Camillien Houde.”
“But let us be cheerful
And hide our dismay
And send in our dollars
Without delay”
“To Ned McKeown
At his abode
at 1398
Mount Pleasant Road.”
There’s also an add for MACABRE, “A new Canadian Fanzine. Price 10¢ per copy. Obtainable from Jack Doherty.”
I do not know if there were subsequent issues of MOHDZEE, and I have no idea what MOHDZEE means, if anything.
[ See CENSORED, MONTREAL SF SOCIETY, TORCON, MACABRE, CAFP & CSFA ]
THE MONTHLY MONTHLY
–– Faneds: David Vereschagin, Michael S. Hall, Bob Weir & Robert Runte, the ‘Edmonton Gang Of Four’. Additional editors were Rosanne Charest & Christine Kulyk. A monthly genzine of high quality. Towards the end, as publication became less frequent, the title was changed to THE BI- (Detail to be added)
1979 – (#1 – Oct) – Faned: Christine Kulyk – “Actually, this zine has 6 editors, each publishing twice a year… As long as all 6 editors stick to it, this arrangement ought to maintain their monthly schedule, but somehow it seems too good to last… Contents of the first issue are provided by the editors, each sporting fan politics in the best tradition of SMOFS…. Most unusual about MM is the appearance. David Vereschagin is back on the job and putting his talents to fanzines again. Along with his graphic abilities came an artistic dowry — it’s been too long since Vereschagin art was commonplace in fandom…” – (TW)
– (#2 – Nov) (#3 – Dec)
1980 – (#4 – Jan) (#5 – Feb) (#6 – Mar)
– (#7 – Apr) – “This is one of the zines that made Edmonton fandom great.” – (GS)
– (#8 – May) – Faned: Dave Vereschagin – “…the characteristic layout & graphics of David Vereschagin, the Gafiated Boy Artist of Canadian Fandom. This issue, in fact, was Dave’s, and unfortunately, it is probably the weakest issue of the eight. There were only two articles; a long one on film, written by Dave to refute the anti-intellectual position on film…. that it should be an action-adventure that it makes no mental demands…The issues are so basic that the article is rather tedious… The second article is also on film; Bill Beard’s regular column ‘Stuttered Motion’. Altogether, a lackluster issue. More interesting than the zine itself was the back-to-back one shot, ‘The Domo Gazette’, three pages of satire, fun & playful graphics.” – (TW)
– (#9 – Jun) (#10 – Jul) (#11 – Aug) (#12 – Sep) & as BI-MONTHLY MONTHLY: (#13 – Nov)
1981 – (#14 – Jan)
– (#15 – ?) – “2 pages, offset & mimeo. Last issue of the BI-MONTHLY MONTHLY. One page is collage art, the other is a farewell speech by the editorial staff: Michael Hall, Bob Weir, Robert Runte, Rosanne Charest Kulyk, Dave Vereschagin.” (BEB)
MOONSCAPE
— Faned: Mogens Brondum. A small-press SF magazine pubbed out of Swan River, Manitoba, which folded in early1985. Unknown to me how many issues. (GS) (Detail wanted!)
1983 – (#1 – Winter) – “32 pages. Quality offset. Available for $2.75. A classy looking fictionzine.” – (BEB)
MYLES BOSCON IN 89
— Faned: Myles Bos (or possibly John Herbert). A bidzine offering a spoof bid for the 1989 Worldcon, pubbed out of Victoria B.C., circa 1986. Fondly remembered by many fans (especially Lloyd Penney).
“Reportedly, Myles Bos was visited by a lightning bolt which came down and told him to hold a Worldcon, ‘and the crater is still there’, as he told Vancouver’s (& BCSFA’s) ETHER PATROL in an interview. Activities at Boscon, says John Herbert, will include a video tent (featuring a pocket Donkey Kong game), goats, a torpedo drop zone, goats, two golf courses & an elementary school nearby, goats, a rock quarry, & other places to play hide-&-seek. Post-panel activities include a dead goat party.”
“Members of the concom include Myles Bos, ‘who can take the simplest task and make it ten times as difficult’, Robert Gunderson, who ‘halted the Calgary Fan Feud of 1980-82 by threatening to hold Lloyd Penney’s breath until he turned blue’, William Froog, ‘who slavers to work on security… Because I hate people… I want to mash people into walls for no particular reason’, Marsha Chrondrite, ‘who just loves all those big long spaceships. They look so strong and hard’, Monika Bandersnatch, ‘who has invited all the leaders of all of the nations on the planet to attend’, & Twinkles the Wonder Goat.” (GS)
Lloyd Penney writes: “One of the best hoaxbids ever…the best fun I’d had in a long time, and I wasn’t along in thinking that. Even the fans in Boston who ran the eventually successful 1989 Worldcon bid were tickled by this…they vied for positions on the Mylescon committee. I was to be the ProGoH, too! Paid good money for the position… about $3.74, or so… If I recall, at the actual Worldcon vote, Myles’ House in ’89 received 9 votes. Two of them came from Yvonne and me! The many bid publications were drawn and designed by Dan Cawsey.”
In UNDER THE OZONE HOLE # 16 (July 2005) John Herbert contributes a history of the bid written very much in the same spoofing style, but a few nuggets of actual fact are included, such as this quote by E. Bernie Klassen:
“Look, I started it, okay? I was thinking out loud around a table at Mac’s 24 Restaurant that conventions were getting too big…Why not something smaller, more personal, more intimate? So I thought of having a con in Sooke. And someone else, it may have been Step[anie Johanson], maybe Karl [Johanson], I dunno — it was four in the morning! — anyway, someone said that Myles had a farm! And goats! Well that was it! We cooked that one for a good couple of hours and then John [Willcox Herbert] took it all home and made up the original WORLDCON ’89 AT MYLE’S HOUSE flyer and the rest is history. We made buttons, hats, updates — sometimes we got worried that we may actually have to put this thing on. Eventually we even told Myles about it.”
Dan Cawsey, Karl Johanson and John Herbert “kidnapped Myles and forced him against his will to appear on THE ETHER PATROL radio show, where they were interviewed by Barry Rueger….This group of reprobates were seen at numerous mid-1980s conventions with a flimsy cardboard faux Myles which they attempted to pass off as the real thing. They even went so far as to chair a panel at VCON 14 in 1986, where they insisted they were the driving force behind Myles-Mania. (A tape recording was made, but sadly…it is said to have gone missing.” (JH)
1985 – (#1 – Summer?) – Subtitled: SNEEOLOGY. A three-sheet update published both independently and included in the zine STAR STONE (and possibly other zines). Cover by Portnoy (Dan Cawsey?) shows Twinkles The Wonder Goat reading SNEEOLOGY. Inside artwork replicates the bid badge, a head-on portrait of a snorting, steaming Twinkles.
Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov are just “some of the people who will be … skipping Worldcon 89 at Myle’s House….Other guests who will not be attending include Garth Spencer, editor of THE MAPLE LEAF RAG, Canada’s answer to Pravda. He will not be hosting a number of panels including:
‘Apathy in Fandom — Who Cares?’, and ‘Should Alan Dean Foster Novelize Shakespeare?’”
A full page is devoted to the declaration that: “The Worldcon At Myle’s House will be a Nuclear Free Zone.” The tone is serious, as in: “The Committee feels that the Superpower’s holding of the World as nuclear hostages is the most immoral outrage in human history, and that any step, short of violent insurrection, that can be done to raise this issue in the social consciousness of the nations of the world must be done.” Bear in mind, however, this mimics (and parodies) a previous declaration by the city of Vancouver, B.C. which resulted in street signs on the boundaries of the city announcing “You are now entering a Nuclear Free Zone.” Neighbouring Burnaby, on the other hand, continued to harbour large numbers of Nuclear-armed cruise missiles (probably aimed at Victoria, the Provincial Capital).
Another page is devoted to a Myles Bos interview conducted by Robert Gunderson:
RG: “It sounds as if you people feel that you really have a chance of winning the 89 Worldcon bid.”
MB: “Absolutely. We started this as a joke, but we are now very confident we can put on the bid and put on a successful con. All the Victoria fan groups are behind us 100%!”
RG: “That’s great. Victoria fandom has always had the tendency to operate in cliques, so it’s good to see a project like this bring all these groups together as one big happy family.”
MB: “Yeah, it’s great. Except that the UFCST can’t stand SFAV, IFS is linked with farm animals, no one attends Cygnus meetings and The Clan hates everybody. Other than that, everything’s going great.”
– (#2 – fall?) – subtitled: LOCK UP YOUR GOATS! “…tells us a whole bunch of things. First, Myles hasn’t sold the goats. That’s just a story someone made up… (Prime Minister) Mulroney doesn’t know anything about the Worldcon bid, of course. The ProGoH position is going to be auctioned off….. NASA supports Mylescon & the Russians are trying to horn in on the act.” – (GS)
“Myles Bos is going on a cross-Canada “Lock Up Your Goats” tour in 1986, with The Who’s PA system, lasers, smoke pots, fog machines, over four tons of lights, & everything. I didn’t even know he could sing…. stops are planned at Vancouver, Spuzzum, Dease Lake, Takla Landing, Smith River, Otter Park, Habbay, Meander River, Entwhistle, Didsbury, Manitouwadge, Oba, Moosonee, Val-d’or, Bale Comeau, Richibucto, & other big Canadian population centres…”
Myles is quoted as saying, “I thought we’d open the show by showing THE ROAD WARRIOR, and then bring out the goats. Then we shoot off the smoke bombs while I sing ‘Theme from KILLER SOCKS’ on the nose-o-phone.’… Tour jackets & T-shirts will be available soon, as well as the official Myles Bos 1986 ‘Lock Up Your Goats’ Canadian Tour Goat Handcuffs.” (GS)
1986 – (#3 – Spring?) – Subtitled: MYLES BOSCON IN 89.
– (#4 – Summer?) – Subtitled: VICTORY UPDATE. “This issue chronicles the intense fannish activity in Victoria shortly after Myles won the bid: apparently Twinkles the goat had something to do with it. Myle’s reaction: ‘His head rolled loosely on his shoulders, and he started making these gagging sounds.'” – (GS)
MY THEORY WHICH IS MINE AND BELONGS TO ME
–– Faned: Garth Spencer. A one-sheet apazine for CANFAPA in the late 1990s. (Detail to be added)