Bob Madle (1920-2022)

[Keith F. Lynch]

Bob Madle died this week at age 102. Was he the last full member
of First Fandom, i.e. the last fan who had been active before 1939?
(Associate membership is available to anyone active more than 30
years. If you attended Magicon or posted to this newsgroup when
it was new, you're eligible.)
--
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.

[Gary McGath]

On 10/13/22 10:37 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:
> Bob Madle died this week at age 102. Was he the last full member
> of First Fandom, i.e. the last fan who had been active before 1939?
> (Associate membership is available to anyone active more than 30
> years. If you attended Magicon or posted to this newsgroup when
> it was new, you're eligible.)

I edited a songbook for Magicon. Does that count?

However, I wasn't born till long after 1939. The first Worldcon I
attended was Worldcon 47. Counting me as any kind of First Fandom would
be silly.

--
Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com

[Alan Woodford]

On Fri, 14 Oct 2022 12:15:34 -0400, Gary McGath <ga...@REMOVEmcgathREMOVE.com>
wrote:

Magicon was our first Worldcon, and it can't have been long ago, can it? :-)

I'd have been minus 20 in 1939, but Magicon was our tenth wedding anniversary
treat...

But time does fly, doesn't it - exactly two months ago today, we took the
family out for a meal for our 40th,

Alan Woodford, who can't possibly be that old!

The Greying Lensman

[Tim Merrigan]

On Fri, 14 Oct 2022 02:37:21 -0000 (UTC), "Keith F. Lynch"
<k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote:

>Bob Madle died this week at age 102. Was he the last full member
>of First Fandom, i.e. the last fan who had been active before 1939?
>(Associate membership is available to anyone active more than 30
>years. If you attended Magicon or posted to this newsgroup when
>it was new, you're eligible.)

Since 1992? I joined LASFS in 1980 and my first con was L.A. NASFiC
in 1975 and I'm nowhere close to first fandom. Hell, I'm post New
Wave.
--

Qualified immunity = virtual impunity.

Tim Merrigan

--
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
www.avg.com

[Kerr-Mudd, John]

I had a Great Aunt who could tell of the Hapsburg Empire, (well, the end of
it, just pre-1918). Kids today think CD's are retro.

--
Bah, and indeed Humbug.

[Scott Dorsey]

Kerr-Mudd, John <ad...@127.0.0.1> wrote:
>I had a Great Aunt who could tell of the Hapsburg Empire, (well, the end of
>it, just pre-1918). Kids today think CD's are retro.

Don't worry the Austrians will be back. Russia already has a czar.
England is having a currency crisis. It's 1914 all over again.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Gary McGath]

On 10/15/22 9:37 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
> Kerr-Mudd, John <ad...@127.0.0.1> wrote:
>> I had a Great Aunt who could tell of the Hapsburg Empire, (well, the end of
>> it, just pre-1918). Kids today think CD's are retro.
>
> Don't worry the Austrians will be back. Russia already has a czar.
> England is having a currency crisis. It's 1914 all over again.

Recently I read a novel, _Our Lady of the Artilects_, in which one of
the world leaders a couple of centuries in the future is called the
Habsburg. He's Filipino, though.

[Keith F. Lynch]

Kerr-Mudd, John <ad...@127.0.0.1> wrote:
> Alan Woodford <al...@thewoodfords.uk> wrote:
>> Gary McGath <ga...@REMOVEmcgathREMOVE.com> wrote:

>>> Keith F. Lynch wrote:
>>>> (Associate membership is available to anyone active more than 30
>>>> years. If you attended Magicon or posted to this newsgroup when
>>>> it was new, you're eligible.)

>>> I edited a songbook for Magicon. Does that count?

My understanding is that any and all fanac counts, so long as it was
more than 30 years ago.

>>> However, I wasn't born till long after 1939. The first Worldcon I
>>> attended was Worldcon 47. Counting me as any kind of First Fandom
>>> would be silly.

Any con counts, not just Worldcons. And Worldcon 47 (Noreascon III)
was 33 years ago. (I'm surprised to learn that I attended a Worldcon
before you did.) Also, other fannish activity counts. "Anyone who
has engaged in correspondence, collecting, conventions, fanzine
publishing or reading, writing or participated in a science fiction
club for at least 30 years may be eligible for Associate Membership."
I'm not sure whether that means you have to have some fanac in each of
30 distinct years.

Ted White thinks nothing should count as fanac except writing for, or
publishing, a fanzine, and that anyone who has never done either is
not a fan.

But I'll agree that "first fandom" should forever refer only to the
founders of fandom, just as the FCC's ham radio "grandfather clause"
(getting a license without passing a test) only applies to those who
were active in ham radio before 1918. Ham radio's best-known old-
timer's organization is the Quarter Century Wireless Association, for
which, as its name implies, you only need to have first been licensed
more than 25 years ago. In a few months I will have first been
licensed twice that long ago. (I'm not currently licensed, so I'm
not eligible for membership.)

A third hobby I have is math; I'm thousands of years too late to be in
First Mathdom.

For a while there were other numbered fandoms. That system fizzled
out with 8th or 9th fandom in the late 1950s or early 1960s. I don't
think any of them were ever official organizations, unlike First
Fandom.

Bob Madle wasn't just a member of First Fandom, he was its founder.

>> Magicon was our first Worldcon, and it can't have been long ago,
>> can it? :-)

Thirty years and one month ago. I know it doesn't seem that long ago.
As Kermit says, time's fun when you're having flies.

Keep in mind that when First Fandom was founded, the cutoff was just
*20* years earlier. Equivalent to someone being eligible today if
they were active in fandom in 2001 or earlier.

> I had a Great Aunt who could tell of the Hapsburg Empire, (well, the
> end of it, just pre-1918). Kids today think CD's are retro.

I had a grandmother who told me about life in the 19th century.

President Tyler had memories of growing up in the 18th century, and he
still has a living grandson.

[Kerr-Mudd, John]

On Sat, 15 Oct 2022 19:53:24 -0000 (UTC)
"Keith F. Lynch" <k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote:

> Kerr-Mudd, John <ad...@127.0.0.1> wrote:

[]

>
> > I had a Great Aunt who could tell of the Hapsburg Empire, (well, the
> > end of it, just pre-1918). Kids today think CD's are retro.
>
> I had a grandmother who told me about life in the 19th century.
>
> President Tyler had memories of growing up in the 18th century, and he
> still has a living grandson.

ObSF Short story "The Time Machine" (maybe), no not that one, it
was about a (US) kid's childhood where he could go and listen to a
grandfather figure recount his time with Custer. It was in an SF
compilation anyhow. OK, I'm far too hazy.

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <20221015092258.66a5...@127.0.0.1>,

(Hal Heydt)
Dorothy had an uncle who was a pilot in the Lafayette Escadrille.
We have a postcard he wrote home about how great everything was,
except that he didn't like the local food.

[Keith F. Lynch]

Kerr-Mudd, John <ad...@127.0.0.1> wrote:
> ObSF Short story "The Time Machine" (maybe), no not that one, it
> was about a (US) kid's childhood where he could go and listen to a
> grandfather figure recount his time with Custer. It was in an SF
> compilation anyhow. OK, I'm far too hazy.

When I was a small child, I wanted a time machine, a spaceship, and a
computer. I was told all three wishes were ridiculous.

Today I own three computers.

ObSF: Some pessimist could found "Last Fandom." That would be
in keeping with the alleged inspiration for "First Fandom," Olaf
Stapledon's 1931 novel _Last and First Men_.

That's one of my favorite novels. It's only a slight exaggeration to
say that it goes from Socrates and Jesus to the present on the first
page, and then it picks up the pace. But it remains the only novel
I've ever read that really gives a feel for just how long a billion
years really is, though lots of other SF novels have tried and failed.
It predicted nuclear power, space travel, and that a beloved British
princess would die at the hands of the French at about the time the
last WWI veterans were dying out.

[Peter Trei]

First and Last Men, and later Star Maker, really made me *feel*
Deep Time.

Pt