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Fanfare, issue 9, 1942

Page 20

20     fans are the friendliest people

of his mag. You know that, because of the war, he can't send any money out of his country for USA stf, so you make up a package of fanzines, prozines, programs, pictures, etc, and send them to him. He sends you some of the stf stuff from his country. And you are immediate friends! Is he the kind of guy you would want to meet socially? Is he 15 to your 48? Is he black, white or pink? You don't know. You seldom even think to ask. HE IS A FAN! Therefore, he is a blood-brother to you.
Item. You go to a convention. There you begin to get a chance to meet in the flesh, these many people you have heard about, written to, or whose stories, either fan or pro, you have read. You eat, sleep, live, move and have your being with them for several days - thicker than lovers - always together for the full duration of your financial ability to stay at the convention city. You love these guys like you never loved any one before. ("Guys" includes "Gals", of course) It is abso-bloomin'-lutely the grandest time you ever had in your life. FInally it is all over. You go home. The neighboring fans who were not as lucky as you, and couldn't go, beseige you with questions. "Did you meet Soandso?  What kind of guy is he?" "Swell," you reply with enthusiasm.. "Whataguy he is!" "Yes," they ask further, "but what sort of a fellow is he, really?" Then you sober down, and start to think. As a FAN he is tops, and a swell guy. But as a GUY? What is he then? Suddenly you realize that you have never even given it a thought. So you start thinking. I like this about him... and this . . and that. I don't have the slightest idea what i=his religion is . . or his politics. I don't know if he is honest or not. In fact,come to think of it, I really don't know a single darned thing about him, except that he is a Fan - and that he is ONE DAMNED SWELL GUY!
See what I mean?
Having been in active Fandom now for nearly two years, and having attended two National and one Sectional convention, I have had the really marvellous pleasure of meeting most of the top fans of the country. I could name several whose politics I don't like. I could name some who, according to my view of things, put too much emphasis on liquor . . or sex . . or this . . or that. There are one or two who - in my overinflated-egoistic way - seem pretty dumb to me. There are a couple or three whom I could never in the whole wide universe talk to on any subject other than Fandom, so far apart are we in our likes and dislikes.
But every single one of them is a friend - the best friends I have in all my world of acquaintances! 
That, Fellow-Fans is one of the great things about this thing we call Fandom. If it served no other purpose at all in life, it would still be the greatest thing in our lives.
We are so diversified. The different sections of our grand USA have different slants on life. Fandom is composed of people of all the many walks of life which comprise this America of ours. And yet a factory office clerk, a Ph.D. Production-Chemist, a movie-operator, a high school student and a house-wife can sit sprawled on the floor of a home that is packed with twenty or thirty assorted guys and gals, chewing on cold fried chicken bones, and raptly entranced in a discussion that is to them - (cont. on p.24)

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20 fans are the friendliest people of his mag. You know that, because of the war, he can't send any money out of his country for USA stf, so you make up a package of fanzines, prozines, programs, pictures, etc, and send them to him. He sends you some of the stf stuff from his country. And you are immediate friends! Is he the kind of guy you would want to meet socially? Is he 15 to your 48? Is he black, white or pink? You don't know. You seldom even think to ask. HE IS A FAN! Therefore, he is a blood-brother to you. Item. You go to a convention. There you begin to get a chance to meet in the flesh, these many people you have heard about, written to, or whose stories, either fan or pro, you have read. You eat, sleep, live, move and have your being with them for several days - thicker than lovers - always together for the full duration of your financial ability to stay at the convention city. You love these guys like you never loved any one before. ("Guys" includes "Gals", of course) It is abso-bloomin'-lutely the grandest time you ever had in your life. FInally it is all over. You go home. The neighboring fans who were not as lucky as you, and couldn't go, beseige you with questions. "Did you meet Soandso? What kind of guy is he?" "Swell," you reply with enthusiasm.. "Whataguy he is!" "Yes," they ask further, "but what sort of a fellow is he, really?" Then you sober down, and start to think. As a FAN he is tops, and a swell guy. But as a GUY? What is he then? Suddenly you realize that you have never even given it a thought. So you start thinking. I like this about him... and this . . and that. I don't have the slightest idea what i=his religion is . . or his politics. I don't know if he is honest or not. In fact,come to think of it, I really don't know a single darned thing about him, except that he is a Fan - and that he is ONE DAMNED SWELL GUY! See what I mean? Having been in active Fandom now for nearly two years, and having attended two National and one Sectional convention, I have had the really marvellous pleasure of meeting most of the top fans of the country. I could name several whose politics I don't like. I could name some who, according to my view of things, put too much emphasis on liquor . . or sex . . or this . . or that. There are one or two who - in my overinflated-egoistic way - seem pretty dumb to me. There are a couple or three whom I could never in the whole wide universe talk to on any subject other than Fandom, so far apart are we in our likes and dislikes. But every single one of them is a friend - the best friends I have in all my world of acquaintances! That, Fellow-Fans is one of the great things about this thing we call Fandom. If it served no other purpose at all in life, it would still be the greatest thing in our lives. We are so diversified. The different sections of our grand USA have different slants on life. Fandom is composed of people of all the many walks of life which comprise this America of ours. And yet a factory office clerk, a Ph.D. Production-Chemist, a movie-operator, a high school student and a house-wife can sit sprawled on the floor of a home that is packed with twenty or thirty assorted guys and gals, chewing on cold fried chicken bones, and raptly entranced in a discussion that is to them - (cont. on p.24)