Comments | robinbailey: EXCAVATIONS -- Pterodactyl's Egg, A KU Fanzine

robinbailey

EXCAVATIONS -- Pterodactyl's Egg, A KU Fanzine

Jun 12, 2011 21:26

This is a tale of a time at the University of Kansas when a group called the KU Science Fiction Club sprang into being. The year was 1976, and MidAmericon, the 1976 World Science Fiction Convention, had just taken place. Kansas City had become a hotbed of fan activity, and groups had sprung up all around our region. Lawrence, Kansas, was ( Read more... )

pterodactyl's egg, fandom, jim murray, fanzines, science fiction, ku, paula murray, excavations, john kessel, james, gunn

Comments 5

Point of fact dragonet2 June 13 2011, 02:34:05 UTC

My first year of college I went to U. Miami (Coral Gables, Fla.). I hated everything and everyone except for the friends made in the science fiction club.

I transferred to U. Kans. in fall 1975, found out there was no SF club and set about starting one. It took until February 1976 to get it rolling and start having meetings, producing fanzines, etc. Jim showed up at the first meeting.

the Rest, as they say, is History for the girl who was Never Going to Get Married...

Re: Point of fact robinbailey June 13 2011, 02:41:15 UTC

Paula! So glad you stopped by, even if you did so while I was in the middle of revising and editing. Timing, as they say ... LOL.

Do I pretty much have this history correct? I have six issues of PE. Is that all there were? If not, I'd like to get my hands on the rest.

drpaisley June 13 2011, 02:46:15 UTC

Nice job, Robin. I still have copies of those somewhere around here. A few minor corrections, though ( ... )

robinbailey June 13 2011, 02:59:29 UTC

Jim, thanks for the corrections. I'm delighted to see both you and Paula present and appreciate your insights. So the club continued for a while after you graduated and left. Do you have any of the subsequent fanzines? I wonder if they're in the Spenser Library? And if they're in the Spenser collection what would the odds be of ever finding them, eh?

Oh hey! "Paging Chris McKitterick. Paging Chris McKitterick!"

LOL.

mckitterick June 14 2011, 10:05:43 UTC

This is a great post, Robin - thanks!

When I came to KU in 1992 and discovered it had no SF club ("How can that be, what with James Gunn and the Center for the Study of SF here?"), I promptly started one, which was primarily a writing group. Key members included Ann Tonsor Zeddies, Michael McGinnis, Aaron Rosenberg, and me, though sometimes the group numbered more.

We never created a zine, but we wrote our brains out. Soon after I graduated, the club again faltered. It's officially back on the books, and I'm faculty advisor. It's been hit-and-miss for formal meetings, but an energetic new young'un has really gotten it rolling again with the emphasis on SF film.