CHECKPOINT is published by Darroll Pardoe, 24 Othello Close, Hartford, Huntingdon PE18 7SU, England. Subscription rates are 10/60p (France 10/6F; Belgium 10/60F; N. America 5/$1.00 (airmail); Australia 3/$1.00 (airmail)). Free sample on request. This issue dated September 25th 1974.
Rob Jackson writes "Ian Maule has handed over the editorship of MAYA to me. Ian is (at long last) completing MAYA-6, and jt should be out just in time for this year's Nova Award. LoCs on number 6 should go to me (Robert Jackson, 21 Lyndhurst Road, Benton, Newcastle upon Tyne NEI2 9NT) while trades for number 6 should go to Ian. After that trades and everything come to me. The magazine will be A5, offset litho, about 32pp per issue (at a printing cost – £32.80 – which makes subs most worthwhile). I would welcome anyone who wants to sub: 30p an issue or 4/£1.00. I am going over to a policy of including SF criticism and other SF chat; there are at the moment a large number of talented British commentators on SF who are lying fallow for want of a fanzine to publish anything in. I am aiming to fill that need, and have already written to some: if anyone else wants to become a columnist/reviewer also, they are welcome to write to me and say so. I am also hoping to keep all the present columnists, and to keep publishing a large amount of fannish material, of at least the same standard as Ian Maule has reached.
I also want to maintain the amount and standard of artwork in the zine; anybody who wants to send fillers, or better still be sent an article to illustrate, is welcome. I am expecting to Do Things with careful and experimental layout. Ambitious so-and-so, aren't I?"
FAN MATRIMONIALS Meg Palmer and Gray Boak were married on 7th September. Jim Marshall (the erstwhile MAYA artist and comics fan, not the other one) and Judith Ahl were married on July 27th.
Felicitations, people.
WORLDCON NEWS 'Karass' has reported that Charlie and Dena Brown are organising a bid for San Francisco in 1978. The bidding committee includes Terry Carr, Grant Canfield, Mike Kurland, Beckie and Susanna Jacobson, Dick Lupoff, Alva Rogers and Jerry Jacks. I have fond memories of the Baycon: a Worldcon in the same area in 1978 would probably tempt us to travel over and attend.
GANNET NEWS (Rob Jackson is the source of this item) "A sequel to the piece in Checkpoint 51 about Gannetfandom's leaving the Gannet, which by the way was written by Ian Maule, not Don Allen: we thought it was a bit strange for Don to use the word "we" all the time, when pressure of work has prevented him ever attending the Gannet! After leaving the Gannet that night, we all felt that the manager's behaviour had been pretty disgusting (he had finished his remarks with '...and I bet you're all living off the country' just as we were leaving) so Harry Bell, Kev Williams and I all wrote long letters of complaint to the personnel manager of Vaux Breweries Ltd. who are based in Sunderland, and probably regard the Gannet as something of a showpiece. Our letters totalled ten single-spaced quarto pages; we got three copies of a letter back from the Controller of Public Houses of Vaux, which said "I agree with you that the argument appears to have been rather absurd. I am sure you know that all licensees are responsible for ensuring that their customers leave the pub at the proper time. However, it does seem that the manager was a little tactless on this occasion and for this I apologise." Which was pleasant enough in itself, but the real victory came a week later, when Jim Marshall and Judith Ahl (now Marshall as well) went into a small mining pub ten miles from Sunderland in Houghton-le-Spring, and found that the Gannet's manager had been demoted there!
The last, but not least piece of news concerns the starting of a monthly meeting for all North-East SF fans: Gannets, NESFS members, those who were at Tynecon, anybody. We intend to start meeting in the back room (ie the Buffet) of the Post Office pub on Friday the 18th of October and thereafter on the third Friday of each month. There will be no formal membership: just come along, anybody who is interested. The first meeting will decide what kind of format is to be adopted, and whether occasional more formal meetings will be held, with visiting authors, films etc. The Post Office pub is situated just down the road from the Royal Station Hotel; out of the Central station, turn right, cross one Belisha, along towards the Tyne Bridge, but turn right towards the High Level Bridge."
APA 45 has removed its age restriction on membership. This APA, now ten years old, will now take members of any age. The OE is Don D'Ammassa, 19 Angell Drive, E. Providence, R.I. 02914, USA.
('Karass')
Sue and Ron Clarke, 32 Spurwood Rd, Warrimoo, NSW 2775, Australia.
Jim & Judith Marshall, 40 Orford Rd, Warrington, Cheshire.
SIDDHARTHA 4,5 (Ian Williams, 6 Greta Terrace, Chester Road, Sunderland SR4 7RD) (usual) After a long absence, two issues of Ian's personalzine arrived together. The usual intensely introspective style; the most interesting thing is Ian's account of is activities in running Tynecon, and particularly why he refused bidding for 1976 (I agree with his decision not to allow it, it wouldn't have been fair).
INFERNO 5 (Paul & Cas Skelton, 25 Bowland Close, Offerton, Stockport, Cheshire SK2 5NW) (active response) No longer an OMPAzine, but the same style as before. The life and times of the Skeltons; quite readable stuff. Inferno and Siddhartha are quite alike, in way. They both deal in the happenings of the lives of their editors, which is probably the best way to organise a personalzine.
HYPE (5:1/2) (Mark Jenkins, 53 1/2 West Street, Annapolis, MD 21401) (60¢) Mostly a rock music fanzine, with some space devoted to book reviews, comics and fmz reviews. The latter by Bruce Townley, via whom I suspect this came.
IT COMES IN THE MAIL 11 (Ned Brooks, 713 Paul Street, Newport News, VA 23605) (usual) Ned chatters about the contents of his mail, and reviews fanzines, all entertainingly (and usefully).
SON OF THE WSFA JOURNAL 151/2 (Don Miller, 12315 Judson Road, Wheaton, MD 20906) How they keep up the frequency amazes me. This issue almost entirely book news. (12/£1 from Eric Bentcliffe)
INSTANT MESSAGE 155 (NESFA, Box G, MIT Branch P0, Cambridge, MA 02139) ($5/yr) A very brief one this time: just meeting notices.
KARASS 6 (Linda Bushyager, 1614 Evans Av, Prospect Park, PA 19076) (5/$1) The American fannish newszine, invaluable for keeping up with the US scene. A lovely piece by James Smart suggesting that 750 million Chinese jumping up and down at 54 minute intervals could destroy the USA by earthquakes, and take over the world.
KALLIKANZAROS 8 (John Ayotte, 3555 Norwood Av, Columbus, OH 43224) (interest) I enjoyed getting this fmz: I knew John quite well when I was living in Columbus. Beautiful graphics; serious tone (and mentally stimulating). Recommended.
+++++
DISCON Marsha Jones writes "Membership by the Saturday night was up to over 4500 (and I did see some people joining on the Sunday so there's no telling what the final total was), and it looked like the number of people attending was around 4000. The con had the largest art show ever (over 110 panels covered with art, as well as free standing sculpture and small items on tables or in glass fronted display cases) and the largest masquerade ever (I think close to 150 costumes). The banquet was notable for the best food and the worst toastmaster ever. If any other convention considers using andy offutt for a toastmaster, either he or they should be shot. His notion of brilliant humour was to dredge out the names of as many pros and well-known fans as possible and insult them, he did this at interminable length while those of us who attended the banquet or had come in afterwards to hear the speeches suffered in the heat (the air conditioner couldn't cope with that many people against the 90° weather outside). The hotel itself was distinguished by having the most complicated floor plan I've ever run across. The con committee issued maps to all attendees, and Eddie and. I discovered the first night, when we neglected to take one along as we went party-hopping, that they were quite necessary. We spent half an hour at one point looking for the lobby, as that was the only way we could get oriented again to find our room. Kansas City won the bid for the 1976 Worldcon. After attending this convention I just hope that their hotel is big enough, or at least that its meeting rooms will be big enough to hold the members for the major events."
EROTICA FROM OUTER SPACE is the title of an article by Brian Aldiss in the June issue of 'Penthouse'. It's a bit insipid and goes nowhere near analysing sex in SF. He even suggests that fans in the 40s and 50s bought their SF in dirty book-shops! Most of the article is padded out with repros of old pulp zine covers which featured leggy beauties wearing the latest two-piece spacesuit. I think Brian must have knocked this out in between cigs while copying out suitable paras from the old pulps. There's not even a quote from the 'sex novels' written by Ralph Finn which were in great demand in the early 50s.
(Don Allen)
YET MORE GANNET NEWS Ian Williams says "Gannetfan Thom Penman reported to be buying engagement ring for his girlfriend of four weeks. Gannetfandom generally amused and dubious (especially me, as I went out with her for nearly a year)"
CONVENTIONS The British Star-Trek convention at the Abbey Motor Hotel, Leicester on September 28/9. Expensive (registration £3)
Novacon, at the Imperial Centre Hotel, Birmingham on October 25/7. (Robert Hoffman, 44 Middleton Hall Road, Kings Norton, Birmingham 30)
Seacon 75, at the De Vere Hotel, Coventry on Easter weekend 1975. (Malcolm Edwards, 19 Ranmoor Gardens, Harrow, Mddx HA1 1UQ).
THE TUCKER FUND Once again, I remind you that the fund to send Bob Tucker to Aussiecon needs your support. Donations should go to Jackie Franke, Box 51-A, RR2, Beecher, IL 60401, USA or Bruce Gillespie, GPO Box 5195AA, Melbourne, Vic. 3001. Australia. They are running a good postal auction, with something on offer for most tastes. Support the Tucker Fund!