Checkpoint 24

C:H:E:C:K:P:O:I:N:T 24 7th October 1972

Checkpoint is a fortnightly news and reviews zine published by Peter Roberts, 87 West Town Lane, Bristol, BS4 5DZ, UK. Subs are 10/40p (2nd class & Europe) and 6/$1 or 8/R1 (foreign airmail). Sample copy free. Agents: (USA) Charlie & Dena Brown, 3400 Ulloa St, San Francisco, Calif. 94116; (Aus) David Grigg, Box 100, Carlton South, Vic.3053; (RSA) Hick Shears, 52 Garden Way, Northcliff 4, Johannesburg, Transvaal. Back issues are 4/10p ( 6/50¢ – seamail): vol I – 0,1,4/5,6/7,8/9; vol II – 00,0,1-7, 9-23. Quantities vary. News this issue from; Ethel Lindsay, Dave Rowe, Robin Johnson, Malcolm Edwards, Hartley Patterson, Eric Bentcliffe, Ian Williams, Josephine Saxton, John Brosnan, & Gray Boak.

Restormel Press Publication: 68.


STOCKHOLM BID POSTPONED: The Swedish bid for the Worldcon has been put back to an undetermined, but later date. It was scheduled for 1976 and it is now intended to bid another year, probably before 1980.

MILFORD CONFERENCE: Josephine Saxton tells me that there is to be a small conference of sf writers in Milford-on-Sea, Hampshire, on October 13th. The purpose of the event seems to be to discuss sf and each others' work and it has been organized by James and Judy Blish.

FILM FANDOM: (Malcolm Edwards) "A week ago last Thursday there was an opening-night showing of Silent Running at the Casino Cinerama to which luminous sf personalities contrived invitations (George Hay at it again). Your roving reporter spotted in the front few rows of the dress circle such well-known faces as Brian Aldiss, James Blish, Dr Christopher Evans, Patrick Moore, Philip Strick, Peter Nicholls, George Hay, and a number of fans with connexions: Rob Holdstock, John Hall, Jim Goddard, Mervyn Barrett, Robin Johnson, Dave Rowe, and of course himself. Afterwards we encountered John Brosnan and Roy Kettle outside, fresh from seeing Tales of the Crypt – on the face of it, a much better way of passing an evening. We were wondering what to do for excitement at 10.45 in London until Rob said he knew of a great little place that Sheila and he went to for a late-night coffee. We followed them, and they led us to a cavernous Wimpy Bar in Piccadilly where the coffee was, I suppose, no worse than usual, if only because Roy Kettle paid for ours. We left an hour earlier than necessary, because I'd misremembered the train times. All in all, a thrilling evening." Robin Johnson, incidentally, says the film is worth looking at – that's all.

NEW SF MAGAZINE: Locus reports a new American magazine, Vector Sf, which is going to be expensive and well-distributed. Don Pfiel is the editor and the publishers are the Knight/Adam people.

fanzines received

Energumen 13 (52pp:A4:d) Mike & Susan Glicksohn, 32 Maynard Av, 205, Toronto 156, Ontario, Canada. (75¢) A beautiful fanzine that deserved the Hugo Award, but came second, Energumen places great or equal emphasis on artwork and this issue includes a Grant Canfield portfolio amongst illustrations by Gilbert, Di Fate, and so on. Rosemary Ullyot and Susan Glicksohn, both Hugo Fanwriter nominees, have their regular columns; Walt Liebscher displays his fascination for words; and Angus Taylor has an interesting piece, partly on Phil Dick. There's a good letter column and a couple of other lesser articles as well. An excellent fanzine, though you'll be lucky to get a copy since the print run is now limited. Highly recommended.

Gegenschein 5½ (22pp:¼o:d) Eric Lindsay, 6 Hillcrest Av, Faulconbridge, NSW 2776, Australia, (free?) A nameless fanzine that seems, however, to be a sign of activity between issues of Gegenschein. It contains a few letters and some oddments and plans for the future.

Gegenschein 6 (45pp:¼o:d) Eric Lindsay (as above). (35¢) A fairly typical fanzine with a variety of articles, slightly reminiscent of Möbius Trip in style and content. Contributors include Jack Wodhams, Nick Shears on Sarf Efrican fandom once again, James Goddard on Cypher and fandom, Harry Lindgren on maths, and assorted letter-writers. It's a fairly competent fanzine; but the artwork is pretty wretched.

Kratophany 2 (29pp:A4:d) Eli Cohen, 417 W. 118th St, Apt 63, New York, NY. 10027, USA. (50¢) The first issue was a good one and this, the second, remains attractive. Highlight is a fine comic strip by Judy Mitchell and Mike Mason, though Ginjer Buchanan's column, 'Jam Today', is also enjoyable. Janet Kagan's column is a lesser affair and the editor and his letter-writers take up the rest of Kratophany. Cover is a fine Di Fate, by the way. Recommended.

Locus 122 (7pp:A4:d) Charlie & Dena Brown, 3400 Ulloa St, San Francisco, Ca.94116, USA. (10/$3.50 – airmail) UK Agent: Pete Weston. Locus, of course, is the Hugo-winning newszine; it concentrates largely on sercon news, though it also contains con reports and suchlike. A bunch of fliers is also included. Recommended.

Locus 123 (10pp – as above) News and Harry Warner, jr, column.

Lurk 3 (34pp:¼o:d) Mike & Pat Meara, 61 Borrowash rd, Spondon, Derby, DE2 7QH. (50p – sample free) An ompazine that's better than most, though it's been dependent on an interesting series of articles by Pete Weston (on the production of a fanzine) for its first three issues – the last is printed this time. Anne McCaffrey's Guest of Honour speech from the '71 Eastercon also appears, otherwise there's nothing much more than a few reviews and letters.

Malfunction 2 (17pp:¼o:d) Pete Presford, 10 Dalkeith Rd, Sth Reddish, Stockport, SK5 7EY. (free?) Badly written and of minimal interest; Ian Maule's 'Fabulous Fannish Car Trip' is unexceptional and empty and the other oddments are of negligible value.

Maybe 20 (26pp:A4:d) Irvin Koch, 835 Chatta Bnk Bldg, Chattanooga, Tn. 37402, USA. (3/$1) A messy mass of odds and ends, somewhat tied in with the N3F whose publications arc notoriously bad. Inside Maybe there are, I think, some letters and magazine reviews scattered throughout the issue; I believe fan fiction is usually published.

Outworlds III:4 (28pp:A4:d) Bill & Joan Bowers, PO Box 354, Wadsworth, Ohio 44281, USA. (60¢) A lesser issue of a usually fine fanzine. A column by Susan Glicksohn is entertaining and there's a review of Peter Brook's Midsummer Night's Dream by Barry Gillam; but Jodie Offutt does some poor reviews cum ramblings and there's a reprint, for no good reason, of 'The Platypus Mythos II'. Outworlds is still a fine production for all that; recommended.

SF Commentary 27 (16pp:A4:d) Bruce Gillespie, GPO Box 5195AA, Melbourne, Vic.3001, Australia. This, I hasten to note, is an untypical issue and this is easily explained by the fact that it's really JOE 5 in a thin plastic disguise. It contains just one article: John Foyster's 'The Fauvo Thighs & Finagles of Mr.B', dealing with Ballard's The Atrocity Exhibition in a rather technical manner. SFC is usually good – this one's strange, but interesting.

Son of the WSFA Journal 42-54,56, & 57 (av.10pp:A4:d) Don Miller, 12315 Judson Rd, Wheaton, Md. 20906, USA. (12/70p) UK Agent: Brian Robinson. A massive series of an American reviews zine; too much is covered for it to be really worthwhile and, of course, a lot of it is dated – even if every issue was received direct (for example, somewhere in this lot there's a review of Checkpoint 1). There's quite a lot of information within, nonetheless.

The Gamesletter VIII:37 & 38 (Don Miller – as above) (20¢) Mainly concerned with Postal Diplomacy; but it also covers other games. Very useful if you feel inclined to take up this hobby, since Don gives a mass of addresses and reviews.

The Turning Worm 3 (42pp:A4:d) John Piggott, Jesus College, Cambridge, CB5 8BL. (40p – sample copy free) A new and pleasing British fanzine, The Turning Worm has turned to outside contributors for the third issue and has become slightly less of a personal zine. Gannet fandom predominates with newcomer Brian Temple writing well, Ian Williams & Thom Penman interviewing a fannish rock group, and Ian Maule considering the art of editing letters; Dave Rowe has a piece on artwork in fanzines and John himself contributes some good fanzine reviews. It's devoid of artwork; but well-produced and recommended.

Vector 61 (40pp:1/8o:p) Malcolm Edwards, 75a Harrow View, Harrow, Middx, HA1 1RF. (30p for sample) The journal of the BSFA now looks better than at any time since Rog Peyton was editor; furthermore, it's actually interesting. Main item is James Blish on 'The Arts in Sf', though there's also an interview with Mark Adlard. The rest consists of regular departments – news, book and fanzine reviews, and letters. Recommended.

Viewpoint 9 (37pp:A4:d) Fred Hemmings, 20 Beech Rd, Slough, SL3 7DQ. (16p) A British fanzine that's not bad, though somewhat undistinguished; Viewpoint 9 concentrates on the Chessmancon with reports from Sam Long, Pauline Dungate, Tony Rogers, and John Steward – unfortunately they're mixed together poorly in a vague imitation of Cynic's '71 con reports. Jhim Linwood does fanzine reviews and there are a few other oddments including a fairly good letter column.

Wombat 3a (15pp:¼o:d) Ron Clarke, 75 Redgrave Rd, Normanhurst, NSW 2076, Australia. (free) A special poetry issue of a personal zine usually edited by Ron & Shayne McCormack.

:::::
:   :
:   :
:::::

Last issue, if crossed or marked 'S' (sample).

:::::
:   :
:   :
:::::

Your sub extends to the issue numbered.

YOU MAY NOTICE that Eric Bentcliffe has revived Mi and that the first issue appears with this Checkpoint. Eric would doubtless appreciate comments and feedback and you can write directly to him or to me. Checkpoint is now on a regular fortnightly basis and you can safely work out publishing deadlines by the date in the colophon; anyone wishing to contact me in person or directly by post should write to 8 Pratt St,(sic) Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs. This address will not last for long, so I'd rather it wasn't printed as a CoA.

CoAs: Darroll & Ro Pardoe, 24 Othello Close, Hartford, Huntingdon, PE18 7SU.
George Senda, 3676 Keystone Av, 5-B, Los Angeles, Calif.90034, USA.
Mike & Pat Meara, 61 Borrowash Rd, Spondon, Derby, DE2 7QH.

FINNISH PARTY: (Dave Rowe) "Doreen and Phil Rogers' party last weekend was one hell of a success; my main impression of the reception was a gathering of people as big as any UK con, a cheeky telegram from Archie & Beryl, everyone asking what a neo like me was doing there, and meeting a character actress who claimed to be Audrey Walton. The part afterwards lasted till gone three. I seem to remember working my way through Phil's different hooch, then propping myself up at the bar, and helping Roy Shorrock hand out and drink the other stuff. From this position it was hard to tell how the party was going; but from the debris in the morning we must have had a hell of a time." // Eddie Jones & Marsha Elkin will be marrying in Liverpool on November 11th.

FANZINE NEWS: Energumen will be folding with the 15th issue, though Mike and Susan will continue fan publishing. // Cynic 5, the final issue, should be out before the Novacon; Gray then intends selling off his fanzine collection, though he's by no means gafiating. Bryn Fortey is, however, and would prefer no further fanzines. // Anduril will be independent of the Tolkien Society with its third issue.

SERCON STUFF: The National Film Theatre, in collaboration with the SF Foundation, will be holding a festival of sf films on the last two weeks of June 1973. // John Brosnan is selling fanfic to girlie mags, believe it or not. // An International Who's Who of Sf is to be put out by White Lion Publishers, London. It is to be produced in collaboration with the Sf Foundation and is scheduled for late 1973. // Ethel Lindsay has passed on a mass of clippings from American newspapers, mainly concerned with sf and horror films; if anyone wants to see those, please send a 2½p SAE to me.

CASSETTE FREAKS: Ian Williams (6 Greta Tce, Chester Rd, Sunderland, Co. Durham, SR4 7RD.) has just bought a cassette tape recorder and would be interested in exchanging tapes – particularly with faneds ("it'll save writing a LoC.").