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randy_byersJohn Hertz published this collection of his fanwriting in November 2005 as a souvenir of Westercon LVII, where he was fan guest of honor. If you donate five dollars to TAFF or DUFF (via the current administrators), John will send you a copy. I'm not sure that this deal applies to people outside North America, but you could always ask.
I only became aware of John when we started publishing Chunga and he started sending me back issues of his weekly apa-zine, Vanamonde, in trade. I found Vanamonde somewhat opaque, but what began to catch my eye were the little notes that John scribbled on the backs of the envelopes the zines came in. Sometimes they were comments on Chunga, sometimes queries about the status of my TAFF report, sometimes notification of pieces he'd had published in other zines. I took a closer look at Vanamonde itself and began to see flashes of what he was up to in his succinct reviews, reports, and not infrequent haiku. Eventually I had several phone conversations with him regarding TAFF promotion at Noreascon Four, where he ran the fan lounge.
So John has slowly been emerging from the fannish crowd as a distinct personality in my personal hallucination of our cult. I can see why I wasn't much aware of him before I got seriously involved in fanzines. As he says of himself in the introduction, "At s-f conventions people say I'm a good moderator of panels. I'm sometimes a judge, or Master of Ceremonies, in the costume competition we call a Masquerade; I've led Art Show tours." He doesn't mention that he also organizes Regency dancing at conventions. Other than panels, these are not activities that I'm much involved in myself.
John goes on to say, regarding his fannish activities, "But let me commend fanwriting." And the fanwriting contained in this collection is commendable indeed. It is classically fannish: intellectual, analytical, formal, curious, wide-ranging, occasionally obtuse, willfully obscure, playful, punning, clannish, and somewhat impersonal, or at least chary of personal feeling. (Yet the memorial to Bruce Pelz is overflowing with unstated love and admiration. A neat feat, and very moving.) His style is terse, almost cryptic, perhaps shaped by his interest in the haiku and other Japanese and Chinese poetic forms. The pieces here comprise book reviews; con reports and reports on other fannish gatherings and dinners; stray thoughts and observations; poetry; quotes; and tributes to various fans and artists who have passed a milestone or passed away. It is a splendid introduction to the fanwriting of John Hertz, and it left me curious to know more about his personal and fannish history.
Perhaps I'll learn more of the story at LACon IV, where I hope to get the chance to talk to him at length. In the meantime, I happily recommend this collection to anyone interested in the fannish world of amateur writing. The five bucks goes to a good cause, too.
Here's one of his lovely haikus:
The sun is long up.
The woman and the cat sleep.
I read a page more.
I only became aware of John when we started publishing Chunga and he started sending me back issues of his weekly apa-zine, Vanamonde, in trade. I found Vanamonde somewhat opaque, but what began to catch my eye were the little notes that John scribbled on the backs of the envelopes the zines came in. Sometimes they were comments on Chunga, sometimes queries about the status of my TAFF report, sometimes notification of pieces he'd had published in other zines. I took a closer look at Vanamonde itself and began to see flashes of what he was up to in his succinct reviews, reports, and not infrequent haiku. Eventually I had several phone conversations with him regarding TAFF promotion at Noreascon Four, where he ran the fan lounge.
So John has slowly been emerging from the fannish crowd as a distinct personality in my personal hallucination of our cult. I can see why I wasn't much aware of him before I got seriously involved in fanzines. As he says of himself in the introduction, "At s-f conventions people say I'm a good moderator of panels. I'm sometimes a judge, or Master of Ceremonies, in the costume competition we call a Masquerade; I've led Art Show tours." He doesn't mention that he also organizes Regency dancing at conventions. Other than panels, these are not activities that I'm much involved in myself.
John goes on to say, regarding his fannish activities, "But let me commend fanwriting." And the fanwriting contained in this collection is commendable indeed. It is classically fannish: intellectual, analytical, formal, curious, wide-ranging, occasionally obtuse, willfully obscure, playful, punning, clannish, and somewhat impersonal, or at least chary of personal feeling. (Yet the memorial to Bruce Pelz is overflowing with unstated love and admiration. A neat feat, and very moving.) His style is terse, almost cryptic, perhaps shaped by his interest in the haiku and other Japanese and Chinese poetic forms. The pieces here comprise book reviews; con reports and reports on other fannish gatherings and dinners; stray thoughts and observations; poetry; quotes; and tributes to various fans and artists who have passed a milestone or passed away. It is a splendid introduction to the fanwriting of John Hertz, and it left me curious to know more about his personal and fannish history.
Perhaps I'll learn more of the story at LACon IV, where I hope to get the chance to talk to him at length. In the meantime, I happily recommend this collection to anyone interested in the fannish world of amateur writing. The five bucks goes to a good cause, too.
Here's one of his lovely haikus:
The sun is long up.
The woman and the cat sleep.
I read a page more.
