Portrait of the Fanboy as a Young Artist

[randy_byers]

Courtesy of Carl-sub-e, a photo from an underrepresented era: the college years. This was taken in 1982 in Eugene in the house on High Street where he and I both lived for a year, along with my girlfriend, Molly, and her friend, Lisa. I loved that manual Olympia typewriter. Our friend David described typing on it as like sticking your fingers into a blender. I thought I was going to be a serious science fiction writer in those days, even though I was already almost totally blocked when it came to writing fiction. It took me nearly another twenty years to finally get a clue that I didn't have what it takes, helped along by the realization that fanzines could work for me as a niche for personal and non-fiction writing.

Carl also sent some pictures from the Carl Combine's trip to Seattle for the Norwescon in 1979, and I may post some of those later.