Aussie Transpacific April 2013

Bill Wright’s campaign zine in his quest to be the DUFF 2013 laureate at LoneStarCon 3.

(the 71st Worldcon in San Antonio, Texas, on Aug 29 to Sep 2, 2013)

Vote for Bill before voting closes on June 10th, 2013 Bill Wright in his prime at Age 32. The occasion This is a more recent photograph of Bill Wright taken was the 8

th Australian Science Fiction Convention in October 2011 at a dinner with graphic artist Dick

held In the MSFC club rooms at Somerset Place, ‘Ditmar’ Jenssen and friends at the Rosstown Hotel the first (and only) Aussie Natcon Bill ever ran. in the Melbourne (Australia) suburb of Carnegie.

Photographs are courtesy of Mervyn and Helena Binns, respectively.

What is DUFF?

The Down Under Fan Fund (DUFF) is a permanent fan fund set up in 1972 to foster ties between

science fiction communities in North America and Australia.

Supported by contributions from all over the world, DUFF sends a delegate from North America

to Australia–New Zealand, or the other way, in alternating years, attending the World Science

Fiction Convention if it is on the receiving side, otherwise the national convention, with any

further fannish travel that can be managed, meeting fans, making friends, radiating goodwill,

publishing a trip report, and becoming the DUFF Administrator in turn until the next cycle on the

delegate’s home side. Trip reports are sold to support the Fund.

DUFF is a worthy fan charity. Please contribute and register your vote.

In 2013, the race is South to North, to send an Australasian delegate to LoneStarCon 3, the

71st

Worldcon in San Antonio, Texas, on Aug 29-Sep 2, 2013. Nominations were accepted

until 31st March 2013. To be eligible candidates had to have three ANZ and two North American

nominators, to provide a written platform, and to contribute a donation of at least $25 (AU$, NZ$,

US$ or C$). Voting closes 31 May 2013. The winner will be the DUFF laureate representing the

Australian & New Zealand SF communities at LoneStarCon 3.

The Ballot Paper was available for download from the Internet from late April, 2013 – see page 3

for details. Please note that voting will close on June 10th

, 2012.

The winner will be announced in June 2013 by the administrators:

John Hertz David Cake

North America and Australia-New Zealand

2

My Country Tim Train is a pub poet who loudly declaims his verses at inner-suburban watering holes in Melbourne,

Australia, to the accompaniment of good-natured applause from drinkers. His blog: Will Type For Food

is how he wants the rest of the world to see him. The real Tim is a youthful savant of formidable intellect who

is so wise as to fall at the feet of Bruce Gillespie, taking upon himself the aspect of Disciple. His fanzine,

‘Badger’s Dozen’, is put together and distributed only at the Sticky Institute, a fanzine production factory

partly funded by the government and located in a subway under Flinders Street railway station. On learning I

was standing for DUFF 2013, Tim delivered himself of this campaign poem…

Vote for Bill!

He's all Wright!

He's totally not bad!

If you don't then others will

And you will WISH you had!

Then Tim’s muse fell on him as he contemplated alpha qualities that fit Bill Wright for the job of representing

Antipodean science fiction fans to a global audience of like minded aficionados in the shadow of the Alamo…

In all humility

O when I am Australian of the year

I'll rub my trophy bright for hours and hours,

Grow sprays of bottlebrush and wattle-flowers

In jars made out of cans of Fosters Beer.

O when I am Australian of the year

I'll hang a golden sausage on the wall,

And diamante lambchops in the hall,

And polished Chiko Rolls - there - there - and here.

O when I am Australian of the year

Then Liberal and Labor will strike a truce,

And everyone will call their babies Bruce

And Aussies over all the world will cheer.

For when I am Australian of the year

I'll laminate my lamingtons* all day

And serve them on a lacquered redgum tray

Until my point is absolutely clear –

And when I am Australian of the year

I'll have the corpse of Bradman† waxed - and buffed -

And with the best of Aussie opals stuffed

And every morning, shed a humble tear -

And when night gathers in, and sleep draws near,

In velvet billows of red, white, and blue,

I'll dream of potoroosᶲ. That's what I'll do

O, when I am Australian of the year,

O when I am Australian of the year.

* Lamingtons are iconic Australian cakes invented by the chief confectioner of Lord Lamington, governor of Queensland in the early 20th century.

† Sir Donald Bradman (1908-2001) was an Aussie cricketer whose Test batting average of 99.94 is, statistically, the best achievement in any sport.

ᶲ Potoroos are kangaroo/rat-like marsupials the size of a rabbit, an endangered species once common in Australia now threatened by habitat loss.

Alpha Chook

Australian slang is wonderfully robust, but even iconic Aussie comedian Barry Humphries has succeeded only

marginally in reviving bonzer, cobber, and stone the crows. Chook, dunny, and bloke seem to have an

enduring appeal, though. Tucker and drongo live on in the bush, but clobber is looking a bit dicey. All red-

blooded fans should use clobber whenever and wherever possible, and educate ignorant youngsters as to its

suitability for articulation as a jokey alternative to clothes. Steel Sheila was Iron Outlaw’s sidekick in a 1960s

comic strip in the Brisbane Courier Mail. And, as Aussie insults go, this example from one of Humphries’

viewpoint characters, Bazza McKenzie, isn’t bad…

“May all your chooks turn into emus and kick your dunny down, you cow!”

With that introduction, here is Tim Train’s versical* autobiography of the alpha chicken…

I am mighty Alpha Chicken! I have mighty chicken brood! I win over them with mighty bits Of bread and biscuit food!

O'er nation's puny rooftops Ye shall hear my mighty cluck - So mighty and so horrible That it might scare off a duck!

I am mighty Alpha Chicken! I say to my ladies now, 'Wouldst thou, mightst thou have me Thy very mighty very flighty VERY ALPHA FOWL?'

* versical: a neologism incorporating elements of verse and farce.

Cheers, Tim

3

My Platform Bill Wright joined fandom in the 1950s and is a lifetime member of the Melbourne SF Club,

founder member of Anzapa, founder member of the Nova Mob (Melbourne's SF discussion

group) and was secretary of Aussiecon, the 33rd Worldcon in Melbourne in 1975. He also

organised the Australian side of the Bring Bruce Bayside Fan Fund in 2004. His fanzine

Interstellar Ramjet Scoop is now an e-zine on eFanzines. Currently he does good work for the

Australian Science Fiction Foundation. He will be an able representative of the Australasian

science fiction community at Worldcon and will write a ripper of a trip report.

My nominators

ANZ nominators: Mervyn Binns, Dick ‘Ditmar’ Jenssen and Bruce Gillespie

North American nominators: Murray Moore (Canada) and John Purcell (U.S.)

Why you should vote

Fan Funds are worthy fan charities, and DUFF especially so because of the huge distance represented

by the Pacific Ocean between continental Australia and continental North America. The majority of

fans in the South never get to see their Northern counterparts, and vice versa, so it’s good to have a

system in operation whereby, once every two years, they are visited by an individual who represents

the very best its fan community has to offer.

But the trip costs money. That is why you should take the trouble to vote for the candidate of your

choice, contributing at least the small minimum donation asked for on the ballot form.

How you can vote

When voting commences, you may obtain a ballot form in a number of ways…

by writing to, e-mailing or phoning one of the a DUFF administrators, either

North America DUFF Administrator Australia-New Zealand DUFF Administrator

John Hertz David Cake

236 S. Coronado St. #409 6 Florence Rd.

Los Angeles, CA 90057 USA Nedlands, WA 6009 Australia

Phone: (213) 384 6622 Phone: 04 1207 3082 (mobile)

E-mail: dave@difference.com.au

by downloading an entry form from: http://www.difference.com.au/fandom/duff2013.pdf or http://www.difference.com.au/fandom/duff2013.rtf (Australia/New Zealand)

or http://ozfanfunds.com/duff/2013duffballot.pdf or http://ozfanfunds.com/duff/2013duffballot.rtf (North America, Europe, etc.)

See the ballot form for voting and payment processes. Voting closes on Monday June 10, 2013.

The winner will be announced in June 2013 by the administrators named above.

Why you should consider voting for me

I have been involved in science fiction fan activities for over fifty years and believe I can ‘span the

generation gap’ so as to represent all Australian and New Zealand fans at the World Science Fiction

Society meeting at LoneStarCon 3 in San Antonio, Texas, on Aug 29 to Sep 2, 2013.

If you want a global perspective on science fiction fandom, then I’m your man.

For further details, see over leaf.../

4

My achievements

A fringe fan in the 1950s, I became active in the Melbourne Science Fiction Club (MSFC) in the early

1960s, falling under the influence of the likes of John Foyster, Dick ‘Ditmar’ Jenssen, Mervyn Binns,

Paul Stevens, Lee Harding and Tony Thomas.

By 1969 I had enough fannish experience to be entrusted with running the 8th

Aussie Natcon in the

MSFC club rooms, upstairs in a warehouse in Somerset Place behind McGill’s city newsagency

where Mervyn Binns worked as a bookseller. The only access was by hydraulic elevator operated by

pulling cords, the stairs being none too safe besides being crammed with junk.

In December 1969 I joined the fledgling Australia and New Zealand Amateur Publishing Association

(Anzapa) and was an active contributor until 1979, then from 1996 to 2012.

In 1970 I became a founding member of the Nova Mob, a Melbourne-based SF literary discussion

group convened by John Foyster. There is a sister group called Critical Mass in Adelaide, also

founded by John Foyster. Both groups still hold regular monthly meetings.

Australia in 1975

I was far from being an inspirational figure in the Australia in 1975 movement formed in the late

1960s to bid for an Australian city to host the 33rd

Worldcon in 1975; but, being a willing work horse,

I was appointed secretary of the bid committee with a brief to manage the correspondence and, to the

best of my ability, ensure that supporters and contributors from all over the world were kept informed

of the progress of the bid. Bruce Gillespie, who inherited boxes of the correspondence from Ain75’s

New York agent Andy Porter, reckons I did a reasonable job.

In 1971 I was given a highly visible bit part in John Litchen’s hugely successful bid movie Aussie

Fan, starring Paul J Stevens as Anti-Fan, that was filmed in Melbourne in 1972. My truly heroic

contribution was to finance the second of two prints to be taken overseas to promote Australia in

1975. Aussie Fan premiered at Syncon 72, the 11th

Aussie Natcon in 1972. In August that year, a

16mm print was flown to the United States and shown at LACon 1 by Robin Johnson and myself

continuously for four days in the prime position of Fred Patton’s poolside cabana. To say it caused a

sensation is an understatement.

After that, Aussiefen completely lost track of those two copies of the film. Between LACon 1 and

Torcon 2 (the 31st Worldcon in Toronto in August 1973 which would decide the location of the 1975

Worldcon), Aussie Fan was shown at conventions across North America. The Australia in 1975 bid

succeeded at Torcon 2 and Aussiecon, the first Australian Worldcon, was held in Melbourne in

August 1975.

A second Anti-Fan film was made in Sydney in 1980. Called The Anti-Fan Strikes Back, it was made

to publicize the Australian bid to host the 1983 Worldcon in Sydney. The Anti-Fan Strikes Back also

premiered in Sydney, at Syncon 8, before going on to conventions in North America. It was also

shown at Cinecon in Melbourne in 1981. The Australia in '83 bid was unsuccessful, but Australia

ultimately hosted a second Worldcon, Aussiecon 2 in 1985, a third, Aussiecon 3 in 1999 and a fourth,

Aussiecon 4 in 2010 – all held in Melbourne.

Fallout from Aussiecon

I did not participate in writers workshops conducted by Aussiecon GoH Ursula le Guin and assisted

by Fan GoH Susan Wood. Under their direction, some of Australia’s most gifted fledgling writers

contributed to a much honoured SF anthology, The Altered I, published by Norstrilia Press. It’s a

quality collection, long out of print and highly sought after. But I did get to renew my friendship with

Susan Wood who, being then married to Mike Glicksohn, had understandably feminist leanings.

I felt I had gotten to know Susan in the early 1970s, after reading her contributions to Energumen, the

fanzine she edited with Mike Glicksohn until 1973. Energumen won the Best Fanzine Hugo Award at

Torcon 3 in Toronto in 1973.

5

I first met Susan in person at LACon,

the 30th

Worldcon in 1972, afterwards

staying overnight at their home in

Toronto where Mike kept a pet boa

constrictor, Larson E (the gleam in

whose eye I was in no way inclined to

interpret as affection). When Susan

spied me at Aussiecon in 1975 she flew

across the room to embrace me, a

gesture that surprised everyone who

knew me then as a painfully shy early

middle aged bachelor with less than

adequate social skills. Susan Wood, arbiter of fannish taste. llustration by Rotsler

In 1976, a year after Aussiecon, Susan Wood ran her first identity-oriented panel at an SF convention,

entitled ‘Women and Science Fiction’. The following year WisCon (the world’s leading feminist

science fiction convention) was established as an annual event.

Awards administrator – my work for the Australian Science Fiction Foundation (ASFF)

After retirement in 2002, I joined the ASFF board as an ordinary committee member. When, in 2007,

the Western Australian Science Fiction Foundation, which had read one of Australian feminist

pioneer author Norma Kathleen Hemming’s plays over two Swancons, proposed an award in her

honour, it was decided to upgrade its status to a national award under the aegis of the ASFF. I

volunteered to establish the award and was forthwith promoted to ASFF awards administrator with

responsibility not only for the Hemming* but the Chandler† as well.

† The A. Bertram Chandler Award for outstanding achievement in science fiction is Australia’s highest fan award, named after acclaimed

mid-twentieth century Australian SF author Arthur Bertram Chandler (1912 – 1984) and given for outstanding achievement in science fiction.

*The Norma K Hemming Award for excellence in the exploration of themes of race, gender, sexuality, class and disability in speculative

Fiction is a jury award first presented at Aussiecon 4, the 67th Worldcon in Melbourne in 2010, then annually at Aussie Natcons.

Meteor Incorporated

When, in the early 1970s, Aussiefen visited North America to drum up support for Australia in 1975, their first

port of call was Los Angeles where, even before they got their bearings, they were whisked off by the locals to

the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (LASFS) premises to be inducted as members. The LASFS is the

oldest continuously operating science fiction club in the world and ... Hallelujah! ... has its own premises. We

Aussies were mightily impressed.

In the aftermath of Aussiecon, exhaustion set in. ASFF was formed in 1976 to carry on the work of Aussiecon.

Since then it has supported the development of a vibrant Australian SF community comprising authors and

their fans, magazine editors, small press publishers and the six global publishers with branches in Australia,

together with academic inputs at conventions. ASFF office bearers reflect this in its network of interstate and

academic representatives. But the dream of the Australian science fiction community to have its own

institutional premises was forgotten. Land was cheap and huge structurally-sound-but-derelict 19th century

bluestone warehouses close to each metropolitan city centre could be had for a song. We didn’t notice.

We remembered or folly after the turn of the millennium when Australian university libraries started to neglect

significant donated SF material because ‘popular culture is no longer part of their core activities’, but it was

too late. In August 2007 a small group of Aussiecon vintage fans set up Meteor Incorporated, an incorporated

association formed to gather funds for acquiring premises and hiring qualified staff for a science fiction

institution and research archive under the ownership and control of the science fiction community. I settled

establishment costs, boosted Meteor’s administration fund, seeded its investment portfolio, was the main

driver in obtaining deductible gift recipient status from the Australian Taxation Office and set up a process for

fans to register their intention to remember the Meteor Fund in their Will.

The Meteor Fund needs regular small donations via its website: www.meteor.org.au/new from lots of fans, as

well as from notifications of intended bequests.

6

About fan funds

TAFF DUFF GUFF NAFF FFANZ

Fan Funds, their origin, what they’re for, how they work and why you should support them.

It all started in the 1950s when a group of American fans, spearheaded by fanzine editor Shelby Vick,

thought of the idea of bringing Irish fan Walt Willis to TASFIC (a k a Chicon 2), the 10th

Worldcon in

Chicago in 1952, and began fundraising. Walt was very appreciative and keen to help the convention

and represent his country to the best of his ability. On his return, he filled several fanzines with

reports from the convention. Remember, this was well before the Internet so fanzines were the only

way people got to hear about far away conventions. The success of the Willis fund served as

inspiration for the creation of the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund (TAFF), which sends a European

representative to North America, and vice versa, in alternate years. For more on its founding, please

see http://www.taff.org.uk/news/taffbirth.html.

The Down Under Fan Fund (DUFF) alternately sending fans between the US and Australia was the

next major fan fund. This was followed by GUFF, which stands for either Going Under Fan Fund or

Get Up-and-over Fan Fund, sending fans between Europe and Australia. The Fan Fund of Australia

and New Zealand (FFANZ) sends delegates to each other’s National SF Convention.

As well as Inter-national fan fund there are also Intra-national fan funds. Examples are the Canadian

Unity Fan Fund (CUFF) and the National Australia Fan Fund (NAFF) that take fans from one region

to a major convention in another region.

Other funds are "one offs" that raise money to bring a specific fan to a specific convention. For

example, the Tucker Bag fund brought the late Bob Tucker from the U.S.A. to the 1975 Aussiecon,

and the Bring Bruce Bayside fund enabled Australian fan Bruce Gillespie to attend the Corflu and

Potlatch conventions in California in 2005.

Fan Fund laureates represent the best their country has to offer at the host country’s top convention.

They enrich fandom globally and their delegates are good company. That’s why you should support

them with your donation when you vote for the candidate of your choice.

Down Under Fan Fund winners since the first DUFF race in 1972

1972 Winner: Lesleigh Luttrell Attended: Syncon ‘72, Sydney, Aussie Natcon

Trip report: Lesleigh's Adventures Down Under (1974) Other Contender: Andy Porter.

1980 Winner: Keith Curtis Attended: Noreascon II, Boston, Worldcon

Trip Report chapter: (a) FNAC 1, June 1994, edited by John Foyster Other Contenders: Jack Herman, Bob Ogden.

1974 Winner: Leigh Edmonds Attended: Discon 2, Washington D.C., Worldcon

Trip report: Emu Tracks Over America (1975) Other Contenders: John Bangsund, Susan Clarke, Paul Stevens.

1981 Winner: Joyce Scrivner Attended: Advention '81, Adelaide, Aussie Natcon

Trip report chapters: (a) Quinapolis 6, Dec 82 edited by M.K. Digre

(b) Holier Than Thou 21, Winter 85 edited by Marty & Robbie Cantor

Other Contender: Jon Singer.

1975 Winner: Rusty Hevelin

Attended: Aussiecon, Melbourne, Worldcon Other Contenders: John D. Berry, jan howard finder.

1982 Winner: Peter Toluzzi

Attended: Chicon IV, Chicago, Worldcon Other Contenders: Derrick Ashby, Damian Brennan, Daryl Mannell.

1976 Winner: Christine McGowan Attended: MidAmericon, Kansas City, Worldcon

Trip Report: The Flight of the Kangaroo (1986) Other Contenders: John Alderson, Shayne McCormack, Paul Stevens.

1983 Winner: Jerry Kaufman Attended: Syncon '83, Sydney, Aussie Natcon

Trip report: "Kaufman Coast to Coast" (1988) Oth.Contenders: jan howard finder, Alexis Gilliland, Charlotte Proctor.

1977 Winner: Bill Rotsler Attended: A-Con 7, Adelaide, Aussie Natcon

Other Contenders: Fred Haskell, Bob Vardeman.

1984 Winner: Jack Herman Attended: L.A. Con II, Los Angeles, Worldcon

Trip report: "Wahfful Tracks Over America" (1985)

Other Contender: John Packer.

1978 Winner: Paul Stevens Attended: Iguanacon II, Phoenix, Worldcon

Other Contenders: Shayne McCormack, Keith Taylor.

1985 Winner: Marty & Robbie Cantor Attended: Aussiecon Two, Melbourne, Worldcon

Trip report: "Duffbury Tales/Tales of Duffbury" (1987)

Other Contenders: rich brown, Mike Glicksohn, Joni Stopa.

1979 Winner: Ken Fletcher & Linda Lounsbury

Attended: Syncon '79, Sydney, Aussie Natcon

Other Contenders: Cy Chauvin, Mike Glyer (winner - declined trip).

1986 Winner: Nick Stathopoulos, Lewis Morley, Marilyn Pride

Attended: Confederation, Atlanta, Worldcon

Oth.Ctds: Sally Beasley, Terry Frost, Mark Loney & Michelle Muysert.

7

1987 Winner: Lucy Huntzinger Attended: CapCon, Canberra, Aussie Natcon

Other Contenders: Kathy Sanders, Laurraine Tutihasi, Tom Whitmore.

2000 Winner: Cathy Cupitt Attended: Chicon 2000, Chicago, Worldcon

Trip Report chapter:

(a) DUFF 2001: The Result!, January 2001, edited by Janice Gelb Other Contender: Susan Batho

1988 Winner: Terry Dowling Attended: NolaCon 2, New Orleans, Worldcon

Trip report: "Prints from a Far Land" (1989) Other Contender: Cathy Kerrigan

2001 Winner: Naomi Fisher & Patrick Molloy Attended: Swancon 2001: Masquarade, Perth, Aussie Natcon

Other Contender: Steven Silver

1989 Winner: John D Berry Attended: Swancon 14, Perth, Aussie Natcon

Trip Report chapter:

(a) Gasworks 1, June 1997, edited by John D Berry and Steve Swartz Other Contenders: Greg Ketter, Taral Wayne.

2002 Winner: Julian Warner Attended: ConJose, San Jose, Worldcon

Other Contender: David Cake & Sarah (Locksley) Xu

1990 Winner: Greg Turkich Attended: Condiego, San Diego, NASFiC

Other Contender: Roger Weddall.

2003 Winner: Guy & Rose-Marie Lillian Attended: Swancon 2003, Perth, Aussie Natcon

Other Contender: Mike & Linda McInerney

1991 Winner: Art Widner

Attended: Suncon, Brisbane, Aussie Natcon Other Contender: Janice Murray.

2004 Winner: Norman Cates (New Zealander)

Attended: Noreascon 4, the 62nd Worldcon at Boston Other Contenders: Erica Maria Lacey, Danny Oz

1992 Winner: Roger Weddall Attended: Magicon, Florida, Worldcon

Other Contender: Greg Hills.

2005 Winner: Joe Siclari Attended: Thylacon IV, 44th Ausie NatCon in Hobart 10-13 June 2005

Other Contender: Chris Barkley

1993 Winner: Dick & Leah (Zeldes) Smith Attended: Swancon 18, Perth, Aussie Natcon

Other Contenders: Richard Brandt, Charlotte Proctor.

2006 Hold over funds

2007 Hold over funds

1994 Winner: Alan Stewart Attended: Conadian, Winipeg, Worldcon

Oth,Ctds: Ron Clarke, Donna Heenan, Lucy Sussex & Julian Warner.

2008 Winner: Steve and Sue Francis Attnd: Swancon 33, 47th Ausie NatCon in Perth 20-24 March 2008

Other Contender: Canadian fan Murray Moore

1995 Winner: Pat & Roger Sims Attended: Thylacon, Hobart, Aussie Natcon

Other Contenders: Lucy Schmeidler, Nancy Tucker.

2009 Winner: Emma Hawkes

Attnd: Anticipation, 67th worldcon in Montreal, on 6-10 Aug 2009

Oth.Ctds: Chris Nelson, David Cake & Grant Watson, Alison Barton

1996 Winner: Perry Middlemiss Attended: LACon 3, Los Angeles, Worldcon

Other Contenders: Stephen Dedman, Danny Heap

2010 Winner: John Hertz (Los Angeles, CA USA) Attnd: Aussiecon 4, 68th worldcon in Melbourne, on 2-6 Sep 2009

Oth.Ctds: Jeffrey Boman (Montreal, PQ Canada), Terry Fong

(Montreal, PQ Canada) & Jannie Shea (Tulsa, OK USA), Melanie Herz (Palm Bay, FL USA) and John Purcell (Texas USA).

1997 Winner: Janice Murray Attended: Basicon 2, Melbourne, Aussie Natcon

Other Contenders: Andy Hooper, Joel Zakem

2011 Winner: David Cake (Perth WA)

Attended: Renovation, 69th Worldcon at Reno, Nevada, on 17-21 August 2011

1998 Winner: Terry Frost Attended: Bucconeer, Baltimore, Worldcon

Other Contender: Susan Clarke

2012 Hold over funds The 2012 DUFF race resulted in the majority voting to hold over

funds for 2013.

1999 Winner: Janice Gelb Attended: Aussiecon Three, Melbourne, Worldcon

Trip report: Janice's Adventures in Down-Underland (2000),

while photos from Janice's trip can be viewed here

Other Contenders: Lise Eisenberg, Andy Hooper

2013

Vote [ 1 ] Bill Wright

Filking

I pay tribute here to the Prince of Filkers, Frank Gasperik (1947 – 2007), otherwise known at the LASFS as

‘Felix’ or ‘The Minstrel’. I intend to honour his memory by compiling for filkers at LoneStarCon 3 an Aussie

Song Book containing such iconic Australian ballads as Waltzing Matilda, Click Go the Shears, and John

Bangsund’s Notional Anthem (1972)*. [The words, not the music. Frank’s heirs in fandom can pick up the tune].

* Historical note: After attending LACon in 1972, I was one of a lonely band of Aussiefen who visited Larry

Niven’s pad. On arrival we were abandoned by our host who threw us keys to the liquor cabinet and retired to a

back room to play cards with cronies. Whereupon Frank arrived through the French windows and proceeded to

wow us with a seemingly inexhaustible repertoire of Aussie bush ballads.

Visit: http://thevoicesoffandom.com/vov-1.html for a rare (1980) video clip of Frank singing a subversive

scatological ditty, introduced by Bill Mills. Included is a typical quote from Frank,

“This is not a song for mixed company. All gentlemen please leave the room.”

8

An Australian Traveller

The following anecdote by Aussie fan icon John Bangsund is reproduced here to promote

internationalism in fandom. It was first published in his fanzine Scythrop #22 (April 1971).

Travelling through Germany, at Göttingen, Keats and Chapman fell in with an

Australian, and (having extricated themselves) discussed their plans with him.

" I reckon I'll just kick around here a bit, sink some beer, pick up a sheila or two . . ."

" You like to read poetry while you imbibe?" asked Chapman.

"Beg yours?" the Australian said politely.

"My friend refers to your interesting habit of reading Schiller over your beer," said Keats.

"Eh? No, you've got me wrong there, fellers! I said 'sheila' -- you know -- birds, broads, talent . . ."

"Ah," said Keats and Chapman.

"And what are youse blokes thinking of doing?"

"We thought", said Keats, "we might emulate Heine and go for a tour in the Harz."

"Well, strewth mate, you call it what you like, but why don't we all go together?"

ж

The existential Keats and Chapman

For those of you who came in late, John Bangsund re-published some of his 1970s Keats and Chapman stories

on his blog Three penny Planet at: http://home.pacific.net.au/~bangsund/keatchap.htm.He is still at it. Here is

his clever Keats and Chapman piece composed in 2008 and published in the August 2009 edition of Bill

Wright’s e-zine: Interstellar Ramjet Scoop.

Keats and Chapman were dining with the noted philosopher Descartes in connection with some research they

were doing on word-play of an equine nature. “Shall you take a little wine?” Chapman asked. “Wine?” cried

Descartes, who knew poteen when he saw it, “I think not!” and instantly disappeared.

The friends looked at each other (with a strange surmise). After a while Chapman said, “How did he do that?”

“Do what?” asked Keats, oblivious.

John Bangsund

9

On your next visit to Melbourne …

Its inner city pub scene is one reason why Melbourne, Australia, has the reputation of being one of the most

liveable cities in the world, just as San Antonio, Texas, is famous for its cultural eminence and sense of history.

Page 2 of this ineluctable campaign zine (not unelectable, dear potential supporter; you can still vote for me) features verses from Melbourne pub poet Tim Train, whose muse gave expression to my campaign poem.

Here is a link to where to find Melbourne’s inner city pubs on the Internet…

10

Vote [ 1 ] Bill Wright for DUFF 2013

Attribution unknown. If you are the artist, please contact Bill Wright: bilw@iprimus.com.au

This fanzine is posted on eFanzines in support of Bill Wright’s candidature for the 2013 DUFF race to send an

Australian or New Zealand fan to LoneStarCon 3, the 71st Worldcon in San Antonio, Texas, on Aug 29 – Sep 2, 2013.

The ballot form is appended. If you haven’t voted, please print it out,

vote for Bill Wright, donate, then send in your completed ballot paper.

11

DUFF, the Down Under Fan Fund

2013 Ballot

Founded in 1972, and supported by contributions from all over the world, DUFF sends a delegate from North

America to Australia – New Zealand, or the other way in alternating years, attending the World Science

Fiction Convention if it is on the receiving side or otherwise at least one national convention, with any further

fannish travel that is practical, meeting fans, making friends, radiating goodwill, publishing a trip report, and

becomes the DUFF Administrator in turn until the next cycle on the delegate’s home side. The new delegate

is also expected to publish a trip report, copies of which may be sold to add to the fund.

In 2013, the 71st World Science Fiction convention will be LoneStarCon 3, to be held in San Antonio, Texas,

in the USA, from August 29-Sept 2, 2013. Nominations were accepted until midnight 31 March 2013.

Candidates to be eligible had to have three Australian or New Zealand nominators, and two North American

nominators, to provide a written platform, and to contribute a donation of at least $25 Australian or

equivalent.

Votes will be accepted until midnight 10 June 2013, and must be accompanied by a donation of at least $5

Australian, Canadian, United States, or $7 New Zealand. Anyone active in fandom on or before 1 Jan 2013

may vote. “Active in fandom” means a natural person involved in fannish pursuits in our community, such as

participation in clubs or conventions or fanzines, singing, costuming or social life, physically, electronically, or

otherwise. Ballots must include the voter’s name, postal address, and either phone or email contact

information. Paper ballots must be signed. Voters who think they may not be known to an Administrator

should include the name and contact information of a fan who knows them and who can be confirmed by the

Administrators. A copy of this ballot can be found online at http://www.difference.com.au/fandom/

duff2013.pdf

DUFF uses the preferential system of balloting, which yields an automatic runoff if needed and assures a

majority win. The voter ranks choices in order of preference, e.g., 1, 2, 3. If there is no absolute majority for

one choice after a first count of votes, first place votes for the lowest ranking choice are dropped and the

second place votes on those ballots are assigned to the choices named. This goes on until one choice has a

majority. It can therefore be important to vote preferences other than first place, although this is not required.

Mail this ballot with your donation, or pay by PayPal and state preferences and voter information through the

Personal tab.

CANDIDATES

Bill Wright

Australasian nominators: Bruce Gillespie, Mervyn Binns, Martin James Ditmar (Dick) Jenssen

North American nominators: Murray Moore, John Purcell

Bill Wright joined fandom in the 1950s and is a lifetime member of the Melbourne SF Club, founder

member of Anzapa, founder member of the Nova Mob (Melbourne's SF discussion group) and was

secretary of Aussiecon, 33rd Worldcon in Melbourne in 1975. He also organised the Australian

side of the Bring Bruce Bayside Fan Fund in 2004. His fanzine Interstellar Ramjet Scoop is now an

e-zine on eFanzines. Currently he works for the Australian Science Fiction Foundation. Bill will be

an able representative of the Australasian science fiction community at Worldcon and will write a

ripper of a trip report.

Clare McDonald-Sims

Australasian nominators: Rose Mitchell, Perry Middlemiss, Janice Gelb

North American nominators: Curt Phillips, Chris Garcia

I found SF when my high school librarian got tired of me asking for reading recommendations and

suggested I start with A; Asimov came up and I never looked back. I found fandom through Star

Trek (via the books) and stayed for the company. More of a behind-the-scenes type than a leader,

I’ve attended three Worldcons in three different countries so far and helped on Committee for

Aussiecon 4. I relish being pushed out of my comfort zone, and therefore love to travel. If I win, I

promise to say “G’day” to as many people as possible while at Worldcon.

A. Voter Preferences

Bill Wright " "

Clare McDonald "

Hold Over Funds "

No Preference"

Write In ………………………..

B. Voter Information Name………………………………………………………….

Signature…………………………………………………

Street Address…………………………………………………

City……………………………………………………………... State or Province…………………

Zip or Post Code………. Country………………………………………………………... Contact

Phone or Email………………………………………

If you think you may not be known to an Administrator, please provide the name and contact

information of a fan who is likely to be known to the Administrators and can vouch for you:

C. Donation In US$: by PayPal to Ulrika O’Brien (ulrika.obrien@gmail.com) noting this is a DUFF payment; or by check (made out to “Down Under Fan Fund”) sent to John Hertz, 236 S. Coronado St. #409, Los Angeles, CA 90057

In C$: by PayPal to Ulrika O’Brien (ulrika.obrien@gmail.com) or by cheque to René Walling, 431

Church St., Beaconsfield, QC H9W 3R9

In A$: by PayPal to David Cake (dave@difference.com.au) noting this is a DUFF payment; or by

cheque (made out to “Down Under Fan Fund”), either sent to Australian Science Fiction Foundation, P.O. Box 215, Forest Hill, VIC 3131, or included with your ballot.

In NZ$: ask Norman Cates (norman.cates@gmail.com) for details.

D. Your preferences, voter information, and notification of how you made your

donation should go to either one of the DUFF administrators.

Australia & New Zealand" " " " " North America David Cake " " " " " " " John Hertz " 6 Florence Rd." " " " " " 236 S. Coronado St. #409 Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia" " " " Los Angeles, CA 90057 USA Phone: +614 1207 3082 (mobile)" " " " Phone: (213) 384-6622 Email: dave@difference.com.au

Reproduction of this ballot is encouraged, provided it is reproduced verbatim.