TAFFERVESCENT!

Issue 1 of the new British TAFF newsletter, produced in July 1991 by Pam Wells, 24A Beech Road, Bowes Park, London, N11 2DA. Phone 081-889-0401 (and speak to my answerphone, probably).

Just over a month since winning TAFF, and suddenly I realise that a newsletter needs to be produced BEFORE I go to America, to publicise the schedule of the next race. Nominations are open until 15th August please think of who you'd like to meet from America next Easter, encourage them to stand, nominate them, and make sure I get lots of votes to count at the end of the year. That's not too much to ask, is it?

I'm enclosing an abridged version of Robert Lichtman's TAFF newsletter with this one: he lists the full voting figures for the last race, and details the timetable for the next race. Unfortunately, I'll still be in America when ballots are due to be available, and so British ballots will not be distributed until towards the end of September. If anyone has a problem with this (perhaps because you want to enclose ballots with the fanzine you are publishing around then?), please contact Martin Tudor (845 Alum Rock Road, Ward End, Birmingham, B8 2AG) who will have draft copies of the ballot available before I return.

You'll doubtless be pleased to know (I certainly am!) that my transatlantic travel arrangements are now confirmed. I'll be leaving Britain on Sunday 18th August and spending chunks of time in Minneapolis, Madison, Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco before returning to these shores on Monday 16th September. (If anyone reading this has nothing better to do on a Sunday morning, you'd be very welcome to wave me off from Heathrow airport!)

Time for some acknowledgements: thanks to Lilian Edwards for £2,038.33, received on 18th June after finalising the accounts for Christina's and her administration; to Dave Langford for £2 on 25th May from selling a copy of his trip report; and to Mike Ford on behalf of Mexicon 4 with auction proceeds of £23.89 on 28th June. The British fund currently stands at £1,120.96.

As well as writing sections of trip report for various fanzines, I will also be talking about my trip and running TAFF auctions at Novacon 21 this year and Illumination next Easter. I am collecting material to sell at these auctions: please contact me if you can donate items for sale. The most popular buys at Novacon 19 were Dave Langford's colourful ties; apparently he has now run out of these, so we may be reduced to selling fanzines, books and artwork, unless anyone else can donate interesting items of clothing. (Oh, OK, I admit it, I do have Alun Harries's hawaiian shirt (he DID wear it, but not for very long), Martin Tudor's famous old brown leather jacket (which he wore for far TOO long) and my killer black patent disco boots (which, trust me, CAN'T be worn for long) ..anyway, if you can't find anything more exciting, at least donate some interesting chocolate!

Christina Lake raised some interesting points about TAFF and Europe in her last issue of TWO TIMES TAFF, and I'm hoping to broaden discussion of this topic in TAFFERVESCENT. What do you, the voters, think about it? With 1992 on the horizon, should we be making more of an effort to involve mainland European fandom in TAFF?

The next issue of TAFFERVESCENT will be published at the end of September, and it will include the ballot for the US-UK race. Traditionally, TAFF newsletters are automatically sent to all voters on the relevant side of the pond, in the most recent race. I would also like to widen distribution to encompass people who are interested in TAFF, even though they may not have voted this time. If you would like to be included on this general mailing list, or if you know of someone who would, please let me know.