TAFF DOOR #1.1

This is TAFF DOOR #1.1, a newsletter for the Trans Atlantic Fan Fund published October 19, 1990, by its North American administrator, Robert Lichtman, P. O. Box 30, Glen Ellen, CA 95442 USA. This issue is being sent to those who have bid in the mail auction, founders, former and current administrators of TAFF, and various interested others. Fanzine editors receiving this: Please share the information herein regarding the next TAFF race in the next issue of your fanzine. Tell your readers complete current TAFF information is available from the North American administrator for a long SASE or (non-U.S. fans) $1.00US. This info will include a listing of fanzines, books, apa mailings and other oddments for sale on a cash basis. For general TAFF business, one may write to your choice of the current European administrators (addresses appear below) or the North American administrator; however, the above sales list is available only from the North American administrator. Artwork thish by William Rotsler.

The Race Is On

Nominations open November 1, 1990, for prospective European/U.K. candidates to travel to the 1991 Worldcon in Chicago. In this race, would-be TAFF delegates require three nominators from Europe/U.K. and two nominators from North America. Candidates pledge that, barring acts of Ghod, if elected they will make the trip and then administer the fund until succeeded. They must post a £10/$20 good faith bond and provide a 100-word platform to appear on the ballot. Nominations may be addressed either to the North American administrator (address in colophon) or to either of the European/U.K. administrators, whose addresses are:

Lilian Edwards
2 Spring Valley Terrace
Morningside
Edinburgh EH10 4QD
SCOTLAND
Christina Lake
47 Wessex Avenue
Horfield
Bristol BS7 0DH
UNITED KINGDOM

Nominations close December 31, 1990. Ballots will be distributed with TAFF DOOR #2, to appear January 15, 1990 (or shortly thereafter), which will be sent to over 600 fans. Fanzine editors are, as usual, invited to reproduce and distribute the ballot. Voting deadline is May 15, 1991.

Minor Changes

The eagle-eyed among you may have noted above that the bond required to be posted has doubled this year. Consensus to make this change surfaced in letters and personal contact with a wide range of TAFF's friends, founders and former administrators. It seemed like a long overdue adjustment for inflation. The voting fee is being brought to parity: the pound rate remains the same (£1), but the dollar rate goes to $2.00. Given the current exchange rate, this puts both the voting fee and the bond rate at near-parity. Seems fair.

Still Available from TAFF

• Walt Willis' The Enchantment -- a 36-page account of his and Madeleine's trip to Florida to be GoHs at the 1988 Tropicon. Walt's first trip to America in 1952 directly inspired the creation of TAFF the following year. Many photographs, plus illustrations by ATom, Gail Bennett, Alexis Gilliland and Lee Hoffman. $3.00 a copy. Add $1 postage U.S. or $1.50 elsewhere.

Fanzine Samplers: Two-pound lot for $5.00 postpaid to U.S., $6.00 elsewhere. An assortment of mostly '80s and '90s fanzines. No incomprehensible apazine mailing comments included.

• A copy of the fanzines/etc. sale list mentioned in the colophon will be included with orders for either of the above.

The Auction So Far

Here's a recap of the auction items being offered, as detailed in TAFF DOOR #1, and an account of the bids received so far. In each listing below, the bidder whose name and bid is boldface is the current leading contender for that item. Anyone may increase any bid at any time so long as their communication doing so reaches me by January 15, 1991.

1. The Roots of Fantasy: Myth, Folklore & Archetype: limited edition souvenir volume published for World Fantasy Con, Seattle 1989. Lots of good writing and artwork. Minimum bid: $25. Bids so far: Richard Brandt, $25. Gary Louie, $25. Gloria L. Albasi, $30.

2. ALGOL #16: this issue has a Jim Steranko cover. Minimum bid: $15. Bid so far: Richard Brandt, $15.

3. THE SATELLITE: late '30s British fanzine, four early issues including the first. Minimum bid for lot: $25. Bids so far: Richard Brandt, $25. Gloria L. Albasi, $40. Joe Sokola, $40. Joe's bid was received earlier.

4. Walt Willis fanzines: two riders with SLANT and one other. Minimum bid: $20. Bids so far: Joe Sokola, $30. Craig Smith, $30.00. Craig's bid was earlier.

5. BEABOHEMA #9: an excellent issue of Frank Lunney's '70s genzine, with lots of good Ted White material (and much else). Minimum bid: $10. Bids so far: Richard Brandt, $10. Craig Smith, $10. A tie: both bids were postmarked the same day in their respective cities of origin and received here the same day! Will someone please break this dead heat?

6a. DREAM QUEST #5: April 1948 issue of this excellent genzine from the heart of Fifth Fandom. Good Laney article and much more. Minimum bid: $12.00. Bids so far: Richard Brandt, $12. Craig Smith, $15. Robert Runte, $15. Karen Cooper, $20.

6b. DREAM QUEST #6: July 1948, featuring "The Craters of the Moon," faan fiction by Redd Boggs, also Laney, Harry Warner Jr. & Joe Kennedy. Minimum bid: $15. Bids so far: Robert Runte, $15. Richard Brandt, $15. Craig Smith, $18. Gloria L. Albasi, $20.

7. SPICY #2: Rich Coad's late '70s fanzine. A Britfan adjusts to life in America. Minimum bid: $5. Bids so far: Richard Brandt, $5. Craig Smith, $8.

8. Fannish Buttons Collection: twenty fannish buttons. Minimum bid: $25. No bids received so far for this unusual collection. But Karen Cooper has bid $3 for a separately-offered Minneapolis in '73 button.

9a. FOCAL POINT #10: June 1965 issue of personable fannish newszine edited by rich brown and Mike McInerney. Minimum bid: $2.50. Richard Brandt has bid this amount.

9b. FOCAL POINT #19: January 1966 issue, reporting on Calvin Demmon's appearance on TV show The Dating Game. Minimum bid: $1.50, also covered by Richard Brandt.

10. KARASS Collection: The first six issues and four others of this '70s news and views fanzine from Linda Bushyager. Minimum bid for the batch: $10. Bids so far: Karen Cooper, $10. Gloria L. Albasi, $15.

11. CLARION FANNISH: first publication of this Terry Carr's faan fiction story, in a special SAPSzine done by Terry in 1986. No one has yet spoken up for this item, which has a $5 minimum bid.

12. DIASPAR #17: the November 1975 issue of Terry Carr's FAPAzine. Interesting and varied material by Terry, Brian Aldiss and Bob Shaw. Minimum bid: $5. Bid so far: Richard Brandt, $10.

13. DIASPAR #19: November 1977 issue, featuring Terry's SunCon report. Minimum bid: $10. Bids so far: David Bratman, $10. George Inzer Jr., $15.

14. DIASPAR #22: June 1981 issue. Material by Terry, James Sackett, Melissa Michaels and Lois Metzger. Minimum bid: $5. No bids received so far.

15. DIASPAR #24: August 1986, all written by Terry. Minimum bid: $10. Bid so far: Richard Brandt, $10.

16. FANTHOLOGY '64: An excellent collection of 1964's best fanwriting edited by Terry with Mike Domina. Minimum bid: $15. Bids so far: Irwin Hirsh, $15. Robert Runte, $15. Gloria L. Albasi, $20. Steve Johnson, $22. Karen Cooper, $25.

17-23. There have been no bids for these items, consisting of various issues of Terry Carr's fanzines. Specifically, GILGAMESH Nos. 44, 53, 65, 66 & 69, HOBGOBLIN #4 and VULCAN #2, respectively, and minimum bids of $7, $7, $10, $10, $5, $2 and $15 respectively. (See TAFF DOOR #1 for more descriptive details.) A minimum or near-minimum bid might just get you what you want ...

24b. MOTA #26: November 1978 issue of this excellent '70s fannish genzine, featuring editor Terry Hughes, Bob Shaw and Dan Steffan. Minimum bid: $8. Bid so far: David Bratman, $10. (Also: Item 24a, MOTA #25, featuring a lengthy Bob Shaw article and lots of Terry's writing, with minimum bid of $8; no bids received so far.)

25. MEXICON 2 -- THE FANZINE: Special publication for 1986 British convention, well-edited and featuring much excellent writing. Minimum bid: $8. Gloria L. Albasi has covered this minimum.

26. EMBRYONIC JOURNEY: A 61-page collection of British fanwriting, edited by Graham James for Conception in 1987, a convention commemorating the 50th anniversary of Britain's first con. Minimum bid: $10. Bids so far: Richard Brandt, $10. Karen Cooper, $15. David Bratman, $15. David's bid arrived before Karen's.

27. Program Book for the first Mexicon, held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1984. Besides program information, some excellent articles appear, most notably Ann Hamill's "Being Different." Minimum bid: $8. Bids so far: Irwin Hirsh, $8. Gloria L. Albasi, $8. Robert Runte, $10.

28a. PULP #1: June 1986, edited by Pam Wells. Minimum bid: $7. Bids so far: Richard Brandt, $10. Craig Smith, $10. This is another tie bid (see explanation in item 5, above). Tie-breaker, please?!

28b. PULP #2: August 1986 issue, edited by Vince Clarke. Minimum bid: $7. Bids so far: Richard Brandt, $10. Craig Smith, $10. Another tie (these guys must be psychic). Something's gotta give here, too!

29. TAFFLUVIA #3: November 1985 issue of Patrick & Teresa Nielsen Hayden's TAFF newsletter. Minimum bid: $3. One bid so far: Gloria L. Albasi, $10.

30. IZZARD #9: 90-page February 1987 issue of Patrick & Teresa's genzine, and the best single issue of any fanzine that year so far as I can recall. Practically a fanthology unto itself. Minimum bid: $15. Bids so far: Karen Cooper, $15. Gloria L. Albasi, $15. David Clark, $22. Steven Johnson, $22.50. Carol Springs, $37.25.

As stated above, bidding on these items closes when the mail delivery of January 15, 1991, reaches my box. Naturally, as administrator and fund-raiser I hope some spirited bidding occurs between now and then. If ties are not broken on items 5, 28a and 28b, they will roll over into the next auction. A list of winners will be published in TAFF DOOR #2, to be sent out as soon after January 15th as possible. Winning bidders will be notified by mail.

Thanks to All ...

... Who have made bids in the above auction; who have publicized TAFF in their fanzine; who have made generous donations of money and/or saleable goods (especially fanzines); and who have supported TAFF in various ways both currently and over the long haul.

TAFF derives some of its income from its mail auction and direct sales fundraising efforts. It has an ongoing need to obtain (primarily) fanzines to fuel these activities. Other items are also welcome, but old fanzines are what TAFF's contributors seek out. Think of TAFF when you have your next soul-searching session over how much space your fanzine collection is taking up, and do some pruning. Send TAFF your old fanzines; you'll have room to store more player piano rolls (or whatever) ...

TAFF has no existence outside the minds of fen. It only continues to exist and to fulfill its mandate because of a widespread and jointly-held belief throughout large segments of fandom in its modest goal of furthering contact between the fandoms on both sides of the Atlantic.