Taffiles >
number one, the October 1987 issue of the newsletter of the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund, is published by Jeanne Gomell at Box 1443, Madison, WI 53701-1443. Telephone, 608-255-9909. The European Administrator is Greg Pickersgill, 7A Lawrence Road, S. Ealing, London W5 4SJ, England. TAFFILES will be generally available to all those who have recently donated or Shown Interest in TAFF. The mailing list to which TAFFILES #1 is sent, however, begins with the WHIMSEY mailing list and will expand from that. This issue piggybacks on a bulk mailing of 6-SHOOTER and 9 INNINGS to save TAFF the mailing expense.
THE TRIP REPORT There will be one. There are hours and hours--well there are about eight of them anyway--of audio tapes whispered into a miniature tape recorder in odd moments at the convention and in shadowy damp corners off London streets, that contain reminders of my trip to the UK. Scott would be sitting next to me on a train, and I'd be speaking quietly into this little hand-sized tape recorder and people from across the aisle would watch me with a suspicious look on their faces. Or just before bedtime, I'd talk very very fast into the tape recorder, listing off all the things that had happened that day, who we'd talked to, where we'd gone, etc. I suspect that the most useful entries will be the narratives of ideas provoked in conversations that connected with a particular insight into the culture, the fanscape or a personality.
I'm transcribing the tapes still. The 350 photographs are all stuck into photo albums chronologically and labeled. And that should help the reconstruction job too.
But mostly, I've been avoiding telling too many of the stories from the trip, from writing letters or apazines about the times and places and people I met in England and Scotland and Ireland. I'm afraid that if I start telling it, I'll lose the urge to write it all down in one place, that I'll lose the urgency and the edge of the telling.
I've tried but can't entirely thank everyone who hosted us or generously showed us around. People were unbelievably generous with their homes, their time and themselves. I had one of the best times of my life and I'm going to enjoy telling you about it.
BUSINESS That's the reason for this quickie issue, really. Greg Pickersgill will be putting this information out in England, and I'll do it here. We wanted to publish the schedule for the next TAFF race, which will be the UK->NA race, with the winner traveling to the New Orleans worldcon.
Short version of TAFF candidacy rules are: Anyone active in fandom by or before two years prior to the actual convention that will be attended by the winning candidate, is eligible to participate. Candidates need three nominators from their own side of the Atlantic, two from the other side, a $5 bond, and a platform of 100 words or less.
Here's the schedule for the 1987 race:
Nominations open November 1, 1987 Nominations close December 31, 1987 Ballots available January 15, 1988 Voting deadline April 15, 1988 Worldcon September 1-5, 1988 THE FUTURE There will be one. Following Patrick and Theresa Nielsen Hayden's example, I will be attempting to replenish TAFF funds through the mail. Like P&T, I also go to too few conventions to work on many convention auctions. Besides that, I think the mail auction went very, very well and was a fine idea. I'm going to do a catalog too, sort of along the lines of an L.L. Bean catalog, which will be called, J.G.TAFF.
There will also be a financial recapitulation, probably in the next issue of TAFFILES. Right now, I can tell you about the successful fanfund raising done in Brighton at Conspiracy. A total of £895.52 were raised from sales in the fan room (49.32 in the collection box, which was for voluntary donations by people who picked up fanzines that were donated to the fan room; plus an additional 308.17 in commissions and sales from convention publications and fanzines sold in the fan room), plus 538.03 of auction sales. It was quiet a fantastic show of support, actually. £400 will go to TAFF, £400 will go to DUFF, and the remainder will go to the Fandom Foundation.
When all the finances are straightened out, I'll finish up reporting the state of the US TAFF fund in the next TAFFILES.
IN THE MEANTIME There are a few publications for sale. If you weren't at Conspiracy, you missed the chance to buy some really superlative publications. Lucky for you, there are still a few left...
THE TRANSATLANTIC HEARING AID, by Dave Langford.
1980 TAFF trip report$3.50 FANFOODERY, or the plain fans guide to happy eating
A Conspiracy publication, edited by Eve and John Harvey: a collection of fannish food and drink recipies, donated by dozens of famous gourmetfans. Chapbook, 58 pp.3.50 THE STORY SO FAR...A brief history of British Fandom,
1931-1987. A Conspiracy publication, by Rob Hansen. Chapbook, 50 pp.3.50 NOW READ ON: A COLLECTION OF RECENT BRITISH FANWRITING
A Conspiracy publication with reprinted articles by D.West (Introduction), Kevin Smith ("Birdland"), Lilian Edwards & Christina Lake ("A Tale of Two Panels"), Linda Pickersgill ("How Women Get Pregnant"), Greg Pickersgill ("B24 Liberator"), Roz Kaveny ("Splendours & Miseries"), Abi Frost ("A Mitcham Mint"), Anne Hamill ("Lunch at the Savoy"), Owen Whiteoak ("Dope, Sex, & Cheap Thrills"), and Bob Shaw ("When Fandoms Collide").3.50 PLATEN STORIES A Conspiracy publication by Dave Langford.
Reprints of some of his best fanwriting -- 13 articles, 1980-1987 from Arena, The Channelcon Programme Book, Chuch, Mad Scientist's Digest Prevert, This Never Happens, Trapdoor, and Xyster.3.50 Include $1.00 postage/handling for each copy you order. These publications and others will be available through J.G.TAFF and may possibly be slightly higher in price. So order now while supplies last, and inflation stalls.
UNTIL NEXT TIME Thank you.
Jeanne