The Northern Guffblower: 3

March 1979

the ever-recurring GUFF newsletter from Dave Langford, 22 Northumberland Ave, Reading, Berks. RG2 7PW, UK. Available for all sorts of reasons. Spring 1979.

The Usual Background: GUFF will bring an Australian fan to Seacon '79, just as takes UK or US fans across the Atlantic. The voting doesn't close until 30th April 1979, so even if you picked this up at Yorcon there is still time to rush your minimum of 80p (or $1.50 Australian) to me (or Leigh Edmonds, PO Box 103, Brunswick, Victoria 3056, Australia) and to state your order of preference for the three candidates: John Alderson, John Foyster and Eric Lindsay.

Money: Coming along quite nicely, friends. The kitty contains a little over £200 here and another $450 there, as of last count, so with a little more aid it seems that we can't fail to raise the air-fare. GUFF benefactors since my last newsletter are, in chronological orders The Birmingham SF Group (a large donation from Novacon 7's profits; Eastercons please take note), Al Fitzpatrick, Ann Looker, Joe Nicholas, Steev Higgins, Julian Headlong, Alan Dorey (who, not content with selling copies of Gonad the Barbarian, produced the sequel -- see below), Ian Maule, Bob Day, Donald Whyte, Andrew Stephenson, Paul Kincaid, Paul Barnett, Joyce Scrivner, Don Fitch, Terry Hughes, Dave Rowe, Joanne Burger, Derek Carter, Margaret Gemignani, Vernon Brown, Hazel, Cyril Simsa, Rune Forsgren (vast amounts from Swedish fandom), Seth Goldberg, Peter Weston, Dai Price, and no doubt various Australians who sent money to Leigh. Thanks to all. We also did fairly well at the Novacon 8 Fan Room (sales of Twll-Ddu and Gonad), the Art Auction (Jim Barker's amazing Gonad covers), the Fan Room Auction (all manner of sordid things), Pamela Boal's Bring&Buy Party Auction and -- better late than never -- the forgotten Skycon auctions.

Gonad & Co.: The first two parts of Gonad are both now available, the first from me and the second from Alan Dorey (via me, if you like), each at 50p -- or £1 post free for the pair. Alan will be doing the third and final part in time for Yorcon, and we hope to offer a "boxed set" there. Meanwhile, copies of the Bob Shaw/Jim Barker signed "Up the Conjunction" are still available on a first-come-first-served basis at 50p also. This, with only 30 copies altogether, will presumably be some form of collectors' item; you'd better be quick.

Auction of High-Class Stuff: The following material will be offered at Yorcon auctions, reserve price being set at the highest bids received by post beforehand. (Or decided by myself if response is poor.) From Harry Andruschak: Viking Project Mission Operations Status Bulletins nos. 1 to 37; Voyager official report, Science reprint on Mariner 10 at Venus and Jet Propulsion Lab Annual Report 76-77. From Florence Russell: 3 issues of Samuel D Russell's fanzine Haunted, with contributions from Robert Bloch, Fritz Leiber, Marion Zimmer Bradley and Roger Zelazny. From Brian Hampton: First 3 issues of Peter Roberts's legendary Mor-Farch with letter-supplement Krumhorn; Darroll Pardoe's ten-years-after memorial anthology for Doc Weir. From Joyce Scrivner: Of Such Are Legends Made (vol I), with the inside story of many fan legends, eg. "Mike Glicksohn"... ALSO: White Dwarf 1 & 2 (pro gameszine); Sfinx 5 with amazing early writings by Rob Jackson, Chris Morgan and Me; Suncon Programme Book (a giant, nearly 130pp large format); and various copies of Richard Geis's SFR: numbers 17, 18, 22, 26, 27 and, er, well, that's all. Much more material is promised by Harry Andruschak and others... don't miss it!