As I remember one night in Coney Island found seven strange looking
fellows, fans and authors, crowded into a car for a posed picture. Ross
Rocklynne, freshly freckled by a New Yawk sun, at the steering wheel,
Jack Agnew at his side with Mark (I'm makin' my mark in pulps) Reinsburg
and immediately in back of Rocklynne a fellow with too much hair, a tan
that would make an Ethiopian blush, and teeth, Bradbury, augmented by
the humorously verbose Erle Korshak, the professorly nice Bob Madle and
one V. Kidwell. I recall also a night at Mort Weisinger's home during
July with Rocklynne, Ackerman, Morojo, Hornig, Binder, Schwartz, Darrow
and again Bradbury. A picture was taken that night and the only ones
with decent smiles were Ackerman and the under-done personality who
edits this magazine. Hornig looked strangely thoughtful with his hand to
his chin, Mort had a cigarette drooping from his lip and Darrow,
Schwartz and Binder all were lost in profound contemplation of the
little birdie which Mort's brother held. I remember also a night on
Central Park, a stag night, when it was raining convulsively and Binder,
Bradbury, Hornig, Rocklynne and Darrow all clambered into a rocking boat
and swished out onto the glittering water, yodeling popular tunes at the
way-way top of their corny contraltos. Binder has a pleasing bath-tub
baritone, while Hornig can imitate a frog at the drop of a body. Darrow
was strangely silent, but that man Bradbury and Rocklynne set up such a
howl that the Park authorities came out in a submarine, thinking that
the Loch Ness monster had turned up again. This was all settled when
someone pulled the plug and everyone drowned peacefully.
Going way back in the cobwebs I seem to recall a letter arriving at an
Eastern post-office addressed to Mars. It was returned marked:
Insufficient Postage.
As I remember Charlie Hornig wrote, on January 9th: "On Tuesday,
February 20th, 1940, I'll be in Los Angeles. I will write for Futuria
Fantasia, but my rates are 12 cents a word, before acceptance. I haven't
seen GONE WITH THE WIND yet, but if I stop off to see it on the road,
expect me two days later than heretofore planned. If I walk it, expect
me at the city limits on the R car-line, Whittier, the same time of the
morning, only about 18 months later. I'll bring my overcoat and shovel
along for the annual sun showers and orange blizzards." And later, from
Hornig: "I liked the latest issue of Futuria Fantasia very much,
especially the page of conventional descriptions over which I laughed
myself sick and silly. The note about Bradbury and the mask and the
blonde in the Paramount is the funniest thing I've ever read in a
fan-mag."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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