Enmeshed with Forteanism or aware of Fort as an expression of modernist literature—they took a stand against Forteans.
John Bristol—Jack—Speer was born 9 August 1920 in Comanche, Oklahoma. He was the second of four children. His mother was Louise; his father, James, was an attorney. Jack attended George Washington University and worked as a file clerk. His education was interrupted by World War II—he went to work for the Lend Lease Administration—then followed in his father’s footsteps, receiving a law degree from the University of Washington. He settled in the Pacific Northwest, marrying Myrtle Cox in 1951.
Speer belonged to the first generation of science fiction fans, coming to the genre in the mid-1930s. In 1939, not even yet twenty, he published the first history of fandom, “Up to Now” (in which he established the generations of fanhood.) Active with amateur fanzines, he introduced the practice of sending comments to other ‘zines. In 1940, he wrote science fiction songs, which were then handed out at the world convention that year (in Chicago). He was an editor of the National Fantasy Fan Federation and perpetrated seminal hoaxes, practical jokes becoming a part of fannish folk life. In 1944, he codified fan language in an encyclopedia.
John Bristol—Jack—Speer was born 9 August 1920 in Comanche, Oklahoma. He was the second of four children. His mother was Louise; his father, James, was an attorney. Jack attended George Washington University and worked as a file clerk. His education was interrupted by World War II—he went to work for the Lend Lease Administration—then followed in his father’s footsteps, receiving a law degree from the University of Washington. He settled in the Pacific Northwest, marrying Myrtle Cox in 1951.
Speer belonged to the first generation of science fiction fans, coming to the genre in the mid-1930s. In 1939, not even yet twenty, he published the first history of fandom, “Up to Now” (in which he established the generations of fanhood.) Active with amateur fanzines, he introduced the practice of sending comments to other ‘zines. In 1940, he wrote science fiction songs, which were then handed out at the world convention that year (in Chicago). He was an editor of the National Fantasy Fan Federation and perpetrated seminal hoaxes, practical jokes becoming a part of fannish folk life. In 1944, he codified fan language in an encyclopedia.