As noted in the earlier post on a Fortean Carlson—Anton J. Carlson—Thayer bragged that there were three Carlsons in the Society as of March 1948. Of those, he named two: Ajax and Evans Fordyce Carlson (his biographer, as well, was supposed to be a Fortean). But the name Carlson appeared in Doubt many times, usually not attributable to either of these Forteans. The name is attached to a clipping as early as Doubt 15 (Summer 1946) and persists in the magazine through the announcement of Ajax Carlson’s death in Doubt 53 (February 1957), 22 mentions altogether. Sixteen of those mentions are not attributable to either Evans Fordyce or Ajax. For the most part, they are credits tagged with the name Carlson or D. Carlson—which suggests that there may in fact have been as many as four Forteans with that surname. To make matters more confusing, there’s another Carlson with Fortean inclinations who isn’t name-checked in Doubt, but might as well be discussed here: that’s K. Martin Carlson.
The easiest Carlson to dispense with is Evans Fordyce Carlson, who appears to belong to that class of Society members who were Forteans in name only. There’s but a single mention of him, and that’s in the article announcing Ajax’s joining. At that time, Evans Fordyce had retired from the military and was a well-known war hero, having had a biography written. He had served in the military for most of his life, having dropped out of high school and lied about his age to join the army. In the 1920s and 1930s he investigated the Chinese communist troops and was impressed by their dedication and organization. Taking a hiatus from the military, he wrote a book on his experiences; later, with the advent of World War II, he imported their more democratic organization into the structure of military brigades and pioneered what would later be known as special forces brand of combat—think Green Berets or Navy Seals. Thayer admirably compressed all these facts into a brief squib, the only mention of E. F. Carlson as a Fortean:
“Dr. [Anton J.] Carlson is the third of his family to join us. The first was the late Evans Fordyce Carlson, one-time General in the U.S. Marines. Despite the Fortean objections to World Fraud II, and to all such armed frauds, it was probably inevitable that we should have a ‘war’ hero. Since it was practically unavoidable, we are glad it was Carlson. He had resigned his commission to write what he wished (and knew) about Red China. He pulled as much as much democracy as possible into his contingent of Marines, enough to turn every brass hat in Washington against him ... Have your bookseller get you Twin Stars of China, by Carlson, Dodd, Mead, 1940, and The Big Yankee, a biography of Carlson, by MFS Michael Blankfort, Little Brown, 1947. The Society does NOT supply these books.”
It seems doubtful that E. F. Carlson knew anything about Fort or cared about the Fortean Society. Perhaps Blankfort got him to sign up. Perhaps Thayer approached him just to get a military man on-board and he accepted. Unless further evidence appears, it seems that E. F. Carlson’s Fortean career was short—and nominal.
More intriguing are Carlson and D. Carlson, if they are indeed different people. But the intrigue they evoke is the standard kind in my research on Forteans. There have been many names mentioned in Doubt, many members given credit for sending in material, but the reference is so scanty, usually just a (common) last name, that I’ve been unable to do anything with them. They have stayed unwritten, their stories untold. If it wasn’t for all the confusion surrounding this name—Carlson—these references would likely also be lumped into the category unknown. (Or, as I mark it, ????).
Carlson _qua_ Carlson appeared in issue 15, 17 (ca. March 1947), 18 (July 1947), and 21 (June 1948). Of these, the first could, maybe, conceivably, be from Ajax—it’s a clipping from a Chicago paper about the army classifying a whole assortment of G.I. baby death’s as from pneuma enteritis, a disease which heretofore had not been reported in the U.S. The themes attach to Ajax—public health, popular misconceptions—but it’s striking that Thayer did not call out Ajax in person at this time, but waited a year. The other citations attributed only to “Carlson” are conventional Forteana: a Midwestern monster that clawed dogs (Doubt 17); a possible photo of the Madrona Monster in Lake Washington (Doubt 18); and “woe water” in London—a river that ran only during times of great duress (Doubt 21). There are no other attributes of this Carlson, and it may be any of a number of people, but it may also be K. Martin Carlson, as we’ll see.
In Doubt 23 (December 1948), Thayer begins citing only a “D. Carlson”—with one intriguing exception—beyond his explicit references to Ajax. In this issue, D. Carlson receives three separate citations—one for material on that Fortean classic, Wonet; one a generic citation for something on flying saucers (Thayer would eventually lump all his thanks for citations into long paragraphs, but he started the habit in regard to flying saucers, a subject he hated.) The third dealt with the fall of frogs from the sky in Turkey. D. Carlson re-appeared in Doubt 29 (July 1950)—making him (or her) one of the Forteans to cross the divide from the 1940s to the 1950s—with a generic reference. A spare reference to the barebones “Carlson” appears in Doubt 30 (October 1950) regarding flying saucers in some respect. That may be a re-appearance of the original Carlson, or simply Thayer being conservative with his references. At any rate, there’s no D here. The D does come back, in Doubt 33, with a generic reference, and three more of those ilk in the following issue; 34; and 43 (February 1954).
There’s one other reference that comes in the middle of these, and that’s the suggestive exception: in Doubt 38 (October 1952), appears the name “Martin D. Carlson” in a list of people who have sent in clippings. More than likely, it’s a typographical mistake, the dropping of a comma between “Martin” and “D. Carlson.” Possibly, there’s yet another Carlson, different from all the rest, who has contributed to the Fortean Society, not Ajax or E. F. or D. or just plain Carlson. But it may also be the garbling of someone who did have Fortean leanings even if I cannot find him definitively in Doubt. It may also suggest who that original, unadorned, Carlson was.
At this point, we’ve moved to K. Martin Carlson—see, there’s the Martin that may have gotten garbled in that reference from October 1952. Given the material that I’ve collected (and otherwise seen), it is too early to call this Carlson a true Fortean, or anything beyond mildly interested in the matter at all. Further research would seem to be needed. So I won’t rehearse his life in long-form as with others more definitively connected to the Fortean Society or Forteanism.
K. Martin Carlson was also known as Martin Kaymar Carlson—there’s the Martin as Christian name. He was born in Sweden, apparently on 14 May 1904, and, at some point, migrated to Minnesota. Among the early fans of science fiction, he contributed to fanzines as early as 1946, eventually publishing his own. He was also actively involved with the N3F—The National Fantasy Fan Federation, which was an organization of science fiction and fantasy fans. He started publishing the “Kay-Mar Trader” (which I have not seen) in 1946, and was connected with Donn Brazier, of Wisconsin, who published a Fortean fanzine “Frontiers.” That is where I have gotten all of my information on K. Martin Carlson’s Forteanism.
At the time, it seems to have been interleaved with Shaverism, not unlike Vincent Gaddis. The first mention I have of him in primary documents is sending in material on Deros to Brazier’s early fanzine “Ember.” (He was on the priority list of those who received the fanzine, indicating a close connection.) Later that year, after Brazier had filled Ember with material on the abominable snowman, the Oregon vortex, and falling frogs, Carlson is quoted saying, “I think it is a swell idea to come out with strange facts and ideas. Many of the fen do not hear of these things.” He also thought that Raymond Palmer—that Shaver-Fortean aficionado—should be alerted to the new research on the abominable snowman, presumably because it may cast some light on the Shaver mystery: the beast was being found in the Himalayas, near Tibet, and may have something to do with the Deros.
Presumably, Carlson’s own fanzine, which ran through the 1950s, might clarify his Forteanism—if Forteanism it was. But I have not seen those, and so, this Carlson, like the others of that name, remains only ambiguously connected to Fort, the Fortean Society, and Forteanism.
The easiest Carlson to dispense with is Evans Fordyce Carlson, who appears to belong to that class of Society members who were Forteans in name only. There’s but a single mention of him, and that’s in the article announcing Ajax’s joining. At that time, Evans Fordyce had retired from the military and was a well-known war hero, having had a biography written. He had served in the military for most of his life, having dropped out of high school and lied about his age to join the army. In the 1920s and 1930s he investigated the Chinese communist troops and was impressed by their dedication and organization. Taking a hiatus from the military, he wrote a book on his experiences; later, with the advent of World War II, he imported their more democratic organization into the structure of military brigades and pioneered what would later be known as special forces brand of combat—think Green Berets or Navy Seals. Thayer admirably compressed all these facts into a brief squib, the only mention of E. F. Carlson as a Fortean:
“Dr. [Anton J.] Carlson is the third of his family to join us. The first was the late Evans Fordyce Carlson, one-time General in the U.S. Marines. Despite the Fortean objections to World Fraud II, and to all such armed frauds, it was probably inevitable that we should have a ‘war’ hero. Since it was practically unavoidable, we are glad it was Carlson. He had resigned his commission to write what he wished (and knew) about Red China. He pulled as much as much democracy as possible into his contingent of Marines, enough to turn every brass hat in Washington against him ... Have your bookseller get you Twin Stars of China, by Carlson, Dodd, Mead, 1940, and The Big Yankee, a biography of Carlson, by MFS Michael Blankfort, Little Brown, 1947. The Society does NOT supply these books.”
It seems doubtful that E. F. Carlson knew anything about Fort or cared about the Fortean Society. Perhaps Blankfort got him to sign up. Perhaps Thayer approached him just to get a military man on-board and he accepted. Unless further evidence appears, it seems that E. F. Carlson’s Fortean career was short—and nominal.
More intriguing are Carlson and D. Carlson, if they are indeed different people. But the intrigue they evoke is the standard kind in my research on Forteans. There have been many names mentioned in Doubt, many members given credit for sending in material, but the reference is so scanty, usually just a (common) last name, that I’ve been unable to do anything with them. They have stayed unwritten, their stories untold. If it wasn’t for all the confusion surrounding this name—Carlson—these references would likely also be lumped into the category unknown. (Or, as I mark it, ????).
Carlson _qua_ Carlson appeared in issue 15, 17 (ca. March 1947), 18 (July 1947), and 21 (June 1948). Of these, the first could, maybe, conceivably, be from Ajax—it’s a clipping from a Chicago paper about the army classifying a whole assortment of G.I. baby death’s as from pneuma enteritis, a disease which heretofore had not been reported in the U.S. The themes attach to Ajax—public health, popular misconceptions—but it’s striking that Thayer did not call out Ajax in person at this time, but waited a year. The other citations attributed only to “Carlson” are conventional Forteana: a Midwestern monster that clawed dogs (Doubt 17); a possible photo of the Madrona Monster in Lake Washington (Doubt 18); and “woe water” in London—a river that ran only during times of great duress (Doubt 21). There are no other attributes of this Carlson, and it may be any of a number of people, but it may also be K. Martin Carlson, as we’ll see.
In Doubt 23 (December 1948), Thayer begins citing only a “D. Carlson”—with one intriguing exception—beyond his explicit references to Ajax. In this issue, D. Carlson receives three separate citations—one for material on that Fortean classic, Wonet; one a generic citation for something on flying saucers (Thayer would eventually lump all his thanks for citations into long paragraphs, but he started the habit in regard to flying saucers, a subject he hated.) The third dealt with the fall of frogs from the sky in Turkey. D. Carlson re-appeared in Doubt 29 (July 1950)—making him (or her) one of the Forteans to cross the divide from the 1940s to the 1950s—with a generic reference. A spare reference to the barebones “Carlson” appears in Doubt 30 (October 1950) regarding flying saucers in some respect. That may be a re-appearance of the original Carlson, or simply Thayer being conservative with his references. At any rate, there’s no D here. The D does come back, in Doubt 33, with a generic reference, and three more of those ilk in the following issue; 34; and 43 (February 1954).
There’s one other reference that comes in the middle of these, and that’s the suggestive exception: in Doubt 38 (October 1952), appears the name “Martin D. Carlson” in a list of people who have sent in clippings. More than likely, it’s a typographical mistake, the dropping of a comma between “Martin” and “D. Carlson.” Possibly, there’s yet another Carlson, different from all the rest, who has contributed to the Fortean Society, not Ajax or E. F. or D. or just plain Carlson. But it may also be the garbling of someone who did have Fortean leanings even if I cannot find him definitively in Doubt. It may also suggest who that original, unadorned, Carlson was.
At this point, we’ve moved to K. Martin Carlson—see, there’s the Martin that may have gotten garbled in that reference from October 1952. Given the material that I’ve collected (and otherwise seen), it is too early to call this Carlson a true Fortean, or anything beyond mildly interested in the matter at all. Further research would seem to be needed. So I won’t rehearse his life in long-form as with others more definitively connected to the Fortean Society or Forteanism.
K. Martin Carlson was also known as Martin Kaymar Carlson—there’s the Martin as Christian name. He was born in Sweden, apparently on 14 May 1904, and, at some point, migrated to Minnesota. Among the early fans of science fiction, he contributed to fanzines as early as 1946, eventually publishing his own. He was also actively involved with the N3F—The National Fantasy Fan Federation, which was an organization of science fiction and fantasy fans. He started publishing the “Kay-Mar Trader” (which I have not seen) in 1946, and was connected with Donn Brazier, of Wisconsin, who published a Fortean fanzine “Frontiers.” That is where I have gotten all of my information on K. Martin Carlson’s Forteanism.
At the time, it seems to have been interleaved with Shaverism, not unlike Vincent Gaddis. The first mention I have of him in primary documents is sending in material on Deros to Brazier’s early fanzine “Ember.” (He was on the priority list of those who received the fanzine, indicating a close connection.) Later that year, after Brazier had filled Ember with material on the abominable snowman, the Oregon vortex, and falling frogs, Carlson is quoted saying, “I think it is a swell idea to come out with strange facts and ideas. Many of the fen do not hear of these things.” He also thought that Raymond Palmer—that Shaver-Fortean aficionado—should be alerted to the new research on the abominable snowman, presumably because it may cast some light on the Shaver mystery: the beast was being found in the Himalayas, near Tibet, and may have something to do with the Deros.
Presumably, Carlson’s own fanzine, which ran through the 1950s, might clarify his Forteanism—if Forteanism it was. But I have not seen those, and so, this Carlson, like the others of that name, remains only ambiguously connected to Fort, the Fortean Society, and Forteanism.
