At the end of that brief piece, I wrote:
So, it’s a mystery: how did Janney even hear of the Fortean Society, let alone become a member? What did he think of Fort?
Well, there's more:
But to fully answer the question—all I needed to do was see a part of Doubt that I somehow missed: Doubt 14, spring 1946, p. 203, “Conchy Specialist” in which Thayer confirms some of the details I dug up and also says that there was correspondence between Thayer and Janney, although Thayer is oblique about the subject and, unfortunately, the letter or letters seem to have been lost. Thayer wrote,
“We are proud of the Fortean membership among these toilers in the vineyard [here he was referring to Conscientious Objectors being required to build privies and sewer systems], and proudest of Werner Janney. Werner (called ‘Casey’) is so literate that his course—since the reinstitution of slavery in the United States—can be followed by a broad trail of pamphlets. Wherever he goes he sets up a Camp Magazine. The latest, called ’27 F’ after the number of his unit, is the best, and it contains the information that an ‘installation’ which required 14 man-days under WPA is made in 3.4 man-days under CO. Of course, the men were paid under WPA; the CO gets less than nothing. The booklet closes with this note, by Janney: ‘The writer of this article was not born with a flush toilet in his mouth. As Woodrow Wilson might have said, he used open plumbing openly arrived at, until he got to college.’
“In a letter he discusses Florida politics, saying such things as might work hardship upon him if we quoted, and adding:
‘I like the term pyrotic. What is the term for people or families susceptible to falling stones, lithotics? And what is the name for one who receives the attention of an ordinary poltergeist, as distinct from the out-door type? There really ought to be some all-embracing term for the person (adolescent girl?) who is the center of any disturbance, whether she cracks her big toes or entertains visitors from Pluto, who like to shy stuff at her. Vortex?”
There’s a lot to digest here.
First, it seems that Swarthmore’s excellent peace collection does not have copies of Janney’s “27 F.” If I’m reading the excerpt correctly, though, he seems to be making a Fortean point: that in college, all kinds of shit was forced into him. Whether he means that before college he spouted (bull)shit, or just foraged on it, is unclear.
Second, he was clearly conversant with the Fortean Society Magazine, if not Fort’s works. Perhaps Janney became aware of the Society through Thayer’s actions supporting COs, sending Doubt to the CO camps, and getting their newsletters in response. Maybe that’s how they struck up their conversation. From the letter, we again see Janney’s sense of whimsy: he is focusing on the words to describe these anomalies, not so much concerned in their metaphysical or scientific meaning, but the humorous vocabulary that could be invented to describe phenomena the world refused to admit existed. The word ‘pyrotic,’ as we will see later, was introduced by Jack Campbell i Doubt 12. Lithotics was a nice riff on it. And Vortex was inspired—connecting the Fortean interest in telekinetically gifted young girls and the Fortean fascination with vortices as the fundamental structure of the universe. To foreshadow again, we’ll see that Thayer ended up choosing a different name for those unfortunate girls.
Third, it still seems as though Janney’s writing for the camps didn’t make much use of Fort or Fortean philosophy, if any, at least not directly, since Thayer quotes nothing, but presumably would.
Janney, then, remains a mystery, but slightly less than one before. What seemed to appeal to him about the Fortean Society was not its politics—although that might have—its social stances or views on science. Instead, it was the humor central to Fort’s vision, the recognition of life’s irreducible absurdities. Shit, Janney well knew, would always run down hill. Make the best of it.
So, it’s a mystery: how did Janney even hear of the Fortean Society, let alone become a member? What did he think of Fort?
Well, there's more:
But to fully answer the question—all I needed to do was see a part of Doubt that I somehow missed: Doubt 14, spring 1946, p. 203, “Conchy Specialist” in which Thayer confirms some of the details I dug up and also says that there was correspondence between Thayer and Janney, although Thayer is oblique about the subject and, unfortunately, the letter or letters seem to have been lost. Thayer wrote,
“We are proud of the Fortean membership among these toilers in the vineyard [here he was referring to Conscientious Objectors being required to build privies and sewer systems], and proudest of Werner Janney. Werner (called ‘Casey’) is so literate that his course—since the reinstitution of slavery in the United States—can be followed by a broad trail of pamphlets. Wherever he goes he sets up a Camp Magazine. The latest, called ’27 F’ after the number of his unit, is the best, and it contains the information that an ‘installation’ which required 14 man-days under WPA is made in 3.4 man-days under CO. Of course, the men were paid under WPA; the CO gets less than nothing. The booklet closes with this note, by Janney: ‘The writer of this article was not born with a flush toilet in his mouth. As Woodrow Wilson might have said, he used open plumbing openly arrived at, until he got to college.’
“In a letter he discusses Florida politics, saying such things as might work hardship upon him if we quoted, and adding:
‘I like the term pyrotic. What is the term for people or families susceptible to falling stones, lithotics? And what is the name for one who receives the attention of an ordinary poltergeist, as distinct from the out-door type? There really ought to be some all-embracing term for the person (adolescent girl?) who is the center of any disturbance, whether she cracks her big toes or entertains visitors from Pluto, who like to shy stuff at her. Vortex?”
There’s a lot to digest here.
First, it seems that Swarthmore’s excellent peace collection does not have copies of Janney’s “27 F.” If I’m reading the excerpt correctly, though, he seems to be making a Fortean point: that in college, all kinds of shit was forced into him. Whether he means that before college he spouted (bull)shit, or just foraged on it, is unclear.
Second, he was clearly conversant with the Fortean Society Magazine, if not Fort’s works. Perhaps Janney became aware of the Society through Thayer’s actions supporting COs, sending Doubt to the CO camps, and getting their newsletters in response. Maybe that’s how they struck up their conversation. From the letter, we again see Janney’s sense of whimsy: he is focusing on the words to describe these anomalies, not so much concerned in their metaphysical or scientific meaning, but the humorous vocabulary that could be invented to describe phenomena the world refused to admit existed. The word ‘pyrotic,’ as we will see later, was introduced by Jack Campbell i Doubt 12. Lithotics was a nice riff on it. And Vortex was inspired—connecting the Fortean interest in telekinetically gifted young girls and the Fortean fascination with vortices as the fundamental structure of the universe. To foreshadow again, we’ll see that Thayer ended up choosing a different name for those unfortunate girls.
Third, it still seems as though Janney’s writing for the camps didn’t make much use of Fort or Fortean philosophy, if any, at least not directly, since Thayer quotes nothing, but presumably would.
Janney, then, remains a mystery, but slightly less than one before. What seemed to appeal to him about the Fortean Society was not its politics—although that might have—its social stances or views on science. Instead, it was the humor central to Fort’s vision, the recognition of life’s irreducible absurdities. Shit, Janney well knew, would always run down hill. Make the best of it.
