From the mid-1950s, we move forward about five years, and east about two thousand
miles, to the Detroit worldcon of 1959. That worldcon was notable for a number of
reasons -- Irish fan John Berry was in attendance (due to a special fan fund to
bring him to the U.S.), it was the first worldcon to use a preliminary nominating
ballot for Hugo Award selection, and the convention began with the apparent corpse
of Howard DeVore being dragged across the stage (Howard had said there would be a
worldcon in Detroit over his dead body). There's more yet...
 In the 15th (April `94) issue of
Mimosa, I told a story about Big Bill Donaho and his catered dinners.
{{ed. note: "The Politics of a Dinner" }} If I
remember correctly, I ended that story with the above title. So lets begin from
there! Well... before we do, maybe we best state a few 'ancient and honorable'
facts to bring some of you reading this up to speed, so to speak.
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Greetings and Good Wishes from Australia and Roger Dard. I am hoping to see you in
Pittsburgh in `60. So Vote PITTSBURGH.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Shortly, after returning to New York
from SolaCon, I called Fred Prophet and said, "I'm ready to come home. Get Jim and
come get me." Several days passed. Finally late one Saturday evening we, with the
loaded car, embarked on the journey back to Detroit and my future first wife. On
the way, a friendly state trooper invited me to follow him to the home of his very
good friend. An hour later and some $20 poorer (not me, I had no money -- Jim
Broderick ponied up a tenspot, as did Fred), we were again on our way home, with
the advice that we ease up on the gas pedal. (Many years later, finding myself
driving on the Pennsylvania turnpike, I became almost ill when I realized the speed
with which we took some of the tight curves on that trip.)The next afternoon, I called Mae and
began courting. Soon we were engaged. At this point, some of you will remember
that I was now involved in putting on a worldcon. This means many, many
loooong meetings, and lots of work.[In case the reader is interested in
a list of the Committee, they were: Chairmen: Fred Prophet and Roger Sims;
Secretary: Mary Young; Treasurer: Jim Broderick; Public Relations: George Young;
Publicity: Howard DeVore, Elliott Broderick and Dean McLaughlin. Howard arranged
for fan panelists and Dean coordinated the involvement of the pros. (That was it!
The whole committee for a worldcon!)]- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Teddybear Says Washington is the One and I Can Spel it, I think, it is Speled right,
Isn't it Dean?- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Worldcons of the fifties were
somewhat looser than worldcons of today. Back then, the Masque was a Masquerade
Ball with live music, and without judges or awards for best whatever. However,
just because the contests were not codified does not mean that there were no
contests. At the Detention, the one for Most Beautiful was madly contested by Olga
Ley, a Hollywood designer (and wife of Willy Ley), and Karen Anderson, the wife of
our Guest of Honor. Both, especially Karen, were highly miffed when all attendees
only talked about Bill Donaho's beautiful red monk costume.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"I am not now and never have been a member of the Michigan Science Fantasy
Society." -- Howard DeVore.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The banquet was the 'biggie', because
it contained the Fan and Pro Guests of Honor speeches, as well as the announcement
and presentation of the Hugos. The festivities were ably handled by our
Toastmaster, Isaac Asimov. His response to the request to be our TM was an awful
look, which changed to a wide smile upon being told that it was his show. Robert
Bloch handed out the Hugos with the exception of the one for short story. When
this category came up, Isaac took the envelope from Bob and with a flourish as only
he can flourish, gave the Hugo to Bob for his story "That Hell-Bound Train." For
possibly the only time in any one's memory, Bob was speechless for what seemed like
several minutes.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"I don't care what Howard says as long as he pays his club dues." -- Fred ProphetVote PittWashPhilly in `60 -- I'm Impartial - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Bjo Wells came to the Detention with
a crew and material for what I believe was the first Art Show. They had traveled
caravan-style across the country from Los Angeles to Detroit, and Thursday night
was spent in our treasurer's back yard. This voyage was organized because, the
year before, several fans from several cities had caravaned starting in New York
City all the way out to South Gate, California, for SolaCon. I was one of those
fans, But That's Another Story. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
TRAVELCON to the DETENTION -- a different city every day. TravelCon plans are
starting to shape up. Latest report from Bjo is that about 20 L.A. fans are already
making plans to attend the Detention. Fans in the Berkeley area are organizing a
group to join up with the Travel Con In L.A. For information and details, contact
Betty Jo Wells, 2548 West 12th, Los Angeles 6, California.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The biggest job of putting on the
Con was assembling the material about the Con and making the ads readable for the
program book. A committee member found a store which had an IBM typer with a paper
carbon ribbon, which they allowed us to use. It is believed that they had the
misguided concept that we might buy it! (They were wrong.)Since I was at the time living on
unemployment compensation, I was elected to type all copy on this wonderful machine.
While it did produce proper copy for repro, it can only be described as the devil's
own machine. After each fourth line the ribbon would break and one's fingers then
would became ink-infested re-running the ribbon back onto the take-up reel.About three weeks before the Con was
to begin, Mae went up north to spend a weekend with her parents. That same weekend,
the crew began assembling the convention's Program Booklet, starting the minute I
returned from taking Mae to the bus station on Friday evening. We finished
sometime around 10 p.m. Sunday, long after Mae had returned back to that bus
station. Needless to say, she was upset! The next evening, I spent more time than
I want to remember, talking her back into our engagement. (I never did find
out how she got home.)With the program book finished and
off to the printers, all was in readiness for the proceedings except one small
detail. About a week before the Con, a box arrived from the artist, Morris Scott
Dollens. Unpacking it, we found that it contained 40 of his very finest 16" by 20"
astronomical paintings. We decided that this would make a most interesting focal
point somewhere on the stage for the Con's program. (In those by-gone years,
programming was a single track.)"George," we all said in unison, "Do
something with these paintings!" Under the theory that nothing should be done
before its time, George Young started building the scaffold for the paintings
sometime after he got up Saturday morning. By 1 pm, the scheduled time for
the formal beginning of Detention, only half the job was completed. At
1:30 pm, I looked at the angry fans at the door, went into the hall and said
to George, "I'm opening the doors in three minutes. Prepare yourself for your part
in the opening."George stammered, "But, we're not
ready!" But I did not hear him because I was already opening the doors to the
thundering herd.Because the Con started late, the
panel of fan editors entitled "Staples, Ink, and Mimeo Paper, the Lives & Times
of Fan Publishers" (with Bjo Wells as Moderator, and panelists Ron Ellik, Ted White
and John Berry), which had been scheduled for Saturday afternoon, was moved to late
Sunday evening after a slide show of astronomical scenes by Morris Scott Dollens.
Shortly after that panel finally began, the bheer party opened for business. While
there is no known truth to the claim that the flow of bheer caused the words to
flow long after the scheduled hour had lapsed, it is known that the panel
lasted long after the bheer was exhausted. The story of just how this happened
deserves to be told again, But That's Another Story. # # # #
Afterword: Although the Convention was a
success, my marriage to Mae was not. But all worked out for the best; for as a
result of the divorce, I was able to marry Pat Oswalt on August 16, 1964 (8-16-64)
-- a date that has some interesting base two properties.[Note: All of the interlineations in this article were taken from publications of the 1959 WorldCon, Detention.] All illustrations by Kurt Erichsen |
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