Shayne McCormack
| Fan | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Shayne McCormack |
| Alias(es): | SMC |
| Type: | fan artist, fan writer, fanzine publisher, convention organizer |
| Fandoms: | Star Trek: TOS, Blake's 7, The Professionals |
| Communities: | |
| Other: | |
| URL: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Shayne McCormack was an early and influential member of the Australian fan community. Not only did she illustrate and write fan fiction for a wide range of Australian fanzines, but she also published her own fanzines, created slideshows, and organized conventions.
In the 1975 Aussiecon convention booklet, Shayne was written up as the editor of Something Else fanzine:
Shayne is Australia's most travelled femme-fan. Her trip reports make fascinating reading, and it is worth a couple of dollars to see how the world looks to a liberated Australian female.[1]
In a 1999 speech about Australian fan history, Shayne's contributions to women in fandom were recognized:
It was Shayne McCormack who became the first female fannish recruit of the 1970s. She and Sabina Heggie attended the 1970 Easter Convention. They were the first Star Trek fans to make contact with the mainstream of fandom. Sabina disappeared after a year or two, but Shayne began to publish some excellent fanzines. With Bob Smith, she organised Syncon II in 1972. It was the first hotel convention held in Australia, and was a great success, showing that a world convention could be held in Australia. By 1975, about half of the members of Aussiecon I were women. [2]
Shayne was also instrumental is organizing fans protesting Star Trek's cancellation:
"Star Trek was finally cancelled after its third season in 1969 and Fans in America and Australia combined together to protest the cancellation. July 28, 1969 was designated Deluge Monday when everyone worldwide would phone NBC or write letters timed to arrive on that day. One of the organisers was Susan Smith (later Clarke), then a schoolgirl in Sydney's Blacktown. Plans were made to combine local fans under Shayne McCormack, a stenographer from Auburn.
"Shayne was interviewed about her activities in TV Times in March of that year. As a result she received over 75 letters from people wanting to help. This led to her forming D.U.S.K. (Down Under Space Kooks). The petition she helped organise measured 8 feet and contained over 2,200 signatures. D.U.S.K. published a fanzine, Terran Times, and organised irregular meetings and social outings before folding around 1970." [3]
Shayne also administered the DUFF (Down Under Fan Fund) Awards [4] and was also nominated for the GUFF (Going Up-and-over/Under Fan Fund) award in the 1990s. [5].
Slideshows
Zines
- Space-Time Continuum (Australian distributor)[6]
- So You Say
- Something Else
- A Touch of the Irish
- Terran Times
- Wombat (zine)
Art Gallery
front cover of Backtrack #9
back cover of Backtrack #9
front cover of Backtrack #10
interior art Pure Maple Syrup #3
Bodie and Doyle from The Professionals
_(may_have_been_in_letterzine_Short_Circuit).jpg)
References
- ^ Australian Fanzines', Aussiecon convention booklet, 1975, p. 91.
- ^ The Elder Ghods, The Johnny Come Lately, And The Babes In Arms -- Bruce Gillespie’s Fan Guest of Honour Speech Aussiecon Three, 2 September 1999, Archived version
- ^ Report from the National Library of Australia.
- ^ DUFF (Down Under Fan Fund) Awards
- ^ GUFF (Going Up-and-Over/Under Fan Fund) Winners
- ^ Advertisement in Ali Kayn (ed.), The Science Fiction Fan Resource Book, December 1994, p. 63.