Barbara Kitson
| Fan | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Barbara Ann Kitson |
| Alias(es): | Barbara Kitson, Barra Kay, Errith Metcalfe, Errith Metcalfe-Twyford, Narilla Lee |
| Type: | fan writer, convention organiser, zine publisher, zine ed, Fan Club organiser, costume-maker, cosplayer |
| Fandoms: | Star Trek, Supermarionation, UFO, costuming, masquerade, |
| Communities: | |
| Other: | |
| URL: | |
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Barbara and her friend Catherine (aka Cath) Owens founded the Empathy Star Trek Club in Halifax, Yorkshire, UK, in October 1974. They were "co-directors" and shared all the administrative work until Cath's mother Dorothy (Dot) Owens came on board as club secretary and treasurer.
Shortly before founding the club, in March 1974, Barbara attended the first British Star Trek convention. Here she met Helen McCarthy with whom she later wrote Random Factors, an alternate-reality novel about Gerry Anderson's live-action TV series UFO.
She was already active as a writer of fan and original fiction. She is the author of a number of Trek-based short stories and the Trek novella Starchild, editor of zines including Serendipity (Star Trek:TOS zine), and co-author of The Clean Zine. In 1979 she published Jet by Sam Armitage, a collection of original science fiction stories which was also a roman a clef featuring many of the personalities active in British media fandom at the time, including Helen McCarthy, Marion Dougall, and both the author and publisher. The zine is now available from the British Library.
Barbara made costumes, wigs and jewellery before she met any other fans, working alone at home, producing and photographing outfits. After joining fandom and overcoming an initial shyness about wearing costume in public, she rapidly became a noted costume-maker, masquerade entrant and photo-model, recreating costumes and designing her own.
Barbara was a founding committee member of Fanderson [1], the Gerry Anderson appreciation society. As club secretary she was instrumental in its survival during a difficult period after its first Chair left the club. She was also a founder member of the Far Isles [2] Mediaeval Recreation Society. As Errith Metcalfe she was a Yorkshire merchant's daughter, as Narilla Lee she was a Romany wench and a noted singer/songwriter on historical and humorous topics.
Barbara was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour in July 2017, and died on 26 July 2018. She is survived by her husband Richard Edwards and two children.