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Dot Owens
| Fan | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Dot Owens |
| Alias(es): | |
| Type: | con organizer... |
| Fandoms: | Star Trek |
| Communities: | |
| Other: | |
| URL: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Dot Owens was among many things, a con organizer and zine contributor.
She passed away February 1, 1984.
Club President
Zine Editor
Owens was editor for Empathy Press (1970s), along with Lea Mount, Carol Keogh, Barbara Kitson, and Catherine Owens.
This press published the fiction zines Emanon, Tricorder, and Contact, as well as the newsletters Empathy News as well as many other zines.
Con Organizer
Owens was also a steward at the very first British Star Trek con, in 1974.
Dot's Words Upon Resigning Her Roles in Empathy Fan Club and Newsletter
In summer 1983, Dot handed the reigns of the club and newsletter over to Carol Keogh and Keith Jackson.
She addressed fans in the summer 1983 Empathy News:
...I'm no longer in the "Captain's Chair".Firstly, my thanks to all of you who have either written to me, or told me personally that I have your good wishes, and in many cases your prayers for the future. They are much appreciated. I have always considered that I was lucky to have made so many friends in fandom, but only over the last couple of months have I found out just how good my friends are.
I think by now everyone knows the "health reasons" given for handing over the presidency of the Club.
Despite not having been too well for some time, and knowing there was something wrong, it really came as a shock to be told I had cancer and there was nothing they could do. I don't think I had truly thought of that - in most people's minds it is the kind of thing that happens to others, not yourself.
Still, I am not doing too badly at the moment and I shall be at "Triple C" and look forward to having a chat with some of you. I also hope I shall still be fit enough to get to EmpathicCon II in February - I'm certainly planning on being there, though I doubt anyone will see me dashing about much. After that - well, we shall just have to wait and see.
Anyway, I hope you will give Carol the same support you have given me over the last eight years. I think she will make a good President and run a good club - she's even made me an Honorary Member, so I shall still be putting in my 'two-pennyworth' for as long as possible.
I shall now have more free time, so if anyone feels like dropping me a few lines I'd love to hear from you - it will seem strange to have time to write personal letters again, but I shall enjoy doing so.
Hope to see some of you at "Triple C" and have a chat. Till next time.
Shalom, Dot.
Despite Dot's hope of attending EmpathicCon II February 17-19, 1984, she did not, as Dot passed away on February 1, 1984.
Remembering Dot
1984
You have probably heard by now about Dot Owens. She died on Feb. 1st after a lengthy period of ill health, and she will be sadly missed by a great number of us in British Star Trek. She has been an active fan since 1974, organising the TerraCon and EmpathicCon conventions, and running the club "Empathy" which is now being carried on by Carol Keogh. I attended the funeral service in Halifax, representing "GHT" as well as my own family. There were about 30 Star Trek fans present, not only from the Yorkshire area but also from places as far off as London, Birmingham, and Gloucester. Had it not been a working day there would no doubt have been others. Dot's influence will remain with us for a long time. Her hope was for the Star Trek ideals of peace and brotherhood to be with us in our everyday life here on Terra Firma. [1]
[From the zine, IDIC #4]: This zine, which has turned out to be particularly diverse in its combinations, is dedicated with warm affection and ' gratitude to the memory of that all-embracing personification of IDIC philosophy: DOT OWENS. May she rest in peace.
2021
In almost all the ways, Dorothy "Dot" Owens broke the traditions for what society stereotyped as a “nerd." She was a mother to five daughters and a grandmother, who lived in a small house in Yorkshire, England, with her husband Joe, and her German Shepherd, Sheba. She wore her hair short and in curls, picked out pastel patterns to wear, and worked in retail — sometimes surviving paycheck to paycheck.
This otherwise typical woman just also happened to be the chairperson for a number of UK-based Star Trek fanzines as well as an organizer of several Star Trek conventions across England in the 1970s and ‘80s. Her events drew in international Star Trek stars such as George Takei and D.C. Fontana, as well as other familiar names in the Science Fiction circles, such as Hugo-award winner Anne McCaffrey, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy writer Douglas Adams.
[...]
Running the magazines soon became a bigger venture. In the family home, there was a collection of stamps from subscribers, and the storage upstairs was filled with boxes of paper awaiting printing. Their first typewriter was a portable Smith Corona, used to make the stencils for the magazine. While the entire house was a base of operations for the club, the kitchen was where printing took place as it housed the stencil duplicator (also known as the mimeograph machine). Initially a manually operated Roneo brand, it was later upgraded to a Gestetner, before going electric in the 1980s. The kitchen was chosen because printing would last long into the night and the following morning. That way the noise didn’t disturb others’ sleep.
When Catherine moved to London in 1975, she briefly stayed as president of the club, but then Dorothy took over the operation and organization. [2]
References
- ^ from G.H.T. Journal #5
- ^ from the 2021 essay, How Dorothy Owens Brought Star Trek to the UK by Rachel Perkins