Edith Crowe

Fan
Name:	Edith Crowe
Alias(es):	an unknown pseud was used for Sentinel slash fiction
Type:
Fandoms:	Star Trek: TOS, Starsky & Hutch, Beauty and the Beast (TV), others
Communities:
Other:
URL:
	Click here for related articles on Fanlore.
	Contents 1 Interviews; 2 In a Skit; 3 Meta; 4 Some Comments by Crowe 4.1 1977; 4.2 1979; 4.3 2006; ; 5 Fan Comments: About Crowe's Work; 6 Zine Contributions 6.1 Beauty and the Beast; 6.2 Star Trek; 6.3 Starsky & Hutch; 6.4 Other; ; 7 Sample Art 7.1 1970s; 7.2 1980s-1990s; ; 8 References;

Edith Crowe is a fan writer, fan artist, and letterzine participant.

She is also active in Mythlore, a peer-reviewed journal with a focus on J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and other myth and fantasy studies.

An undated bio of Crowe:

Edith Crowe is an academic librarian who has been involved in various fandoms (starting with Star Trek) since 1972. Beauty and the Beast, however, is the one she's most emotional about and the first (and so far only) one to inspire her to write fiction. She had seven "continuing classic" stories published in the late 80s and early 90s, in zines now out of print. New stories include the rather racy "My Furry Valentine" in the A Kingdom by the Sea conzine and several in issues of Sanctuary. ^[1]

Interviews

Winterfest Interview with Edith Crowe (2006)

In a Skit

portrayed Rooster, Coronor in Graven Mirages, a con skit (1981)

Some Comments by Crowe

Note: The comments below are from a moment in time, a long time ago. They may or may not represent current views!

1977

Comments about the Star Trek zine by Leslie Fish, The Weight:

Speaking of Leslie Fish, I might as well go on to "The Weight". I love it. Now there's a juicy example of cultural clashes, ethical dilemmas and real ideas to get one's mental teeth into. The only point I find a bit hard to accept is the magnitude of the difficulty Kirk & Co. have with the Anarchists' customs. For a group that's been exposed to as many alien cultures as they have they seem to be overreacting quite a bit to a culture which isn't even new to them, but comparable to others in Terran history. I also find it a little hard to believe that there are no anarchist societies in the whole damn galaxy. "It's a big galaxy." Plenty of planets have been encountered by the Enterprise crew which aren't under Federation, Klingon or Romulan control. The point that Starfleet has all the goodies, technologically speaking, is well taken, however.
I am really looking forward to the culmination of this saga (although I hate to see it end) because of the potential effect of the Anarchists' ideas on the Enterprise crew and the Federation itself. I am one of those who has always had mixed feelings about Starfleet because of its military aspects, and the conversation between Uhura and Christine has made me mighty curious about how this is going to turn out.
And gloriosky, ^[2] how marvelous it is to encounter such strong and well developed female characters (male ones too, for that matter). Devoted fan that I am, I still find much to cringe at every time I see those dear old reruns. I don't know how many professional women who act like such twerps in 1977 and I expect things to have improved a whole lot by the time of STAR TREK. That's one of the things I like most about fanfic — the way most fan writers have quietly gone about creating positive, competent female characters and further developing those given to us. I doubt it's coincidence that most of the writers are women, but it's a trend I'm pleased to see.
Despite the minor quibbles mentioned above, I think "The Weight" is one of the best examples of ST fiction I've yet seen it really does deal with those things I don't find as often as I'd like: cultural conflict both social and political ethical dilemmas, etc. ^[3]

1979

Comments regarding K/S stories in zines, a topic that was pretty new to organized fandom:

Even the x-rated stuff is too bloody predictable. My attitude about sex is simple: as long as there is truly free and informed consent, mutual desire, and it's not morphologically, impossible, it's okay with me. I may not choose to do it, but I'm sure not gonna tell you you can't. There are some really marvelous potentials with K/S that aren't being explored. It's possible to write a believable K/S story which keeps the two protagonists in character, it's just not easy. [Gayle F] can do it (can she ever!) and so have others. Unfortunately, most K/S stuff has either or both of the parties involved acting like the heroine in a particularly sappy romantic novel (supermarket paperback variety). It is also well to remember that sex involves more than genitalia, it takes place between (among) sentient creatures (or unsentient) in the context of a whole society. Sex doesn't take place in a vacuum either (sure would be uncomfortable, not to mention brief, if it did)!
In K/S terms, there's the problem of (a) successfully keeping it quiet, which has its own problems, i.e. to pretend most of the time that something very important to you doesn't exist; b) not keeping it quiet, at which point the excrement would really hit the air circulator. I don't think Star Fleet would be particularly upset about the sexual aspect, though some individuals might look askance, but they sure would be concerned about its potential for destroying command effectiveness, creating dissension in the crew, etc.
And Vulcan — oh brother! Methinks a homosexual relationship on Vulcan would be about as popular as a ton of steak tartare ... and with a human yet! (Now there's another nice topic — the gap be tween pronouncements and actual behavior of Vulcan society re the IDIC — speaking of being more honored in the breach than the observance)... ^[4]

2006

Crowe wrote about her desire for happy endings and contentment:

I have a theory that there's a continuum with "nest-builders" at one end and "sensation-seekers" at the other. I'm about as far over on the "nest-builders" end as one can get, so obviously that part appeals to me. Also, it's the part you see little of in canon. Conflict equals drama seems to be gospel with TV writers, so canon is skewed toward that. One of the main motivations with fanfic is to "fix" canon, including stressing the parts that are neglected in the actual show. I happen to find everyday life, particularly finding a way to achieve that "happy life," a lot more interesting than mayhem.
[...]
I don't write what I don't want to read, so--only happy endings. No death stories. No sex for the sake of sex, but only if it serves the story. There was no 3rd season....I try to avoid painful developments, without degenerating into the unrealistically saccharine. One of my motivations for writing BATB was as an antidote for all the ridiculously unnecessary angst the characters were put through in canon.^[5]

Crowe wrote about her Sentinel fiction:

Under another name, I've written a significant amount of slash fanfic in the Sentinel universe, which probably surprises the heck out of many of my BATB "fans." For those who don't know what I'm talking about, that's fanfic that presupposes a same-sex relationship between the characters. Slash has nothing to do with "slasher" as in gore. Hey, star-crossed lovers are star-crossed lovers. ^[6]

Fan Comments: About Crowe's Work

The two erotic portfolios speak for themselves, I was very pleased to acquire from Edith Crowe some of her work. She has been a friend for several years and I have always liked her art; I'm glad we're seeing more of it in print. (She has also done several pieces for COMPANION, see plug elsewhere.) One note on her portfolio: she gave me the art without any title, so the title is mine; I hope it isn't too silly. ^[7]

Zine Contributions

Beauty and the Beast

In 2006, Crowe said:

Yes, the characters do take off on their own in most cases. I wouldn't say I end up with an "entirely different" story -- usually just much longer and more detailed than I started with. Sometimes they're so long I realize I have to continue with another story. Since all my BATB stories are related to each other, in a consistent "universe", you could say I've just written one very long story! ^[8]

Star Trek

Starsky & Hutch

Other

Sample Art

1970s

from The Sensuous Vulcan (1977)
from Warped Space #31/32 (1978)
from Warped Space #37 (1978)
from Nexus #3 (1978)
from Obsc'zine #3 (1978)
from Obsc'zine #3 (1978)
from Companion #1 (1978)
from Companion #1 (1978)
from The Other Side of Paradise #3 (1978)
from The Other Side of Paradise #3 (1978)
from The Other Side of Paradise #3 (1978) -- "The fact is that the only word that can be used to describe the artwork is ‘fantastic.’ The ‘erotica fantastique’ by Edith Crowe is beautiful, sensitive, superbly alien." ^[9]
from The Other Side of Paradise #3 (1978)
from The Other Side of Paradise #3 (1978)
from The Other Side of Paradise #3 (1978)
from Warped Space #39 (1978), reprinted in Dracula (1980) -- "I kinda liked Edith Louise Crowe's "Nosferatu". The irony of the death of the undead — a vampire's suicide — is novel. The requiem is painted with a lovely, bleak melancholy. Here is a pitiful night-stalker I more along the lines of poor Barnabas Col lins (the "noble outcast") than Stoker's proud and scornful Count. I rather expect ed a male, rather than female ghoul in the illo, because of the title, I suppose." ^[10]
from Naked Times #2, for the story, Sometimes When We Touch (1979)
from The Time of Surak (1979)
from The Time of Surak (1979)
from The Time of Surak (1979)
from The Other Side of Paradise #4 (1979)
from Warped Space #40 (1979)
from Warped Space #41 (1979) -- "Lots of good poetry in this ish. The "Epitaph" by Crowe read impressively although the significance of the title (I know Icarus and Wright, but the Montgolfier ref went over my receptors) escaped me." ^[11]

1980s-1990s

from Companion #2 (1980)
from Time Warp #5 (1981) -- "In the Greenwood" with "apologies to N.C. Wyeth"
from S and H #31 (1982)
from Strange Justice (1982)
from Code 7 #2 (1982)
from The Book of Secrets #5 (1989)
from A Secret Place #2 (1989)
from A Secret Place #4 (1989) -- "Edith Crowe's piece was so intense -- what a pose! As always." ^[12]
from Chatterbox #12 (1995)

References

^ from The Beauty and the Beast Reading Chamber
^ "Gloriosky" is a reference to [Paula Smith's]] A Trekkie's Tale.
^ from an LoC in "Warped Space" #28 (1977)
^ from Warped Space #41 (1979)
^ from Winterfest Interview with Edith Crowe
^ from Winterfest Interview with Edith Crowe
^ from the editorial of The Other Side of Paradise #3 (1978)
^ from Winterfest Interview with Edith Crowe
^ from Right of Statement #3
^ from a [[letter of comment in Warped Space #40
^ from a letter of comment in Warped Space #43
^ from a letter of comment in A Secret Place #5

[1] rom The Beauty and the Beast Reading Chamber

[2] "Gloriosky" is a reference to [Paula Smith's]] A Trekkie's Tale.

[3] rom an LoC in "Warped Space" #28 (1977)

[4] rom Warped Space #41 (1979)

[5] rom Winterfest Interview with Edith Crowe

[6] rom Winterfest Interview with Edith Crowe

[7] rom the editorial of The Other Side of Paradise #3 (1978)

[8] rom Winterfest Interview with Edith Crowe

[9] rom Right of Statement #3

[10] rom a [[letter of comment in Warped Space #40

[11] rom a letter of comment in Warped Space #43

[12] rom a letter of comment in A Secret Place #5

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Fan
Name:	Edith Crowe
Alias(es):	an unknown pseud was used for Sentinel slash fiction
Type:
Fandoms:	Star Trek: TOS, Starsky & Hutch, Beauty and the Beast (TV), others
Communities:
Other:
URL:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.
Contents 1 Interviews 2 In a Skit 3 Meta 4 Some Comments by Crowe 4.1 1977 4.2 1979 4.3 2006 5 Fan Comments: About Crowe's Work 6 Zine Contributions 6.1 Beauty and the Beast 6.2 Star Trek 6.3 Starsky & Hutch 6.4 Other 7 Sample Art 7.1 1970s 7.2 1980s-1990s 8 References