On the Border

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Title:	On the Border
Creator:	Jeff Johnston
Date(s):	November 1976
Medium:	print
Fandom:	Star Trek: TOS
Topic:
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On the Border is a 1976 essay by Jeff Johnston.

It was printed in Spectrum #28.

Johnston told fans why he wrote the essay:

Lyrics from an "Eagles" song proceed and end the essay; they address the author's choice of title.

Of late, there has been much more discussion of [Spectrum], than there has ever been in the past. Much of it has been prompted by a few of the most recent issues and much of it has cropped up spontaneously. Opinions on the zines are varying, and I have no control over opinions, but one thing that has come up is the recent misinterpretation of Spectrum's format. Ordinarily I would not include an article of this sort in Spectrum, but so many people feel that Spectrum's format is still lost in the wilds looking for a candle in the night - that I must correct that notion.

Some Topics Discussed

• the main topic is Johnston's perception of control and quality in his "sercon" zine, Spectrum
• Spectrum used to have a lettercol but it was dropped when Johnston had enough other material to fill the zine
• letters of comment were also jettisoned because Johnston wanted comments with more thought behind them; he wants essays
• the reasons the zine doesn't have art is because 1) most of it isn't very good, 2) what Johnston receives are of Star Trek topics and he doesn't want that; besides he says, "I consider myself an artist, and not a hack."

From the Essay

One of the main purposes of "Spectrum" in the beginning was to act as a sounding board for fandom, to air grievances if necessary and speak on anything that needed to be spoken out upon. It was also a speculative zine, meant to explore different areas of fandom in a way that was different and unique. I don't believe that "Spectrum" has ever strayed from this objective in the 15 months that the new format has been in existence.

One major point that has been raised concerns the way in which I go about discussing things in fandom. As a result of one particular issue. "Spectrum" was even referred to as a slanderzine. This has never been my intention....ever. It has however been my goal to keep the articles in this zine as honest as possible. In comparison to other works in fandom you might even consider, it [is] disgustingly honest. There is nothing wrong or immoral about being honest. At times it does tend to be impractical and definitely lacks tact. You may all be consoled with the fact that you generally know where you stand after having read an article of mine, and of the people who write for "Spectrum" I'd like to think as well. My views seldom change once I have thought them through, perhaps because I am stubborn, or perhaps because I never receive good enough arguments to convince me otherwise. If my views remain the same on most subjects then, my attitudes do not. My attitudes on many subjects are easily swayed by any of a number of factors, and I welcome feedback from anyone who considers my points wrong or invalid. Regardless if my tone or views are objectionable - I am pretty honest.

Now - to bring up the second point - does "Spectrum" print feedback? Yes. For minor subjects. "Dear Fandom Annie" answers short items of discussion. A few of her questions have been taken from letters the readers have sent in. Yet, on major topics, no substantial feedback has appeared in print in "Spectrum." Several fans have written in expressing the concern that in order to have a healthy feedback of information that I should include a lettercol inside of "Spectrum." At one time. "Spectrum" did have a lettercol, when I needed it to fill space, but I dropped it once I had enough material to fill an issue without it.

A lettercol has many advantages. There is obvious feedback from a LOC and they are pretty simple to scrounge up. Letters of comment are brief, to-the-po1nt, spontaneous, and can appear in the issue directly following the subject they are discussing be cause they take little time to prepare.

The last thing that I will accept for "Spectrum's" format tho...is a lettercol. Remember that this is a sercon zine, one that seriously discusses fandom. In contrast to a LOC, there is another form of feedback that is more finely suited to the format: the essay. Because of the very nature of an essay, more time must go into its construction. It takes just a little bit more mental planning and effort to create an essay than it does to dash off an LOC. I feel that you can discuss things more seriously in an essay than you can inside a LOC. Because you expect a LOC to be brief and to-the-point, essays will seem, in comparison, drawn-out, dry, and stuffy; yet you don't read an essay expecting it to come across like a LOC. You can get far more serious, far more drawn-out and complex in an essay than you can in a LOC. For topics of a speculative nature on fandom, I expect articles to show where they gather their reasoning from. More often than not, LOCs merely give an opinion without getting florid. Since "Spectrum" is an opinionated zine that many times deals with things that have occured [sic] yet, but which the author is trying to hypothesize, it often requires lengthy explanation and detailing of the logic involved. An essay works beautifully for this, whereas in a LOC, it would be tedious in most cases.

Another point which I'm sure is obvious is that if I permit a lettercol once again in "Spectrum" it will be almost inhumanly possible to try to conjure essays from anyone but myself. Why take the more difficult route when you can simply write a LOC? Yes Virginia, there is feedback in "Spectrum," but if you want yours to appear in print, write it in essay form, because that's the way the format works.

The next point that met with misunderstanding concerns why I won't print illustrations inside of "Spectrum" - something you might well ask Ed Ferman, editor of "Fantasy and Science Fiction" who also does not use illos for any of the stories carried. My own reasons are that there is nothing suiting that I can print by way of illos. Since "Spectrum" is a fannish zine, I want fannish illos. They need not necessarily be of fans, but only of certain "in" things that fans know about and would appreciate. The zine does not carry anything about Star Trek per se, or Kirk, Spock, the Big E, the Federation or anything else like that, so I will not carry any illos dealing with that. Period. I made the point rather well in a recent letter - it's like, if "Scientific American" carried illos of naked ladies for an article on crop cultivation . The pictures might really be dynamite but they don't have a damn thing to do with crop cultivation. The same thing applies to "Spectrum." I could print editorial cartoons, but few fan artists do good cartoons, and the ones that do, I can't get a hold of.

As for fannish illos - I'm searching, but it seems that the sum capacity of Trek artists in all of fandom is: the Enterprise crew, the ship, assorted guest stars, spacescapes and Kraith characters. Sigh - doesn't anyone even know how to draw a beanie? I'll start out simply. Seriously though - it's very difficult. I'd love to be able to break up the solid pages of print with illos, but I won't print anything that completely negates the format. I consider myself an artist, and not a hack. I am very dedicated to the ideals I stand for, and I won't compromise on them, so until I can find art that fits - please, bear along with me.