Reminisce With Me/Intro

The following represents the 2008 fannish memories of Nancy Kippax, which she recorded on LJ in the last months of her life. Permission to archive these memories has been granted to Fanlore by April Valentine.

Feb. 26th, 2008

I've been urged by many friends to become involved with LJ, who say that I've got to get with the modern age and post entries to this world-wide diary for fun and entertainment. Well, I'm a dinosaur, an old woman well past menopause and I see nothing fun or entertaining about sharing my daily thoughts with anyone and everyone. So, I've procrastinated and made excuses and never been able to come up with anything I wanted to say. Most people don't listen when I talk, anyway, so what's the point?

But at last I think I've come up with a topic I would like to share with others. Using a Native American phrase, April Valentine and I like to call ourselves the "wise old women of the tribe." Tradition had it that the stories and the tales of former glories and defeats were shared, at that time in an oral history, and later written down by the scribes so that nothing would be forgotten.

Or, as Lerner and Lowe might say: "Don't let it be forgot... that once there was a spot... for one brief shining moment... that was known as ... Camelot!"

And thus it was with fandom. Media fandom began with Star Trek: The Original Series. It was the mother of all fandoms which came later. Seeing as how I was one of the very earliest people to hear that pulsing beat, to dance to that particular number, I suppose I'm in a unique position to talk about "The Way We Were."

In short, what I would like to use this journal for is to reminisce about my early days in fandom, the 70s and 80s and up. I'd like to give others a chance to post their memories as well. I want to hear from any and all of the other dinosaurs out there; with no particular path or plot, let's just meander down memory lane together. I think some of the newer fans will enjoy hearing our tales, too, so I hope they feel free to jump in at any time with a question or to relate something that they've been told. Any and all comments are gratefully welcome!

Now, I've taken so much time and space with this intro that I'll have to wait until next time to actually relate some of my own personal story in fandom. Just as a teaser: does anyone else actually remember Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbraith, who did the book, "New Voyages"?