Theresa de Gabriele
| Fan | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Theresa de Gabriele |
| Alias(es): | Tess, Tessie |
| Type: | fan, costuming, fanzines |
| Fandoms: | Star Trek, Starsky & Hutch, UFO, multimedia |
| Communities: | Austrek |
| Other: | |
| URL: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
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Theresa de Gabriele (19 January 1947 - 1 July 2020) popularly known as Tessie, was an Australian fan who often worked diligently behind the scenes to support fans and fandom. She was a prodigious fanzine reader (and occasional editor) and she helped to encourage the reading and cultural dissemination of fanzines.
She was a member of Austrek and contributed to Spock and Captain's Log in a number of capacities, and also helped with meetings, excursions, conventions, and committee business. She was friendly and welcoming to all fans and was willing to extend a helping hand to many who were new or needed assistance.
Theresa provided transport and thereby helped to host international guests (including Susan Sackett and UK actor Ed Bishop) during their visits to Melbourne.
SF fan Sue Bursztynski recalls of Theresa:
We met at Austrek, the Melbourne Star Trek club. Tessie was the most generous and hospitable person I ever knew. She invited her friends over to her home regularly, to chat, eat and play videos, as well as for birthday parties, not only for her own birthday. She had a huge collection of videos from her various fandoms, which she happily shared with us...When we all went to Star Trek marathons, in the days before you could rent or buy episodes, Tessie was the one who drove everyone home afterwards. I believe she used to arrive home herself at about 3.00 a.m!
She also shared her media-based fanzines, which enabled her friends, including me, to enjoy fiction we otherwise would never have seen. (Bear in mind, this was before online fan fiction, so you had to order it, often from overseas)...
However, she was one of my few friends at the time with whom I could talk about books, especially SF and fantasy. The others just enjoyed media SF, including fan fiction.[1]
Theresa died in a nursing home after falling victim to early-onset dementia.[2]
Geoff Allshorn paid tribute:
Tessie ... was ... a mother figure within local fandom; offering caring advice and support to any fan who needed it, and happy to befriend everybody. She was known for her hospitality to taxi others safely to and from fan activities in her combi van. She edited fanzines and newsletters, helped to organise and run conventions, and assisted in hosting tourism activities for international science fiction notables when they visited Melbourne. Tessie had strong opinions on various topics, but she always listened respectfully to the opinions of others – I miss her impassioned late-night phone calls to discuss how the latest TV science fiction program may have treated an issue of social justice. Tessie was a no-nonsense social justice warrior: always rolling up her sleeves to help others; initiating ‘Book Day’ wherein we could swap used books while also raising money for charity; I even know a fan whom she rescued from an abusive family situation.[3]
References
- ^ Vale Tessie De Gabriele!, by Sue Bursztynski, 4 July 2020.
- ^ Compulsory New Year's Eve Post 2020 by Sue Bursztynski, 31 December 2020.
- ^ Looking Ahead With Optimism, Archived version by Geoff Allshorn, 31 December 2020.