comes to you from Irwin Hirsh, and is published for the benefit of John Bangsund and his fans. Irwin's contact details can be found at the end of this missive. This page was last updated on 17 January 2022.
Unfortunately on 22 August 2020 John Bangsund died from COVID-19. Subsequently all proceeds from this sale will be donated to GUFF.
Any student of the history of Australian Science Fiction Fandom would be hard pressed not to include John Bangsund on a list of the most influential and important individuals to have graced our microcosm. His 1960s fanzine Australian Science Fiction Review is the most influential Australian fanzine there has been. It was through John's efforts in being able to get ASFR into Australian bookshops that many sf fans were introduced into fandom. Clubs in Sydney, Brisbane and so on were formed out of people reading John's fanzine. I'm told at that the time the quality of sf criticism, world-wide, was rather low, and that it was ASFR which raised the standard and in so doing focused a lot of creative energy on Australia. The idea that little ol' Australia could, like maybe, wouldn't it be grand?, host a Worldcon began with a frivolous remark of John's, but was picked up by Andy Porter, ASFR's American agent, who promoted it widely.
As a writer Bangsund is one of fandom's best. Mike Glicksohn reckons John is one of the top five fanwriters of all time. Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Peter Roberts, John D. Berry and Susan Wood are among the people who hold his writing in high regard. And I'm not sure that I've read a fanzine article that is necessarily better than John's "John W. Campbell and the Meat Market".
His fanzines, his writing, are a joy to behold. If there is a problem with the way he published fanzines it is that John developed an inability to assemble a mailing list. But he knew how to maintain his membership of a number of APAs. Bruce Gillespie has noted that some people held on to their ANZAPA membership solely because they knew no other way to get Bangsund's fanzines. People like John D. Berry, Art Widner and Jerry Kaufman visited John, and in response to a casual remark about picking up some back-copies found themselves at the entrance to the Bangsund garage. There they were pointed in the direction of stacks of boxes and told to help themselves, but to look out for spiders. John has a healthy respect for spiders that live in garages, especially the redback, Australia's equally venomous cousin of the black widow spider. So fans have risked death in order to acquire Bangsund fanzines. At their best Bangsund's fanzines are that good.
Now you don't have to risk death (or minac and dues) to acquire Bangsund's fanzines, because we here at Fannish Economic Pragmatists have taken that experience of a visit to Bangsund's place, repackaged it, and are making it available for nothing more than some of your money.
Back in 1979 John was so impressed with a bibliography of Leigh Edmonds that he decided to undertake a bibliography of his own fanzines. Noting that there had been only one issue of ANNUAL SAVE-BANGSUND- FROM-BANKRUPTCY SALE John remarked "Only one? Must've changed title."
So, and at the risk of being insensitive (in the past few years John has actually gone through a bankruptcy), this can be considered as the second issue of ANNUAL SAVE-BANGSUND-FROM-BANKRUPTCY SALE.
John's going through another rough patch. He isn't getting much work, is on unemployment benefits, and is short of a quid. To get through he is selling some of his possessions, including his fanzines. And I'm his agent to this cause.
Once upon a time there was 12 metres of fanzines sitting in John's garage. Late last year I gave my car's suspension a good test by transporting all that mimeographed paper from Geelong up to Melbourne. "Don't read them all at once," John told me as I started my journey home. 30% of the fanzines are copies of those John published but never sent out, and they are what this 'offer document' is about. In this batch there are no ASFRs but there is a solid chunk of everything else John has published.
To my mind what is happening here is an important sale, an important issueing of some great fanzines. And while I'm saddened for John's need, I can't help but feel something for the time at which this is all happening. Bruce Gillespie is one of those people who began a path into fandom by buying copies of those bookshop-placed copies of ASFR. George Turner was a lifelong sf reader and a published author when he met John, and he quickly became an important contributor to ASFR. A decade later when George published his first sf novel he dedicated it to John Bangsund. Bruce and George are two of the three Guests of Honour at the 1999 Worldcon. Over that September weekend I'm sure they'll each be singling out Bangsund for a note of thanks; Bruce in person, George from that great Worldcon in the Sky.
Buy and read some of what is listed below and I'm sure you'll see why.
[written: 1998, updated: 1999]
THE FANZINES Listed below are all the fanzines for sale. I've resisted the temptation to describe each in depth, merely listing article writers and if there is a letter-column. Do I have to mention that John's writing appears in every issue? Would a listing of article titles actually tell you anything concrete about what's in any particular fanzine?
Apart from one item each fanzine will cost A$4/US$3/£2.10 (with postage being extra, see below). You'll observe that some fanzines are noted by an asterisk. That's because for every six fanzines you order you can get one of the asterisked items for free - A Fannish Half-Dozen!
The one item that costs more is MORE JUNK FOR FAPA, which is A$10/US$7/£5.20. This fanzine is a combination of three separate fanzines, with more besides.
As already noted postage is extra. Please drop me a line about the items you would like and I'll get back to you with the additional postal charge rates.
Australian $ cheques should be made payable to 'Irwin Hirsh'. Paypal is available, but contact me first.
My email address is here.
These fanzines are available on a first-come, first-served basis. With some of these fanzines there are many copies (probably enough to 'meet demand') but with others there are only 3 or 4 copies. Unless you are ordering all items please list some alternatives, just in case something you want has run out. I'll accept orders by email, but the fanzines will not be sent until your money has been received.
WHAT'S AVAILABLE: SCYTHROP (formerly Australian Science Fiction Review)
- 27 Spring 1972 23pp
PHILOSOPHICAL GAS
- 19 April 1973 6pp
- 24 August 1973 5pp In Memoriam Brian Richards - speech by Brian Richards
- 31 July 1975 18pp Letters
- 32 August 1975 8pp A special issue published for something called "the 33rd World Science Fiction Convention"
- 33 Feb 1976 16pp Letters
- 34 May 1976 10pp
- 35 November 1976 16pp John Foyster
- 36 December 1976 8pp
- 50 November 1979 10pp
- 51 July 1980 6pp A Bertram Chandler
- 53/54 Jan/Feb 1981 10pp
- 64 Autumn 1983 6pp
- 65 Spring 1984 8pp
- 67 February 1985 12pp
- 68 August 1985 6pp
- 70 May 1987 16pp
- 75 October 1988 8pp
- 79 May 1990 12pp
- 83 Spring 1999 8pp
- 84 February 1993 8pp
- 85 * April 1993 4pp
- 86A * August 1993 4pp
- 87 * Spring 1993 4pp
PARERGON PAPERS
- 5 December 1977 14pp Letters
- 6 December 1977 12pp Letters
- 7 February 1978 12pp Letters
- 9 June 1978 8pp
- 11 December 1978 8pp
- 12 February 1979 18pp Reprints part of Parergon Papers 11
LODBROG
- 3 * February 1972 2pp
REVOLTING TALES OF SEX AND SUPER-SCIENCE
- 1 * August 1973 1pp
- 4 August 1973 8pp
THE NEW MILLENNIAL HARBINGER
- 9 * February 1974 2pp
- 11 October 1974 6pp
- 12 November 1974 6pp
- 13 December 1974 12pp
STUNNED MULLET
- 1 May 1975 8pp
- 3 November 1975 10pp
- 7 June 1977 9pp
THE WREKIN HEAVES
- 1 * May 1990 2pp
HANRAHAN
- 1 * January 1980 2pp
- 2 * February 1980 4pp
- 3 * February 1980 1pp
- 4 * June 1980 4pp
FIBONACCI & MEHITABEL
- 1 August 1994 8pp
A75 BULLETIN
(edited by Leigh Edmonds and published by John Bangsund, for the Australian in '75 Worldcon bid.)
- 3 August 1971 16pp
THE WEDDING
- 2 * March 1974 1pp
21ST JULY 1973 AT 46A WENTWORTH AVENUE, KINGSTON ACT 2604, AUSTRALIA
- * 4pp one-shot fanzine with Leigh Edmonds, Valma Brown, Sally Yeoland, Ken & Marea Ozanne, Eric Lindsay.
FIRST DRAFT
- January 1975 14pp Letters
DROOPING IN AT THE HORVATS
- * 1976 4pp
A MOVING STORY
- * 1978 1pp
MORE JUNK FOR FAPA
- 36pp Includes Stunned Mullet # 4, and Philosphical Gas # 33 & 34
Notes on George Turner's 'Beloved Son'
- 22pp. Preprinted from Parergon Papers 10, this publication contains extracts from letters from George to John as he was writing his first SF novel, responses from the editors the book was submitted to, reviews the book received upon publication, etc.
CONTACT DETAILS:
Email: Irwin Hirsh
Thanks go to Dave Langford, Robert Lichtman, Eric Lindsay, Marc Ortlieb, and Bill Bowers for their help with this sale.