Well, you’ll find that most fanzine editors started reading sci-fi quite early and then when shows like Doctor Who, Man From Uncle and, of course, Star Trek came out, they made it even more accessible. Star Trek gave a very optimistic view of the future at a time that we really needed it. It was the end of the Cold War as well as the beginning of women’s lib, the civil rights movement, the year that man walked on the moon and also happened to be when Star Trek came out. We were looking for hope for the future and Star Trek offered a very utopian view of the world where there was equality for men and women and people of all races. Ok, that actually makes a lot of sense.
Yes, they actually conducted some surveys throughout the 80s and found that the majority of the active fans were women. That was quite new because even until the mid 70s female fans were rare and known only as femme fans. In fact, until that time, a lot the most popular sci-fi writers were women penning under a male pseudonym. Star Trek gave women a voice and was a liberating show for many reasons.
I have but it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. At one stage, Star Trek’s film studio decided they wanted to make more money out of all the fans by setting up “official” fan clubs and charging people $40,000 per year for the right to run them. So, they called a meeting of all the existing Star Trek clubs here in Australia and told everyone they were shut down and that if they wanted to be in a Star Trek fan club, it had to be theirs. Right away we went from being one of the highest buyers of Star Trek paraphernalia per capita to one of the lowest. That’s crazy and mean. Did anyone join the official club?
No. It just didn’t work. People still kept their own fan clubs going and did all kinds of crazy things to make sure the studio didn’t find out. If they did discover a club, they’d send you a cease and desist letter. It seems crazy now but at the time there were a lot of angry people. And have you met any of the people involved in Star Trek or the other shows you’re into?
I’ve met a lot of people. In fact a lot of them have had meals at my home. People like George Takei who played Hiraku Sulu in Star Trek and David Prowse who played Darth Vader in Star Wars who stays at our place when he’s in town. I’ve met Will Shatner before and Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, and I generally write to each other once or twice a year. That’s great. Of your zines, is there one you’re most proud of?
I thought Eye of Newt was beautiful. It only lasted for three issues but all of them sold out. It consisted of original fantasy stories written by Australian authors and was illustrated by my favourite fantasy artists. Fanzines are great because they start off as one person’s idea and then gather creative people as they go along. It’s a great collaborative process.