Canadian Fandom
Canadian Fandom is a Science Fiction fanzine by Joseph 'Beak' Taylor and later Ed McKeon, Gerald Steward and Bill Grant.
Canadian Fandom was published by Taylor in the 1940's in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was one of the earliest SF fanzines published in Canada. It was originally called Eightball, but its name was changed by the editor after the fourth issue.
A typical issue of Canadian Fandom included fiction, poetry, collector's ads, and serious articles on Science Fiction. Nils Helmer Frome, editor of one of the earliest known SF fanzines in Canada, Supramundane Stories, was a contributor to Canadian Fandom, as was Leslie Croutch, editor of Light, another Canadian SF fanzine that began publishing in the 1940's. Other contributors at this time included Alan Child, editor of Mephisto, Moe Diner of the Montreal Science Fiction Association, Bob Gibson, Fred Hurter, Jr., editor of Censored, Alistair Macrae, Shirley K. Peck, and Peter Young.
Albert A. Betts contributed cover art to many issues, alternating with Nils Helmer Frome, and Bob Gibson and Jack Sloan contributed comics. The cover of issue four was by Virginia Anderson (a.k.a. Hyacinthe Hill).
Contributors of writing from the U.S.A. included Forrest J. Ackerman (Voice of the Imagi-Nation), Virginia Anderson, David H. Keller, Francis Laney (The Acolyte), Marvis E. Manning, Oliver Saari, and Bob Tucker (Le Zombie). Contributors from Australia included Eric F. Russell.
During this time,Canadian Fandom began to be distributed by the Canadian Amateur Fan Publishers.
Taylor also sponsored fandom meetings in Toronto, which Croutch also attended. In the late 1940's, these fans became organized into a committee to help prepare for the first Canadian Worldcon, a conference of Science Fiction fans hosted by a different city each year. This group called themselves "The Derelicts", and included Taylor, Ed McKeown, John Millard, Bill Grant, and Jack Doherty and Don Hutchinson, editors of Macabre. After Worldcon, Taylor handed over editorship of Canadian Fandom to fellow committee member Ed McKeown in 1949.
McKeown published two more issues of the fanzine before handing over editorship to a new member of The Derelicts, Gerald Steward. Steward brought with him to the zine friends P. Howard Lyons and Ken Hall, as well as Boyd Raeburn and Ron Kidder. They were known for their liking of Beat poetry, jazz, leather jackets and fast cars, aside from all being fanzine editors, writers and artists. Shortly after Steward began editing Canadian Fandom, P. Howard Lyons and Pat Patterson Lyons join forces to produce Ibidem, Raeburn began A Bas, and Steward was also publishing Gasp.
Contributors during this period included Robert Bloch, Norman G. Browne (Vanations), Roberta Carr, Bill Conner, D.N. Fileti, William Grant, Ken Hall, Arthur F. Hillman, Fred Hurter, David Lane, Howard Lyons, Joe Martin, Ed McKeown, Ray Palmer (The Comet), and Phil Rasch. Artwork and covers were contributed by William D. Grant, Ken Hall, and Pat Patterson.
Letters came from Nan Gerding (The Chigger patch of Fandom, Starlanes) and Dean A. Grennell.
In the mid 1950s Steward passed the zine onto Bill Grant who shortened the name to CanFan. The last issue was published in 1957, with the 15th annual of Canadian Fandom.
