Filler
Filler was a science fiction fandom fanzine co-edited by Norman Browne and Dean Grennell.
In 1953, while living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Norman Browne co-edited with 'Art Wesley', who was actually Dean Grennell, of Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. U.S.A., a one shot titled Filler, consisting of 527 numbered 'filler' items, most of them one-liner jokes, off-the cuff remarks, tongue-in-cheek statements, cute comments, etc., from famous fans such as Robert Bloch, Redd Boggs (Shy Hook), Harlan Ellison (Science Fantasy Bulletin), Lee Hoffman (Quandry), and Walt Willis (Slant), and from well know wits such as Ambrose Bierce, and Oscar Wilde.
In his zine Vanations, Norman Browne invited contributions of items of less than six lines, with Author's name and source, and a free copy of the zine to contributors sending twelve items or more.
The idea was that fan editors, in order to save space, would type in the appropriate number and readers would then look up the actual 'filler' in their own copies of Filler. This concept proved very successful.
In September 1983, Harry Warner, Jr., wrote in Izzard #7 that; "It was a thick publication consisting of hundreds of bright remarks, each numbered. Apparently it was meant as an elaborate commentary on the excesses which fans were then committing on the craze for fillers..."
