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Magazine/Anthology, Science / Space Race, Science Fiction/Fantasy

[March 20, 1970] Here comes the sun (April 1970 Fantasy and Science Fiction)

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photo of a man with glasses and curly, long, brown hair, and a beard and mustache
by Gideon Marcus

Out, damn spot!

A couple of weeks ago, Victoria Silverwolf offered us a tidbit on the latest solar eclipse.  I've since read a bit more about the scientific side of things and thought I'd share what I've learned with you.

It was the first total solar eclipse to be seen over heavily populated areas of U.S. since 1925, greeted by millions of viewers who crowded the beaches, towns, and islands where viewing was most favorable.  The eclipse cut a nearly 100 mile wide swath through Mexico, Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, and Nantucket Island, Mass.  It was 96% total in New York City and 95% in the nation's capital.

A black and white collage of several photographs of a partial solar eclipse over a college building. Below the image, the headline reads Partial Eclipse as seen in North County.  The caption reads The partial eclipse seen by teh North County Saturday morning is superimposed over the Palomar College Dome Gym in this collage by staff photographer Dan Rios.  The maximum ecliplse in this area was roughly 30 per cent at 9am as shown in the fourth sun from the left.  Seven states were treated to a full eclipse.
a clipping from Escondido's Times-Advocate

But ground viewing was only the beginning.  NASA employed a flotilla of platforms to observe the eclipse from an unprecedented variety of vantages.  A barrage of sounding rockets (suborbital science probes) were launched during the eclipse to take measurements of the Earth's atmosphere and ionosphere.

In space, radio signals from Mars probe Mariner 6, currently on the far side of Sun, were measured to determine how the eclipse affected communications and to study changes in charged particles in earth’s atmosphere.

Two Orbiting Solar Observatories, #5 and #6, pointed their instruments at the Sun to gather data on the solar atmosphere, while Advanced Test Satellite #3 took pictures of the Moon's shadow on the Earth from more than 20,000 miles above the surface.  Three American-Canadian satellites, Alouette 1, Alouette 2, and Isis 1, all examined the change the eclipse caused in the Earth's ionosphere.

Earthside telescopes got into the mix, too: Observers from three universities and four NASA centers at sites in Virginia and Mexico not only got great shots of the solar corona, but also of faint comets normally washed out in the glare of the Sun.

I can't imagine anyone in 1925 but maybe Hugo Gernsback could have foreseen how much attention, and from how many angles such attention would be applied, during the 1970 eclipse.  It's just one more example of how science fiction has become science.

Waiting for the dawn

The last two months of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction weren't too hot.  Does the latest issue mark a return of the light or continued darkness?  Let's find out…

The cover of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction April edition. At the center of the dark cover, a bright swirl suggesting a star or sun is surrounded by darker wisps emanating in spirals from it.  Below it is an alien landscape with craggy mountains in teh distance and black-streaked hills in the foreground, in muted shades of blue and brown.
cover by Chesley Bonestell

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[March 18, 1970] Future Cities and Past Visions (Vision of Tomorrow #7)

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Black & White Photo of writer of piece Kris Vyas-Mall
By Mx Kris Vyas-Myall

My area of the UK (considered either the Northern Home Counties or Southern Midlands depending on who you speak to) is not a particularly densely populated region. Even with commuter growth since the War, there are only two towns within 50 miles that contain over 100,000 people. This is all set to change with a new government plan.

Milton Keynes Roadmap Plan with an indication of key travel routes and red dot in Bedford
Plan for new town (red dot is where I live)

The £700m plan for a new town has been approved. Called Milton Keynes (from a small village on part of the site) it is set to house 250,000 people before the end of the century and to be one of the biggest experiments in urban planning in British history.

Milton Keynes Housing Estate Plan showing square blocks on a grid system with large areas of green space
Example housing estate plan

First off, the city is designed to appeal to both ends of the social spectrum. For the upwardly mobile it is designed with the car-driving homeowner in mind. As many as half of properties are to be for sale rather than rented and with a density of 10 people per acre, to ensure that the managerial class don’t feel squeezed in. Also, the road system is designed on a grid to ease congestion with places of employment spread throughout the city, to stop rush hour traffic.

Colour coded plan of Milton Keynes
Zoning masterplan. Yellow is residential, purple employment, red commercial, blue education, green is for parks

For those less well off, there will be wide walkways for the handicapped to travel on easily and the development of a “dial-a-bus” service, ensuring that a bus will pick you up only a short walk from your house in a short period of time.

I could spend an entire article and not get close to all the experimentation to take place in Milton Keynes. The city of the future is coming soon!

Back in the magazines though, things seem to be heading in the opposite direction, as Vision of Tomorrow takes a turn towards the past:

Vision of Tomorrow #7

Vision of Tomorrow #7 Cover showing Jupiter as viewed from one of its moon's with two small astronuts in shaddow. In Bottom Left corner is listed Into The Unknown by John Russell Fearn
Cover Illustration: Jupiter as seen from Callisto by David A. Hardy

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[March 12, 1970] It’s A Dog’s Life (Orbit 6)

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By Mx Kris Vyas-Myall

In 1889, Oscar Wilde wrote “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life”. This month, London has proved that.

Passport To Pimlico 1949 Flm Poster showing photos of the cast's head on cartoon bodies running through London streets, with barbed wire in the foreground and police looking on

In the 1949 film Passport to Pimlico, a small area of London declares independence and it ends with the British government forced to negotiate to get them back. Actual negotiations for reintegration of the Isle of Dogs concluded on Monday.

Reconstruction taking place in the Isle of Dogs as a Victorian building is being demolished in the foreground and a high rise flat complex rises behind it.
Post-War Reconstruction taking place in Isle of Dogs

The Isle of Dogs is not a true island, but rather a low-lying peninsula that marks a massive bend in the Thames. As such in the Victorian era it became a part of the London Docklands. However, as ship size increased more ships were moved further down the river. The railway lines were closed and the area was devastated in the blitz.

In the last decade a large project of council flat building took place in the region, with 97% of the population in government housing. However, amenities did not keep up with the rise in the population Schools, hospitals and shopping areas were not included in the plans, yet only one bus route services the entire region.

Black and White photo of Joint Prime Ministers of the short lived republic, Ray Padgett and John Westfallen standing in front of the docklands but behind a rope.
Joint Prime Ministers of the new republic, Ray Padgett and John Westfallen

In order to bring awareness to their situation, on the 1st March around 1,000 residents of the Isle of Dogs, led by Fred Johns (their representative on the borough council), blocked the swing bridges to the rest of London. They announced that a Unilteral Declaration of Independence would be forthcoming if their demands were not met and taxes would not be paid.

Map of the Isle of Dogs from 1969 showing the Port of London Authortiy buildings in orange and the river Thames in blue.
Area map of the short-lived republic (orange are those buildings owned by Port of London Authority)

On the 9th March the official declaration of independence came with the setting up of a citizen’s council and two Prime Ministers to run each side of the island. They issued a demand to return taxes that they said belonged to the islanders, and started on plans to setup their own street market and turn a disused building into a school. This drove headlines all over the world, with even Pravda from the USSR sending in a reporter.

Small printed card that says: Entry Permit To Isle of Dogs. To Be Shown at Barrier. Independent State of London. John Westfallen. Prime Minister

After meeting with the Prime Minister, a plan was announced by Tower Hamlets Council for resolving the issues raised by the Islanders with a full consultation. The council, however, denied that this protest had anything to do with the timing of this announcement. Whatever the cause, the Republic of the Isle of Dogs has achieved its goals, so it seems that entry permits will no longer be required to travel in and out of the region.

Back in the world of SF publishing, we have our own odd little affair. That of Orbit 6, which contains some good, some bad and many just plain confusing tales:

Orbit 6

Orbit 6 Hardback Cover as drawn by Paul Lehr showing an open hand with a rocket launching from it where behind is a stream of half lit planets in a line against a starfield. Below the title the editor and authors are all listed.
Cover illustration by Paul Lehr

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[March 10, 1970] Baby, It's Cold (And Dark) Outside (April 1970 Fantastic)

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photo of a dark-haired woman with vampiric eyebrows
by Victoria Silverwolf

Who Turned Out The Lights?

Folks living in certain parts of southern Mexico and the eastern coast of the United States and Canada were treated to a spectacular sight in the sky a few days ago.  On March 7, there was a total eclipse of the sun visible from those areas of the globe.

Black and white photograph with the silhouette of the moon centered and the haze of the corona seething around it. The final sliver of sunlight gleams like a gem at the top left of the 'ring'
The sun is about to completely disappear behind the moon.

I live in the southeastern corner of Tennessee, so I missed this extraordinary event.  Let's see; when do astronomers think a total solar eclipse will be visible from my neck of the woods?  Let me check my almanac.

August 21, 2017.  Holy cow, close to half a century to go. 

While I'm waiting, I can spend the time reading.  Just as a solar eclipse causes the Earth to cool down, at least for a moment, the latest issue of Fantastic features a new novella from one of the masters of imaginative literature that is dominated by a sense of cold.  Grab a cup of hot chocolate, wrap yourself up in a blanket, and join me as we dive into its icy pages.

Cover of Fantastic depicting a demonic young woman with spread black wings and a white dress flying against a red background
Cover art by Jeff Jones.

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[March 8, 1970] They say that it's the institution… (April 1970 Galaxy and the incomplete Court)

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[New to the Journey? Read this for a brief introduction!]

photo of a man with glasses and curly, long, brown hair, and a beard and mustache
by Gideon Marcus

There ain't no Justice

It was only a few months that President Dicky tried to ram a conservative Supreme Court justice pick through the Senate to replace the seat left open by the retirement of the much laureled Chief Justice Earl Warren.  Clement Haynworth's candidacy went down to defeat in the Senate on November 21 of last year.

Now up is G. Harrold Carswell, until last year, the Chief Justice of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida.  He was elevated to the Fifth Circuit Appellate Court last June.  To all accounts, he is no less conservative than his predecessor, and he's a (former?) segregationist to boot.  His jurisprudence is also lacking: 40% of his rulings were overturned on appeal!  As Senator McGovern observed, "I find his record to be distinguished largely by two qualities: racism and mediocrity."  Nebraska's Senator Hruska damned with faint praise in his reply, to the effect saying, "Sure he's mediocre…but don't the mediocre warrant representation, too?"

Black-and-white photograph of a white man wearing a judge's robes.
G. Harrold Carswell

But as LIFE and other outlets are noting, Nixon's soothing rhetoric thinly veils a deeply conservative agenda, cutting social programs, withdrawing from world affairs, and trying to stack the Court with allies.  Carswell's nomination passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 16 of this year.  We'll see if the Senate as a whole can stomach him for the Court proper.

Plus ça change

Galaxy's editor Eljer Jakobsson is like Richard Nixon (well, perhaps this is a stretch, but indulge me—I need some sort of transition here!) He is trying all of the styles at his disposal in this new decade of the 1970s and seeing what sticks.  The result remains inconsistent, but not unworthy.


cover by Jack Gaughan

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[March 4, 1970] Harry's Heroes (Nova 1, edited by Harry Harrison)

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A white man with dark short hair and a dark van dyke beard sits on a yellow couch reading a fantasy periodical.  A window in the background shows an empty suburban street.
by Brian Collins

It seems that between Harlan Ellison’s massive (that is, quite bloated) Dangerous Visions and Damon Knight’s Orbit series, original anthologies are here to stay; not only that, but we’re starting to see more of them, albeit thankfully not on the same scale as Ellison’s book. Harry Harrison is nothing if not knowledgeable of the field we share, and he’s also been involved in nearly every aspect of SF publishing that I can think of. It helps, too, that he’s already released an original anthology, just last month actually, titled The Year 2000. I have to admit that calling this new anthology Nova 1 is a bit presumptuous, since it implies a guarantee of future entries in this new series; but time will tell if the number is unfortunate or not.

Nova 1, edited by Harry Harrison

The cover of Nova 1.  The title is written vertically in a 3-dimensional font.  The fronts of the letters are white and the sides are blue with white clouds. The title descends at a slant from top left to bottom right over a black background with many white stars.  At the bottom behind the number 1 is part of a large red circle, probably representing a nearby star or planet.  Next to the title is written in a blue plain font: An Anthology of original science fiction stories by Robin Scott, Robert Silverberg, Ray Bradbury, Gordon R. Dickson, James Sallis, Donald E Westlake, Piers Anthony, Brian W. Aldiss, and others.  Edited by Harry Harrison
Cover art by Johannes Regn.

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[March 2, 1970] Par for the course (April 1970 IF)

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by David Levinson

The Veep that couldn’t shoot straight

I’m no fan of golf (unless it involves little windmills), but a lot of people seem to like it. They show it on TV and not a week goes by without at least one golf joke in the funny pages. It also intersected with politics last month. February continues to be the month that gives me very little to talk about, so I guess this is it.

The Professional Golfers’ Association likes to start their tour early in the pleasant climes of Hawaii and California. One such event is the Bob Hope Desert Classic held on a variety of courses in the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs. The highlight of the tournament for many is the pro-am event, where the pros competing in the tournament are matched with (celebrity) amateurs for one day’s round.

Pro Doug Sanders—best known for his odd swing and dapper dress—found himself in a foursome with Bob Hope, California Senator (and former song-and-dance man) George Murphy, and Vice President Spiro Agnew. On his very first shot, the Veep managed to hook the ball so far to the left it ended up on the path for an adjacent fairway. (Probably the farthest left he’s gone since being elected governor.) Trying to get back to the right fairway, he then sliced hard to the right. (This whole thing is starting to sound like a metaphor for Agnew’s political career.)

Bob Hope and Doug Sanders were standing in the path of the ball. Hope managed to duck out of the way, but Sanders was struck on the head. The blow drew blood, which Hope mopped up with a towel. Agnew was duly apologetic, and Sanders played gamely onward. At the nine-hole break, he was examined by a doctor, and the wound was sprayed with a pain-deadener.

Wire photo of Doug Sanders, Vice President Agew, and Bob Hope Wire photo of the aftermath.

Agnew went on to have a terrible day. He frequently missed putts and took penalties for giving up on a hole. As the AP put it, “Agnew chatted amiably with the fans when his ball landed in or near them, which was often.” Sanders didn’t do much better, though he was already having a poor tournament. He won $200, far less than the top prize of $25,000. Agnew rather crassly quipped that it should just about cover his medical bills.

Am I picking on Spiro Agnew? Yes. Yes, I am. After his recent attack on the press, he deserves all the opprobrium he can get. He’s already being talked about as the clear front-runner for the Republicans in 1976. Let’s nip that idea in the bud right now.

Down the fairway

When he took over as editor, Ejler Jakobsson got off to a strong start. Since then, there’s been something of a return to form, although those C+ to B- issues have felt fresher than they did in recent years under Fred Pohl. Has he sent this issue cleanly down the fairway, hit a hole in one, or—worst of all—smacked the reader in the head with an errant shot? Let’s find out.

Cover of the April 1970 edition of if Science Fiction, featuring a large undersea robot illustration. Art for Waterclap by Gaughan.Arrival at Ocean-Deep. Art for “Waterclap” by Gaughan

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[February 28, 1970] Revolutionaries… (March 1970 Analog)

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photo of a man with glasses and curly, long, brown hair, and a beard and mustache
by Gideon Marcus

Turbulent times

Unless you've been living under a rock the past two years, you know the shockwaves from The 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago are still reverberating.  The open fighting on the convention floor, the fascist polemic of Mayor Daley, the protests, the baby blue and olive drab helmets, and the crippled candidacy of the man tasked to thwart Dick Nixon from taking the White House.

Aside from the shambolic shuffle toward further embroilment in southeast Asia, two other phenomena have kept the convention in the public eye.  The first is last year's neck-clutch of a movie, Medium Cool.  Half drama, half documentary, Haskell Wexler's film follows a jaded Chicago news cameraman in the weeks leading up to the crisis point.  Indeed (and I didn't realize this at the time), the footage of Robert Forster and Verna Bloom in and around the convention hall during the clashes, hippie vs. fuzz, Dixiecrat vs. DFL, was all shot live. 

A brunette woman in a yellow dress walks in front of a line of police officers. There are hippies of various ages at the left side of the frame, including a young boy.
Verna Bloom, playing an emigrant from West Virginia, searches Grant Park for her lost son

If you haven't caught the film, check your local listings.  It may still be running in your local cinema.  Be warned: it will take you back.  If you're not ready for it, you will be overwhelmed.

A movie poster for <i/>Medium Cool. The tagline is
Robert Forster is the news man.  You'll recognize Marianna Hill (Forster's girlfriend) as a guest star in Star Trek's "Dagger of the Mind"

As for the other reminder, for the past two years, the papers have kept us apprised on the trials of the "Chicago Eight", charged by the United States Department of Justice with conspiracy, crossing state lines with intent to incite a riot.  They included Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, John Froines, Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Lee Weiner, and Bobby Seale.

(in the midst of his trial, Abbie Hoffman jumped on the stage at Woodstock during the performance of The Who to protest the incarceration of White Panther poet and musician, John Sinclair—it was a trippy scene)

Abbie Hoffman: "I think this is a pile of shit!  While John Sinclair rots in prison…"

Pete Townsend: "Fuck off!  Get off my fucking stage!"

A blurry black-and-white still of a floppy-haired white man in a white tunic. The image is timestamped 02:10:56:06
Pete Townsend, just after recovering the stage

The verdicts came down on February 18, a mixed bag of positive and negative news for the accused.  Apparently, four folks on the jury held out until the bitter end, but eventually went with guilty for some of the charges.  The verdicts were:

Davis, Dellinger, Hayden, Hoffman, and Rubin were charged with and convicted of crossing state lines with intent to incite a riot.  All of the defendants were charged with and acquitted of conspiracy; Froines and Weiner were charged with teaching demonstrators how to construct incendiary devices and acquitted of those charges.  Bobby Seale had already skated when his case ended in mistrial.

Six men with long, wild hair stand smiling at the camera, arms wrapped around each other
Six of the "Seven": (l. to r.) Abbie Hoffman, John Froines, Lee Weiner, Jerry Rubin, Rennie Davis, and Tom Hayden

So, it's jail time for five of the eight while their cases go to appeal.  You can bet that these results aren't going to lessen the flames of discontent in this country, at least for the vocal minority.

A news clipping, showing a crowd of people in front of a statue. Two people carry signs. One says 'COURTS OF INJUSTICE CANNOT PREVAIL!'. The other says 'FREE MARTIN SOSTRE'. The caption of the news clipping reads 'Protest rally in New York: Surrounded by demonstrators protesting the conspiracy trials of the Chicago 7 and the Panther 21, William M. Kunstler, defense attorney in the Chicago trial, addresses rally Monday in Madison Square Park in New York. One youth was injured in a clash with police, and windows were broken in several stores.'
From page 3 of my local paper on the 24th

Steady and staid

You wouldn't be aware of any of this turmoil if you lived under a rock and did nothing but read Analog Science Fiction.  It remains a relic and deliberate artifact of a halcyon past as envisioned by editor John Campbell.  The latest issue is a representative example.

The cover of the Analog issue. It shows a man with a gun looking over a desert cliff at a massive radio telescope facility.
by Kelly Freas

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[February 24, 1970] Sex and the Single Writer: New Worlds, March 1970

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by Fiona Moore

This month has seen a few positive developments. In news of the former British Empire, the world welcomes the new Cooperative Republic of Guyana. Guyana (formerly British Guyana) had achieved independence in 1966, but now the country has completely severed governing ties with the U.K., exchanging a Governor General for a ceremonial President.  The South American nation is also officially pursuing a somewhat socialistic path, introducing cooperative elements to the economy.  May she continue to be a leading member of the Commonwealth!

Black-and-white photograph of a Black man speaking in front of an audience outdoors.
Former President Forbes Burnham addresses a crowd regarding his plan for a Cooperative Republic in 1969

Meanwhile, Miss Ono is back in the news, as the owner of the London Arts Gallery has been charged with corrupting morals for exhibiting John Lennon’s etchings, which include lithographs of himself and his wife in coitus. I suppose we’ll get to see just how far the Permissive Society goes.

Black-and-white photograph of people standing in front of framed drawings.
A crowd at the Gallery examines Lennon's art

Which brings us neatly to New Worlds, who seem to be courting similar controversy, or attempting to, anyway. The front cover this month is a file-box of erotic pictures with the heading Does Sex Have A Future? This gives the impression that New Worlds are trying to restore their flagging fortunes by going back to basics: shock the Tories by talking about sex.

Cover of New Worlds, March 1970. Title text white on red background, with three headers in black text. A photograph of a file box of documents on sexual subjects.
Artist/designer uncredited

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[February 16, 1970] Unassailable Fortresses? A Full-Five pair of issues: (Vision of Tomorrow #6)

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By Mx Kris Vyas-Myall

We are only in the second month of the new decade, but one thing seems to be clear. Women are no longer willing to be silent.

A group of women standing outside Benjamin Simon, cheering at the camera

In Leeds, hundreds of women textile workers have walked out on unofficial strike. They are opposing the pay deal struck between their union and employer, claiming it is unfair that women will be getting smaller pay increases than their male co-workers.

Women's Weekend Programme flyer saying: Women's Weekend to be held at Buxton Hall, Ruskin College, Oxford on February 27th, 28th, March 1st. Fee 10s for the weekend. Programme Papers to be discussed on Saturday and Sunday morning will be distributed on Friday. Friday Evening - 8PM: Brief reports from existing groups and organisations. Accounts of activities and projects. Discussion. (This session is closed to men). Saturday - 10am-1PM: The Social Role of Women (3 Papers) 1) What is the Family? 2) What is the Mother's Role? 3) Changing Patterns of Delinquency Amonst Women Discussion Saturday - 2PM-6PM: Women and the Economy (4 Papers) 1) Women under capitalism (including the housewife and advertising). 2) What is 'Women's Work'? 3) Equal Pay 4) Women's Role in Industrial Militancy and in Trade Unions. Discussion Saturday - 8PM: Informal Discussion: Possibility of convening small workshops of particular interest to groups of individuals. One suggestion is "Different ways of living together", the kibbutz, etc. Sunday - 10am-1PM: Women and Revolution (3 Papers) 1) The Myth of Inactivity: Women in historic struggles. 2) Women and the working class. 3) Political Perspectives on Women's Struggles. Sunday - PM: Where are we going? (This session is closed to men). Free discussion to include work of local groups, forthcoming actions, national/international co-ordination, further meetings. Groups and organisations are asked to contribute brief papers summarising their present work. Please try and duplicate these yourselves. If this is not possible send a gestener foolscap stencil to Juliet Mitchell, 4, Cardozo rd., London N7. There will be a literature stall. Bring my stuff you or your group has produced on the position of women. Free accommodation (bring sleeping bags) and limited creche facilities will be available. No hot meals. Application for accomodation and creche facitilties must be made by Feb 4th. All people making their own arrangements must register for the weekend by Feb 15th. Fees payable at the door. Please send donations. Please circularise this information among all women you know,

At the other end of the social scale, the hallowed halls of Oxford is set to host the “Women’s Weekend”. Tired of being ignored and shouted down by men at other meetings, this will be an all-women conference to discuss women’s history and their current position in the world.

Annie Nightingale in 1970 wearing headphones and holding two records above her head in each hand.

In a more literal sense, a woman’s voice can now be heard on British Pop Radio. After hiring an all-male team from Pirate Radio and Radio Luxembourg to start Radio 1, the BBC have finally branched out and employed their first woman DJ. Annie Nightingale is only thirty but has already had an impressive career, including working as a journalist, presenting numerous music television programmes, having a modelling career and running her own fashion boutique.

Whether this will lead to changes in British science fiction publishing remains to be seen. The Current Issue of Vision of Tomorrow’s only female representation is in its review columnists. Maybe we need to organize our own flying pickets?

However, maybe some of this atmosphere is affecting our writers, as all these stories are, in one way or another, about people trying to break out of their social circumstances. So, let’s walk through the stench of cigar smoke in this gentleman’s club and check out the contents:

Vision of Tomorrow #6

Cover Vision of Tomorrow #6 showing a ringed planet illuminted by a red sun against a starfield. Caption says: The Phoenix People Brunner - Tubb - Broderick
Cover Art by David A. Hardy

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