The First Geeks: Ray Bradbury, Forrest J Ackerman, Ray Harryhausen and the Founding of Science Fiction Fandom

by Orty Ortwein

Overview

The writer Ray Bradbury, science fiction expert Forry Ackerman, and special effects genius Ray Harryhausen are world-famous for their careers involving tales of the imagination. Before anyone had heard of them, they were friends as teens and college-aged boys enjoying all that 1930s L.A. had to offer: getting celebrity autographs, watching blockbuster movies, and haunting dozens of bookstores. As members of the Los Angeles chapter of the Science Fiction League, the three belonged to a tight-knit group that was involved in the earliest science fiction conventions and the birth of cosplay.

This book follows the lives and careers of these three literary and film legends and tracks the origins of science fiction fandom. Each chapter builds a chronology of how their paths intertwined, and ultimately connected to, the beginnings of renowned fan conventions like Comic-Con. Devoted science fiction fans and new readers alike will learn how a young friendship launched three illustrious careers and changed the face of science fiction forever.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476686301
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	06/05/2024
Pages:	244
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Orton Ortwein is a librarian living in Chicago. He has been published in the Saturday Evening Post and has given numerous talks on Ray Bradbury and science fiction fandom.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Prologue: ­Comic-Con, 2010
 1. The Bradburys Come to Hollywood
 2. Shep’s Shop
 3. Hugo Gernsback and the Science Fiction League
 4. Bradbury Joins the League
 5. Forry Ackerman
 6. Bradbury’s First Meeting
 7. Imagination! and the Start of Bradbury’s Career
 8. Imagination!, the Second Issue
 9. Imagination!, Issues 3 and 4
10. Ray Harryhausen Joins the League
11. The Two Rays Meet
12. Rocket Boys
13. The Summer of 1938
14. Futuria Fantasia
15. Ackerman and Harryhausen, 1939
16. Futuria Fantasia, the Second Issue
17. The First Worldcon, 1939
18. Bradbury and Ackerman Arrive at Worldcon
19. “I have seen the future!” The 1939 World’s Fair
20. Worldcon, Day One, July 2, 1939
21. Worldcon, Monday, July 3, and Tuesday, July 4
22. Worldcon, the Aftermath
23. Back to LA
24. Robert A. Heinlein Joins the League
25. The Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society
26. The End of Futuria Fantasia
27. The Second World Science Fiction Convention
28. The Milwaukee Fictioneers
29. Chicon
30. The First Organized Cosplay
31. Ray Bradbury Is Done Selling Papers
32. The First Clubroom
33. The War Comes Home
34. Denvention
35. The Fans Go to War
36. The Second Clubroom
37. The War on Bixelstrasse
38. Goodbye, Morojo; Hello, Tigrina
39. Victory
40. Significant Others
41. Dark Carnival
42. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
43. Forry Ackerman’s Agency
44. The Ackermansion
45. Harryhausen Moves to London
46. The First ­Comic-Con
47. Passing the Torch
48. Growing Old, Never Growing Up
49. The End of the Ackermansion and Famous Monsters
50. Afterlife
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index