THE LONCON PROGRAMME BOOKLET

The Loncon Programme Book is 52 pages long (inc. covers). The vast majority of those pages are ads, which have not been included here. What follows is just the editorial material.

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C o m m i t t e e
President

Chairman

Secretary

Treasurer

British Publicity


Overseas Publicity


Programme Committee


Film Liaison

Publicity Liaison

Fred Brown
Dave Cohen
Philip Duerr
Ewan Hedger
Terry Jeeves
Eric Jones

John Wyndham

John Carnell

Roberta Wild

Charles Duncombe

Joy Clarke
Vincent Clarke


Pamela Bulmer
Ken Bulmer


Dave Newman
Norman Shorrock


Peter West

John Brunner

Ethel Lindsay
Nigel Lindsay
John Roles
Arthur Sellings
Ken F. Slater
Walter A. Willis

Journal design and make-up: Harry Turner
Secretarial Address:
Treasurer's Address:
204 Wellmeadow Road, Catford, London S.E.6, England
82 Albert Square, Stratford, London E,15, England
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ON BEHALF OF THE PRESIDENT AND THE ENTIRE COMMITTEE lot me welcome you to what will be, I hope, the most outstanding World Science Fiction Convention yet held - and if you are one of the unfortunate members who will only be with us in spirit, thank you for your interest and support and may this souvenir booklet be some slight recompense for your absence.

To those of you who will be attending in person we know that you will have a good time - our only request is our full co-operation whenever it is required. There in a central control room from which the entire proceedings both formal and informal will be governed: your prompt response to announcements will be gratefully appreciated. Information on anything may be obtained from the Committee members wearing the special badge, or if they do not know the answer they will find out for you.

Finally, I feel sure that you will wish me to thank the Committee on your behalf for the endless hours of arduous work they have put in to make this Convention possible. In particular I would commend your thanks to Secretary Roberta Wild for her exceptional ability in co-ordinating details, and her patience with endless correspondence; Dave Newman and Norman Shorrock together with their Programme Committee for months of planning, tape recordings, filming, and co-ordination of all electronic equipment; Joy and Vincent Clarke for British Publicity and the vast amount of work they have done on other items; Pam and Ken Bulmer for Overseas Publicity and in particular overseas advertising obtained for this Programme Booklet: Peter West for invaluable assistance on film equipment and lighting; John Brunner for his enthusiasm as general leg-man on Publicity Liaison with the press and film companies; Charles Duncombe as Treasurer and 'Sandy' Sanderson, who as Cost Accountant, has kept us out of the 'red'; Harry Turner for layout and design of the Journals and Programs; and all the remainder of the London and provincial Committee members who will be working throughout the Convention to ensure your pleasure.

They will be more than rewarded if you thoroughly enjoy yourselves.

- Ted Carnell

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EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE the publishing world finds itself containing an editor of stature visibly above the average. The reason is always the same: the big feller is a natural. Not merely a natural-born editor but also one who fits his particular publication as a hand fits a glove. The effect is to create an era long remembered by afficionados.

Thus we had a period when new standards of reportage were set up by C,P. Scott as editor of the Manchester Guardian. The small-town newspaper hit its high-note and became an international voice when William Allen White editorialized in Emporia Gazette. Sophisticated humour reached its polished peak during Harold Ross' editorship of the New Yorker. No detective-story magazine before or since quite climbed the heights reached by Black Mask in the thirties when Joe Shaw was the genius at the helm.

Whether he know it or not and whether he likes it or not, John Campbell has long filled the role of science-fiction's big feller to such effect that when we've degenerated into a bunch of toothless dodderers many of us will still be thinking wistfully of the 'Campbell era'. Ah-h-h, those were the days

I've never bothered to ask exactly how John became an editor in the first place. But I like to think that he just happened to walk in and, with great business acumen, Mr. Street pinned him

against the wall while Mr. Smith locked the door and flung the key out of the window. However it occurred, it was a mighty smart move on their part and most obviously one they have found no cause to regret.them.

What makes a person outstanding is a happy combination of exceptional ability and good fortune. He must be the right man in the right place at the right time. An individual creates his qualifications by his own efforts, he has a limited choice of place, but no control over time. If right out of luck he can arrive a hundred years too early or fifty years too late.them.

John Campbell was there, complete with all the necessary abilities, at the very time whan science-fiction needed someone who really knew his job - thus proving the old adage that the moment produces the man. The growth that has since taken place in the field is due 1n part to the impact of world events, in part to individual effort, of which John Campbell's share is too formidable to estimate.

What makes him what he is? A number of things. A persistent reader of science-fiction from the earliest days, he is sympathetic toward the buyer, tries to provide what is wanted without intruding upon the policies of fellow editors. A top- flight author in his own right, he sees the problems of his writers and is peculiarly competent to work with them. What a pity that he gave up writing,

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say some - and then go on to read his current editorial before turning to the stories.

A considerable scientific background enables him to sort out the permissable from the unforgivable and thus avoid the everlasting trap into which authers and other editors fall with resounding thumps and dismal regularity. This background is such that but for the grace of God and the perspicacity of Mr. Street and Mr. Smith, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology might have shoved him into editorship of Nuclear Science instead of Astounding Science Fiction, a danger that has loomed much nearer than readers wot.

Above all he is a chronic and incurable nosey-parker. He likes to speculate about human problems, pick them to pieces and put them together again. An irresistible bait at which he will invariably snap is to offer him a personal problem and tell him it cannot be solved. After

that, dive for cover. He will chivvy the problem, and you, until he has found at least one workable solution or, better still, six. He will deny this, but it is true: given six equally workable solutions he will prefer the one that is slightly whacky.

Since science-fiction is entirely a speculetive, thought-provoking form of literature, one can see the natural advantage enjoyed by an editorial mentality that has the persistent fidgets and must pry into everything. It amused me to hear an old-timer announce that science-fiction has lost its sense of wonder. This at a time when the leading editor in the field was wondering right, left and centre and kicking everyone else into wondering with him!

John's investigatory instinct is accompanied by a tolerance greater than that exhibited by most of us. He reserves judgment until he has got to the bottom of the matter. The pseudo-science of dianatics provided a typical instance.

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I read the book, rejected the whole thesis on the strength of one reading. So did others. We damned it by personal taste and inclination, nothing more. That wasn't enough for John. He sifted it thoroughly, got out of it what little was worth getting, slung the rest into the lake. Today, all I can say about the subject is that I shied away from it like a frightened horse. But he can say precisely what is wrong with it and why. He is the sort of man who would spend six months in a monastery before criticising the Buddhist faith, thinking it a cheap price to pay for knowing what he is talking about.

Overwhelmed by his editorials and by the academic discussion, in his letter-column, some young readers think of John Campbell as a serious- minded, ponderous and unsmiling individual, a sort of grim-faced egg- head, That's their mistake. He has a puckish humour, loves to take people by surprise and has a tendency to jerk away the conversational carpet.

Characteristic of him was that incident where a reader gently pulled his leg by reviewing an imaginary future issue of Astounding Science Fiction. Printing the letter without comment, he bided his time, produced an issue to match the review and mailed a special complimentary copy to the more than dumbfounded reviewer.

His sense of humour and his good business instinct combined to bring about a state of affairs for which he will never be forgiven. In January 1939 he produced a genuinely unique magazine called Unknown Worlds in which anything was permissible and forgivable provided that it was genuinely entertaining. It became a war casualty. Despite twelve years of piteous appeals from the readership he has never revived it. That cold-blooded and heartless refusal is the one serious flaw in his editorial character, a dirty, rotten, lousy trick that . . . . pardon, I'm forgetting myself.

To go back to remembering myself, an outstanding characteristic of John Campbell is that he is kind. On my first contact with him nearly twenty years ago, across three thousand

miles, as strangers and foreigners to each other, he assisted me solely because it was his nature to do so. Ever since then he has helped me repeatedly, above and beyond the call of duty. I have been able to repay him only with loyalty, hoping he would think that enough. My case is not an isolated one. He has given a helping hand to many others, advising, encouraging, almost nursing young authors into the field. Many a mature writer well-established in some market other than Astounding owes his start to John Campbell.

I was asked, no, I was told to write this piece and now I'm nearing the end it looks pretty futile. Street & Smith, the oldeet magazine publishers in America, switched from pulps to slicks but retained Astounding Science Fiction as the sole survivor of a once-imposing chain of magazines. Since then Astounding has continued without a break, backed by a large following of regular readers. It is self-evident that John has the full support of hie bosses, the equal support of his customers. Nothing that one of his writers can say is equal to that kind of appreciation, the kind that really means something to an editor.

For reasons of national prestige - or, in plain language, tribal pride - it must have been tempting to nominate a Britisher as Guest of Honour at a world convention held in London and I'm sure that John would have been happier had this been done. It seems to me a very fine thing that such a petty consideration was swept aside the moment it was known he was coming. He is the natural choice. I hope he has a wonderful time and that nobody bawls him out on account of Unknown Worlds.

In given and very special circumstances John Campbell can become the victim of his own delusions just like any other human being. I'd make a large bet that he is suffering from one right now. He thinks we are honouring him by having him as Top Guest.

Not so!

He is honouring us.

- Eric Frank Russell

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1957 Convention Rules

G E N E R A L

a) The formal sessions of the 15th World Science Fiction Convention will be conducted in accordance with such Rules of procedure as shall be deemed acceptable to the Directors of the World Science Fiction Society, Inc., several of whom will be present in London.

b) The General Committee will be responsible for the administrative work of the Convention throughout the 4-day session and the Programme Committee will be responsible for all programming, programs items and delegates concerned with the programs. A central control room will be used, connected to the hotel P.A. system, which will be under the jurisdiction of the Programme Committee, for the co-ordination of administration and programming.

c) All bids for the 1958 Convention site must be submitted in writing to the Convention Secretary, Miss Roberta Wild, on or before 10.00 a.m. Monday, September 9th. Each bid must contain the name of the proposed site, a list of names of the proposed officers and members of the Convention Committee, and the name of the group bidding.

d) In the event of more than one bid, nominating speeches shall be allowed a maximum time of ten minutes for each group placing a bid. Bids shall be placed in the name of the proposed Convention site.

e) Seconding speeches for each group shall be limited to three with a maximum total time of ten minutes.

f) Voting procedure to select the next Convention site will be by ballot, except in the event that only one bid to received when a majority vote of the Active Membership present and voting on the question will constitute the election of the Convention site and the Convention Committee.

g) Should two ballots be required to elect the next Convention site, only the top bids which together receive the majority votes shall be placed on the second ballot.

E L E C T I O N S

a) The offices for which elections are to be held at the business Session are: two Directors of the World Science Fiction Society, Inc. to serve a term of three years. The election for each office will be by ballot.

N O M I N A T I O N S

a) Nominations for the elections which shall be held at the Business Session on Monday morning must be submitted in writing on or before mid-day Monday, September 9th to the Convention Secretary. Each nomination must be signed by the nominator and the nominee.

b) Any qualified Active Member of the World Science Fiction Society, Inc., may be nominated.

c) In the event of a tie-vote between nominees a re-vote will be taken.

O T H E R * B U S I N E S S

a) In the event of any Active Member wishing to put forward resolutions or Amendments to the By-laws or any further business to be considered at the Business Session such resolutions or amendments must be tendered in writing to the Convention Secretary no later than 10.00 a.m. on Monday, September 9th.

pages 20, 21, 22 (note: on the day, the tea-drinking contest was cancelled):

1. The following rules pertain to the Tea Drinking Contest to be held at the 15th World Science Fiction Convention on Sunday, 8th September 1957, and hereinafter called the "Contest".

2, The Contest shall be open to members of the above mentioned Convention only.

3. The object of the Contest in to retain internally the maximum quantity of tea, subject to Rules 8, 9 & 10 below.

4. The prepared beverage shall be of a brand or make selected by the Judges and shall be prepared in a manner accepteble to them. 5. The tea shall be served at a temperature of 75 degrees Centigrade plus or minus 5 degrees.

6. The tea shall be consumed from standard measures which will be selected by the Official measurers from crockery in normal use at the Convention Hotel. These measures will be of "breakfast cup" size (approx. one third Imperial Pint or six and two thirds fluid ounces).

7. Each contestant will be supplied with six standard measures of tea at the start of the Contest. When these have been consumed it will then become the responsibility of each contestant to call for further supplies ae required. After the first six measures are disposed of, tea will only be supplied to each individual contestant in single measures.

8. No limit shall be imposed upon the duration of the Contest, but any contestant failing to consume 10 standard measures in the first hour of the contest shall be disqualified.

9. The winner of the Contest shall be that contestant who consumes the greatest quantity of tea before quitting the contest table.

10. In the event of a tie, elapsed time shall be taken into account.

11. Any tea spilled, wasted or otherwise called-for and not consumed by any contestant shall not count towards that contestant's score. The estimation of such quantities shall be at the sole discretion of the Judges.

12. Each standard measure shall be filled to within 1/4" of the brim. The whole of the contents of each measure shall be consumed and the tea will be poured through strainers to ensure that the measures include no objectionable dregs.

13. Sugar will be provided at the contest table and may be added to the tea by the contestants to suit indivual tastes.

14. The organisers of the Contest will provide tea without milk and tea ready-milked at the standard temperature and all contestants will be required to indicate their preferences prior to the commencement of the Contest in order that adequate quantities of each may be made available.

15. The addition to the tea of any matter other than the sugar provided at the contest table is expressly forbidden. This particularly applies to salt or any form of alcoholic beverage. Any effort to cool the tea by means other than blowing with the mouth or fanning with hat or handkerchief is forbidden.

16. For the duration of the Contest no contestant may consume any form of nourishment other than that which forms the subject of the Contest. For the purposes of these Rules chewing- gum and similar items are regarded as nourishment. Smoking shall be permitted.

17. Any diversionary tactics on the part of a contestant or his adherents other than heckling shall, at the discretion of the Judges, result in the disqualification of that contestant. This particularly applies to actions of a physical nature such as spillage of an opponent's tea or attempts to remove the contest table to a location other than that laid down by the organisers. Talking of a conversational nature and reasonable verbel encouragement by spectators shall be permitted.

18. Any appeals, protests, disputes or complaints from contestants shall be addressed to the Judges who shall settle such matters by reference to the Rules. The interpretation of the Rules shall be solely at the Judges' discretion, and in the eventuality of a situation arising which is not already covered by the Rules the matter shall be settled by majority decision among the Judges.

19. The Judges, Scrutineers, and Offficial Measurers shall be appointed by the Convention Programme Committee and at least one member of that Committee shall be present upon the panel of Judges.

20. In all matters concerning the Contest the decision of the Judges will be final.

21. Any entry for the Contest shall be deemed an acknowledgement and acceptance of these Rules.

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407 N. Pinner
408 Robert G. Gardner
409 Patrick Chamberlain
410 Ralph M. Holland
411 Alan Bale
412 Jack Harbold
413 Alan J. Lewis
414 F.R. Smith
415 Mrs Patricia Platt
416 G.R. Meyer
417 Nicholas Solnstseff
418 Mrs. J. Joyce
419 Keith Thiselton
420 K.Sterling Macoboy
421 Warren Somerville
422 Alvar Apneltoft
423 R.J. Tilley
424 Mrs. R.J. Tilley
425 Doris M. Weldon
426 Anders Petersen
427 Mervyn R. Binns
428 Marjorie Keller
429 Robert Colbert
430 L.F. Childs
431 Daniel MacPhail
432 Melvin B. Hipwell
433 Eleanor S. Walker
434 M. Kingsley
435 J.H. Bristow
436 Carl L. Barber
437 Al King
438 R. Roger Pierce
439 Howard Neuberger
440 May Middleton
441 Eva Lusk
442 Arlene Donovan
443 Ben Keifer
494 Stan Skirvin
445 Joan Skirvin
446 Arthur C. Kyle
447 Constance Kyle
448 Kenneth T. Pearlman
449 John Borchert
450 Randy Warman
451 Madeleine Willis
452 George Charters
453 Brian Lewis
454 Paul Enever
England
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Australia
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Sweden
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455 K. Martin Carlson
456 Jim Caughran
457 Don Ford
458 P.B. Wring
459 Greg Benford
460 Jim Benford
461 Jerome Mendel
462 Graham Kingsley
463 James Lawrence
464 Dale Hart
465 Leslie Flood
466 E.F. Denby
467 B. Avient
468 Rainer Eisfeld
469 Peter Taylor
470 Michael Gates
471 Philippa Boland
472 William M. Noe II
473 James Cooper Jr
474 Donald Miller
475 Doreen Lewthwaite
476 K.W. Tolman
477 Graham Bishop
478 Dr.med.E. Disselhoff
479 Frau H. Dieselhoff
480 Miss Leslie Minards
481 Wm. E.H. Price

Amendment:
Member No. 46 Ruth Landis
Now to read Ruth Kyle

U.S.A.
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Wales
Germany
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