Bea Mahaffey

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(August 24, 1928 -- March 29, 1987)

Beatrice (Bea) Mahaffey was a science fiction fan (one of the fans at Midwestcon 1) and later magazine editor who worked on most of Raymond Palmer's prozines, including Other Worlds (managing editor, 1950-1952; coeditor, 1952-1953, 1955). She was also coeditor of the alternate versions of Other Worlds: Science Stories (1953-1954) and Universe Science Fiction((1953-1955). The first two issues of Universe SF were credited to George Bell, which was a Palmer and Mahaffey joint pseudonym.

Mahaffey also helped Palmer edit Mystic Magazine (1953-1954), but quit when the magazine dropped SF in favor of occult non-fiction (like Palmer's former magazine, Fate) and changed its name to Search.

Mahaffey was a fan and a member of the Cincinnati Fantasy Group, when she met Palmer at the 1949 Cinvention; and he hired her to assist him with his new magazine, Other Worlds. A BNF, she was one of the committee for Chicon II, and when she visited the UK for Coroncon in 1953, she stopped in Northern Ireland where Irish Fandom held BEAcon in her honor. She was a speaker at Hydracon.

Beyond her many and obvious talents, she wowed fandom by being an extraordinarily beautiful woman at a time when there were few female fans. She was inducted into the First Fandom Hall of Fame in 1987.

There are those who think the issues of Palmer's magazines that were mainly under her editorial control were superior to those put together solely by Palmer.

After Palmer's death in August, 1977, Mahaffey published an essay, "I Remember Ray," in the September, 1977, issue (#204) of the fanzine Locus.

Awards, Honors and GoHships:


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