View source for Pogo (CA)

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Pogo}}''(Did you mean a [[Pogo (comic)|comic strip]] or an [[Pogo (Alpajpuri)|Alpajpuri fanzine]]?)''


(November 19, 1921 – May 21, 1996)

[[File:Pogo (1940s). Courtesy of Rob Hansen.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.25|'''Pogo (1940s)'''. ''Courtesy of [[Rob Hansen]]''.]]
'''Mary Corinne “Patti” Gray''' (later '''Wood''') was a [[Los Angeles]] [[fan]] frequently called by the [[Esperanto]] [[nickname]] '''Pogo'''.  She and her cousin [[Morojo]] (Myrtle R. Douglas) were avid Esperantists. 

Pogo was one of the charter members of The [[National Fantasy Fan Federation]], as well as a member of [[LASFS]]. She was ardently pursued by the [[fanboys]] of the period. See [https://www.fanac.org/fanzines/1940s_One_Shots/1940s07.pdf “In Defense of Pogo.”]

She and her husband, [[Russ Wood]], were founders of the [[Harbor Fantasy League]], a group of [[fannish]] couples in the [[LA]] area. The couple were jointly [[nicknamed]] [[Pogorus]], also the name of their [[fanzine]].  They married on December 11, 1941, in Yuma, [[Arizona]].  They had a son together named Curtis, but later divorced.

Pogo [[published]] ''[[STF-ETTE]]'', the first feminist [[fanzine]], and, with Russ, ''[[Fan-Damn]]''.   She was heavily involved in the [[Sacred Order of FooFoo]] and was thus, of course, an anti-[[Ghughuist]].

In 1942, she had a [[feud]] with [[Forry Ackerman]], about which he [[pubbed]] ''[[The War Lock]]'' in [[FAPA]] 21. He later tried to keep her out of [[LASFS]]. 

[[Francis Towner Laney]] described her in ''[[Ah! Sweet Idiocy!]]'':
 She is a rather large woman--not fat, but tall, big-boned, and well-built; carries 140 pounds in a manner that makes them look like 120. She is brunette, pretty good looking, and notable for an air of vague helplessness which largely stems from myopia and is not at all reflective of a rather self-sufficient and competent personality... Her interest in [[fandom]] was almost entirely limited to the people in fandom, rather than in [[fantasy]], [[stf]], or other facets of the field; and she was far more interested in going dancing than in sitting around the turgid atmosphere of the [[club]].

The two of them dated awhile when estranged from their respective spouses. 

*[https://www.fanac.org/fanzines/1940s_One_Shots/1940s07.pdf “In Defense of Pogo”] by [[Charles D. Hornig]] (''[[Hornig's Bulletin]]'' 1, 1941). 
*[https://www.fanac.org/fanzines/1940s_One_Shots/1940s08.pdf Response to Hornig] by [[Arthur Louis Joquel II]] (''[[Sun Trails|SunT(r)ails]]'' 1, p. 6).
*Photos on pages 135 and 248 of [[Harry Warner]]'s history of [[fandom]], ''[[All Our Yesterdays]]''.
* Founding Members article with photo in the {{TNFF|date=March 2016 |volume=75|number=3}}.  

{{fanzines}}
* ''[[Fan-Damn]]'' (with [[Russ Wood]])
* ''[[Pogorus]]'' (with [[Russ Wood]])
* ''[[STF-ETTE]]''

{{fancy1|text=
[[Nickname]] for Mrs. [[Russ Wood|Russell M Wood]], formerly Mary Corrine Gray, once called Patti. 
}}


{{person | born=1921 | died=1996}}
[[Category:fan]]
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[[Category:US]]
[[Category:first_fandom]]