Pseuicide
| From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959 |
| also called pseudocide and some unprintable things. Early in 1941 Earl Singleton's room-mate made known that ES had committed suicide. Singleton had become a leading figure since the ChiCon, and the news was a great shock. Many poems and issues of fanzines were dedicated to him, and considerable debate about the ethics of suicide took place. It was whispered in some places that a girl had been involved, and the Futurians never did stop wondering why he did it.
Several months later, various fans began to notice phoney things about the circumstances; for instance, Earl's parents had come up from Texas and taken away his remains within a day of his death. Widner, who was on the scene, investigated, and the word spread that it was a hoax. After that researchers turned their attention to finding out who'd been in on it from the beginning, chief curiosity centering around Trudy Kuslan. That fall Singleton, who was reported to be working for the government in Washington, visited Warner in Hagerstown, giving as his name the name of a Washington room-mate, and subscribed to Spaceways. Warner mentioned the visit and his suspicions to Speer, and Juffus tracked the zombie to its lair. No other fen saw Singleton after the pseuicide, tho Widner received an engagement announcement, and it has never been learned just why he pulled the hoax. |
| From Fancyclopedia 1, ca. 1944 |
| Also called pseudocide and some unprintable names.
Early in 1941, just before Boskone I was to take place, Earl Singleton's roommate made known that he had committed suicide. Singleton was comparatively new in the field, but had become a leading figure since the Chicon, and the occurrence was a great shock. Numerous poems and issues of fanzines were dedicated to him, and considerable debate about the ethics of suicide took place. It was whispered in some circles that a girl had been involved, and the Futurians never stopped wondering why he did it. Several months later, various fans began to notice phony things about the circumstances; for instance, Earl's parents had come up from Texas and taken away his remains within a day of his death. Widner, who was on the ground, began investigating, and the report that it was a hoax spread. After that the researchers turned their attention to finding out who all had been in on it from the first, chief curiosity centering around Trudy Kuslan. That fall Singleton, who was reported to be working for the Government in Washington, visited Warner in Hagerstown, giving as his name the name of a Washington roommate, and subscribed to Spaceways, Warner mentioned the visit and his suspicions to Speer some months later, and the F tracked zombie to its lair. No other fan saw Singleton after the pseuicide, tho Widner received an engagement announcement and it has never been learned just why es pulled the hoax. |
Singleton's roommate at MIT was O. K. Smith, who was also a fan. Some time later Smith moved to LA and became a member of the LASFS. Because of his initials and his association with the infamous hoax, many fans thought he was a hoax and refused to accept his existence.
See Death Hoax.
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