Tightbeam

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Tightbeam (originally called Hyperspace Tightbeam) is the letterzine/genzine of the N3F. The name was chosen to describe the reason for the zine's original reason for being - that of serving as a medium for inter-member communication.

History[edit]

According to N3F records, in 1949, Art Rapp, the editor of Spacewarp, decided to put out a letterzine for the N3F, because the TNFF was limited only to being a clubzine. He called the new zine Postwarp. This was available by subscription, at 10 cents a copy (the usual price in those days), which paid for itself.

It contained letters of comment on all subjects, but mainly discussed the N3F. By not being official, writers felt free to criticize the N3F (this continues to this day, even when edited by the President). When Art left, others took up Postwarp, with varying success, continuing until 1960, when Alan J. Lewis (not to be confused with Albert J. Lewis) became editor and had problems so that Postwarp did not appear regularly or on time.

By then, the zine was financed by the N3F, and the officers, understandably, wanted it to appear before they paid for it. Lewis, on the other hand, could not promise anything and claimed he needed the money in advance. This impasse went on for some time, and caused various new rules to be made, to no avail, so they decided to go around the delinquent editor by doing another letterzine, letting him delay Postwarp as long as he pleased. So, in a sense, Postwarp and Tightbeam were not related.

Walter Coslet volunteered to do the first issue, and named it Hyperspace Tightbeam. The N3F records apparently claim that Art Hayes edited the second issue, but that issue credits Robert N. Lambeck as the editor, and the editorial was written by him. That issue does contain a letter by Hayes, but with no indication of any connection with Tightbeam (although he does say that he's considering editing a future Postwarp.) Marion Zimmer Bradley edited the third issue, and renamed it Tightbeam. So the first few editors rotated, setting a precedent, though sometimes it was more efficient to have a semi-permanent editor, who could control the contents of the issue to fit the pages allowed.

Editors[edit]

Issues[edit]

Tightbeam was merged into The National Fantasy Fan as a letter column, and later as an included section from 2001 - 2012.

Some details on individual issues (this section is under development). Page counts include covers, except when the back cover is blank. In general, issues have been released every other month, and you can probably safely interpolate dates of issues from that, but we list only those dates we have been able to confirm.

Issue Date Pages Editor Notes
1 May 1960 16 Walter Coslet Titled "Hyperspace Tightbeam". Cover by Ray Nelson
2 July 1960 26 Robert Lambeck Titled "Hyperspace Tightbeam".
3 Sept. 1960 24 Marion Zimmer Bradley Becomes "Tightbeam".
4 Oct. 1960 31 Art Hayes This issue was published a month early, and longer than usual, because of extended discussion over the expulsion of a member of N3F.
5 Jan. 1961 14 Bruce Henstell The issue is undated, but was scheduled for January and says it "should get to you in early January". Cover by Jack Harness.
6 March 1961 Stan Woolston The issue was scheduled for 3/1961, and had a submission deadline in March.
7 May 1961 18 Al Lewis The issue is undated, but was scheduled for 5/1961. The cover appears to have been drawn by Joni Cornell and stencilled by Bjo Trimble.
8 July 1961 28 Ed Meskys The issue was scheduled for 7/1961, with a submission deadline of 6/19/61.
9 Sept. 1961 22 Ed Bryant Probable date; none listed.
10 Nov. 1961 28 Art Hayes No date officially listed, but this is the schedule, and says it includes letters received by Nov. 3rd.
11 Jan. 1962 22 Albert Lewis Probable date. Editor's comments are dated Dec. 27, 1961
16 Nov. 1962 28 Art Hayes Date known; consistent with the intended bi-monthly schedule with respect to earlier issues.
17 January 1963 29 Lee Riddle
18 March 1963 Bill Mallardi & William Bowers
19 1963 Dave Hulan
20 July 1963 20
23 Ed Meskys
29 January 1965 32 Stan Woolston
30 Norm Metcalf
34 November 1965 14 Cindy Heap This issue is incorrectly dated as Nov. 1964
35 January 1966 18 Bill Mallardi
36 Greg Shaw
38 July 1966 24 Bill Bruce Cover by Rick Norwood
44 July 1967 Jack C. Haldeman
46 November 1967 Don Miller
47 January 1968 Don Miller
48 Gary Labowitz
49 Gary Labowitz
50 Gary Labowitz
51 Gary Labowitz
52 Gary Labowitz
53 Gary Labowitz
54 Gary Labowitz
55 March 1969 15 Gary Labowitz
56 May 1969 Gary Labowitz
57 Gary Labowitz
58 Gary Labowitz
59 Gary Labowitz
60 Gary Labowitz
131 April 1984 Owen Laurion
143 Sally Syrjala
144 July 1986 Sally Syrjala
145 September 1986 Sally Syrjala
146 Sally Syrjala
327 2021 George Phillies, Jon D. Swartz Featured fan art; a lettercolumn; anime, comic book, and movie reviews; a bio-bibliography of Philip José Farmer, and recipes.

Tightbeam online at fanac.org.



Publication 1960
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