Friends in Space

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Friends in Space badge, logo by Harry Bell, image courtesy of Rob Hansen.

Friends in Space (FIS) was a London-based fan group formed in September 1980 and meeting every Sunday evening at The Queen Victoria in Ealing[1].

Initially called The South Ealing Friends in Space Society (SEFISS), the name was derived from 'the title of a one-off TV drama about UFO enthusiasts' [2]. The first meeting was attended by Rob Hansen, Greg Pickersgill and Linda Pickersgill. Later attendees included Chris Atkinson, Avedon Carol, Alan Dorey, Malcolm Edwards, Chris Evans, Steve Higgins, Robert Holdstock, Leroy Kettle, Phil Palmer, Christopher Priest, Lisa Tuttle and Pam Wells[3].

Linda Pickersgill published Friends in Space Report for the group and Rob Hansen penned 'The Almost-True Story of Friends In Space', a fictional account of FIS's founding for Larry Carmody and Stu Shiffman's fanzine Raffles[4].

In late 1981, many fans split away and were replaced by college students and meetings became monthly. One of the students was Rian Hughes[5], later a graphic designer and comic artist.

The group had become dormant by the mid-1980s and later replaced by New Southern Friends in Space.

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  1. Then, p379.
  2. Ibid
  3. Names sourced from Then and Rob Hansen's 'Eighties Letters and Fan Diary' at fiawol.org.uk.
  4. 'The Welshman Writes...' by Rob Hansen, Raffles #6 (May 1982)
  5. Rian Hughes at wikipedia.org.

Club 19801980s
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