Mal Ashworth

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(August 1, 1933 – November 23, 2002)

Malcolm Ashworth was a fan from Bradford, UK active from the early 1950s into the early 1960s and again from the 1980s. He was a member of the Bradford Science Fiction Association, the Leeds Group, OMPA (a founding member) and FAPA. The uncredited author of his platform for the 1960 TAFF Race began, 'If you suddenly stop and ask yourself what makes fandom worth while the short answer is some wonderful people and some fine writing. It's amazing how often Mal Ashworth figures in both lists'.

Ashworth first contacted fandom via the Bradford group, likely around late 1951 or 1952. He appeared in their group photo taken at Mancon in October 1952, although as evidenced by the title of his report he considered his first real convention to have been the Supermancon, the 1954 Eastercon. In April 1954 he launched BEM with fellow Bradford fan Tom White. In its first issue they said 'Before we started on this first issue we were both comparatively normal individuals, for fans, and had never met a stencil at close quarters', although Walt Willis noted in Nebula #9 (August 1954) that BEM was nevertheless 'published by fans who are already familiar with the field'. Ashworth also wrote for other fanzines, including Hyphen and Cry. His Jazz-Zine (1955) may be the first amateur publication devoted to music to identify as a fanzine[1].

He was a founder member (#4) of OMPA and My First Real Convention appeared in its first mailing. Vin¢ Clarke writing in APAthy described it as one of 'at least 3 memorable magazines from members [in the first year][2] which from sheer length are unlikely to appear in any Best of OMPA but which some future fan might consider reprinting in entirety'. Subsequent contributions included recurring titles such as Dupe and Rot, and one-shots including The Fannish Case of Ashworth v Lindsay in which he cast himself as the plaintiff against Ethel Lindsay. He joined FAPA with mailing 71 in May 1955 and remained a member with various titles until May 1964 .Skyrack #16 (April 5, 1960) reported that Ashworth, his wife Sheila and Ron Bennett held the first 'Yorkshire FAPAcon' on March 19.

In the 1950s, he had a story accepted for publication in a woman's pulp magazine, Red Star Weekly. This detail was mentioned by Dave Wood in Ansible #185 (December 2002). It's unclear whether the story was published although Wood's wording suggests it wasn't.

Ashworth attended many British conventions during the 1950s including Loncon, the 1957 Worldcon, but he doesn't seem to be in evidence after the BSFA Convention, 1960. In that year he stood for TAFF, coming second to Eric Bentcliffe after he charitably published A Few Words About Bilbo Bentcliffe in support of his opponent. Skyrack #51 (April 4, 1963) included Ron Bennett's review of Rot #5 in which he described Ashworth as a gafiate. The Ashworths had been listed in Bennett's Directory of Science Fiction Fandom up to 1962 but weren't included in 1966 and in Skyrack #92 (September 9, 1966) Bennett wondered, 'What ever happened to ... Mal Ashworth?'

He reemerged along with several other British fan veterans of the 1950s around 1982 and in 1984 revived Rot for a single issue. He also rejoined FAPA and contributed to fanzines such as Xyster by fellow revenant Dave Wood, and returned to conventions. At Albacon II, the 1983 Eastercon, he was reportedly one of the few people to recognise Peter Weston's Jophan costume complete with Shield of Umor.

His first wife, Sheila, wrote for fanzines and attended conventions in the 1950s. His second, Hazel, was a major 1980s fanzine publisher with her two times Nova Award-winning fanzine Lip. He was known for his encyclopedic knowledge of beers.

His photo appears on page 153 of Harry Warner's A Wealth of Fable.

Fanzines and Apazines:

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  1. ↑ 'Music in pre-Punk Fanzines' by Rob Hansen at fiawol.org.uk
  2. ↑ The others were Willis Discovers America and Through Darkest Ireland with Knife, Fork and Spoon.
Person 1933—2002
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