Most Senior Fan

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Just as with Most Senior SF Writer, we can ask who is the most senior fan at various times. This could be eldest actifan in age or eldest in years in fandom. Until his death in October 2022, centenarian Bob Madle was both.

Note that we're using fan in the proper fannish sense of being involved in fandom, and not in the mundane sense of liking sf – there is no hope of knowing who liked sf at any given time. As a practical matter, we're also limited to well-known fans as others have left little or no trace of their activities.

N.b., to keep this list from growing without limit, please do not list people who entered fandom after 1955 or who were born after 1935. The idea is to celebrate especially long fannish careers.

Born Found Fandom Died or Gafiated Years in Fan­dom Fan
Sept 17, 1874 ?? July 30, 1970 ?? Walter Murdoch
December 25, 1883 ? January 31, 1970 ?? Pat Terry[1]
August 20, 1890 late ’20s / early ’30s d. March 15, 1937 ~10? H. P. Lovecraft
November 12, 1899 <1929 g. >1938 >9 Warren Fitzgerald
January 6, 1905 mid-30s d. February 29, 1978 >45 Eric Frank Russell
April 8, 1907 1949 g. 1961, d. March 6, 2005 12 Gertrude M. Carr
1908 May 1928 d. February 11, 1979 51 Ron Graham
September 4, 1908 <January 1930 d. 1971 ~40 Allen Glasser
May 31, 1910 <1928 January 21, 1996 >68 Aubrey MacDermott
June 20, 1910 <1930 d. October 29, 2003 ~73 Lloyd Arthur Eshbach
January 2, 1912 <1930 g. ~1943—1961, d. January 2, 1963 >35 Julius Unger
February 19, 1912 <October 1930 d. July 17, 1979 >49 Walter Gillings
November 12, 1912 1930–32 g. ~1942–1990s, d. August 28, 1997 ~15 Conrad H. Ruppert
August 16, 1913 <1935 d. June 7, 1994 ~60 Will Sykora
October 1, 1914 Spring 1934 d. November 2, 1990 56 Don Wollheim
November 23, 1914 1931 d. October 6, 2006 75 Bob Tucker
June 19, 1915 <January 1930 d. February 8, 2004 >74 Julius Schwartz
January 22, 1916 1929 d. September 25, 1984 ~50 Dan McPhail
May 1916 late 30s g. ~1950; d. Oct 22, 2016 15 Norman F. Stanley
September 4, 1916 1936 d. July 14, 1998 62 Doc Lowndes
November 24, 1916 1930 d. December 4, 2008 78 Forrest J Ackerman
April 5, 1917 1935 d. September 23, 1994 ~59 Robert Bloch
November 7, 1917 mid-30s d. June 28, 1978 ~45 J. Michael Rosenblum
September 16, 1917 <1940 g. 1948–~1978; d. April 17, 2015 ~42 Art Widner
November 30, 1917 <1939 d. November 28, 1998 ~60 John Millard
March 22, 1918 <1936 d. January 25, 2000 ~64 Oliver Saari
February 17, 1919 1936? d. December 23, 2015 ~79 Jack Robins
November 26, 1919 1932 d. September 2, 2013 81 Fred Pohl
February 14, 1919 1933 or '34 d. September 18, 2016 ~82 Dave Kyle
June 2, 1920 1935 or 36 d. October 8, 2022 ~86 Bob Madle
August 8, 1920 <1939 d. May 7, 2009 >70 A. Langley Searles
August 8, 1920 1935 d. June 28, 2008 ~73 Jack Speer
June 14, 1921 1938–39 g. 1950s?; d. July 29, 2017 ~20 William L. Hamling
February 16, 1922 1930s semi-g. 1948–65; d. December 27, 2011 >60 Rusty Hevelin
1923 1937 g. 1940s (still alive in 2020) 5? Bert F. Castellari
October 27, 1923 <1938 g. mid-1970s? (still alive in 2023) >40 Trudy Kuslan
October 29, 1923 <1939 g. 1957; ung. c1987; d. August 25, 2021 ~51 Erle Korshak
October 7, 1926 1939 d. November 21, 2009 70 Ken Krueger
Post First Fandom
April 12, 1908 1949 d. May 6, 1981 32 Janie Lamb
December 2, 1914 1940s d. February 25, 1999 >50 Ted Engel
July 6, 1919 1946 d. September 7, 2006 60 Helen Wesson
March 21, 1926 <1957 Active through 2018 at least >60 Peter Mabey
August 12, 1926 1940? largely gafiated, but occasionally revenant; d. September 28, 2022 >71 Chan Davis
March 6, 1928 1940s d. July 15, 2021 >72 Bill Nolan
August 12, 1928 born into fandom g. ????, d. June 2, 2023 ?? Allison Phillips
June 3, 1930 1940s d. September 25, 1999 ~60 Marion Zimmer Bradley
June 8, 1930 1949 d. January 23, 2022 72 Roger Sims
October 3, 1931 1947? d. December 29, 2022 >74 Ray Nelson
December 31, 1931 late 1940s d. November 26, 2017 ~60 Perdita Boardman
Still Active
April 29, 1924 1950 g. 1955–93; still active ~35 Es Cole
September 30, 1924 ~1950? still active >72 Elinor Busby
May 27, 1929 late 1940s? still active >72 Burnett R. Toskey
June 26, 1929 1947 still active >74 Wally Weber
July 9, 1929 1947 still active >74 George W. Price
January 14, 1931 ?? still active ?? Joe Green
September 8, 1932 ~1950 still active >72 John Boardman
February 12, 1933 1950s still active >65 Juanita Coulson
January 15, 1935 1949 still active >72 Bob Silverberg
  1. At the presentation of an award named after him, it was stated that Pat Terry had become recognised as the oldest fan in the world shortly before his death in 1970 at the age of 85.


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