Talk:Art Wilson
Did any fanzines publish notices of Art Wilson's death in 1984? I have not found one and would appreciate any information being posted to the entry.
I've found numerous references to Art Wilson via Google by searching on "Air America" and "shower shoes". The death date came from a site for helicopter pilot veterans of the war in Vietnam. Another source said that Wilson started as a pilot in WWII with the Flying Tigers. He apparently flew more than 40 cargo support missions for the French forces at Dien Bien Phu, shortly before the end of that battle.
He was listed as a member 157 in the second Solacon Progress Report (1958).
In CRY in 1969 F.M. Busby wrote that Art Wilson was at Westercon that year.
Descriptions of Art Wilson suggest a character out of Terry and the Pirates, which is probably unfair to either side of the comparison. [Steve Johnson 25 July 2020]
Multiple sources report July 29, 1984 as the death date of Arthur Douglas Wilson, who married Edith Jean Bloom. Do we think perhaps this was Art Wilson the fan? — Bee Ostrowsky (talk) 10:10, 18 April 2023 (PDT)
Two Art Wilsons?[edit]
With due respect for additional newspaper research on Art Wilson, I wonder if two different Art Wilsons are now being referenced in the entry. According to book Air America by Christopher Robbins (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1979), p. 26, Art Wilson was born in China and grew up reading and writing Chinese and learned to fly in China. Air America further described him as "the aeronautical version of the sailor with a girl in every port..." That description is consistent with his account of BangCon, now reproduced in Fancyclopedia.
The newspaper account of Edith Bloom's wedding in 1946 refers to Art Wilson as an Army pilot stationed in Long Beach. The 1940 census document associated with the Find-a-Grave entry for Wilson list him as a resident of Kitsap City, Washington.
My best guess is that there were two pilots named Arthur Wilson, born the same year and died the same year. One of the Art Wilsons was a fan. The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association listed his death date as 7/28/1984, rather than the 7/29/84 in the Find-a-Grave entry.
WILSON ART CPT Art Wilson was a potential VHPA member who died after his tour in Vietnam on 07/28/1984 from Cancer Seattle, WA. Served in Vietnam with AIR AMERICA LAOS in 62-65, This information was provided by Jane Mullins (AA Association) This information was last updated 05/18/2016 Please send additions or corrections to: HQ@vhpa.org VHPA Headquarters Return to the Helicopter Pilot DAT name list. Source: https://www.vhpa.org/DAT/datW/G62311.HTM
—Steve Johnson 23 May 2023
- I have to agree that the Bangcon report doesn’t read like something a married man would have written for publication.
- —Leah Zeldes Smith (talk) 04:17, 24 May 2023 (PDT)
- -Steve JohnsonPublished accounts of Art Wilson the pilot in Asia state that he did not receive a U.S. Pilots license until the 1960s, when he was forced to do so on a visit to the US. Previously he had Chinese credential issued in the early forties. I think that would rule out the pilot who was stationed in the US in 1946. Making the change without consultation with other interested editors does not seem like my fannish thing to do. 24 May 2023 10:33 PM (ADT)
I recently came across a copy of Art Wilson's Coprofile 1 while looking for another old fanzine. My best guess is that I obtained it when visiting Seattle about fifty years ago -- Wally Weber did the printing of Coprofile for Art Wilson and I obtained many back issues of Cry and other zines from him. In any case, in Coprofile 1, Wilson wrote that he joined the US Army in 1940, which taught him to fly and sent him to Asia. He left the Army and began flying for Air America in 1947. This is tough to reconcile with Wilson getting his flying papers in China and not getting US credentials until the 1960s.
- Is it possible that the army credentials somehow didn’t transfer outside of the military?
- Wally Weber is still alive, in Seattle. You could try asking him what he knows about Wilson.
- —Leah Zeldes Smith (talk) 19:30, 6 November 2023 (PST)
In response to my message on fmzfen, Rob Hansen provided page scans from Wilson's apazine Scatalog. So: Wilson mentions visiting his children in Washjngton State on his "home leave" from Civil Air Transport, which he had every three years. Children, however, are not mentioned on the Findagrave page, an odd omission on a site so important to genealogists. Also, in Coprofile 1, Wilson states that he joined the Army Air Force in the U.S. in 1940. He left the Army Air Force in 1947 in Singapore and began flying for Civil Air Transport. The statement about learning to fly in China, in the Air America (1979) book may reflect misunderstanding by the author of that book or Wilson saying that he really got his flying chops in Asia. And: since he left the Army Air Force in Singapore, it is logical that he acquired up civilian flying papers in Asia, rather than in the U.S., as would be common for pilots separating from service in the U.S. Arthur, you remain a puzzle!
Further digging in the usual places turned up a photograph of Art Wilson seated in a living room, apparently in the U.S., and another photograph showing him with other Air America personnel, and Art's dachshund, on an airfield in Laos in 1968. Neither is fannish, but perhaps the inclusion of Bubbles the dachshund makes the photo fannish adjacent...Will see if I can post.
