Vernon McCain
(November 2, 1927 – June 10, 1958)
Vernon Leroy McCain, an Idaho and Pacific Northwest fan and SF writer, was active in the 1940s and ’50s. He was a fanwriter and a prodigious correspondent and letterhack in both the prozines and fanzines. He was a member of the Eugene Science-Fantasy Society and FAPA, of which he was president in 1956.
He initiated the gospel, "Bloch is the Only True Ghod" upon receiving the Revelation in 1955, but, Robert Bloch reported, was singularly lax in sacrificing any virgins. He was among the critics of the 7th Fandomites.
After Rog Phillips’ Amazing column brought in an influx of new fans, he commented:
'The Club House' had done more to make fandom grow than any other single force in history, and it altered the whole character of fandom by bringing in a different type person. Not that this new type was in any way superior or inferior to the old type, but they were different and they changed fandom. Many of us preferred the old type to the new, which somewhat resembled a combination of the American Legion and the Housewives' Thursday Knitting and Tea Auxiliary. Less publicity is what fandom needs.
Like many fans of the era, he was a jazz enthusiast.
His death from peritonitis, following an appendectomy, at just 30 years old, was one of those that made 1958 “The Year of the Jackpot.” He was to have been married the next month. A brief obituary appears in Fanac #18 (June 1958), p. 1.
- Birdsmith [1958-58] (for FAPA)
- Review [1952-55] (for FAPA)
- Wastebasket [1950-53]
| Person | 1927—1958 |
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