View source for Nolazine: A Retrospective

[By [[Tom Feller]]: Reprinted from [[SFC Bulletin]] Vol 6, #1.]

When I was at the [[New Orleans Science Fiction and Fantasy Festival]], [[Dean Sweatman]] gave me some [[fanzines]] that he found during his cleaning out after the recent flooding. The most interesting ones dated from 1970-71. They were issues 10-12 of ''[[Nolazine]]''. This was a publication of the [[New Orleans Science Fiction Association]]. [[Rick Norwood]] edited issues 10 and 11, [[Patrick Adkins]] 12.

[[Rick Norwood|Norwood]]'s editorial in #10 concerned the aborted [[New Orleans in 1973]] [[Worldcon bid]]. Shortly after [[St. Louiscon]] in 1969, they lost their convention hotel, the Roosevelt. Then the Shriners chose [[New Orleans]] for their annual convention on Labor Day weekend in 1973 and booked up the entire city. Norwood also describes the bad blood between the NO bid and the [[Dallas in 73|Dallas bid]], accusing the [[Dallas in 73|Dallas bid]] of insinuating that a [[New Orleans]] [[Worldcon]] would discriminate against Blacks. Among Norwood's statements, he says, "The [[Worldcon]] is a dinosaur; to survive it must evolve to meet new conditions." Something like this has been said many times in the last 25 years.

A consistent theme in the 3 zines is support for the space program. #10 has an article entitled "Memoirs of an Armchair Astronaut (active)" by [[Donald Markstein]]. Markstein describes his fascination with the old [[Captain Video]] TV program, then goes to the early space launches, including Sputnik. He concludes with predictions about the future of the space program.

"A dozen years from now [1970], there must be permanent Earth-orbiting space stations, permanent Moon-orbiting stations, and permanent bases on the Moon. These are coming. By the end of this decade, NASA envisions over 300 launches a year--almost one a day. ... Twenty-five years from now...there will be commercial flights to the Moon."

[[Rick Norwood|Norwood]]'s editorial in #11 mentions attending the Apollo 14 liftoff. #12 includes a [[Poul Anderson]] article on the space program in which he equates the future of the program with the fate of Western Civilization.

Fiction formed a large part of the zines. #10 featured "So! You Want to be a SF Artist!" by [[Jack Gaughan]] and "The Return of the Pooh" by Norwood. In Norwood's story, Christopher Robbins and his friends decide to hold a convention. #11 included "Once Upon a Time" by [[Dany Frolich]], an anti-war fantasy. [[Pat Adkins]] published portions of ''The Night Falls'', described as a "realistic novel of witchcraft in feudal England," in issues 10 and 11.

There was also some [[sercon]], mostly by [[Guy Lillian]]. #10 included his article on the [[1968 Hugos|1968 Hugo Award winners]]. He contrasts the novel and short story winners, ''Stand on Zanzibar'' by [[John Brunner]] and "The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World" by [[Harlan Ellison]], respectively, with "Nightwings" by [[Robert Silverberg]] and "The Sharing of Flesh" by [[Poul Anderson]], the novella and novelette winners. #11 has Guy's article on [[Harlan Ellison]]'s non-fiction in which he contrasts ''Memos from Purgatory'' and ''The Glass Teat''. #12 features an account of his visit to the home of Poul Anderson in Orinda, California, and Anderson's bringing Guy to a meeting of the [[Little Men]]. There were also some short book reviews in 10 and 11.

[[Fan history]] is not neglected. #11 had an article by [[Don Walsh]] on [[Jan Penney]], nee [[Jan Sadler]], a NO (and Jackson, MS!) fan active from about 1956 to 1961. She edited a zine called ''[[SLANder]]'' and co-hosted [[Consolacon]] in 1961. #12 included a short history by [[Rick Norwood|Norwood]] of the first eight [[DeepSouthCons]]. He traces it from its humble beginning at [[Al Andrews]]' house in [[Huntsville]] to #8, when the convention's attendance exceeded 100 for the first time.

The [[letter columns]] contained a mixture of [[pros]] and [[BNFs]]. [[Loccers]] included [[Poul Anderson]], [[Ned Brooks]], [[R. A. Lafferty]], [[Robert Bloch]], [[Harry Warner]] (of course), [[L. Sprague de Camp]], and [[Justin Winston]]. Harry discourses on the problems of [[Worldcons]]. "The [[Worldcon]] and hotels will not be compatible much longer," he writes. Again, something that has been said many times in the last 25 years.

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