Barbara Bovard

(January 29, 1922 – November 19, 1998)

Barbara Bovard,
ca. 1942.
From VOM 26.

Barbara Eleanor “Bobby” Edge Bovard (aka Barbara Edge and BEB), a pioneering female L.A. fan of the 1930s and ’40s, was already corresponding and contributing to fanzines by the time Forry Ackerman and Morojo dragged her into organized Shangri-LA fandom. She may have gone by the name "The Atlantean."

Like other early femmefen, Barbara was first thought to be a hoax. After meeting her mother and then Bobby herself, Ackerman wrote, in his inimitable style, in Light 119 (August 1942, p. 8):

B A R B A R A   B O V A R D   E X I S T S !
Subtitle: As If She Ever Douted It.
An Acksposé by Efjay.

This is an unsolicited, unexpected bit from Forrest J. Ackerman of Los Angeles, USA’s #1 fan. The article itself is more than self-explaining. 
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I have been derelict in my duty to myself & my fellow fangelenōs by letting LITE’s “Babsy” remain undiscovered on the home front all the time she’s been making a faname for herself amongst U Fanadians! But do U noe what? I thot BEB was a seudonym! Well, look at the picture for yourself: Barbara Bovard ‑‑ apears out of nowhere ‑‑ is featured extensively & exclusively in Canadian fmz ‑‑ while reputedly living in Los Angeles, hot-bed of fan activity. Why woud a girl center her interest in Canadian fandom when she didn’t even get the Vom that was publisht practicly in her own back­ yard? (Odd coincidence: My st. no. 236½, hers 1236½) No, I assured my­self, "BEB” is but a brainchild of lil Les Croutch, who latterly has brancht out under the same seudy in CENSORED. Well, there myt be a Bar­bara Bovard in LA ‑‑ but she must just be a maiden aunt of Croutch’s, or sumthin! No connexion with stf.

Elmer Perdue, during his LA sojourn, attempted to locate her; without success. Looks bad for BEB!

But then BEB apeard, complete with adres, in reader section of Fantastic Advs; & simultaneously on prospective FAPA mem list. This was too much. Too much for "man-of-action" Morojo, tennyrate, who hearing me again dissertate on the Mystery of the Missing Beebee, declared, "Well, why don’t we go over & see about her?" So befor I nue it we were ringing her bell.

Breath­less, suspenseful moment, after the fatal act. The die was cast ‑‑ what had we done? Shoud we turn & run? Woud we be confronted by a mystifyd landlord? Coud this be the end-product of long-range planning & a carefully baited trap designd eventually to lead us in curiosity to this door? Woud we be gobbled up - vanish from the ken of fan as mayhap others befor us who had attempted to uncover Barbara B? (in a nice way, of course ‑‑ don’t be coarse!)

Armd with FAPA mailing, current pro's & fmz, we waved our wares at the woman at the top of the stairs & babbled things about Did Barbara Bocard live here &, was she the one who‑‑? 

yes ‑‑ I’m her mother ‑‑ Bobby’s out to a show tonight, but come up ‑‑ I’m in­terested too!” Too!  2‑in‑1! What a discovery.

And Barbara ‑‑ hereinafter refered to as Bobby ‑‑ hapnd to fone while we were there & both Morojo & I talkt to a very interesting voice.

(writer’s note here: This preface is being ritten prior to meeting Bobby herself; more, upon making her personal acquaintance, which I expect to do in the very near future.) 

The Very Near Future has come & become the recent past: I’ve met Bobby at last! She came, she saw, she was conquerd; We corralled her into the club (we didnt even beat her with it; She just volunteerd to join after participating in about half a meeting.)

She is one of the rare girls who didnt enter fandom via the 3 routine routes of masculinity; i.e., brother, boyfriend or breadwinner; but rather was innoculated with the stf bug by her mother, who gave her Astounding to read about 10 yrs ago when they lived in Seattle & Bobby was so young she pronounced it "A'sounding" (that is, the mag; not the city).

What U all are waiting to noe, as I was, is this: Bobby began in fandom sevral yrs ago when damon knight pickt her out of a readers’ col & dropt her a funny postcard. Bobby responded in kind, & they kept up a running, or praps I myt say funning, correspondence, "each trying to out-sillify the other." She rote "Daisies Will Tell" for Snide, which I recalled reading when it was mentioned, to me, but that was bfor her name meant anything to me. I was under the impression she had apeard only in Canfanmags.  It seems Hurter & Croutch both rote her for material, so she responded to them, knight moved to NYC, became a proartist & let his fm lapse, so Bobby was left in the laps of the Canadians. She never lookt up any LAers bcuz she doesnt have much of a socialife & isnt the type to put herself forward. But directly she revd an invite ‑‑ she came ryt over! And joind the gang. U shouda seen her wandering around the clubroom taking in the originillustrations, the 1000 pro's, the many new fmz, the assorted fans (Yerke, Daugherty, Joquel, Freehafer, Morojo, Chamberlain, etc). "Find Your Kind on Terra if You Can" Morojo said in Guteto. I think Bobby has. And will stick with us. Unless ‑‑

Great Stf, maybe even now she’s at home composing a Bovardicle entitled "Ackerman Exists Too; subtitle, Oh My God!" 
 
/////////////////////THE END/////////////////////

Later in 1942, Bobby lived in Washington, DC, about which she wrote, “actifanlife is terrible” (Light 123). In 1943, she moved to Fairbanks, Alaska, and belonged to FAPA. In 1945, she moved back to L.A., but apparently gafiated soon afterward.

She appears to have settled down in Los Angeles; in 1950, Barbara E. Edge was working for the city library as a typist, and her father's 1963 obituary referred to his daughter "Miss Barbara Edge of California." When Barbara died on November 19, 1998, her last address had been in the 90006 ZIP code, just a mile or two west of the downtown library.

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Person

1922—1998

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