Dave Ish

(December 7, 1937 – October 9, 2007)

Teenaged New Jersey fan David Ish began publishing the fanzine Sol in 1951. His mother, Thelma J. Kelly, was a contributor (along with Lee Hoffman, Bob Silverberg and other leading lights of the period). He was part of the group of eager young Seventh Fandomites whom Harlan Ellison gathered at HEcon in 1953 and led on to parade at Midwestcon 4, wielding the scarlet birdbath and proclaiming their advent over old and tired Sixth Fandom.

Ish’s first convention was Chicon 2, the 1952 Worldcon. At the 1953 Worldcon, Philcon II, he helped on the convention newsletter, the Philcon Reporter, and partied like a trufan. At the 1968 Hugo Awards ceremony, Robert Silverberg recalled:

I remember the 1953 convention: watching a memorable poker game in which Rog Phillips and Bob Tucker and other similar characters had roped in a 13-year-old fan named Dave Ish who had had more to drink than a 13-year-old fan should have even at a convention and yet Dave was winning all the pots.

(Agberg was mistaken about Dave’s age. In Sol II, pubbed in October 1951, Ish said he was then 13.)

Ish gafiated shortly after publishing "The Fantasy People" (a fictionalized account of the 1956 Worldcon, Nycon II) in New World Writing (1956).

We’re almost sure he is the David A. Ish who would become a San Francisco newspaper publisher and ultimately retire to Thailand. See his obituary.

Fanzines and Apazines:

• Crifapac
• Fair Hair [early 50s]
• Sol

7th Fandomites at Midwestcon 4, 1953, from left: Norman G. Browne, Ian T. Macauley, David Ish, Karl Olsen, Jack Harness. Photo by Dean Grennell.

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Person

1937—2007

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