Andy Porter

(March 24, 1946 –)

Andrew I. Porter at Interaction in 2005. Photo by Mark Olson.

Andrew I. Porter (né Andrew Ian Silverberg) describes himself as a "convention fan, club fan, fanzine collector (second largest collection in NYC, after Moshe Feder), fan editor, fan writer, fan historian, Worldcon bidder, and collector (thousands of books, mags), etc."

Fan

He became active in fandom in 1960, in NY fan clubs including the Lunarians, FISTFA (the Fannish and Insurgent Scientifictional Association) and the Fanoclasts, then hosted by Ted White. In 1960, he had his first news-related column on upcoming paperbacks, printed in James V. Taurasi's Science Fiction Times. He has also been a member of the N3F, British SF Association, LASFS, BCSFA, SFWA, HWA and others.

He published the major fanzine Algol (later renamed Starship). He has been a member of FAPA, TAPS, SFPA, APA-F, and APA-L.

He was a member of the NyCon3 committee, the Omnivores, the organizer of the Montreal in '77 Worldcon bid, and ran unsuccessfully for DUFF in 1972.

Pro

In publishing, he was a proofreader and copy editor, and was assistant editor on The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction from 1966–74, associate editor at the paperback publisher Lancer Books in the late 1960s.

He was editor/designer/publisher of The Book of Ellison, a hardcover/trade paperback published to honor Harlan Ellison's 1978 stint as Worldcon Pro GoH. He has sold articles and photos to Publishers Weekly, Omni, and The New York Times.

He edited and published the very long-lived semiprozine Science Fiction Chronicle from 1979. When, after years of coming in second to Locus, SFC won the 1993 Best Semiprozine Hugo, Andy received an uproarious standing ovation. He sold Science Fiction Chronicle to DNA Publications in May 2000 and was fired by them in 2002.

Algol Press

His other publications, under his small press Algol Press imprint, are:

• Dreams Must Explain Themselves by Ursula K. Le Guin, 1975.
• The Fiction of James Tiptree, Jr. by Gardner Dozois, 1977.
• Exploring Cordwainer Smith.
• Experiment Perilous: Three Essays on SF by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Norman Spinrad, and Alfred Bester.

Personal Life

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Andy moved to New York City with his mother and brother in 1956 upon the death of his father the previous year. His name was legally changed in 1964 when his mother remarried. A bachelor, he has been a New York City resident ever since.

In mundania, he was a trade magazine editor and advertising production manager on such titles as Rudder, Quick Frozen Foods (under editor Sam Moskowitz), QFF International, Construction Equipment, and Electro-Procurement.

In 2006, he was diagnosed with liver bile duct cancer, for which he was operated on successfully in 2007, followed by five months of chemotherapy. He is now cancer free.

• Entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.
• ConFiction GoH speech (audio).

Fanzines and Apazines:

• Algol
• The Amateur Effer [1964] (some issues; with others)
• Convention: Newsmagazine for SF Convention Planners
• Degler! (for APA-F)
• Fortran [1964-]
• Metrofan
• Monadnock
• Nedicks [mid-60s] (for APA-L)
• Quiescently Frozen (for TAPS)
• S. F. Critic
• S. F. Weekly from 1966–68
• South Norwalk
• Up From Here
• Twentieth Century Unlimited (for FAPA)

Awards, Honors and GoHships:

• 1974 -- 1974 Best Fanzine Hugo for Algol
• 1977 -- Summercon
• 1990 -- ConFiction
• 1991 -- Special Committee Award for Distinguished Semiprozine Work at Chicon V
• 1992 -- British Fantasy Awards Special Award
• 1993 -- 1993 Best Semiprozine Hugo for Science Fiction Chronicle
• 1994 -- 1994 Best Semiprozine Hugo for Science Fiction Chronicle
• 2002 -- Norwescon XXV
• 2009 -- Big Heart Award
• 2020 -- Asimov Centennial Meetup
• 23 additional nominations in the Best Fanzine and Best Semiprozine Hugo categories.

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Person

1946—

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