Difference between revisions of "D. Bruce Berry"

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In the ''[[1948 Fantasy Annual]]'', Berry ranked 3rd in the list of Top [[Fan Artists]]. He lived in [[Chicago]] and later in the [[Bay Area]] and was a member of the [[Golden Gate Futurian Society]] and the [[N3F]].
 
In the ''[[1948 Fantasy Annual]]'', Berry ranked 3rd in the list of Top [[Fan Artists]]. He lived in [[Chicago]] and later in the [[Bay Area]] and was a member of the [[Golden Gate Futurian Society]] and the [[N3F]].
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Starting in 1958, Berry began sending bizzare letters to fan and publisher [[Earl Kemp]] and Berry committed to a mental institution from which he was released in 1960. In 1962, however, apparently timed to embarrass Kemp as Chairman on [[Chicon III]], Berry and [[Robert Jennings]] published a [[fanzine]] ''[[A Trip to Hell]]'' which told a story about the events in 1958 and accused Kemp and also [[Harlan Ellison]] of attacking Berry on the street in Chicago...at a time that Kemp was at the [[Worldcon]] in LA.  The whole affair is difficult to understand, but one consequence is that Berry (as well as Jennings) more or less [[gafiated]].
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* For an article on this by Kemp, see the section "Harl 'n Neverland" in [https://efanzines.com/EK/eI11/index.htm Earl Kemp's fanzine ''eI'' December 2003].
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* See [http://www.tcj.com/the-strange-case-of-d-bruce-berry/ The Strange Case of D Bruce Berry] for a long article on his life.
  
 
His photo and a brief biography appeared in Schelly's Founders of Comic Fandom (McFarland, 2010).
 
His photo and a brief biography appeared in Schelly's Founders of Comic Fandom (McFarland, 2010).

Revision as of 11:07, 27 January 2021

(January 24, 1924 – September 30, 1998)

Douglas Bruce Berry was born in Oakland, California, and was a SF fan for most of his life. He was a self-taught artist, using books as his only guides.

He began working for William Hamling's Greenleaf Magazines, illustrating Imagination, Imaginative Tales, and Space Travel. Later he provided illustrations for Other Worlds, Witchcraft & Sorcery, Rogue, and Men's Digest before becoming a writer.

After an accident that injured his arm, shoulder, chest, and back, he returned to illustration and entered the comic book field as a letterer and inker for DC and Marvel. At one time he assisted Jack Kirby.

Later, Berry wrote three SF novels: Flowers of Hell (1970) [as by Morgan Drake]; The Balling Machine (1971) with Andrew J. Offutt [as by Jeff Douglas]; and Genetic Bomb (1975) also with Andrew J. Offutt. Berry also used Offutt’s pen name of John Cleve.

In the 1948 Fantasy Annual, Berry ranked 3rd in the list of Top Fan Artists. He lived in Chicago and later in the Bay Area and was a member of the Golden Gate Futurian Society and the N3F.

Starting in 1958, Berry began sending bizzare letters to fan and publisher Earl Kemp and Berry committed to a mental institution from which he was released in 1960. In 1962, however, apparently timed to embarrass Kemp as Chairman on Chicon III, Berry and Robert Jennings published a fanzine A Trip to Hell which told a story about the events in 1958 and accused Kemp and also Harlan Ellison of attacking Berry on the street in Chicago...at a time that Kemp was at the Worldcon in LA. The whole affair is difficult to understand, but one consequence is that Berry (as well as Jennings) more or less gafiated.

His photo and a brief biography appeared in Schelly's Founders of Comic Fandom (McFarland, 2010).


Person 19241998
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