Bob Madle

(June 2, 1920 –)

Bob Madle at Loncon, 1957.

Robert A. Madle, an eo-fan, started reading sf in 1933 and was an active fan by 1935. He was one of the Phillies, a participant in the Widneride, a founder of First Fandom, member of the committee for Philcon, attendee at the First Convention in 1936, TAFF winner in 1957 (and published A Fake Fan in London as his trip report), publisher of Fantascience Digest, was part of the Philly slate which challenged the Wollheimists in the FAPA election of 1938.

He was a Trustee of WSFA in the 1960s, co-founder of PSFS, member of the Washington in '77 Worldcon bid, discovered fandom in 1933, attended the first Worldcon, attended Boskone I in 1941, founded the Carolina SF Society in Charlotte, NC in the early 50s, and for many years has been a highly respected huckster which he continues to this day by mail-order.

He was Worldcon FGoH at SunCon and was nominated for the 1956 Best Feature Writer Hugo. He is the last of the original members of First Fandom.

During the first Worldcon in 1939, fans took the opportunity to visit Coney Island, where this foto-op took place. Front, from left: Mark Reinsberg, Jack Agnew, Ross Rocklynne. Rear: Vincent Kidwell, Robert Madle, Erle Korshak, Ray Bradbury, July 4, 1939. Courtesy of Robert Madle.

More reading:

• “A Personal Sense of Wonder” by Madle in Mimosa 27 (December 2001, p. 15)
• Original Member Spotlight feature in Scientifiction: The First Fandom Report (New Series #44, 2nd Quarter, 2015)
• Founding Member article in the October 2015 issue (Volume 74, Number 10) of The National Fantasy Fan
• Early short biography in Who's Who in Fandom 1940, page 9.
• “Robert A. Madle in 1930s Fandom” by FFE, May 27, 2020.
• Video of 2013 interview by Joe Siclari.
• Photo at St. Louiscon, 1969.
• Photo with Frank Pipes, right, at Noreascon 1, 1971.

Fanzines and Apazines:

• The Amazing Madle Catalogue
• Cosmos [1938]
• A Fake Fan in London
• Fantasy Fiction Telegram [1936-38) (with others)
• Fantascience Digest
• Fanzine Review (for OMPA)
• Imaginative Fiction [1936] (with others)
• The Meteor (for FAPA)
• PSFS News (some issues)
• The Science Fiction Fan

Awards, Honors and GoHships:

• 1956 -- 1956 Best Feature Writer Hugo nominee
• 1957 -- Knight of St. Fantony, 1957 TAFF Race winner
• 1974 -- Big Heart Award
• 1977 -- SunCon
• 1982 -- Unicon 82
• 1990 -- First Fandom Hall of Fame
• 1996 -- Boskone 33
• 2002 -- Sam Moskowitz Archive Award
• 2012 -- Philcon 2012

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Person

1920—

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