Len Moffatt

(November 20, 1923 – November 30, 2010)

June Konigsberg and Len Moffatt at Westercon 18, 1965.

Leonard James Moffatt was a longtime Los Angeles fan. As a boy, he lived in Chewton, Pennsylvania, and in the summer of 1939, at 15 years old, he discovered prozines and tried to start an sf club.

He was married twice, both times to fen. His first wife was Anna Sinclare, whom he married February 17, 1951, and divorced in 1964. He married his second, June Konigsberg, on December 10, 1966.

Len and June helped organize many of the early Bouchercons, and in 1973 and in 1999, they received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Bouchercon, the couple were the Eastbound TAFF delegates (their trip report was The Moffatt House Abroad). Dave Locke and Ed Cox published Unabashed Plug in support of their candidacy.

He was a member of the the Western Pennsylvania Science Fictioneers and the Portland Science Fiction Society. He joined LASFS on April 16, 1946, and was one of the founding members of the Outlanders and The Petards. He belonged to SCIFI, Apa-L, the D.R.E.G.S of L.A. Fandom, He was an associate member of the First Fandom club, the Burroughs Bibliophiles, the Blustering Gales of the SW, and the Curious Collectors of Baker Street. When Len was a member of N3F, he edited the 1950 Fan Directory, sponsored by the N3F and the Fantasy Foundation. He was one of the original members of CAPA in 1961.

He originated Moffatt's Test for convention hotel restaurants.

Len Moffatt (1940s). Courtesy of Rob Hansen.

Len wrote poetry and fannish plays and operas. He also had a clown persona, Pike Pickens, “Tramp-Clown of the Spaceways.”

Moffatt had a couple of short fiction pieces appear in the 1950s and also sold science fiction poetry. One of his stories, "Father's Vampire," originally published in Weird Tales, was reprinted in genre anthologies, including 100 Creepy Little Creature Stories (1994).

In World War II, he was a Navy Corpsman (medic) in the Pacific. Later, he worked for a manufacturer of cardboard packaging.

• Tribute in The National Fantasy Fan (March 2011).
• GoH speech] from Westercon 25 in Dynatron 50 (September 1972, p. 3).
• Bibliography at ISFDB.
• “LASFS Alive at 75! A Dialog in Verse and Prose” (reminiscence) by Len and June Moffatt (archived).

Fanzines and Apazines:

• Around the World in ??? Days [1944]
• The Asteroid [1943]
• Button Tack: The Rick Sneary Memorial Fanzine [1993] (with June Moffatt and John Hertz
• The Chainewsheet Monthly [1942]
• The Chainzinette [1942]
• A Flash of Blue (with June Moffatt for Dapa-Em)
• The JDM Bibliophile [1965-2004] (with June Moffatt and Ed Hirshberg)
• JDM Master Checklist [1969] (with June Moffatt)
• Len's Den (for CAPA)
• Moonshine [1942-89] (first as a fanzine then later for FAPA with several other fans)
• Moonshade [early 60s] (for Shadow, with Rick Sneary)
• Outlander Magazine [1949-52] (two issues)
• Selected Writings of Rick Sneary [1957] (with June Moffatt)
• Shadow Mailing
• Stellar Tales [early 40s]
• Science Fiction Parade [1956-62]
• Spiane [mid-60s] (for FAPA with June Moffatt and Rick Sneary)

Moffatt with stepdaughter Caty Konigsberg at FUNcon 1, 1968.

Awards, Honors and GoHships:

• 1951 -- Fanquet
• 1972 -- Westercon 25
• 1973 -- TAFF
• 1981 -- Loscon 8
• 1985 -- Bouchercon 16
• 1994 -- Evans-Freehafer Award
• 1997 -- Tra-La-La Con
• 1999 -- Bouchercon Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2004 -- Forry Award
• 2018 -- First Fandom Posthumous Hall of Fame

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Person

1923—2010

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