Juanita Coulson

(February 12, 1933 – )

An actifan, faned, fanartist, filksinger and author from Indiana, Juanita Coulson (née Wellons) has been active in fandom since the 1950s. She was a member of EISFA and ISFA and editor of their clubzines. She signed her illos JWC. She was a member of STF League of Indiana.

Juanita and her husband, Buck Coulson, were Fan GoHs at the 1972 Worldcon, L.A.Con, making her the first female FGoH. The Coulsons were the beneficiaries of the Coulsons to Newcastle fanfund to send them to Seacon '79. For 33 years, the Coulsons co-edited the mimeographed fanzine Yandro. Yandro was nominated for a Hugo Award every year from 1958–67; it won the award in 1965.

She co-edited Vandy with Buck and also published the early Star Trek fanzine, ST-Phile. She was extremely skilled at handstencilling fanartists' illos and did most of the repro of the couple’s zines.

She has been widely known in filk music circles since the 1950s for her singing and songwriting. At NorthAmeriCon, the 1979 NASFiC, she managed to out-sing a riverboat whistle. Her role in establishing filk as part of SF conventions was huge. Barry Childs-Helton said, "It's all her fault. She was always instigating people to come on into the fold and join the tradition." She sang with GoH Theodore Sturgeon and Ted Cogswell as a warm-up to the masquerade at the 1962 Chicon III, setting a precedent for filk as an official part of convention activities.

She ran for DUFF in 1972 and 2012, losing both times, before being nominated again and winning in 2014.

She is also an sf and fantasy pro. Her first novel, Crisis on Cheiron, came out in 1967. During her writing career, she has collaborated with other authors such as Marion Zimmer Bradley. One of her better-known novel series is the Children of the Stars books. Several of her novels concern the exploitation of "primitive" intelligent species or first contact.

She is the mother of Bruce Coulson.

Outsinging a Riverboat Whistle

NorthAmeriCon, the second NASFiC, was held in Louisville, Kentucky in 1979. The Friday night event was held on the Belle of Louisville riverboat. Entertainment on the cruise was by several filksingers, including Juanita Coulson and Diana Gallagher. People were having a great time. Everything was loud: talking, singing, engine noise. Juanita was singing as the ship's whistle went off drowning out all other sound. Except — Juanita took a deeper breath and raised her voice, drowning out the whistle and everything else. When the whistle stopped so had all the other noise. The ship was silent as all listened in wonder as Juanita Coulson outsung the riverboat.

• Juanita Coulson's Reminiscence of Fandom in 1953.
• Entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.

Fanzines and Apazines:

• Devlins Review [1977] (with Buck Coulson)
• EISFA
• ISFANews
• ST-Phile
• Vandy (with Buck Coulson)
• Yandro (with Buck Coulson)

Awards, Honors and GoHships:

• 1965 -- 1965 Best Fanzine Hugo
• 1972 -- L.A.Con
• 1977 -- Minicon 12
• 1980 -- Hoosier Con 1
• 1981 -- ChambanaCon 11, WisCon 5, FilkCon III, Filkcon West, Munchcon I
• 1982 -- Marcon XVII
• 1984 -- Empiricon V, OKon '84, ConClave IX
• 1985 -- ConQuesT 16
• 1986 -- MileHiCon 18
• 1991 -- Con*Stellation X, ConChord 7, Marcon 26
• 1994 -- OVFF 10
• 1995 -- Rivercon XX
• 1996 -- Filk Hall of Fame
• 1997 -- Marcon 32
• 1998 -- DeepSouthCon 36, ConClave XXIII
• 1999 -- GAFilk 1
• 2001 -- Boskone 38
• 2004 -- ChambanaCon 34
• 2005 -- Consonance 2005, Apollocon 2005
• 2010 -- ReConStruction, ConClave 35, Toastmaster at Conterpoint 2010
• 2011 -- OVFF 27
• 2012 -- Big Heart Award at Chicon 7, Pegasus Award for Best Writer/Composer
• 2014 -- DUFF
• 2018 -- Marcon 53
• 2021 -- Chambanacon 50
• 2023 -- Chambanacon 53
• first recipient of the N3F's Ralph M. Holland Award.

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Person

1933—

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