Tightbeam
Tightbeam (originally called Hyperspace Tightbeam) is the letterzine/genzine of the N3F. The name was chosen to describe the reason for the zine's original reason for being - that of serving as a medium for inter-member communication.
History According to N3F records, in 1949, Art Rapp, the editor of Spacewarp, decided to put out a letterzine for the N3F, because the TNFF was limited only to being a clubzine. He called the new zine Postwarp. This was available by subscription, at 10 cents a copy (the usual price in those days), which paid for itself.
It contained letters of comment on all subjects, but mainly discussed the N3F. By not being official, writers felt free to criticize the N3F (this continues to this day, even when edited by the President). When Art left, others took up Postwarp, with varying success, continuing until 1960, when Alan J. Lewis (not to be confused with Albert J. Lewis) became editor and had problems so thatPostwarp did not appear regularly or on time.
By then, the zine was financed by the N3F, and the officers, understandably, wanted it to appear before they paid for it. Lewis, on the other hand, could not promise anything and claimed he needed the money in advance. This impasse went on for some time, and caused various new rules to be made, to no avail, so they decided to go around the delinquent editor by doing another letterzine, letting him delay Postwarp as long as he pleased. So, in a sense, Postwarp and Tightbeam were not related.
Walter Coslet volunteered to do the first issue, and named it Hyperspace Tightbeam. The N3F records apparently claim that Art Hayes edited the second issue, but that issue credits Robert N. Lambeck as the editor, and the editorial was written by him. That issue does contain a letter by Hayes, but with no indication of any connection with Tightbeam (although he does say that he's considering editing a future "Postwarp".) Marion Zimmer Bradley edited the third issue, and renamed it Tightbeam. So the first few editors rotated, setting a precedent, though sometimes it was more efficient to have a semi-permanent editor, who could control the contents of the issue to fit the pages allowed.
List of Editors
Tightbeam was merged into The National Fantasy Fan as a letter column, and later as an included section from 2001 - 2012.
Some details on individual issues (this section is under development). Page counts include covers, except when the back cover is blank. In general, issues have been released every other month, and you can probably safely interpolate dates of issues from that, but we list only those dates we have been able to confirm
| Issue | Date | Pages | Editor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 1960 | 16 | Walter Coslet | Titled "Hyperspace Tightbeam". Cover by Ray Nelson |
| 2 | July 1960 | 26 | Robert Lambeck | Titled "Hyperspace Tightbeam". |
| 3 | Sept. 1960 | 24 | Marion Zimmer Bradley | Becomes "Tightbeam". |
| 4 | Oct. 1960 | 31 | Art Hayes | This issue was published a month early, and longer than usual, because of extended discussion over the expulsion of a member of N3F. |
| 5 | Jan. 1961 | 14 | Bruce Henstell | The issue is undated, but was scheduled for January and says it "should get to you in early January". Cover by Jack Harness. |
| 6 | March 1961 | Stan Woolston | The issue was scheduled for 3/1961, and had a submission deadline in March. | |
| 7 | May 1961 | 18 | Al Lewis | The issue is undated, but was scheduled for 5/1961. The cover appears to have been drawn by Joni Cornell and stencilled by Bjo Trimble. |
| 8 | July 1961 | 28 | Ed Meskys | The issue was scheduled for 7/1961, with a submission deadline of 6/19/61. |
| 9 | Sept. 1961 | 22 | Ed Bryant | Probable date; none listed. |
| 10 | Nov. 1961 | 28 | Art Hayes | No date officially listed, but this is the schedule, and says it includes letters received by Nov. 3rd. |
| 11 | Jan. 1962 | 22 | Albert Lewis | Probable date. Editor's comments are dated Dec. 27, 1961 |
| 16 | Nov. 1962 | 28 | Art Hayes | Date known; consistent with the intended bi-monthly schedule with respect to earlier issues. |
| 17 | January 1963 | 29 | Lee Riddle | |
| 18 | March 1963 | Bill Mallardi & William Bowers | ||
| 19 | 1963 | Dave Hulan | ||
| 20 | July 1963 | 20 | ||
| 23 | Ed Meskys | |||
| 29 | January 1965 | 32 | Stan Woolston | |
| 30 | Norm Metcalf | |||
| 38 | July 1966 | 24 | Bill Bruce | Cover by Rick Norwood |
| 44 | July 1967 | Jack C. Haldeman | ||
| 46 | November 1967 | Don Miller | ||
| 47 | January 1968 | Don Miller | ||
| 48 | Gary Labowitz | |||
| 49 | Gary Labowitz | |||
| 50 | Gary Labowitz | |||
| 51 | Gary Labowitz | |||
| 52 | Gary Labowitz | |||
| 53 | Gary Labowitz | |||
| 54 | Gary Labowitz | |||
| 55 | Gary Labowitz | |||
| 56 | May 1969 | Gary Labowitz | ||
| 57 | Gary Labowitz | |||
| 58 | Gary Labowitz | |||
| 59 | Gary Labowitz | |||
| 60 | Gary Labowitz | |||
| 131 | April 1984 | Owen Laurion | ||
| 143 | Sally Syrjala | |||
| 144 | July 1986 | Sally Syrjala | ||
| 145 | September 1986 | Sally Syrjala | ||
| 146 | Sally Syrjala |
| Publication | Website | ???? |
| This is a publication page. Please extend it by adding information about when and by whom it was published, how many issues it has had, (including adding a partial or complete checklist), its contents (including perhaps a ToC listing), its size and repro method, regular columnists, its impact on fandom, or by adding scans or links to scans. See Standards for Publications. |
