Walter J. Daugherty
(December 18, 1916 – June 14, 2007)
Walter J. Daugherty was a First Fandomite (though just barely, finding fandom in late 1938). He moved to LA by the early 1940s. He was Chairman of the 1946 Worldcon, and Fan GoH at Baycon, the 1968 Worldcon.
He was the first fan to record a convention: using phonograph records he captured the sounds of the 1941 Worldcon. It's to his credit we have Heinlein's complete GoH speech, "The Discovery of the Future". He was a very early member of LASFS and began the LASFS Fanquet. He was also one of the founders of the N3F. He was not a very good writer and was named one of the Turgid Triplets. He published Walt Daugherty's Directory of Fandom in 1942.
He chaired Westercon 2, was FGoH at Westercon 50, was given a special committee award by LACon III for "spearheading the first Los Angeles Worldcon in 1946", received the Big Heart Award in 1968, and was posthumously awarded the First Fandom Hall of Fame award in 2009.
Personal Life[edit]
The son of silent-movie actors Lilly Mae and “Two-Gun” Monte Williams, Walt was born while his parents were filming on location in Oklahoma City, OK. His father died while Walt was a baby, and he was adopted by his stepfather, Jessie M. Daugherty.
He married LASFan Eleanor O’Brien in 1941. A few years later, he married Virginia “Jim-E” Laney. In Shangri-LA 1 (April 1940), T. Bruce Yerke reported that Walt had recruited both Virginia and Eleanor into LASFS, and that they were working together on an entertainment committee.
He was survived by his (third?) wife, Mary Ellen, who wrote a detailed and interesting obituary. He had many, varied interests. He earned a Ph.D. in anthropology and had an abiding interest in King Tut, though he worked in the aircraft industry.
- Santa Maria Times obituary, June 16, 2007 (archived).
- Brief obituary at trufen.net by Mike Glyer, June 17, 2007 (archived).
- Early short biography in Who's Who in Fandom 1940, page 4.
- Walt Daugherty Tribute.
- Cushlamochree [1944]
- Cyclops (Daugherty) [early 40s]
- Fan [1945-46]
- Fandomania [1942-43]
- The Organization of Fandom [1944]
- The Rocket
Awards, Honors and GoHships:
- 1968 -- Baycon, Big Heart Award
- 1996 -- Special Committee Award by LAcon III
- 1997 -- Westercon 50
- 2009 -- First Fandom Hall of Fame (posthumous)
See also: Daugherty Project and Just Like a Daugherty Project Except That It Will Actually Happen.
| Person | 1916—2007 |
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