Fred Patten
(December 11, 1940 -- November 12, 2018)
Frederick Walter Patten was born in Los Angeles and learned to read from the comic strips in the Los Angeles Times. At age nine he was reading SF in magazines and books. In 1960 he discovered SF fandom, becoming active in LASFS. As a member of LASFS, he became interested in comic book and anime fandom. He and fellow club members dressed as members of the Justice Society of America at Chicon III, the 1962 Worldcon in Chicago, Patten as The Flash. He was a member of the ISL.
He edited Shangri L'Affaires when it was nominated for the 1963 Best Fanzine Hugo.
He was a member of The Petards. He chaired Loscon XIV and Westercon 27 as well as working on numerous other conventions. He was part of the planned Expo '81. He was a member of the PanPacificon, LA in '72 Worldcon bid
He has had an apazine in each and every issue of APA-L. After he had his stroke and moved to a convalescent hospital, he was able to move only his left leg and left arm. The right-handed Fred still produced a zine each week, typing it on a laptop computer with his left hand. It has been said that if Fred ever stopped producing a zine for APA-L, the world would come to an end. (He did after disty 2680, but APA-L (and the world) went on!) He also published The Best from APA-L.
He was OE of N'APA in the 60s. He was a member of IPSO and published an unofficial 7th mailing of it after its demise. He was a founding member of APA-L and contributed Rabanos Radiactivos! to every distribution from #1 to #2290 in 2009 as well as being official collator. He was a member and OE of CAPA-ALPHA, and a member of FAPA, SAPS, OMPA (Lefnui), The Cult and others.
In 1972 Patten and Richard Kyle started the Graphic Story Bookshop in Long Beach, California. In 1977 he was one of the founders of the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization, the first anime fan club.
In March, 2005, he suffered a stroke and donated all his books and fanzines to the J. Lloyd Eaton Collection at The University of California, Riverside.
His photo and brief biography appeared in Schelly's Founders of Comic Fandom (McFarland, 2010).
Extensive tribute to Fred Patten on furry fandom site Flayrah
A remembrance of Patten by Jon D. Swartz appeared in Scientifiction (STF), New Series #58, 4th Quarter, 2018.
- The Best from APA-L
- Dry Martooni [1962]
- Foofaraw [1961-64]
- Forry! [1966]
- Great Art Should Never Be Mushed Up [1970] (for FAPA)
- Lefnui [1963-69] (for OMPA)
- Rabanos Radiactivos! (for APA-L)
- Salamander [1962]
- Selake [1969-70]
- Shangri L'Affaires [1961-62] (some issues)
- Vukat [late 60s]
- Wabbit Twacks [1972]
Awards, Honors and GoHships:
- 1963 -- Best Fanzine Hugo (nomination for Shangri L'Affaires)
- 1965 -- Evans Freehafer Trophy
- 1971 -- Sampo Award
- 1971 -- DeepSouthCon 9
- 1984 -- ConQuistador 1
- 2006 -- Loscon 33
- 2009 -- Baycon 2009 (unable to attend due to illness), Forry Award
| Person | Website | 1940—2018 |
| This is a biography page. Please extend it by adding more information about the person, such as fanzines and apazines published, awards, clubs, conventions worked on, GoHships, impact on fandom, external links, anecdotes, etc. See Standards for People and The Naming of Names. |
