Archie Mercer
(May 14, 1925 – March 1998)
Archibald Henry Mercer was a British fan mainly active in the 1950s and 1960s.He was a member of Operation Fantast, and a member and OE of OMPA; and the founding treasurer of the BSFA, the first editor of the BSFA Bulletin, and for a time editor of Vector).
He may have been a member of the London SF Con of 1952. An "A. Mercer" of London appeared on the membership list and Archie Mercer, London W4, had a letter published in New Worlds 17 (September 1952). He later moved to North Hykeham near Lincoln, then from 1963 to Bristol, and then Cornwall.
Mercer published OMPAzines, wrote conreports, and attended many cons in England.
He is known in fandom today primarily for his many fanzines, some edited/published with the help of his wife, Beryl Henley Mercer, who died in 2004. The Mercers met in the early 1960s, when Beryl published an article in Charles Platt's Beyond 6 (July 1964) on neofans' gripes about the BSFA; the opposing viewpoint was written by one Archie. He also wrote the fannish novel, Meadows of Fantasy.
He won the second Doc Weir Award in 1964. He (absentmindedly) created Mercer's Day. He was made a Knight of St. Fantony in absentia at Cytricon III in 1957. He was a member of Kinkay Fandom.
He was on the committee of Yarcon and, with Beryl, handled publications for Briscon.
- Amble (for OMPA)
- Anglofanac
- Antwerpse Letterkundige En Wettenschappelijke Gazet (for OMPA)
- Archie Mercer's Guide to the 1966 World Convention (1965)
- Archive [1954–9] (for OMPA)
- Berserk!!! (for OMPA, with Ken Cheslin and possibly Fred Hunter)
- BSFA Bulletin (some issues)
- Conrep from B'ham [1965] (with Beryl Mercer)
- Mercatorial Annual (with Beryl Mercer)
- The Middle Earthworm
- Objection Slip [1959] (for OMPA)
- Off T'rails [1955] (for OMPA)
- The Once and Future Worm
- Pertinence
- Schnerdlites Hole-Boring Supplement [1956] (with Nigel Lindsay for OMPA)
- Second Saturday After the First... (for OMPA)
- Styx [1956] (second issue; other issues by other hands; for OMPA)
- Tales from the Oubliette (for OMPA)
- Vector (some issues)
Awards, Honors and GoHships:
- 1957 — Knight of St. Fantony
- 1964 — Doc Weir Award
| Person | 1925—1998 |
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