Jan Howard Finder
(Were you looking for a different upside-down rodent-like creature?)
(March 2, 1939 – February 26, 2013)
Jan Howard Finder was an upstate New York academic administrator, SF writer, filker, costumer, and fan.
Nicknamed "Wombat," he also affected writing his name in all lower case. The word "wombat" in capital letters near the start of the second of the AntiFan films refers to him. He usually wore an Australian bush hat.
He was Honored Guest at ConFrancisco (the 1993 Worldcon). He ran for DUFF twice, in 1975 and 1983, losing both times.
Well known in fannish circles, Finder was editor of the fanzine The Spang Blah. Until 2011, he was "scribe" (secretary) of the Latham-Albany-Schenectady-Troy Science Fiction Association and a co-founder of Albacon and chaired Albacon 1996, Albacon 2008, and Novacon 9 West. He was an agent for the Britain in '87 Worldcon bid. He was one of the organizers of the 1969 Conference on Middle Earth. He published the fanzine Il Vombato.
Finder wrote in the short story genre, and his short fiction writing has been published in several anthologies, including "The Grapes of Rath" (1980) in Microcosmic Tales (1981).
- “Memories of Wombat” by Susan Batho on Sue Bursztynski's blog The Great Raven.
- Entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
Awards, Honors and GoHships:
- 1978 -- BYOB-Con 8
- 1980 -- Maplecon 3
- 1981 -- LASTCon I
- 1982 -- LepreCon 8, Toastmaster at Rivercon VII
- 1985 -- Genericon I
- 1987 -- OKon 10
- 1988 -- Not Just Another Con 4
- 1992 -- Ad Astra 12
- 1995 -- Astronomicon 4
- 2000 -- Albacon 2000
- 2001 -- Arisia '01
- 2006 -- Archon 30
- 2007 -- RavenCon 2007
- 2011 -- Albacon 2011 (almost)
- 2015 -- Albacon 2014.5 (posthumous)
| Person | 1939—2013 |
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