Vin¢ Clarke

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(1922 – 1998)

Aubrey Vincent Clarke (known by the demolishism Vin¢) was a distinguished UK fanwriter/editor active since 1948. Member of the London Circle (1947-60), Kent Trufandom (KTF) (1982-90), and publications editor of the SFS (Science Fantasy Society) (1948-51). He lived in the Epicentre with Ken Bulmer for eighteen months. He was the first winner of TAFF (Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund) (1954), but never took the trip. He co-founded OMPA (Off-trail Magazine Publishers' Association - first UK apa) in 1954 with Ken Bulmer and Chuck Harris and was was OE. He wrote a fannish news column for Vargo Statten SF Magazine under the pen name of Inquisitor. They were collected together in a fanzine named Inquisitor.

Clarke was Fan GoH at Intersection, the 1995 Worldcon.

He was on the committee for the 1951 Eastercon, 1952 Eastercon, 1953 Eastercon, Cytricon II, and Loncon (the 1957 Worldcon).

In 1958, he was instrumental in founding the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA), having published in OMPA calling for a new organization to reverse the decline in new fans. While he was unable to attend the 1958 Eastercon himself, the BSFA was organized there.

In the mid-50s, he became involved with Joy Goodwin, another actifan, and she became Joy Clarke, although they never legally married. Their house on Inchmery Road, south London, became a famous stopping point for fans and was the center of Inchmery Fandom. After the 1957 London Worldcon, Sandy Sanderson, a former Manchester fan who was living with the Clarkes, began Aporrheta, which has been called one of the best British fanzines of the period. Vince did some writing, but also did the excellent repro which characterized the fanzine.

In mid-1960, Joy dumped Vince for Sanderson and shortly later emigrated with Sandy, moving to the United States. The event was described by Clarke as a betrayal, and he gafiated for more than 20 years as a result, after publishing an anguished farewell, Ex-Inchmery Fan Diary. Vince retained custody of Nicki, their baby, and raised her. Aporrheta folded.

A chance encounter twenty years later brought him back into fandom. Terry Hill, an SF reader, contacted Clarke for information on Walter Gillings, an early British editor, the subsequent interaction propelled Hill into fandom and Clarke into revenance.

He ran the Fanzine Library (7000+ fanzines), extended Peter Roberts' bibliography of British fanzines through the 1970s, and provided much research assistance to Rob Hansen for Then. He received the Doc Weir Award in 1989. Most of his published fan writing is collected in ebook form as A Vince Clarke Treasury (2015), compiled and edited by Dave Langford; this includes all the "Inquisitor" columns. Rob Hansen gave him joint editorial credit for the historical fanthology Then Again: A UK Fanhistory Reader 1930-1979 (Ansible Editions, 2019)

Fanzines and Apazines:

Awards, Honors and GoHships:


Person 1922—1998
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