Talk:Shel Deretchin

-- mlo (talk) (talk) 09:05, 11 December 2023 (PST) From Skyrack 50:

MAIN ITEM OF INTEREST gleaned from the three above mentioned issues of FANAC and not previously published elsewhere to my knowledge is the sad report of the death of Brooklyn fan Shel Deretchin on 22nd October from diabetes. Shel was very well known over here for his zany “Boy Ugh” costume at the 1957 London WorldCon, following which event he made many friends during a visit with other American fans (Bob Madle, Dave Kyle and Steve Schultheis amongst them) to Liverpool. Shel was kind enough to spare much of his time to showing me around Greenwich Village during my stay in New York in 1958 and was furthermore, the first American fan with whom I was ever in correspondence. It is with very deep regret that I learn of his death. At 29 too.

From THEN:

New York fan Deretchin, who died young, is almost certainly the Shel in this account in Terri Thal's autobiography of how she and Dave Van Ronk first met:

I was 17 and at a party in a huge apartment on Riverside Drive with a zillion large rooms. Most of the people there were science fiction fans - this was my first experience with 'sci fi fandom.' A young man named Shel had been patting my hand, insisting that we go to a bedroom to "experiment." It was clear to me that Shel wasn't looking for sex but wanted me to smoke grass [...]

Shel pushed hard. I was becoming annoyed. Suddenly, a tall, scruffy guy appeared and said, "Shel, leave her alone." Then, to me: "You don't have to do anything you don't want to." This tall, scruffy guy was Dave Van Ronk, and we spent the rest of the evening holding hands.

- My Greenwich Village: Dave, Bob and Me (McNidder & Grace, 2023)