Olon F. Wiggins
(August 31, 1911 – February 4, 1984)
The first signs of Denver fandom appeared in 1932, when letters from Olon [Fletcher] Wiggins started appearing in lettercolumns of some of the prozines. In 1940, Wiggins and Lew Martin caused much amazement when they hopped a freight train and rode boxcars for thirty hours from Denver to Chicago to get to the 1940 Worldcon. They succeeded in winning the right to host the 1941 Worldcon, which became the first Denvention.
OFW, a tall (6'5"), thin man, had discovered sf when he found a copy of Amazing while moving into a new house, and fandom found him when Maurice Z. Ingher, the editor of Science Fiction Digest noted his letter-writing activity and sent him an issue. He was a charter member and served as President of FAPA. He was also a member of the UK's Science Fiction Association (SFA), joining in October 1937.
After the Chicon, Wiggins and several other fans formed the Colorado Fantasy Society. By the late ’40s he was still attending the CFS, but was no longer very active and soon gafiated, becoming almost completely inactive. However, Fanac 32 reported on January 18, 1959, p. 3:
OLON F. WIGGINS GAFIATES!: Yes, it’s true. You may not have known (well, we didn’t) that he’s remained active in the Colorado Fantasy Society (in Denver) all these years, but he has, until last July, anyhow. At that time he left his wife and family, moved three blocks down the street, and set up housekeeping with a mistress. His wife is trying to sue him for support, a bookseller in England wants to sue him for unpaid bills, and he owes something like $500 to various fans.
His last known appearance in fandom was at a panel at Denvention Two in 1981.
For an early short biography, see Who's Who in Fandom 1940, page 14.
- Galaxy [late ’30s] (for FAPA)
- The Science Fiction Fan [1936-41]
Awards, Honors and GoHships:
- 1941 – Denvention Medal
- 2016 – First Fandom Hall of Fame (posthumous)
| Person | 1911—1984 |
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