Peter Reaney
(May 25, 1935 –)
Peter Reaney was a British fan from Sheffield active from the mid-1950s. Who's Who in Science Fiction Fandom (1961) gave his entry into fandom as 1951 but this may have been a typo as he's not in evidence before 1954. His occupation was listed as 'laborer' and further description went:
Writes some. [i. e. for fanzines …] Attended Manchester, two at Kettering[1] and London world-cons. Collects paperbacks. Would like to correspond with anyone interested in horror or terror. 'The only other hobbies I do have are collecting gramaphone [sic] records (pop) and generally enjoying myself, besides collecting books on horror, or unusual facts.'
At Cytricon II in 1956 he collaborated with Bill Harry on Biped #½ which was included in the Cytricon II combozine. This was a two-page trail for the fanzine itself although Reaney was not involved subsequently. His name also appeared on the 'ballot' for a hoax fan fund to send a British fan to Siberia, as described in Curtain Call #2. According to Ron Bennett, another 'candidate', Reaney 'won'[2].
And it does rather seem that he was regularly the subject of mockery; or, depending on how you look at it, other (often older) fans picked on him. Archie Mercer in Excelsior #3 (June 1957) wrote of Reaney:
His name is now a byword throughout anglofandom, and I shouldn’t be surprised if his fame isn’t now spreading amongst the unenlightened savages of North American continent, particularly as the Kettering tapes go out on their travels. He is complete master of the non-sequitur remark, also having the intriguing habit of coming in about two subjects later.
Dave Jenrette in Ploy #10 described an event at Cytricon III in 1957 (which might explain a part of the 'tapes' reference, although it would appear that the general con proceedings were recorded too):
There was a party later on in which Peter Reaney was tried for that most heinous of all crimes – failure to consume alcoholic beverages during a convention. Punishment was a tall glass of rum, to be consumed at one drink. Reaney accomplished this and then practically passed out, though Ted Tubb assured me that it was well watered. Eric and Margaret Jones busily managed to record The Trial of Reaney, with Dave Newman as judge, Ted Tubb as prosecutor, and various others as jurymen and executioners.
At Loncon I he was part of what Eric Bentcliffe described in Triode #10 as
Art Thomson and his Bengalese Folk Music Skiffle Group. Patent pending. This group gave a short concert in the main lounge around 1am, and was composed of Lars Helander, Mike Moorcock, and Bill Harry, all in trad-style Bengalese costume. Peter Reaney vocalised with the group, and also did an original (very!) dance. During Peter's second number I developed a shocking headache and decided to retire.
While Reaney had attended all five conventions from 1954 to 1957, he wasn't in evidence thereafter and his appearance in Who's Who in Science Fiction Fandom in 1961 is a bit of an outlier.
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| Person | 1935— |
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