Frank Edward Arnold

(January 3, 1914 – November 14, 1987)

Francis Joseph Eric Edward Arnold was a fan and (briefly) pro from London first active in the 1930s. He contributed articles to New Worlds in its first two issues as a 1939 fanzine under that title, and later to its prozine incarnation. His professional fiction was all published under the byline Frank Edward Arnold from 1939 to 1946, four of the five stories being collected as Wings Across Time (1946). Nonfiction mostly appeared as by Francis Arnold or, occasionally, Frank Arnold — the last being the name by which fans knew him. As well as writing, Arnold also worked in theatre: in 1945 he was engaged by a theatrical company touring a production of the 1932 play While Parents Sleep.

Frank is best remembered in UK fandom as a long-time attendee and maintainer of the visitors' book at London Circle pub evenings in the White Horse, The Globe and the One Tun, from early meetings in 1947 until his death in 1987. By the late ’70s, he was the oldest regular member. His history of these gatherings from 1947 to 1952, "The Circle of the White Horse", appeared in New Worlds for March 1952 and was reprinted by Michael Moorcock in New Worlds: An Anthology (1983).

After Frank's death, his unpublished papers were passed to Rob Hansen, who compiled and edited a large selection from this material as The Frank Arnold Papers (2017; available from Ansible Editions), comprising personal memoirs and essays on journalism, politics, sf (including the 1939 New Worlds articles) and fandom. The Frank Arnold Papers was expanded by about one-third with newly unearthed material and reissued in October 2024 along with a first trade paperback edition.

• 'Horse Tales' at fiawol
• Entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
• Frank Edward Arnold in Internet Speculative Fiction Database

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Person

1914—1987

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