Difference between revisions of "Francis Towner Laney"

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(Confirmed marriages to Alberta & Edith (found no record that he married anyone named Jacky). Checked to see if he might have been related to Virgnia Laney but found nothing.)
(Corrected marriage information [some wives may have had different names in his writingw]~~~~)
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Other [[fannish]] publications included ''[[Fan-Dango]]''. Laney tried to recognize [[fuggheadedness]] with the [[Fan-Dango Awards]]. He was active in the [[Fantasy Amateur Press Association]] (and was a member of the [[Order of Dagon]]),  
 
Other [[fannish]] publications included ''[[Fan-Dango]]''. Laney tried to recognize [[fuggheadedness]] with the [[Fan-Dango Awards]]. He was active in the [[Fantasy Amateur Press Association]] (and was a member of the [[Order of Dagon]]),  
  
In 1939, he married Alberta Mallow in Asotin, Washington, but they seem to have divorced. He [[gafiated]] in the late 1940s, and embraced [[Dianetics]] in 1950. He married Edith Campbell in 1951. He died of bone cancer in 1958.
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In 1937 he married Georgia Turner in Washington state, but they divorced not long after.
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In 1939, he married Alberta Mallow in Asotin, Washington.  They had a daughter, Sonya in 1942, but they seem to have divorced. He [[gafiated]] in the late 1940s, and embraced [[Dianetics]] in 1950. He married Edith Campbell Bouck in 1951 in California. He died of bone cancer in 1958.
  
 
''Ah! Sweet Idiocy!'' was reprinted in 1962 by [[Richard H. Eney]] and in 2019 as an [[Ansible Editions]] ebook with additional commentary. In 1996, Laney was nominated for the [[1946 Best Fan Writer Retro Hugo]].
 
''Ah! Sweet Idiocy!'' was reprinted in 1962 by [[Richard H. Eney]] and in 2019 as an [[Ansible Editions]] ebook with additional commentary. In 1996, Laney was nominated for the [[1946 Best Fan Writer Retro Hugo]].

Revision as of 12:56, 10 September 2021

(Did you mean a different FTL?)


(March 11, 1914 – June 8, 1958)

Francis Towner “Fran” Laney (also known as FTL and the Laniac) moved to LA in late 1943 or early 1944 and was an important fan there in the 1940s. He gafiated (spectacularly) in 1948 and went silent to even the friends he’d remained in touch with in March of 1957. Still, his death a year later was one of those which marked 1958 as the Year of the Jackpot.

His best-known fanzine was The Acolyte (14 issues, 1942-1946) (with Duane W. Rimel and later Samuel D. Russell), devoted to the memory of H. P. Lovecraft, but he is most remembered for his gafiation zine, the autobiographical Ah! Sweet Idiocy! (1948) that reported what Laney saw as the seamy side of fandom. His incisive writing made him a major figure long after his relatively brief tenure in fandom.

Laney was one of the Insurgents. He and his friend, Charles Burbee, had a mutual-admiration society, Laney coining the phrase “Fabulous Burbee-Like Character,” but they could be cruel. They made such mock of Al Ashley with the Ashley Mythos, which Harry Warner said was an unfair characterization, that Ashley left California and gafiated.

Other fannish publications included Fan-Dango. Laney tried to recognize fuggheadedness with the Fan-Dango Awards. He was active in the Fantasy Amateur Press Association (and was a member of the Order of Dagon),

In 1937 he married Georgia Turner in Washington state, but they divorced not long after. In 1939, he married Alberta Mallow in Asotin, Washington. They had a daughter, Sonya in 1942, but they seem to have divorced. He gafiated in the late 1940s, and embraced Dianetics in 1950. He married Edith Campbell Bouck in 1951 in California. He died of bone cancer in 1958.

Ah! Sweet Idiocy! was reprinted in 1962 by Richard H. Eney and in 2019 as an Ansible Editions ebook with additional commentary. In 1996, Laney was nominated for the 1946 Best Fan Writer Retro Hugo.

Fanzines and Apazines:



Person 19141958
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