Tom Reamy
Encyclopedia
Tom Reamy was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 and fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 author and a key figure in 1960s and 1970s science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or "fandom" of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy and in contact with one another based upon that interest...

. He died prior to the publication of his first novel; his work is primarily dark fantasy
Dark fantasy
Dark fantasy is a term used to describe a fantasy story with a pronounced horror element.-Overview:A strict definition for dark fantasy is difficult to pin down. Gertrude Barrows Bennett has been called "the woman who invented dark fantasy". Both Charles L...

.

Fan, editor, convention organizer

He was born Thomas Earl Reamy in Woodson, Texas during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

. While still in his teens in the early 1950s, he became active in science fiction fandom's fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...

 and convention
Science fiction convention
Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of various forms of speculative fiction including science fiction and fantasy. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expression as movies and...

 culture, as both a fan writer and fan artist. During this period Reamy began to experiment with writing fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 and science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 stories. He was never quite satisfied with or confident enough to submit his stories to the editors of the professional genre magazines of the era, despite encouragement from friends and others who felt he had talent; Reamy continued to hone his writing for many years, while exploring other expressions for his growing creativity.

Reamy, along with transplanted Texan Orville Mosher, founded the first organized science fiction fan club in Texas: The Dallas Futurian Society (DFS), so named after the earlier New York Futurians
Futurians
The Futurians were a group of science fiction fans, many of whom became editors and writers as well. The Futurians were based in New York City and were a major force in the development of science fiction writing and science fiction fandom in the years 1937-1945.-Origins of the group:As described...

. The DFS was founded in late fall of 1953 when Reamy was eighteen, and the club was active until July 6, 1958, when it expired in a colorful fashion. During that active five-year period, Mosher and Reamy traded off editing the club's fanzine CriFanAc, attracting a variety of contributors, both local and from greater science fiction fandom; Reamy also contributed both artwork and commentary to its pages, as he was also doing to other science fiction fanzines of the era.

With fellow Dallas Futurians Jim and Greg Benford, Reamy organized the first science fiction convention held in Texas. A rotating city and state regional convention of the era, Southwesterncon's sixth incarnation was held in Dallas on the weekend of July 5, 1958, concluding the next day, July 6; the professional guest of honor was new writer and well-known fan Marion Zimmer Bradley
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Marion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley was an American author of fantasy novels such as The Mists of Avalon and the Darkover series. Many critics have noted a feminist perspective in her writing. Her first child, David R...

. Longtime science fiction fan personality, collector, and literary agent Forrest J Ackerman
Forrest J Ackerman
Forrest J Ackerman was an American collector of science fiction books and movie memorabilia and a science fiction fan...

 came from Los Angeles as a surprise attendee.

On the last day of the convention, the members of the Dallas Futurian Society disbanded their club as part of Southwestercon VI's business meeting. During that meeting, club co-founder Orville Mosher, the man behind much of the club's behind-the-scenes intrigue and politics during its final few years, was elected by club consensus as DFS' new president. Then just moments later, led by a Reamy motion, the same Dallas Futurian Society voted to officially disband itself forever; the motion passed, despite objections by Mosher. Some former DFS members went off to college following the club's demise, while others continued to gather socially for years, having dispensed with the negative fan politics that had divided them as a more formal science fiction club; Mosher was never heard from again. Greg Benford later moved to California, where he became a physicist and astronomer at the University of California, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...

 and an award-winning science fiction writer.

During the mid-to-late 1960s, while working as a technical illustrator for aerospace
Aerospace
Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...

 contractor Collins Radio at their Dallas branch, Reamy became the editor and publisher of Trumpet, a slickly produced, professionally printed fanzine (the norm for the era was to use the much less expensive ditto or mimeograph reproduction for fanzines). Between 1965 and 1969 ten issues appeared, the later issues having full-color front covers. In 1966, Trumpet received enough nominations for inclusion on that year's final Hugo Awards ballot, but was later ruled as being ineligible because it didn't meet the Hugo's minimum number of published issues requirement needed for nomination; in 1967 and then again in 1969, Trumpet made it on the final ballot in the Best Fanzine category for science fiction's Hugo Award.

In the late 1960s, Reamy also organized and became chairman of Dallas fandom's long-running "Big D in '73" bid to host the 31st World Science Fiction Convention. He also edited and designed the bid's official publication, The Dallascon Bulletin, which also used photo-offset printing. Nothing like them had been produced by previous Worldcon
Worldcon
Worldcon, or more formally The World Science Fiction Convention, is a science fiction convention held each year since 1939 . It is the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society...

 bidders. Each issue's appearance polarized strong support for or against the Texas bid, due to its widespread, free circulation to 6000+, and the large amount of paid advertising each issue carried. As a result, the Texas fans were sometimes accused of trying to buy a win for Dallas. Ultimately, the long-running Dallascon bid collapsed for complex reasons unrelated to this controversy, just a few months before 1973's site-selection vote was taken at Noreascon
29th World Science Fiction Convention
The 29th World Science Fiction Convention, also known as Noreascon I, was held September 2–6, 1971, at the Sheraton-Boston Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, USA....

, the 1971 Worldcon in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

. As a result, the Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 bid won the 31st Worldcon, becoming Torcon II.

Early in the 1970s, Reamy became one of the founders of the Dallas area's Turkey City Writer's Workshop
Turkey City Writer's Workshop
Turkey City Writer's Workshop is a peer-to-peer, professional science fiction writer's workshop in Texas. Founded in 1973 and still ongoing today, it was consciously modeled after the east coast Milford Writer's Workshop...

. Many new Texas genre writers emerged from this workshop, eventually giving birth in 1976 to the all-Texas original speculative fiction hardcover anthology, Lone Star Universe; the workshop continues to this day.

Reamy's high-profile Worldcon bid in science fiction fandom and its Dallascon Bulletin had a lasting impact: These and Reamy's ten issues of Trumpet inspired the formation on July 3, 1971 of the still-ongoing Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society (KaCSFFS) and several year's later, Kansas City's bid for the 1976 Worldcon. Many of Dallas' "Big Bid" concepts were adopted by KC and used in its multi-level bidding strategy. Reamy joined the KC bid at chairman Ken Keller's request, shortly before their victory in 1974, filling two key department head positions on the convention committee. The ill-fated "Big D in '73" bid was reborn in Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

 as "KC in '76." Kansas City went on to win their Worldcon bid at Discon 2
32nd World Science Fiction Convention
The 32nd World Science Fiction Convention, also known as Discon II, was held 29 August – 2 September 1974 at the Sheraton Park Hotel in Washington, D.C., USA.The official co-chairmen were Jay and Alice Haldeman; Ron Bounds was the vice-chairman....

, held during Labor Day weekend 1974.

Following his move to KC in the late summer of 1974, Reamy retired Trumpet and began publishing the similar Nickelodeon. There, with new business partner Ken Keller, he started a typesetting and graphic design business, Nickelodeon Graphics. Together, they created the publications division for KC's now official MidAmeriCon
34th World Science Fiction Convention
The 34th World Science Fiction Convention was named MidAmeriCon and was held in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, 2–6 September 1976, at the historic Radisson Muehlebach Hotel and nearby Phillips House hotel. The convention committee was chaired by Ken Keller, who had also chaired the "KC in '76" bid...

, the 34th World Science Fiction Convention. Reamy immediately established a strong editorial style and modern graphic design approach to the convention's progress reports and other publications. That included a first: a full-sized, hardcover program book, a concept left over from the old Dallascon bid. All of this had a permanent influence on all Worldcon
Worldcon
Worldcon, or more formally The World Science Fiction Convention, is a science fiction convention held each year since 1939 . It is the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society...

 publications that followed. Reamy was also the department head of the convention's ambitious film program department that developed another first: a comprehensive, 80-hour, all 35mm science fiction film retrospective within a World Science Fiction Convention. The concept included a movie theater-style concessions
Concession stand
A concession stand , snack kiosk or snack bar is the term used to refer to a place where patrons can purchase snacks or food at a cinema, fair, stadium, or other entertainment venue. Some events or venues contract out the right to sell food to third parties...

 area that offered freshly popped popcorn, selections of soda, and candies.

Published writer

In the early 1970s, having honed his writing craft quietly for many years, Reamy felt confident enough to begin submitting his fiction to the genre's magazines and original short story anthologies; his work began selling almost immediately, the first two stories on the very same day. Thirteen stories of various lengths and one novel were completed before his untimely death.

Reamy's only novel Blind Voices, published posthumously in both hardcover
Hardcover
A hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...

 and mass-market paperback editions, earned critical comparisons with the works of Richard Matheson
Richard Matheson
Richard Burton Matheson is an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is perhaps best known as the author of What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return, A Stir of Echoes, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and I Am Legend, all of which have been...

, Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...

, and Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...

. The novel deals with the arrival of a strange and wonderful “freak show” at a rural town in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

 during the 1920s and its effects on the lives of the residents. While not quite as polished as those authors’ works, critics regarded Blind Voices as an exceptional first novel, causing both fans and critics to ponder how important a figure he could have become if he had lived.

Other than Blind Voices, the only other Tom Reamy book is a collection of his shorter fiction, San Diego Lightfoot Sue and Other Stories, also published posthumously in both hardcover and mass-market paperback. "San Diego Lightfoot Sue," the individual story, won science fiction's Nebula Award
Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...

 as the Best Novelette of 1975.

Only one original, 17,000 word Reamy story remains unpublished after all this time: The novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...

 "Potiphee, Petey and Me" was sold to Harlan Ellison's now infamous Last Dangerous Visions original anthology and was supposed to have been published in the third and final volume of that series; the book has yet to appear more than thirty years later.

Death

Tom Reamy died on November 4, 1977 at age 42 while at his home in Independence
Independence, Missouri
Independence is the fourth largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri, and is contained within the counties of Jackson and Clay. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area...

, Missouri. He was found dead from a heart attack, slumped over his typewriter seven pages into a new, untitled story for editor Ed Ferman at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a digest-size American fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House and then by Fantasy House. Both were subsidiaries of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Publications, which took over as publisher in 1958. Spilogale, Inc...

. He was laid to rest in Woodson Cemetery in Woodson
Woodson, Texas
Woodson is a town in Throckmorton County, Texas, United States. The population was 296 at the 2000 census. A July 1, 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 266.-Geography:...

, Texas, where other members of the Reamy family were interred. Prior to his death, Reamy and artist George Barr
George Barr (artist)
George Barr is a US science fiction and fantasy artist.-Career:Barr's work shows influences from Arthur Rackham, Hannes Bok and Virgil Finlay. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction describes him as one of the least appreciated SF/fantasy artists. His work is often romantic and whimsical...

 had begun working again on their graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...

 adaptation of Poul Anderson
Poul Anderson
Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories...

's fantasy novel The Broken Sword
The Broken Sword
The Broken Sword is a fantasy novel written by Poul Anderson in 1954. It was issued in a revised edition by Ballantine Books as the twenty-fourth volume of their Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in January 1971. The original text was returned to print by Gollancz in 2002.-Plot:The book tells the...

, which had begun appearing a decade before in the pages of Reamy's Trumpet; the project languished after his untimely death.

Published works

  • Novels:
    • Blind Voices (1978)

  • Collections:
    • San Diego Lightfoot Sue and Other Stories (1979)

  • Anthologies containing stories by Tom Reamy:
    • Nova 4 (1974)
    • Orbit 17 (1974)
    • New Dimensions 6 (1975)
    • Nebula Award Stories 10 (1975)
    • Lone Star Universe (1976)
    • The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction #22 (1976)
    • Nebula Award Stories 11 (1976)
    • Six Science Fiction Plays (1976)
    • The Thirteen Crimes of Science Fiction (1980)
    • New Voices 4 (1981)
    • Sci-Fi Private Eye (1984)
    • Light Years and Dark (1984)
    • A Treasury of American Horror Stories (1985)
    • Demons! (1987)
    • Passing for Human (2009)

  • Published short stories:
    • "Beyond the Cleft" (1974)
    • "Twilla" (1974)
    • "San Diego Lightfoot Sue" (1975)
    • "Under the Hollywood Sign" (1975)
    • "Dinosaurs" (1976)
    • "Mistress of Windraven" (1976)
    • "The Sweetwater Factor" (1976)
    • "The Detweiler Boy" (1977)
    • "Insects in Amber" (1978)
    • "Waiting for Billy Star" (1978)
    • "2076: Blue Eyes" (1979)
    • "M is for the Million Things" (1981)

  • One unpublished 17,000 word story sold to The Last Dangerous Visions:
    • "Potiphee, Petey and Me" (1975)

  • Screenplays:
    • "The Goddaughter" (produced 1972, only credited as Assistant Director)
    • "The Mislayed Genie" (produced, 1973)
    • "Sting" (1975) (unproduced)
    • "The Screaming Night: A Screenplay" with Howard Waldrop (?) (unproduced)

  • Hollywood Film Crew:
    • Served in the Art Department as Property Master on the cult-movie "Flesh Gordon
      Flesh Gordon
      Flesh Gordon is a 1974 American science fiction adventure comedy film. It is an erotic spoof of the Flash Gordon serial films from the 1930s. The screenplay was written by Michael Benveniste, who also co-directed the film with Howard Ziehm...

      " (1974)

Awards and nominations

  • Hugo: Best Fanzine
    Hugo Award for Best Fanzine
    The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...

     nominee (1967) for Trumpet
  • Hugo: Best Fanzine
    Hugo Award for Best Fanzine
    The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...

     nominee (1969) for Trumpet
  • Nebula: Best Novelette
    Nebula Award for Best Novelette
    Winners of the Nebula Award for best Novelette. The stated year is that of publication; awards are given in the following year. Winning titles are listed first, with other nominees listed below.-External links:* * *...

     nominee (1974) for "Twilla"
  • Nebula: Best Novelette
    Nebula Award for Best Novelette
    Winners of the Nebula Award for best Novelette. The stated year is that of publication; awards are given in the following year. Winning titles are listed first, with other nominees listed below.-External links:* * *...

     winner (1975) for "San Diego Lightfoot Sue"
  • Hugo: Best Novelette
    Hugo Award for Best Novelette
    The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...

     nominee (1976) for "San Diego Lightfoot Sue"
  • John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer: winner (1976)
  • Nebula: Best Novel
    Nebula Award for Best Novel
    Winners of the Nebula Award for Best Novel, awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The stated year is that of publication; awards are given in the following year.- Winners and other nominees :...

     nominee (1978) for Blind Voices
  • Hugo: Best Novel
    Hugo Award for Best Novel
    The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...

    nominee (1979) for Blind Voices

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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