Canadian Fandom

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Canadian Fandom is a Science Fiction fanzine by Joseph 'Beak' Taylor.

Canadian Fandom was published by Taylor in the 1940's in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was one of the earliest SF fanzines published in Canada. it was originally called Eightball, but its name was changed by the editor after the fourth issue.

A typical issue of Canadian Fandom included fiction, poetry, collector's ads, and serious articles on Science Fiction. Nils Helmer Frome, editor of the the earliest known SF fanzine in Canada, Supramundane Stories, was a contributor to Canadian Fandom, as was Leslie Croutch, editor of Light, another SF fanzine that began publishing in the 1940's. Other contributors included Fred Hunter, Jr, editor of Censored, and Moe Diner of the Montreal Science Fiction Association.

Taylor also sponsored fandom meetings in Toronto, which Croutch also attended. In the late 1940's, these fans became organized into a committee to help prepare for the first Canadian Worldcon, a conference of Science Fiction fans hosted by a different city each year. This group called themselves The Derelicts, and included Taylor, Ed McKeown, Ron Kidder, Boyd Raeburn, editor of A Bas, John Millard, Gerald Stewart, and Jack Doherty and Don Hutchinson, editors of Macabre. They were known for their liking of Beat poetry, jazz, leather jackets and fast cars, aside from all being fanzine editors, writers and artists. After Worldcon, Taylor handed over editorship of Canadian Fandom to fellow committee member Ed McKeown in 1949. McKeown published two more issues of the fanzine before it finally folded.

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