Pros Fandom History - post the third...

[byslantedlight]

Post One and Post Two are here, and I've added some more information this morning so that everything from Felicity Parkinson's article has now been included, and most of the information from Post Two. Now I need to go back and add in the extra info from Post One . Looking forward to the various pieces of promised info too - this is looking good, thank you!

As I mentioned the other day - if you have any information or memories from earlier days in Pros fandom (and really, I mean anything pre-today - the year 2000 is history, now! *g*) please, please comment below so that I can add it to the tale of our history! Did you go to a con sometime? Remember anything particularly wonderful about it? I believe M.Fae Glasgow used to do readings, Sebastian and HG wrote fic in bunk beds (ETA - confirmation here! *g*), and what did you get up to? Anything that's Pros fandom as a community, or that we've enjoyed as a community - as one of the many little communities that make up Pros fandom - I'd love to hear about it, and I'm sure everyone else would too. Let's not lose the history of what we've loved, of what's made us us! If Fanlore Wiki wants a page on Pros fandom history, then let's make it accurate, and not just good but bloody brilliant... *g*

Pros Fandom History So Far Known

1977
30th December 1977 - 17th March 1978 - Series One first aired in UK (source: Dave Matthew's Official Pros Website)


1978
7th October - 9th December 1978 - Series Two first aired in UK (source: Dave Matthew's Official Pros Website)


1979
27th October - 15th December 1979 - Series Three first aired in UK (source: Dave Matthew's Official Pros Website)


1980
7th September - 27th December 1980 - Series Four first aired in UK (source: Dave Matthew's Official Pros Website)


1981
"Enigma" fanzine, published by Blue Jay Press in the UK contains Pros fic Christmas Spirit - later reprinted by Blue Jay Press in Best of the Professionals (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; comment here by inamac from information from lil_shepherd)

First Pros slash story written in the UK (1980 or 1981?) - Consequences by Tarot and A.N. Other (nb, these are their current pseudonyms for use on internet) (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; comment here by inamac from information from lil_shepherd)

First Pros slash zine published for sale in the UK, a long story: Remember Angola (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; comment here by inamac from information from lil_shepherd)


1982
"Enigma" fanzine, published by Blue Jay Press in the UK contains Pros fic Bad Apple and Booby Trap - later reprinted by Blue Jay Press in Best of the Professionals (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; comment here by inamac from information from lil_shepherd)

Blue Jay Press published two long Pros stories in a single zine Dead Beat in the UK (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; comment here by inamac from information from lil_shepherd)

Privately printed and circulated Changing the Rules/Security Risk fanzine in the UK (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009)

Mini-con Weekend in the Country was held in York, England - "basically get-togethers for a small number of fans to watch episodes and discuss stories and characterisations. Ken Bulmer attended the first one" (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; comment here by inamac from information from lil_shepherd) At least one of the cons seems have been held at the Ashecroft Hotel in York (source: a con programme described here by metabolick.

7th November 1982 - 6th February 1983 - Series Five first aired in UK (source: Dave Matthew's Official Pros Website)

Sebastian became involved in Pros fandom in 1982. Shortly after this she met ET and 10 other women at a wekend gathering, all of whom at some point wrote at least one Pros fic, including some of the "classic" Pros fics.prelude to a story at Sebastian's website: Foxhole on the Roof.


1983
Blue Jay Press published Pros stories in Impact 1 in the UK (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; comment here by inamac from information from lil_shepherd)

Second mini-con Weekend in the Country was held in York, England - "basically get-togethers for a small number of fans to watch episodes and discuss stories and characterisations." (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; comment here by inamac from information from lil_shepherd) At least one of the cons seems have been held at the Ashecroft Hotel in York (source: a con programme described here by metabolick.


1984
Blue Jay Press published Pros stories in Impact 2 in the UK (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; comment here by inamac from information from lil_shepherd)

Third mini-con Weekend in the Country was held in York, England - "basically get-togethers for a small number of fans to watch episodes and discuss stories and characterisations." (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; comment here by inamac from information from lil_shepherd) At least one of the cons seems have been held at the Ashecroft Hotel in York (source: a con programme described here by metabolick.

"Australian fiction included the story 'Deadly Ribbons' and the 'straight' fiction zine Mixed Doubles 1 (1984). (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009)

The Hatstand Express (T.H.E.) first published in Australia, 1984 - "It consisted of letters of comment on the episodes, characters and fan fiction, as well as short stories, poetry and artwork." (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009)

"Mixed Doubles was a British Professionals/Starsky & Hutch letterzine which was prodced from 1984 to 1989 along much the same format as T.H.E. but also included newscuttings about the actors." (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009)


1986
(Pre-1986 but not defined by date): "From the U.S. came the early stories 'Victorian Bed', 'Doyle's Dream' and 'Rules of the Game'. Zines were slower to follow but have included Teo Torriate (1986) and various issues of In the Public Interest. These have all been slash fiction. The U.S. zine British Takeaway remains one of the few mainly 'straight' fiction zines to be produced." (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009)


1987
10-12 April 1987, Weekend in the Country convention in Baltimore, USA, run by Laura Peck and Tacs (source: programme booklet owned by towerbridge2006; comment here by towerbridge2006)


1988
Oblique Publishing founded (1988-2003) (source: Oblique Publishing - About page)


1990
In Felicity Parkinson's article on Pros history, written in 1990, she says: "Fandom has also developed in Australia and the United States of America. Australian fandom had early contacts with British fans and later also through the U.S. United States fandom was slower to evolve, possibly because the series has not been so widely shown there. However, Zebracon, a U.S. convention for Starsky and Hutch fans, now also embraces Professionals fandom." (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009)

"Short Circuit letterzine began publication in Britain in 1990, but "is now under U.S. editorship, again with a mixture of letters and fiction." (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009)

The first Zircon held, on the weekend of October 26th, 1990, in England. The programme is a mix of The Professionals and Starsky and Hutch It included showings of fanvids, discussion panels including discussion "on all aspects of zines", auctions, and a raffle. Discussions were led by Felicity Parkinson, Helen Raven, H.G., Jane Carnall, and various other people whose lj/internet names (if any!) are unknown to me! (source: copy of original Zircon programme, copied and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; lj pseudonyms are from own knowledge, and are mostly not the names listed in the programme)


1991
From Debbie Ramsey, of ProsLib, on the origins of ProsLib in the USA: "Tracy (can't remember her last name, sorry) was the first one to start typing in circuit stories and sharing with a circle of her friends. This was about 1991-92. Late 1992, her circle was up to about 20, myself included. She was wanting to concentrate more on her writing, so asked me if I'd like to takeover effort of taking the hardcopy circuit stories and typing/scanning them and sharing them. So I did! Tracy and I talked and decided to start calling it The Professionals Library or Proslib, as it was no longer just a circle of friends, but fans from all over". (source: hagsrus in this comment below)

First "Writeshop" held, 7th-9th June 1991, based around writing Prosfic and co-organised by Helen Raven and Felicity Parkinson. Idea proposed for format of future Writeshops, that attendees submit short pieces of fiction for discussion. (source: comment from co-organiser of Writeshop 91, helenraven) "Writeshop" seems to have evolved at some point into "Write Time", although the format seems to be similar to that described here. "Write Time" is a continuing annual event as of 2009 (source: own attendance of Write Time in 2007 and 2008)


1992
From Debbie Ramsey, of ProsLib, on the origins of ProsLib in the USA: "As more and more fans got email, more heard about it and wanted to join. By 1993, the circle had grown to about 80. I emailed out a story every other day or so (it was growing that fast) and I would mail out diskettes (remember those 8-) to new members who joined." (source: hagsrus in this comment below)


1993
From Debbie Ramsey, of ProsLib, on the origins of ProsLib in the USA: "During 1993, I enlisted [Meri] to help me get people to help type, to talk to authors who were shy of having their stories in e-format. Seems funny now, but back then, this was all new. Lots of people were suspicious of the new medium. It opened up all kinds of questions about who controlled stories.

Meri thought it would be a good idea to store proslib on this new thing called The World Wide Web and created a web site called the Pros Online Circuit Archive to reach even more fans. Meanwhile, I bought up boxes of the hardcopy circuit from Karen Brandl and sent them to fans in the US, England, Germany and Australia to type up for Proslib. It was a fun, active time. Everything was so new and there was so much energy.

By the time I was up to 32 diskettes, thankfully burnable cds were in vogue and so was yahoo. I chose yahoo as the easiest way to send out weekly stories to the over 200 who were in Proslib. Up to that time, I just had an addressee list I maintained in my email." (source: hagsrus in this comment below)

"Fans started to make electronic copies of Pros fanfic for email, floppy-disk and ultimately the ProsLib CD distribution" (source: Circuit Archive - About page and msmoat, in comment below)


1995
Original CI5 listserv founded on the internet by Lorelei (source: msmoat, in comment below)


1996
Online Circuit Archive founded by Meri (archivist) (source: Circuit Archive - About page)

Dave Matthew's Official Professionals Website founded on 24th June 1996 (source: Dave Matthew's Official Professionals Website homepage)


2000
ProsLib Yahoo Group founded 1st March 2000 (source: ProsLib Yahoo Group front page)

CI5alltheway Yahoo Group founded 22nd May 2000. (source: comment to thread by hagsrus)

ProsSims Yahoo Group founded 20th August 2000 (source: comment here by hagsrus


2001
Pros-Lit Yahoo Group founded 19th August 2001 (source: Pros-Lit Yahoo Group front page.

From hagsrus (Frances), of ProsLib, on the origins of ProsLib in the USA: "I started actively helping with Proslib a year or so later [c2001] when I acquired a scanner and essentially took over as other demands on Debbie's time and energy became prohibitive. She was one of the very first people to whom I was introduced in the fandom by my original "pimp" and wonderfully generous in lending me stacks of zines as well as offering encouragement to write". (source: hagsrus in this comment below)


2002
Lewis Collins Yahoo Group founded on 3rd March 2002 (source: Lewis Collins Yahoo Group front page)

Martin's Place Yahoo Group founded on 18th August 2002 (source: Martin's Place Yahoo Group front page)


2003
ProsStoryfinders Yahoo group founded 30th January, 2003 (source: comment to thread by hagsrus)

Bodiesannao82347 Yahoo Group (Photo Archive only) founded 19th July 2003. (source: comment thread here by hagsrus)

AngelFishFanFic Yahoo Group founded 25th August 2003 (source: AngelFishFanFic Yahoo Group front page)

The Hatstand online archive founded September 2003 (source: taverymate recollection and saved posts as described here in this thread

Alijot's Professionals Recs website begun 2003/2004? (source: comment here by founder of Alijot's Recs, alicambs)


2004
the_safehouse founded 7th March 2004 (source the_safehouse user info page) by phantomas (source: my own knowledge from lj and other conversations)

Online Circuit Archive taken over by justacat (archivist) (source: Circuit Archive - About page)

Pros Language Yahoo Group founded on 23rd November 2004 (source: Pros Language Yahoo Group front page)


2005
Bodiesanna082347_2 Yahoo Group founded 29th January 2005 - please be aware that the group seems to be abandoned, and messages visible to non-members are of the relatively pornographic-junk-spam type, rather than anything relevant to Pros. (source: comment thread here by hagsrus)

ProsSlash Yahoo Group founded 24th June 2005 (source: ProsSlash Yahoo Group front page)

santa_pros founded 13th August 2005 by queenbamfie (user name since changed several times) for one-off Christmas fic exchange (source: santa_pros and own knowledge)

summer_of_78 founded on 11th December 2005 by queenbamfie (user name since changed several times) for one-off Christmas fic exchange (source: summer_of_78 and own knowledge)


2006
ci5hq founded 23rd April by empty_mirrors and przed (source: ci5hq user info page)

Nattercon 2006 - UK-based Pros convention, May 2006, Milton Keynes, UK. (source: own knowledge/attendance!)

discoveredinalj founded 13th July 2006 by empty_mirrors and byslantedlight (source: discoveredinalj user info page)

TV Lounge Forum founded some time around July 2006? Does anyone know more precisely? (source: TV Lounge Forum first introductions post)

pros_pearl founded on 13th December 2006 by hisluvpet to celebrate 30 years of The Professionals.


2007
pros_newsletter founded on 3rd May 2007 by paris7am (source: pros_newsletter user info page, and first pros_newsletter entry)

Nattercon 2007 - UK-based Pros convention, May 2007, Milton Keynes, UK. (source: own knowledge/attendance!)

prosfinder founded 18th June 2007 by probodie (source: prosfinder user info page)

First Close Quarters 2007 - USA-based Pros convention, July (?) 2007, Laurel Lakes, Maryland (Washington DC), USA. (source: own knowledge; comment here by hagsrus)

2007 CI5mas/Scarsdale Bash at The Scarsdale pub (used in Fall Girl), London, December 2007 (source: own attendance!)


2008
Nattercon 2008 - UK-based Pros convention, May 2008, Milton Keynes, UK. (source: own knowledge/attendance!)

The Automatic Hatstand archive founded August 2008 for Pros writers to submit and control their own story archives.

pros_icontest founded 28th September 2008 by rochvelleth (source: pros_icontest user info)

CI5mas/Scarsdale Bash at The Scarsdale pub (used in Fall Girl), London, December 2008 (source: own attendance!)


2009
loiteringpalely 18th March 2009 founded by byslantedlight as a place to source Pros zines and Pros zine information (source: loiteringpalely user info, archive and own knowledge!)

teaandswissroll founded 24th March 2009 by draycevixen, mikes_grrl, norfolkdumpling and saintvic (source: teaandswissroll user info page; comment here by hambelandjemima

Nattercon 2009 - 20th Anniversary of UK-based Pros convention, May 2009, Milton Keynes, UK. (source: own knowledge/attendance!)

Close Quarters 2009 - USA-based Pros convention, July 2009, Washington DC, USA. (source: own knowledge)

Pros Writing Holiday 2009: Week/end in the Country - Derbyshire, UK. (source: own knowledge/attendance)

CI5mas/Scarsdale Bash at The Scarsdale pub (used in Fall Girl), London, December 2009 (source: own attendance!)

2010

Notacon 2010 - Apparently no longer a Pros-centred con.

Pros Writing Holiday 2010: Week/end in the Country - Derbyshire, UK (source: own knowledge/attendance)

CI5mas/Scarsdale Bash at The Scarsdale pub (used in Fall Girl), London, December 2010 (source: own attendance!)

2011

Notacon 2011 - Apparently no longer a Pros-centred con, but reportedly a new Pros fan was invited, and there was much talk and sharing of Pros history, stories etc.

Pros Writing Holiday 2011: Week/end in the Country - Derbyshire, UK (source: own knowledge/attendance

CI5mas/Scarsdale Bash at The Scarsdale pub (used in Fall Girl), London, December 2011 (source: own attendance!)

Comments

[lukadreaming.livejournal.com]

There are also the Write Time weekends in Milton Keynes in the autumn. Various people have helped with them, but I couldn't guess at dates for when they started.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Hmmn - do you think they count as Pros fandom though? I know recently they've not been Pros-specific (but maybe they were to start with? D'you know?)

[hambelandjemima.livejournal.com]

teaandswissroll created on 24/03/09 (from their user info page), although their first post was on 1st April of that year (own knowledge and their first post). Set up to encourage discussion of all things Pros and to host fics with slightly dodgy pairings. Or something like that, anyway *g*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, and there's still one or two other more recent lj comms I need to include - pros_pearl is another one (well, recent-ish) that I don't think I've got yet, and I think there's a vid one too, iirc... Oh, and probably Sebastian's Foxhole on a Roof too... There, you've set me off and I'm just about to run for a train! Will add tomorrow! *g*

Close Quarters location

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

Actually in Laurel Lakes, Maryland (at Laurel Comfort Suites) -- still considered part of the DC metro area as far as I know.

Re: Close Quarters location

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you!

[alicambs.livejournal.com]

I have no idea when I started the Pros recommendations site at Alijot. :-) I'd say 2003/4 is likely. I do know there was almost no other recs site for Pros which is why I started one in the first place, mainly so I could record my favourites. It's a different case now, which is all for the best.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Ooh, thank you - have added you in! *g*

[towerbridge2006.livejournal.com]

Oops! Weekend in the Country was April 10-12 1987.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Thanks - I've changed it! *g*

ProsStoryfinders

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProsStoryfinders/
Founded: Jan 30, 2003

Re: ProsStoryfinders

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I knew there were more Groups especially that I needed to add - thank you!

Another rec site

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

http://nell.ckrweb.net/other.html

Re: Another rec site

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Eep, how could I leave this one off? It's been one of my standard Pros rec bookmarks for years! Mind I need a date to slot it into - any ideas?

ProsSims

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProsSims/?yguid=219287211

Founded: Aug 20, 2000

Re: ProsSims

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Added! *g* (Is this still an active group, by the way? Do people still play Pros Sims?)

CI5alltheway

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CI5alltheway/?yguid=219287211

Founded: May 22, 2000

Re: CI5alltheway

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Sorry - I wasn't going to reply to these individually, but all at once to say thank you, only I realise that I have questions for some of them!

I've never heard of this group - is it still active? Did it have a particular "mission"?

Bodiesanna082347 and bodiesanna082347_2

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

Photo archives

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Bodiesanna082347/?yguid=219287211

Founded: Jul 19, 2003


and

bodiesanna082347_2

http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/bodiesanna082347_2/?yguid=219287211

Founded: Jan 29, 2005

Re: Bodiesanna082347 and bodiesanna082347_2

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Hmmn - I might not include the second link actually, it seems to be full of porn and inexplicable Biblical quotations...

The photo archive looks interesting - do you know if there's much in there?

I don't want to not include links where they exist, but I'm wary of sending people to sites that could be construed as pornographically offensive because they seem to have been taken over by spam advertisements for... completely different things...

[franciskerst.livejournal.com]

I was looking for this set of fannish information for a long time. Thanks.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yes, I was surprised that there's not really anywhere that this has been listed/publically discussed etc...

Do you know anything about Pros fandom in France, at all? There seems to have been at least one zine Faute Professionnelle in 1993 - have you ever come across those?

[metabolick.livejournal.com]

This is a very worthwhile project. Thanks for facilitating it. I have a few corrections/suggestions/additions, which I'm going to have to post in multiple parts.

Dave Matthews, Bob Rocca, and Professional Insight all list the transmission dates for series 5 as 7 Nov 82 to 6 Feb 83. (You have 7 Dec 82)

From my personal correspondence with a couple of Pros writers who were present in the fandom from its inception, I have concluded that the name of the very first B/D story is a matter of debate. We are, after all, relying on peoples' memories, and there apparently exists a difference of opinion. Please see Felicity Parkinson's exact wording about the first Pros stories in her article which you quote. In the interests of accuracy I believe that your wording should be:

"Consequences by Tarot and A.N. Other, Powerplay by Stuartsky, and Deathgame by Stuartsky are probably the first Pros slash stories written in the UK (1980 or 1981?)."

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

This is very much a work in progress, and will certainly be added to/changed/etc as more information is received!

Dave Matthews, Bob Rocca, and Professional Insight all list the transmission dates for series 5 as 7 Nov 82 to 6 Feb 83. (You have 7 Dec 82)
Just a typo, thanks for pointing it out. Corrected.

I have concluded that the name of the very first B/D story is a matter of debate.
Lol - yes, I've concluded that myself! In fact my original version of the post above included a note that it was a matter of debate, and the source for that thought, but then I found a second source (a "primary source", like yours!) that agreed with the origianl, and so included them both (both "sources" were fans who had "been there at the inception of Pros fandom").

We are, after all, relying on peoples' memories, and there apparently exists a difference of opinion.
Well quite, and this is why I think it's very important to include reference to specific sources of information - to help us see what is memory from 1990, from 2009, etc, etc.

In the interests of accuracy I believe that your wording should be:
"Consequences by Tarot and A.N. Other, Powerplay by Stuartsky, and Deathgame by Stuartsky are probably the first Pros slash stories written in the UK (1980 or 1981?)."
This includes information that's new to me - although I think you source some of it in your additional post below. I will probably have a couple of questions about your source, but of course I will include information that is given - thank you!

[metabolick.livejournal.com]

Felicity Parkinson has kindly agreed to share some of her memories with us, as follows:

dates for Weekend In The Country cons:
No.1, 5-7 March 1982
No.2, 4-6 Feb 1983
No.3, 3-5 Feb 1984

I'm pretty certain only three were held and they were all at the Ashcroft in York. You can tell from the dates that they were held while the series was still being first shown. In fact I remember from the first one, an Australian who was over for a visit and attending the con remarked (a propos of one of the con sessions) that we hadn't yet seen Discovered in a Graveyard, whereas they had already done so in Australia. Things were delayed here because ITV went on strike.

It wasn't a slash con per se, even though Professionals fandom was really slash from the outset. People had to be very careful about what they said in public. Ken Bulmer was the guest of honour at the first convention, and certainly slash wouldn't have been mentioned in his presence. I'm also not sure whether everyone there was a slash fan, and the other point is that people were a bit paranoid that Brian Clemens would get to hear of slash fandom. It wasn't like Star Trek, where we were on the other side of the Atlantic and a whole continent away as well. Professionals slash fandom was British and Brian Clemens was on the doorstep, as it were. But it was talked about in private discussions and I did order a slash zine at the first convention.

One of the sessions at the first one was a character study of Bodie and Doyle, done by two fans listening to what was said in the episodes that had been shown so far. I remember some of the discussion got quite heated at times and I can see that I've scribbled comments all over my pages. This from someone who at that point had only seen about a dozen episodes! The following year we had a similar character study done on Cowley by the same two people. They decided to leave out Wild Justice and Operation Susie from their study because of the contradictions in them compared with other episodes.

The earliest list I have (which dates from about 1981, so the stories had probably been in existence for a while), gives Powerplay as the first Hatstand (B/D) story written and its sequel Deathgame. Both were by Stuartsky. The first stories I actually read were Consequences, by A.N.Other and Jane Doe and its sequels The End of An Illusion, Coldwater Morning and Two Crazy Lovers, by Stuartsky; Light of Day. The next story I read, which is also on the list and which really got me hooked, was Masquerade, by A.N.Other, which I still think is one of the best stories there's been but then I think she's a crackingly good writer. And then Cause For Concern, by Stuartsky, another first class story.

Other stories on the list are: Aftermath (a sequel to the episode Fall Girl); Christmas Spirit (the slash version of a gen story); Shadow of a Ghost (a sequel to Painting the Clouds); Remember Angola, by Anne Lewis; Nightwatch, and a couple of spoofs - The Poofessionals by Dirk Grapple and Double Take by Anon.
Work in progress on the list includes Painting the Clouds, which didn't come out till some years later, which was unfortunate, as it then seemed rather like a pale copy of Masquerade. But the author of Masquerade had written *her* story using the same premise and with the permission and encouragement of the author of Painting the Clouds, only she got it finished and circulated a lot sooner! What else out of that lot? Endgame, by A.N.Other is another story that did get circulated and Of Tethered Goats and Tigers, by A.N.Other, another first class story.

There's a note on the list saying that fans in Australia are writing feverishly. That's the very early stuff from my point of view, dating back before 1981.

While the fandom was a slash one from the word go, the same authors did write some gen stories which appeared in various gen zines or as one-off stories. But after the initial flurry, it settled down to being an undercover slash fandom and really took off in the early 80s. Some fans from America were put in contact with me and sent me some of their early stuff (including Mary Sues) and the fandom seemed to get going in the USA in the mid-1980s. Ditto Australia, as well as in the UK.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Ah, great stuff - thank you - and absolutely backing up/backed up by other conversations in various of these three posts! Lots of extra information to include too!

I do have a question though, as I said - is what you've written here a direct quotation of a letter or email from Felicity Parkinson to yourself? So that I could call it a "direct quote from correspondence between FP and Metabolick"? Or is it paraphrased so that I should just say "private correspondence between..."?

Pros Fandom History - post the third...

[blackillya.livejournal.com]

Greetings from the USA (smile!):

I discovered slash in a closet - literally! This was in
the home of a now deceased friend.

These treasures were the typed stories - this was long
before the internet, mailing lists and Live-journals.

These were the days of gathering in private homes, or in the room of a fellow fen at conventions, when copies of stories were passed out.

It was at one of these fan conventions - forgive me, I forgot the name of it but it was held in Chicago and it
was my first slash convention. Anyway, I was introduced to PROS via the episodes.

Some time passed before I saw them again. I live in Southern California I went to the gatherings at the home of the late Lily Fulford. This was in the days of VHS, both American and British cut, and she had them. I had forgotten the characters names so I joined her and watched all the episodes.

I was hooked. I have the DVDs; I read, and write, fan fiction - some of which have been published in fanzines.

I have not written anything in some time. Read Life has really been a pain; however, I am trying to get back there.

Re: Pros Fandom History - post the third...

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Hello! And how lovely to hear from you, I'm so glad you popped by! *g*

You know I've heard stories of the South California gatherings - do you by any chance have even a rough idea of when they might have taken place? Even just "roughly between 1991-1996" or whatever, so that I can include that as part of the fandom history timeline above? I'd love to know more about Lily Fulford too, I rather suspect she should be remembered at the Fanlore wiki! And was M.Fae Glasgow at those gatherings? She's one of my absolute favourite Pros authors, and I'd love to know more about her place in Pros fandom in general!

I'm racking my brain trying to remember who you wrote as too, because I'm sure I knew and my sieve-like is just not cooperating! Be lovely to read some new Pros from you though, so I do hope Real Life is good to you now!

[morgandawn.livejournal.com]

I am trying to beef up the Pros section on Fanlore and think the timeline you've created would be great as a subpage. May I copy and paste what you have to date (I'll do all the necessary formatting).

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Hi! My original plan was actually to get into the whole editing/Fanlore thing to try and redress some of the missing info, particularly the imbalance between info about UK Pros fandom cf US Pros fandom - as a few people noted in the earlier posts, it almost looks like UK Pros fandom didn't exist! (That said, it's been a while since I've been over to the website, so maybe that's changed now...) Trouble is, I never did manage to squeeze the whole learning-Fanlore-process into the rest of my life, so it's lingered on my list of things to do...

Since everyone who posted at the time was expecting the info to go up to Fanlore, then yes, do add it as a subpage - presumably you'll include the links to this/these posts as references? (If you're not going to, then I'd rather you didn't copy and paste over, but from what I've seen of Fanlore I'm sure you will... *g*)

If it's not already been done, then it'd be great if some of the info could be included in the main entry as well, to redress that balance thing that there was concern about? (I know, if I'm going to say that then I need to do it myself... I did get this far, at least, and 2010's a whole new year, so I'm ever hopeful, but if there's someone quicker in the meantime..? *g*)

And thanks for picking up the post/info!