I also became aquainted with sci-fi by way of the Tom Swift and Mushroom
Planet books. A family friend had a son 10 years my senior and he would lend
them to me on a regular basis. Then on one Xmas my younger sister bought me
5-6 books that were sci-fi. One of them was "Star Gate" by Andre Norton and
I was head over heels in love with the genre after that (I was 8 at that
time). 10 years later I found out that Andre was a woman and my attitude
towards women was forever changed. It had never even occur to me that a
woman could be a sci-fi writer. Sci-fi has caused so many changes in my
perception of the world thoughout my lifetime. I can't imagine what I would
have turned out to be if I had never picked up that copy of Tom Swift. My
thanx to all of the writers out there for turning me into a Human being.
Bill
At 10:37 AM 9/13/96 -0500, Doug Bentin wrote:
>At 09:54 AM 9/13/96 -0500, you wrote:
>
>>Now, are these writers (we'll leave the anthologies aside)--Burroughs,
>>Lester Dent (writer of most of the Doc Savage adventures), Lovecraft,
>>Howard--really better than the Trekbooks and Wookiebooks?
>>What did you folks start out on as sf readers?
>
>After being introduced to Burroughs by a friend in 1964 (TANAR OF PELLUCIDAR,
>of glorious memory), I followed this same pattern, although coming to
>Lovecraft later and discovering the pleasures of detective fiction along
>the way.
>
>I've sampled much of the Trek and Wars fiction, and more of the Dr. Who
>material, which I find much more rewarding, and yes, it isn't as interesting
>as are The Books of My Youth--although I'm just as positive that old timers
>who read Dent and Howard in the 30s thought they were inferior to Wells, and
>the Wells readers in the 90s thought he was inferior to Verne.
>
>I was old enough when I came to sf to find little pleasure in the kids'
>sf of the time--Mushroom Planet, Tom Swift stuff. Who among you discovered
>sf through that route?
>
>Oh yeah, and I can't underestimate the importance to me of Forrie Ackerman's
>FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND. I'd sell my grandmother to the slavers if I
>could have my FM collection back again.
>
>Doug
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>
>
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