Obituary: jan howard finder

Fan jan howard finder (b.1939) died on February 26 after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer. finder, who was also known by the fannish name The Wombat, was hospitalized for his cancer at Renovation, but had battled back to attend Chicon 7, where he emceed the Masquerade. finder organized the First Conference on Middle-earth in 1969 and made many trips to the sites used in New Zealand by Peter Jackson for the Lord of the Rings films, often giving tours to other fans. He edited the fanzine The Spang Blah and the anthology Alien Encounters, as well as writing the occasional short story. finder co-founded Albacon and chaired the convention in 1996. In 2001, he chaired the SFRA Conference. In 1993, he was the Fan Guest of Honor at ConFrancisco, the 51st Worldcon.