Fan Bob Sabella died on December 3 after being hospitalized and diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Sabella was the editor of the fanzine Visions of Paradise as well as the OE of FAPA, the oldest and longest running SF Amateur Press Association. In 2000, Sabella published the book Who Shaped Science Fiction? Through October, 2011, he published 170 issues of Visions of Paradise.
Irish fan John Berry died on November 25, eighteen months after undergoing treatment for cancer. Berry entered organized fandom in 1954 after meeting Walt Willis. Over the years, he was involved in British club fandom and published several different fanzines. He ran for TAFF in 1958, losing to Ron Bennett, but the following year, Berry was the fan Guest of Honor at Detention, the Worldcon in Detroit. The following year, Berry was voted best fan writers in a poll conducted in the fanzine Skyrack. By 1962, Berry had gafiated, only returning to fandom after twenty years had passed.
Mike Glyer reports that D. West has declined the Rotsler Award announced last weekend at LosCon.
D. West, the winner of the 2011 Rotsler Award for Fan Artist, sponsored by the Southern California Institute for Fan Interests, was announced at Loscon. Founded in 1998, the award comes with a $300 honorarium. Sample of West’s work was displayed at Loscon. West has previously won three FAAn Awards for Best Artist and has three Hugo nominations for best fan artist, in 1979, 1987, and 1999.
Boston fan Wendall Ing (b.1940) died on November 11 after a lengthy illness. Ing was active in Boston fandom and had been named a Fellow of NESFA. He was active in the search which found the building that became the NESFA Clubhouse.
The Nova Award winners were announced the weekend of November 11 at Novacon. The Nova Awards are presented to recognize excellence in British fanzine publishing and writing.
British fan Chris “Keris” Croughton was killed in an head-on collision on November 10. Keris was active in the filk community from 1991, often running sound boards. In addition, Keris was a musician and a founding member of the n’Early Music Consort. Keris was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2007.
Kylie Ding and Grant Watson are this year’s candidates for GUFF, the Get-Up-and-Over Fan Fund. The winner of the race will travel from Autralasia to Europe for Olympus 2012, next year’s Eastercon in London. GUFF is not limited by geography, so anyone may vote. The voting deadline is January 22, 2012.
Las Vegas fan Frank Harwood (b.1952) died on October 2. Harwood was a founding member of Las Vegas Fandom in 1990 and throughout the 1990s was a regular attendee at meetings of SNAFFU and social events.
Baltimore area fan Amy Paul (b.1957) died on October 4 from lymphoma. Paul lived at the slanshack Fandom Republic in Baltimore in the mid-1980s when she became active in fandom. Paul was active in Balticon and helped run their Short (Amateur) Film contest. She went by the name Revered Blessing Bird.