  | category : HARRY TURNER
Harry Turner's considerable talent as an artist was matched by his capacity for recording and recounting the events of a long and extraordinary life. He became a primary source for the early history of science fiction fandom because he was at the centre of things and known to the main players on both sides of the Atlantic, and some of those interactions are included in this work.
The upheaval of WW 2 gave him a totally unexpected life as a radar technician, first in the south-east of England and then in India. These memoirs are featured in the first volume, together with items on art, music—jazz, in particular, was a lifelong source of pleasure—and accounts of his part in post-war fandom.
The initial volume closes at the end of the 1970s. During this decade, the lights went out for the artist, who became virtually blind due to cataracts. This book ends with his account of how his sight was restored.
Harry Turner was an enthusiastic correspondent and the family archive contains a vast collection of letters exchanged with Marion Eadie of Glasgow, who became his wife in 1942. The family archives also contain some copies of his extensive correspondence with former Manchester Evening News Colleague Steve Sneyd—H.T. did design work for Steve's Hilltop Press—and his letters to fellow SF fans Fran and Brian Varley, and others.
Most of the copies are of letters written from the mid-1990s into the 2000s. During this period, H.T. had access to PCs, a scanner and laser and inkjet printers, and he took full advantage of the design possibilities which they offered. Most of volume 2 is derived from this source and contains H.T.'s observations on a wide range of subjects, including revisits to topics included in volume 1. |
Volume 1 : Illustrated PDF edition, 272 pages, 6" x 9" (152 x 228 mm),
Volume 2 : Illustrated PDF edition, 239 pages, 6" x 9" (152 x 228 mm),
both to be published by Farrago Books in 2020
Availability: An almost-corrected proof of Vol. 1 (7.2 MB) may be downloaded HERE
An almost-corrected proof of Vol. 2 (3.2 MB) may be downloaded HERE |
