Dead Issue Department (1983)
©1983, 2013 by Dallas Denny. Magazine cover art ©1983 by Jim Crabtree.
Source: Dallas Denny. (1983, September). Dead issue department. Alternate Realities, #7, pp. 11, 22.
Alternate Realities was a low-budget science fiction magazine published in Asheville, NC. I met some of its principles at a comic convention and sent them material, which was duly published. It includes this piece, which was born when I saw an ad in an old issue of The magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in which prominent science fiction authors condemned the war in Viet Nam.
I don’t remember if the response from advocates of the war was in the same or the next issue, but from them this quiz was born.
Dead Issue Department
By Dallas Denny
In the March 1966 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, an advertisement appeared on the back page. The ad stated:
We oppose the participation of the United States in the war in Viet Nam.There followed a list of more than 75 noted fantasy and science fiction authors who opposed the war.
Shortly, another ad appeared This one read:
We the undersigned believe the United States must remain in Vietnam to fulfill its responsibilities to the people of that country.
A list of fantasy and science fiction authors who supported the war filled the rest of the page.
See if you can guess the sympathies of the following authors:
Poul Anderson
Isaac Asimov
Anthony Boucher
Marion Ziminer Bradley
Arthur C, Clarke
Hal Clement
Samuel Delaney
Harlan Ellison
Philip Jose Farmer
Robert A. Heinlein
Damon Knight
Ursula K. LeGuin
Judith Merrill
Larry Niven
Jerry E. Pournelle
Robert Silverberg
Fred Saberhagen
Kate Wilhelm
Jack Williamson
Donald A. Wolheim
The name of one of the above authors appeared on neither list.
Scoring
Score one point for each correctly identified author. Add three points if you correctly identified the abstainer.
Over 15 correct: Call Yourself Machiavelli
10 to 15 correct: Honors PoliSci Student
5 to 9 correct: Reagan Cabinet Member
Less than 5 correct: You don’t remember Vietnam, do you?
Opposed to the War
Isaac Asimov
Anthony Boucher
Samuel Delaney
Harlan Ellison
Philip Jose Farmer
Damon Knight
Ursula K. LeGuin
Judith Merrill
Robert Silverberg
Kate Wilhelm
Donald A. Wolheim
Arthur C. Clarke
Supportive of the War
Paul Anderson
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Hal Clement
Robert A. Heinlein
Larry Niven
Jerry K. Pournelle
Fred Saberhagen
Jack Williamson
Arthur C. Clarke’s name did not appear on either list.